Replies

No, unfortunately we are not all on the same side. There is absolute truth, and whatever doesn’t agree with it is not truth, but falsehood. There is no “kinda halfway truth.” If orthodox Christianity is true (which I believe it is), then anything that is not orthodox Christianity is not true but is falsehood.

If a group of people call themselves Christians, but do not believe the Bible, and add their own writings like the BOM to the Bible, and hold beliefs that are not based on the Bible, and believe in a prophet that is not in the Bible, and have a different means of salvation than that which is found in the Bible, and have a different view of God than that revealed in the Bible, etc., then it misrepresents Christianity. It also confuses people as to what Christianity is, and what orthodox Christians believe.

Jesus said he is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other way. There is no other truth. There is no other life.

I imagine it is confusing for Mormons who are taught that they are Christians, or are taught some of the beliefs of Christianity, and therefore consider themselves Christians. Like I said in another post, Mormons don’t get to decide if they are Christians or not, orthodox Christians get to decide if Mormons are or not, and they are not, I am sorry to say.

Why do Mormons want to be considered Christians? And if you know that LDS is not orthodox Christianity, does it bother you to be “unorthodox”? By orthodox, I mean the basic, fundamental beliefs of a religion. If one doesn’t accept these, then they necessarily do not believe in that religion, but in an adulteration of that religion or in some other religion entirely.

Thank you for your reply.

“Jesus said he is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other way. There is no other truth. There is no other life.”

Agreed. 100%.

“Like I said in another post, Mormons don’t get to decide if they are Christians or not, orthodox Christians get to decide if Mormons are or not, and they are not, I am sorry to say.”

This statement really surprises me. To me, you are saying that you are taking upon yourself the power of Christ to say who follows Him, and who doesn’t.

I firmly believe that He retains the privilege of making this judgment to Himself. I can only hope I qualify; but you do not get a vote in the matter. Please, do not try to abrogate such authority.

“Why do Mormons want to be considered Christians? And if you know that LDS is not orthodox Christianity, does it bother you to be “unorthodox”?”

We are Christians, because we believe in, worship, and follow Jesus Christ - independently of whether or not you would consider us such.

We do not shy away from the word “unorthodox.” There are many things that we believe that flatly contradict orthodoxy; and we are not embarrassed to admit it. To be frank, many “orthodox” doctrines are extra-Biblical in nature - they are traditions, handed down by men who didn’t have any better answers. I believe that God provides better answers through contemporary revelation to His church via His prophets. Not one such conflicting doctrine has yet been disproved to my satisfaction. For myself, if being unorthodox means being closer to Christ, then I will embrace the description.

You saying I am not a Christian is like me saying you have three feet. As much as I may repeat myself, it just doesn’t make it true, no matter how many reliable sources I have telling me that it is so.

Best regards.

No, unfortunately we are not all on the same side. There is absolute truth, and whatever doesn’t agree with it is not truth, but falsehood.

Who is to determine this absolute truth? Are you saying you are the arbiter of absolute truth? If not why does your opinion (or perspective) carry more weight than mine?

My philosophy teacher once told me that in matters of opinion, I am always right.

There is no “kinda halfway truth.” If orthodox Christianity is true (which I believe it is), then anything that is not orthodox Christianity is not true but is falsehood.

Conversely, if orthodox Christianity is false, (which I believe it is), then anything that is part of the orthodoxy is not true, but is falsehood

“It is a poor knife that will not cut both ways” – The analects of Confucius.

If a group of people call themselves Christians, but do not believe the Bible, and add their own writings like the BOM to the Bible, and hold beliefs that are not based on the Bible, and believe in a prophet that is not in the Bible, and have a different means of salvation than that which is found in the Bible, and have a different view of God than that revealed in the Bible, etc., then it misrepresents Christianity.

Nice run on sentence, I wish I could ramble like that, wait… Mormonism is completely supportable from the bible. It is not provable from the bible, but supportable, hten agin orthodoxy is not provable from the bible either, but it is also supportable orthere would not have been a need for a vote. The “View of God you hold to did not become “Orthodox until in AD 325 a pagan emperor called a council at Nice to put down the schisms in the early Christian church and have them come up with a dogma that would be acceptable to his fractured Roman empire. Constantine was no more interested in “Truth” than my Dog is. He was interested in the political ramifications of Christianity. Here, Go read all about it in the Catholic encyclopedia online, they have lots of records there about the early church. You might learn something; I know I have from that site.

It also confuses people as to what Christianity is, and what orthodox Christians believe.

I think you should not worry about that so much, the world knows what orthodox Christians believe. As a missionary in Taiwan, the first thing I had to do was teach people orthodoxy so I could explain why we were different. Most the people I taught had such a bad image of “Orthodoxy” that they would not talk to us until we explained that we were not Protestants or Catholics. You are well known by your fruits

Jesus said he is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other way. There is no other truth. There is no other life.

Which is precisely why you should listen to us, but you won’t.

I imagine it is confusing for Mormons who are taught that they are Christians, or are taught some of the beliefs of Christianity, and therefore consider themselves Christians.

Yeah, It’s tough to believe something and have someone come up and tell you that they know you don’t really believe it in a supercilious tone and with mock sympathy commiserate about the pain they are causing you. It’s really tough to remain civil, but that is the only reason I can think of someone would do that, to make it “tough”.

Like I said in another post, Mormons don’t get to decide if they are Christians or not, orthodox Christians get to decide if Mormons are or not, and they are not, I am sorry to say.

ROTFLOL!

Who made you Mother Teresa for a day?

You know she is a lady I can respect, she would never say the things you are saying, she would be polite.

I really hate to burst your bubble, well actually I don’t but I will try to be nice about it. Look at it as medicine. It does not matter how many councils are called, or votes are taken. Jesus decides who the sheep are and who the goats are. Orthodoxy is not worth the paper it’s written on.

You do realize that Jesus was convicted of heresy, right? What is heresy, it is being unorthodox. I wonder how you would have voted if you were on the Sanhedrin? (I ask myself the same question sometimes so do not be offended by this)

Why do Mormons want to be considered Christians?

Why do you want to be considered female? Because you are. Same for us, because we believe in Jesus Christ, he is our savior and our redeemer!

And if you know that LDS is not orthodox Christianity, does it bother you to be “unorthodox”?

Not even remotely. The nature of God will not be determined by a vote of men no matter how learned, but will only be revealed from him to us as we humble ourselves and ask for the knowledge.

By orthodox, I mean the basic, fundamental beliefs of a religion. If one doesn’t accept these, then they necessarily do not believe in that religion, but in an adulteration of that religion or in some other religion entirely.

If you are going to say orthodox, mean orthodox. Don’t try to invent some new definition of the word that just bastardizes it. (which is what you are accusing us of doing to Christianity.)

“Be consistent, or be quiet”. (My dad used to say that)

I will sum up with, if you think you can determine if my heart belongs to Jesus, you have a pride problem. No one can know that for sure but Jesus himself and Me.