Robert Jeffress, a prominent American church figure and the leader of First Dallas in Texas, was criticised by Mitt Romney - the Republican politician who lost to Barrack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.
Romney wrote on Twitter: "Robert Jeffress says 'you can't be saved by being a Jew', and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell'. He's said the same about Islam.
"Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem."
Jeffress made the comments cited by Romney in an address at the conservative Values Voter Summit in 2011, according to the liberal Media Matters group.
Historic Christianity has taught for 2,000 years that salvation is through faith in Christ alone. The fact that I, along with tens of millions of evangelical Christians around the world, continue to espouse that belief, is neither bigoted nor newsworthy.
— Dr. Robert Jeffress (@robertjeffress) May 14, 2018
Within two hours, Jeffress responded on Twitter: "Historic Christianity has taught for 2,000 years that salvation is through faith in Christ alone.
"The fact that I, along with tens of millions of evangelical Christians around the world, continue to espouse that belief, is neither bigoted nor newsworthy."
Jeffress will speak before American officials during a ceremony on Monday to officially mark the relocation of the United States embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Robert Jeffress says "you can't be saved by being a Jew," and "Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell." He's said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) May 14, 2018
The move - which comes months after President Donald Trump promised to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital - has been welcomed by Israel and US evangelicals, but Palestinians have condemned it.
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