Come on, Seven. (How about unpacking "the rest of the story?" eh?)
Jesus as the Son of God...
The Mormon "Christ" is a pre-existent spirit, they say, like you or me...whose difference is...
(a) mere spiritual birth order--having been first;
(b) was twice made a son of God via Mary; and
(c) died for Adam's sin so folks could be resurrected unto immortality (his role as "Savior" for the Mormon is pure universalism).
So it's actually closer to say that LDS believe that Christ is a son of God than "the" Son of God; due to the pre-existence in MormonLand, you are a son of God who has become incarnated from where God is, Sevenbak is a son of God who has become incarnated from where God is, Grig is a son of God who has become incarnated from where God is...kind of dilutes the whole "incarnation" thing, ya know!
This Messiah was born in Bethlehem as the Bible foretold and affirmed post-birth--not like the Mormon Jesus of Mormon Scriptures born in Jerusalem.
Other than that, he was not the Son of God from eternity past. He worked his way up to godhood status. He's not an exalted God-become-man, but an exalted man-become-God. He was an elder spirit bro of Lucipher. Had you or your brother been "first" in that pre-existent spirit world birth order, he could have been Christ!!!
This Jesus is foreign to the Bible. The Messiah of the Bible shared the glory with the Father in the beginning (John 17); Jesus existed from eternity in a special relationship with the Father (Micah 5:2).
I openly dare LDS to forthrightly exegete Doctrine & Covenants 39:1, which says: Hearken and listen to the voice of him who is from all eternity to all eternity, the Great I AM, even Jesus Christ.... What does "from all eternity to all eternity" mean?
This Jesus is THE Son of God, not just a son of God. And THE Son of God did not consider equality with His Father something he couldn't let go of while becoming a man (see Philippians 2). Phil. 2 makes it clear He was already divine, not just a "wannabe" God like Dear Ole Dad.
the creator of the universe
I'm sorry, but you forgot a little asterisk there: The Jesus of Mormonism didn't create ALL things as the true historical Jesus did (Heb 1; John 1; Col. 1:16-17...see even D&C 93:9-10), who created the angels--even Lucipher. (The Jesus of Mormonism is a spirit brother of Lucifer)
[Also, please note that Mormons deceptively use the word "creator" when applied to Jesus/God...by "creator" they mean "organizer"...they believe matter & elements are eternal...that despite what Hebrews 11:3 says, LDS leaders say God didn't create anything from nothing...they don't believe in the doctrine of ex nihilo creation]
The Savior of mankind...
Grig recently posted a multiple-post thread by LDS "apostle" James Talmage, showing how much he thinks of him. What did Talmage say about Jesus as the "savior of mankind?"
Even the unbeliever, the heathen, and the child who dies before reaching the years of discretion, are all redeemed by the Savior's self-sacrifice from the individual consequences of the fall. (Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 85)
Ah. Sevenbak thinks he can just namedrop the Mormon Jesus as "Savior of mankind" to show how much Mormonism is supposedly in alignment with historic Christian thought. While Christ indeed saves/redeems unbelievers, heathen, etc., those who are born again/born from above don't remain heathen or unbelievers [I mean, come on! What's a relationship with someone who doesn't trust in you or see you as God?] as they exit this world. Talmage says they do or at least they can.
And why is that? Because LDS teach a form of universalism where all are "saved" except apostates. And what do they mean by "saved?" (They mean saved unto resurrection, a transfer from mortality to immortality).
Jesus, in John 5:29, talks about a "resurrection of damnation." (Last time I looked at the Greek word for "damnation"--which means destroyed/judgment/destruction--"damnation" is NOT "salvation!"
To hear Talmage & other Mormons tell it, since mankind was already "saved" by Jesus no matter what faith was or wasn't exercised, when the Phillippian jailer asked them what he must do to be saved (Acts 16:30), I guess they should have just told him straight-up Mormon doctrine in Acts 16:31: "Hey, stupid. All unbelievers and heathen are saved. Y'all get resurrected. We were going to say, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,' but then we had a vision of the 'restored gospel.'"
The true picture of the Mormon Jesus is that he is as much of a "saved being" as any man or woman he saves! The Mormon Jesus is but a mere creature like dear ole Dad:
"Christ is a saved being” (McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. 3, p 257) “Modern revelation speaks of our Lord as he that ‘ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth ‘ (D&C 88:6). Christ's rise to the throne of exaltation was preceded by his descent below all things. Only by submitting to the powers of demons and death and hell could he, in the resurrection, serve as our exemplar of a saved being, one who had placed all things beneath his feet. ‘I am Alpha and Omega,’ he said, ‘Christ the Lord; yea, even I am he, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world. I, having accomplished and finished the will of him whose I am, even the Father, concerning me—having done this that I might subdue all things unto myself—retaining all power, even to the destroying of Satan and his works at the end of the world, and the last great day of judgment.’ (D&C 19:1-2.)” (McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 1, p. 234)
(Please also see McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 238 where he said Jesus "Needs salvation"...”Came to earth to work out His own salvation”)
And the Mormon Christ is one savior among many:
"...we are the only people that know how to save our progenitors, how to save ourselves, and how to save our posterity in the celestial kingdom of God;...we in fact are the saviours of the world..." (Journal of Discourses, vol.6, p.163).
Compare that to the Bible, where "saviors of the world" are in no way multiple. Jesus is it (1 John 4:14; John 4:42).
http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,49-1-775-16,00.html
Scriptural Witnesses
Elder Russell M. Nelson
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Scriptures of the Restoration do not compete with the Bible; they complement the Bible.
“I will define the term scriptural as pertaining to the Bible and the scriptures of the Restoration. Members of the Church ‘believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.’ Scriptures of the Restoration also include the Doctrine and Covenants as well as the Pearl of Great Price.”
At this point, it's probably also interesting to point out that Mary's pregnancy was the result of the Heavenly Father getting it on with her in fleshly form! (Mormon teachings explain that she was still a virgin because she'd never had sex with a mortal--sex with a god doesn't violate a person's "virginity.")
I've always wondered how Catholics feel about that tidbit.
It's yet another point of departure that Mormons seem to always gloss over in the attempt to mask how different their beliefs are from the (other?) Christian faiths.
Without getting into a overtly religious theological discussion, I will note that on several points of doctrine, your objections are objectionable to my beliefs.
I say that not to say I am right and you are wrong, but to note that among Christians there is dissension as to the specifics you mention.
More broadly, the Christian Evolutionists don’t believe in God the creator, much less Jesus the creator, but still profess Christianity. Many Christians believe that Jesus died first for the specific sins of Adam, to relieve the world of the original sin, which was in the blood, which is why Jesus had to be born of a Virgin, so as not to have blood infected by Adam.
And I speak to Mormons who sincerely believe your reckoning of what they believe to be false. You may well speak for every other Mormon than those I speak with, but I tend not to judge people to be false about their own expressions of their own faith, regardless of what I think their church teaches.
You'll CHOKE folks on that Mormon Meat!