Posted on 12/26/2010 5:29:46 PM PST by Colofornian
Is Mormonism Christian? This may seem like a puzzling question to many Mormons as well as to some Christians. Mormons will note that they include the Bible among the four books which they recognize as Scripture, and that belief in Jesus Christ is central to their faith, as evidenced by their official name, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Furthermore, many Christians have heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing Christian hymns and are favorably impressed with the Mormon commitment to high moral standards and strong families. Doesn’t it follow that Mormonism is Christian?
"To fairly and accurately resolve this question we need to carefully compare the basic doctrines of the Mormon religion with the basic doctrines of historic, biblical Christianity."
To fairly and accurately resolve this question we need to carefully compare the basic doctrines of the Mormon religion with the basic doctrines of historic, biblical Christianity. To represent the Mormon position we have relied on the following well-known Mormon doctrinal books, the first three of which are published by the Mormon Church: Gospel Principles (1997), Achieving a Celestial Marriage (1976), and A Study of the Articles of Faith (1979) by Mormon Apostle James E. Talmage, as well as Doctrines of Salvation (3 vols.) by the tenth Mormon President and prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Mormon Doctrine (2nd ed., 1979) by Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
1. Is There More Than One True God?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that there is only one True and Living God and apart from Him there are no other Gods (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10,11; 44:6,8; 45:21,22; 46:9; Mark 12:29-34).
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that there are many Gods (Book of Abraham 4:3ff), and that we can become gods and goddesses in the celestial kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20; Gospel Principles, p. 245; Achieving a Celestial Marriage, p. 130). It also teaches that those who achieve godhood will have spirit children who will worship and pray to them, just as we worship and pray to God the Father (Gospel Principles, p. 302).
2. Was God Once a Man Like Us?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that God is Spirit (John 4:24; 1 Timothy 6:15,16), He is not a man (Numbers 23:19; Hosea 11:9; Romans 1:22, 23), and has always (eternally) existed as God — all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present (Psalm 90:2; 139:7-10; Isaiah 40:28; Luke 1:37).
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that God the Father was once a man like us who progressed to become a God and has a body of flesh and bone (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22; "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!" from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-347; Gospel Principles, p. 9; Articles of Faith, p. 430; Mormon Doctrine, p. 321). Indeed, the Mormon Church teaches that God himself has a father, and a grandfather, ad infinitum (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 373; Mormon Doctrine, p. 577).
3. Are Jesus and Satan Spirit Brothers?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that Jesus is the unique Son of God; he has always existed as God, and is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father (John 1:1, 14; 10:30; 14:9; Colossians 2:9). While never less than God, at the appointed time He laid aside the glory He shared with the Father (John 17:4, 5; Philippians 2:6-11) and was made flesh for our salvation; His incarnation was accomplished through being conceived supernaturally by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 1:34-35).
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that Jesus Christ is our elder brother who progressed to godhood, having first been procreated as a spirit child by Heavenly Father and a heavenly mother; He was later conceived physically through intercourse between Heavenly Father and the virgin Mary (D&C 93:21; Journal of Discourses, 1:50-51; Gospel Principles, p. 11-13; Achieving a Celestial Marriage, p. 129; Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 546-547; 742; Ezra Taft Benson, Come unto Christ, p. 4; Robert L. Millet, The Mormon Faith: Understanding Restored Christianity, p. 31). Mormon doctrine affirms that Jesus, all angels, Lucifer, all demons, and all human beings are originally spirit brothers and sisters (Abraham 3:22-27; Moses 4:1-2; Gospel Principles, pp. 17-18; Mormon Doctrine, p. 192).
4. Is God a Trinity?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost are not separate Gods or separate beings, but are distinct Persons within the one Triune Godhead. Throughout the New Testament the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as the Father are separately identified as and act as God (Son: Mark 2:5-12; John 20:28; Philippians 2:10,11; Holy Spirit: Acts 5:3,4; 2 Corinthians 3:17,18; 13:14); yet at the same time the Bible teaches that these three are only one God (see point 1).
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate Gods (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 370; Mormon Doctrine, pp. 576-577), and that the Son and Holy Ghost are the literal offspring of Heavenly Father and a celestial wife (Joseph Fielding McConkie, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 2, p. 649).
