A common claim I hear is that the LDS Church simply “adds more truth,” while evangelism to Latter-day Saints by Christians supposedly “takes things away” or diminishes people’s faith. Well-meaning Latter-day Saints who make this claim are often echoing the words of former President Gordon B. Hinckley: “We do not argue with other churches. We do not debate with other churches. We simply say to those who may be of other faiths or of no faith, ‘You bring with you such truth as you have and let us see if we can add to it.’”

I think that framing is false and misleading on two levels.

First, the idea that Mormonism only adds while creedal Christianity subtracts does not hold up on its own terms. If someone were to move from evangelical Christianity to Mormonism, they would not merely be adding beliefs — they would have to give up many convictions that have historically been central to the Christian faith: that the Bible is God’s final and infallible word, that faith in Christ alone is sufficient for eternal life, that God is the eternal Creator who made all things from nothing and sustains them by His power, and that God is not one divine being among others but the source of all being. Those are not small or peripheral losses. They are foundational to what it means to be a Christian.

Becoming a Latter-day Saint would also mean accepting that the Christian Church fell into deep apostasy, that the gates of hell did prevail against it for roughly 1,800 years, and that faithful Christians throughout the world do not possess a valid baptism and have not received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The LDS restoration began with an alleged declaration from God that the creeds of other churches were not merely wrong or mistaken, but abominable in His sight. Whatever one thinks of that claim, it is simply not accurate to describe the LDS message as a neutral supplement to historic Christianity. It necessarily redefines Christian authority, Christian history, and Christian ordinances at a deep level.

But more importantly, “more” is not always better when it comes to religious belief. Scripture repeatedly warns that adding to the gospel can actually distort or even destroy it. The clearest example is Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

The issue there was not that people had stopped believing in Christ. They still believed in Him. They were simply being encouraged to add something — circumcision — as a covenant requirement. Paul’s response is striking. He warns that if they do so, Christ will be of no value to them, that they will be obligated to keep the entire law, and that in seeking to be justified in this way, they will have fallen from grace.

To my Latter-day Saint readers. Please look at Paul’s words. Do not look away or diminish the force of what he is saying. He did not want us to do so:

“Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Paul’s point is devastatingly clear. If we add anything to the free gift of grace that Christ offers us, we are no longer relying on Christ alone. We are substituting our own efforts, obedience, or covenant-keeping for Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. Earlier in Galatians, Paul puts it even more starkly: “if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” (Galatians 2:21)

The consequences of making additions to the gospel of Christ therefore, could not be more serious. That is why Paul warns twice that anyone who preaches a “different gospel” is accursed (Galatians 1:8-9)

What makes this especially striking is that the Book of Mormon itself contains warnings that sound remarkably similar to Paul’s. In several passages, Jesus is depicted as condemning attempts to add to or alter His doctrine, warning that those who do so are not built upon His rock but upon a sandy foundation (3 Nephi 11:40). Even within LDS scripture, then, “adding more” is not treated as spiritual progress when it displaces reliance on Christ Himself.

When you add additional ordinances, covenants, commandments, and requirements for achieving eternal life, you are not adding more grace. You are diminishing it, or setting it aside altogether. Subtracting anything that competes with Christ is not an act of destruction. It is an act of faithfulness.