Posted on 10/13/2011 11:36:34 AM PDT by Colofornian
The news is abuzz with the question of Mormonism, cults, and Christianity.
A cult is often understood as a religious group with strange beliefs out of the cultural mainstream (which many today increasingly consider biblical Christianity). Since "cult" is difficult to define, scholars tend not to use it.
However, the question of what beliefs characterize Christianity is not a new debate, and is one we should not shy away from if words and definitions matter.
Many people are shocked at the idea that some pastors believe Mormons are not Christians-- "judgementalism" is decried and "intolerance" proclaimed. Yet, as that may be new news to some, the view that Mormons are not Christians is historic and very widely held view.
In 2007, LDS spokesman Michael Otterson provided a forthright article in the On Faith section of the Washington Post / Newsweek. He explains,
The question, "Are Mormons Christian?" is a good starting point for this discussion. When some conservative Protestants say Mormons aren't Christian, it is deeply offensive to Latter-day Saints. Yet when Latter-day Saints assert their Christianity, some of those same Christians bitterly resent it. Why? Because both sides are using the same terms to describe different things...
When someone says Mormons aren't Christian... he or she usually means that Mormons don't embrace the traditional interpretation of the Bible that includes the Trinity. "Our Jesus" is somehow different from "their Jesus." Further, they mean that some Mormon teachings are so far outside Christian orthodoxy of past centuries that they constitute almost a new religion.
Otterson is correct here. For evangelicals and others, "Christian" is more than a self-identified label. It is hard for people in tolerant America to hear, "I know you SAY you are a Christian, but you are not." Yet, basic to evangelicalism (and historic Protestantism) is that some people are Christians, some people are not, and not all people who think that they are Christians actually are.
"Christianity" is not based on what you say about yourself or your beliefs. "Christianity" must be connected to how your beliefs agree with the beliefs of biblical Christianity.
With Mormonism becoming a major topic of discussion, about a year ago LifeWay Research decided to ask Protestant pastors their view. According to our random sample, most pastors feel strongly Mormons are not Christians. After several reporters asked if we had some data, I decided to release it. You can download the full report here: Protestant Pastor Views of Mormonism.
The survey polled 1,000 American Protestant pastors asking them to respond to the statement, "I personally consider Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) to be Christians." It's a forthright question some will find offensive, but it will be an increasingly important question.
Three-quarters of Protestant pastors (75%) disagree with the statement, "I personally consider Mormons... to be Christians," including 60 percent who strongly disagree and 15 percent who somewhat disagree. Just 11 percent somewhat agree, 6 percent strongly agree and 9 percent do not know.
In other words, the view that "Mormons are not Christians" is the widely and strongly held view among Protestant pastors. That does not meant they do not respect Mormons as persons, share their values on family, and have much in common. Yet, they simply view Mormonism as a distinct religion outside of basic teachings of Christianity. Many of these pastors may know Mormons consider themselves Christians, but Protestant pastors overwhelmingly do not consider them such.
I know this is an unpleasant question to many, and one that some will use as a hammer on evangelicals, but let me encourage a different view.
The fundamental issue is: how divergent can your views be and still be a part of a faith group (in contrast to forming a new one). Can you believe, for instance, that Muhammad is not the prophet and still call yourself a Muslim? The vast majority of Muslims would say you cannot. For Christians, calling yourself a Christian while not believing that God has always existed as the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is as inconceivable.
This is not simply a conservative evangelical Christian view. Methodists have said "the LDS Church is not a part of the historic, apostolic tradition of the Christian faith." Even Roman Catholics (hardly conservative Protestants) don't recognize LDS baptism.
As I said before, a cult is difficult to define. But Christianity has been defined a certain way for centuries. There is no reason to be shocked that devout Christians consider those with a different view of Christ as non-Christians. In the current cultural climate it may be uncomfortable, but it is anything but shocking.
Adapted from Ed Stetzer's weblog at www.edstetzer.com.
Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay’s Missiologist in Residence. Ed is a contributing editor for Christianity Today, a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. Ed is Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Ed blogs daily at EdStetzer.com.
About 3/4 of Christian pastors do not consider Mormons as Christians. Most of the rest are probably from the "tolerant" mainline denominations who accept practicing homosexuals as Christians.
What I'd like to see from the Mormons is some consistency: If deceased Lds "prophet" Gordon B. Hinckley could define boundaries sharp enough to conclude that fundamentalist Mormons weren't Mormons, then on what grounds do Mormons tell Christians they, too, can define some boundaries?
Sept. 8, 1998 airing of Larry King Live show:
KING: But when the word [polygamy] is mentioned, when you hear the word, you think Mormon, right?
HINCKLEY: You do it mistakenly. They have no connection to us whatsoever. They don't belong to the church. There are actually no Mormon fundamentalists.
So, there ya go. The Mormon "prophet"
speaking on behalf of the Mormon "god"
claiming that Mormon fundamentalists don't exist.
They are mere phantoms.
So. If Hinckley could say: "Fundamentalist Mormons are not Mormons." Then I'm not sure how anybody could get riled up -- without also getting riled up @ Hinckley -- about the statement, "Mormons are not Christians."
Elsewise, if polytheist Mormons are Christians, well, then, why not polytheist, polygamist fundamentalist Mormons as well? All of you who are "pro-Mormons" as Christians...are you consistent? Are you willing to call fundamentalist polygamist Mormons "Christian," too? If not, why not?