5. Was The Sin Of Adam and Eve a Great Evil Or a Great Blessing?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that the disobedience of our first parents Adam and Eve was a great evil. Through their fall sin entered the world, bringing all human beings under condemnation and death. Thus we are born with a sinful nature, and will be judged for the sins we commit as individuals. (Ezekiel 18:1-20; Romans 5:12-21).
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that Adam’s sin was "a necessary step in the plan of life and a great blessing to all of us" (Gospel Principles, p. 33; Book of Mormon — 2 Nephi 2:25; Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 114-115).
6. Can We Make Ourselves Worthy Before God?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross we are spiritually "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1,5) and are powerless to save ourselves. By grace alone, apart from self-righteous works, God forgives our sins and makes us worthy to live in His presence (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6). Our part is only to cling to Christ in heartfelt faith. (However, it is certainly true that without the evidence of changed conduct, a person’s testimony of faith in Christ must be questioned; salvation by grace alone through faith, does not mean we can live as we please — Romans 6:1-4).
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that eternal life in the presence of God (which it terms "exaltation in the celestial kingdom") must be earned through obedience to all the commands of the Mormon Church, including exclusive Mormon temple rituals. Works are a requirement for salvation (entrance into the "celestial kingdom") — Gospel Principles, p. 303-304; Pearl of Great Price — Third Article of Faith; Mormon Doctrine, pp. 339, 671; Book of Mormon — 2 Nephi 25:23).
7. Does Christ's Atoning Death Benefit Those Who Reject Him?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that the purpose of the atoning work of Christ on the cross was to provide the complete solution for humankind’s sin problem. However, those who reject God’s grace in this life will have no part in this salvation but are under the judgment of God for eternity (John 3:36; Hebrews 9:27; 1 John 5:11-12).
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that the purpose of the atonement was to bring resurrection and immortality to all people, regardless of whether they receive Christ by faith. Christ’s atonement is only a partial basis for worthiness and eternal life, which also requires obedience to all the commands of the Mormon church, including exclusive Mormon temple rituals (Gospel Principles, pp. 74-75; Mormon Doctrine, p. 669).
8. Is The Bible The Unique and Final Word of God?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that the Bible is the unique, final and infallible Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:1,2; 2 Peter 1:21) and that it will stand forever (1 Peter 1:23-25). God’s providential preservation of the text of the Bible was marvelously illustrated in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that the Bible has been corrupted, is missing many "plain and precious parts" and does not contain the fullness of the Gospel (Book of Mormon — 1 Nephi 13:26-29; Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 190-191).
9. Did The Early Church Fall Into Total Apostasy?
The Bible teaches and orthodox Christians through the ages have believed that the true Church was divinely established by Jesus and could never and will never disappear from the earth (Matthew 16:18; John 15:16; 17:11). Christians acknowledge that there have been times of corruption and apostasy within the Church, but believe there has always been a remnant that held fast to the biblical essentials.
By contrast, the Mormon Church teaches that there was a great and total apostasy of the Church as established by Jesus Christ; this state of apostasy "still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" of the Mormon Church (Gospel Principles, pp. 105-106; Mormon Doctrine, p. 44).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion: The above points in italics constitute the common gospel believed by all orthodox Christians through the ages regardless of denominational labels. On the other hand, some new religions such as Mormonism claim to be Christian, but accept as Scripture writings outside of the Bible, teach doctrines that contradict the Bible, and hold to beliefs completely foreign to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles.
Mormons share with orthodox Christians some important moral precepts from the Bible. However, the above points are examples of the many fundamental and irreconcilable differences between historic, biblical Christianity and Mormonism. While these differences do not keep us from being friendly with Mormons, we cannot consider them brothers and sisters in Christ. The Bible specifically warns of false prophets who will teach "another gospel" centered around "another Jesus," and witnessed to by "another spirit" (2 Corinthians 11:4,13-15; Galatians 1:6-9). Based on the evidence presented above, we believe Mormonism represents just such a counterfeit gospel.
