appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

SCMP Reporter

The Mormon Church is heretical, according to a senior leader of the mainland's official Protestant governing body.

Reverend Deng Fucun ,  vice-chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant Churches of China, said they would teach their believers to differentiate such beliefs from Christianity and not to become disciples.

'We think it is a heresy. They themselves will not say they are a heresy,' Reverend Deng said, adding that Christianity had only one Bible while the Mormons had a Bible plus a Book of Mormon.

'For us, we do not talk about cults, we only say heresies. Christians should not believe in heresies,' he said.

The Mormon Church was formed in the US in 1830 and has more than 11 million members around the world.

However, it does not belong to one of the five officially recognised religions - Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Protestant and Catholic Christianity - on the mainland.

Andrew Ng Wai-man ,  college chaplain of Chinese University's Chung Chi College, said the Mormon Church was regarded as heretical because it deviated from the traditional creed of Protestantism.

'Naming it a heresy is only a relative term, meaning it is a deviation. A heresy is different from a cult, which has anti-social implications,' Mr Ng said.

The Mormons believe Jesus Christ was the creation of God, while Christians believe in the Trinity - the union of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, he said.  The Mormons believed in salvation by deeds whereas Christians believed in salvation by faith.

Despite naming it a heresy, Reverend Deng recognised that the Mormon church might develop.

'I know there are foreign Mormon believers on the mainland, but not Chinese believers. It  may develop in the future, but not many people in China know about this currently,' he said.

Facing a possible growth in the number of new sects, Reverend Deng said all they could do was educate people.

He denied they had drawn up a list of heresies or cults, saying that they only alerted believers when they became aware of one.



Senior cleric condemns Mormon Church as a heresy