Then why stop there? Why don't we just run all religious bodies together & conclude a fundamentalist Mormon-is-a-Mormon-is-a-Christian-is-a-Jonestownite-is-a-Branch-Davidian-is-a-Heavens-Gate-ian-is-a-Urantia believer-is a Church Universal & Triumphant-is-a-Wicca-Witch-is-Voodoo practioner-is-a-New-Ager-is-a-whirling dervish-is-a-Hindu-is-a-Sikh-is-a-Muslim?!!
Y'all didn't realize that Muslims = "Christians" per Mormonism's PR campaign, now did ya?
If anything Mormonism seems closer to Islam..one guy borrows from other religions and has ‘god’ pass all kinds of new laws to satisfy his own sexual wants...sound familiar...cough muhammed... cough.
Mormons are not Christians. Christians respect and worship God while Mormons aspire to BE gods. Also, Christians believe in salvation by faith and Mormons believe in salvation but only if your husband says so.
While I will say that Mormonism is not a cult I will say that some Mormons lend themselves to cultish and thuggish behavior.
If Romney gets the nomination.
The election will be a man who thinks he’s going to be a God versus a man that thinks he already is one.
If Romney gets the nomination.
The election will be a man who thinks he’s going to be a God versus a man that thinks he already is one.
I got flamed by a few bigots saying this before, but I don’t really care. I believe Mormons passed from a cult to one of the Worlds religions long ago. A valid argument can be made that they are a non-Christian religion, and I would agree with that. But I will not hate them for their beliefs anymore than I would hate a close Japanese friend of my family that has been Shinto from the day she was born. We love her to death, and we can love a Mormon as well – but with that love comes prayers for them and when we have opportunity we witness to them the best we know how, hoping that a seed we plant grows.
God ask us to have a redemptive heart not a judgmental one. The Plank in the eye parable comes to mind, and a favorite song of mine in Church that has a line, “They will know we are Christian by our Love.
As for Romney his religion has nothing to do with why he is not the candidate I support.
Yep. It's a concept our society has trouble comprehending. Chastity Bono says she's a man, so voila and society is expected to treat her as a man.
The beliefs between Christians and Mormons are not the same. The same words may be used, but the concepts are worlds apart.
definitely NOT christian:
“You believe Adam was made of the dust of this earth. This I do not believe, though it is supposed that it is so written in the Bible; but it is not, to my understanding. You can write that information to the States, if you please—that I have publicly declared that I do not believe that portion of the Bible as the Christian world do. I never did, and I never want to. What is the reason I do not? Because I have come to understanding, and banished from my mind all the baby stories my mother taught me when I was a child.” Journal of Disclosures (vol. 2, pg. 6) Brigham Young - Mormon Leader
http://thequotablemormon.blogspot.com/
When you say “We” and “ourselves” who are you referring to? It certainly can’t be Romney, who is a liberal, despite seeking the Republican nomination.
infidel.
The same pastor that said Romney was not a Christian and that Mormonism is a cult, also said that the Catholic religion was a cult. Explain that away.
Thank You. My father has been married three times. Mom killed herself when I was on orders for ‘Nam. # 2 didn’t last long.
(Never allow a woman to file for divorce then back down) and #3 is a Japanese American with relatives in Japan. Dad taught us all growing up not to hate someone for where they was born. Taught us some would call us dumb Mic— or stubborn Krout.What matters is who you are— and what you choose to do with your life. End of discussion.
(IOW you're intolerant of religious views that opposes yours. Doesn't that make you a "bigot?")
I couldn’t care less what some pastor said about Catholicism, so I have nothing to explain.
still opining on what Christianity is since you have proved you are absolutely ignorant of it’s beliefs?
YHVH = Faith
Religion = man (Jer 16:19)
the Father is pleased when Jesus is worshipped and glorified. the Father is displeased when the divinity of His Son is denied. the Father is displeased with those that deny the Son. what does the Father think of you?
Still wandering around attacking others because you can't even defend your own beliefs using Scripture Only?
Acts 17:1 1 After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Sha’ul and Sila came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue. 2 According to his usual practice, Sha’ul(Paul) went in; and on three Shabbats he gave them drashes(sermons) from the Tanakh(Old Testament), 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and that “this Yeshua whom I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and threw in their lot with Sha’ul and Sila, as did a great many of the Greek men who were “God-fearers,” and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the unbelieving Jews grew jealous; so they got together some vicious men...30 In the past, God overlooked such ignorance; but now he is commanding all people everywhere to turn to him from their sins [CJB]
Paul sent to the dispersion of out of Covenant Israelite gentiles who were forced to stay behind the stone wall of separation and in his efforts, some God fearing pagans repented, cast off their pagan religious traditions to follow the Appointed days & Holy instructions of YHVH.
John 7:32 The P’rushim heard the crowd whispering these things about Yeshua; so the head cohanim and the P’rushim sent some of the Temple guards to arrest him. 33 Yeshua said, “I will be with you only a little while longer; then I will go away to the One who sent me. 34 You will look for me and not find me; indeed, where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Judeans said to themselves, “Where is this man about to go, that we won't find him? Does he intend to go to the Greek Diaspora and teach the Greek-speaking Jews?[CJB]
So much for the religious doctrine you follow that says that the practice of the Apostles was to preach on Sunday via some fictitious notion that Yah'shua abolished the Holy Sabbath by nailing it to a cross. FYI...Apostle means "sent one" as in "One sent by YHVH", not by Yah'shua. YHVH wouold never send one to teach anything but HIS Torah.
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