core argument
LDS doctrine teaches a different Jesus
Latter-day Saints do believe in Jesus Christ. The dispute is whether LDS doctrine identifies Him as the eternal Son of Christianity.
The New Testament places Jesus outside the created order
John says the Word was God and that all things were made through Him. Colossians says all things were created by and for Christ, and that He is before all things. Hebrews separates the Son from angels and gives Him divine honor.
This is why Nicene Christianity says the Son is begotten, not made. He is not one being inside the created order.
LDS doctrine places Jesus inside a premortal family system
Official LDS sources teach a premortal world of Heavenly Parents and spirit children, with Jesus as Firstborn spirit Son and Savior. They also identify Satan as a spirit son who rebelled.
The precise point is not a shock line about Jesus and Lucifer. The point is that LDS doctrine places Christ inside a category that the New Testament excludes.
Firstborn does not make the Son created
Colossians calls Christ firstborn while immediately saying all things in heaven and on earth were created by Him and for Him. The context makes firstborn a claim of supremacy, not a claim that the Son is the first member of the created order.
John makes the same boundary from another angle: all things that came into being came through the Word. If everything made came through Him, the Word is not one made being among others.
Savior language must identify the same Son
LDS doctrine honors Jesus as Jehovah, Redeemer, and Savior. Christianity agrees that Jesus is Lord and Savior, but it also confesses Him as eternally God, begotten not made, and of one divine being with the Father.
When the same name is placed inside a different divine-family framework, the confession changes. The dispute is identity and category, not whether Latter-day Saints speak warmly about Jesus.
Primary references
The argument rests on public Scripture, official LDS material, and Christian sources.
John 1
BibleRef
If all created things came through Christ, Christ is not inside the created order.
Colossians 1
BibleRef
The Son is before all created things, not one spirit child among others.
Hebrews 1
BibleRef
This separates Christ from angelic or spirit-child categories.
Premortality
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Official LDS source teaching premortal life as Heavenly Father's spirit children.
Heavenly Parents
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Official LDS source teaching that all people are beloved spirit children of heavenly parents.
Jesus Christ, Our Chosen Leader and Savior
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
LDS manual chapter presenting Jesus as chosen in the premortal council and contrasting His plan with Lucifer's.
Satan, Topics and Questions
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Official LDS source identifying Satan as a spirit son of God who rebelled.
Nicene Creed
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Representative text of the historic Nicene confession of one God, the Trinity, and the eternal deity of Christ.