As a prominent evangelical pastor and supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry is taking heat for calling Mormonism a “cult,” a newly released poll says most Protestant pastors in U.S. agree that Mormons are not Christians.
Three out of four pastors surveyed by Southern Baptist-affiliated LifeWay Research said they disagreed with the statement that Mormons are Christians. The poll was conducted in October 2010 but was not released until Sunday (Oct. 9).
The poll of 1,000 Protestant clergy reflects a continuing a challenge for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, in connecting with evangelicals, who are a key GOP constituency.
Reponses to the poll differed somewhat by denomination, with two-thirds (67 percent) of evangelicals strongly disagreeing that Mormons are Christians, compared to only 48 percent of mainline Protestants.
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, on Saturday (Oct. 8) called Mormonism a “theological cult,” and told Fox News that evangelicals “ought to give preference to a Christian instead of someone who doesn’t embrace historical Christianity.”
Mark DeMoss, a leading evangelical publicist who’s supporting Romney, said Monday that voters should look primarily at a candidate’s values and qualifications, not his or her faith.
“There’s a theological distinction that’s fairly obvious (between Mormonism and mainstream Christianity) … but I think it’s largely irrelevant in a political context,” he said.
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: Religion News Service
Josef Kuhn
BCNN1 WP 