It has been pointed out that if one claimed to be a Mormon but denied all the basic tenets of Mormonism — that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that the Book of Mormon is true and divinely inspired, that god was once a man who progressed to godhood through keeping the laws and ordinances of the Mormon Church, and that the Mormon Church was divinely established — the Mormon Church would reject such a person’s claim to being a Latter-day Saint. One cannot fairly call oneself a Mormon if one does not believe the fundamental doctrines taught by the Mormon Church. By the same token, if the Mormon Church does not hold to even the basic biblical truths believed by the greater Christian community down through the ages, how can Christians reasonably be expected to accept Mormonism as authentic Christianity?
If the Mormon Church believes it is the only true Christian Church, it should not attempt to publicly present itself as a part of a broader Christian community. Instead it should tell the world openly that those who claim to be orthodox Christians are not really Christians at all, and that the Mormon Church is the only true Christian Church. This in fact is what it teaches privately, but not publicly.
Statements of 5 Christian Denominations on Mormonism
Christian churches teach belief in God as an eternal, self-existent, immortal being, unfettered by corporeal limitations and unchanging in both character and nature. In recent years, several Christian denominations have made studies of Mormon teaching and come to the conclusion that there are irreconcilable differences between LDS doctrine and Christian beliefs based on the Bible.
• Statement of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
• Statement of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Statement of the Roman Catholic Church
• Statement of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Statement of the United Methodist Church
..
Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
Pretty straightforward to me.
The Torah explains who the Messiah is and what he would teach. The NT is the story of his Apostles as they interacted with him and what they were told to tell of him. The golden tablets on American soil that disappeared.....ppppppppppplllllllll. That is religious dogma. It adds to the word and detracts by doing so. Some of the Catholic cathecism does so also. That is one reason so many reject religion, but worship God and believe in the sacrifice of Jesus.
Sometimes the truth hurts and the tears come later. All my prayers go out to you.
Well, as you may know, even perfectly fine -- horizontally that is -- externally identified Christians won't become heaven-based based upon their level of "fineness."
The more I think about it, I think that's actually what bothers a few non-Mormon allies who come on board these threads.
I think a few of them think, "hey, if the external morality of the Mormons isn't good enough for heaven, where does that leave me?" And so, they temporarily align with the Mormons on these threads vs. those who are perceived to attack the premise that God gives out heaven on the basis of a sort-of "grade system" -- like it was morality school or somethin'.
The problem is...it's all pass-fail. Either we get there on Christ's righteousness -- and His alone -- or we don't get there. James says if we break one part of the law, we're guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10).
Either Christ and trusting in His perfection is our righteousness, or, we try to establish it on our own.
That...is Mormon heresy...and yet it's Biblical teaching through and through.
Whatever righteousness we display is part of the fruit of the Spirit -- and any other qualities He transmits through us.
He gets the glory in living in us as His temple.
The main temple emphasis in Mormonism is a man-made facility that will one day be destroyed without hope of resurrection.
Christians beware there will be many whom claim they are of Christ, but they have false teachings and false teachers. they will cast into an eternal fire and be damned for entirety.
Be like the Bereans and read the scripture so you can be knowledgeable of others whom strive to teach diverse teachings.
By looking at the Bible and historic christianity, you can see clearly that Mormonism is a false church. It has nothing to do with Christianity.
Compare Mormonism or Church of the Latter Saints as it strive to call itself to that of the democrats and Progressives. Strive to make themselves seem like something entirely good and beneficial, when in fact they are evil, corrupt and detrimental to the well being of those around them.
but your everyday Mormon does not spread such venom, and I doubt they even know about it.”
- - - - - -
If you think that then you are way wrong. They know it, they tell each other about it, they brag about it in ‘the church’ and then they lie to the faces of ‘gentiles’ (all non Mormons - even Jews) in order to be accepted.
How do I know? Because I used to be one. Then God saved me.
“Why don’t you know go after Muslims??”
Too dangerous?
Kevin, it’s like this. Folks who obsess about Mormons when there are better things to do are basically deranged. That’s it in a nutshell.
BTW I didn’t name names, see, so my statement isn’t making it personal. I can’t help if some deranged person takes it personally, though. :-)
They don't drive down the left side of the road, like the Limeys do, either.
I'm sure you may have a point, but it wasn't explained too well.
You know, I tire of these liberal tactics by posters like yourself.
Colorado voters in the 90s simply didn't want civil rights protections extended to homosexuals. The black-robed rogues of the Supreme Court overturned it about a decade after that, claiming that Colorado voters showed "animus" toward homosexuals and lesbians.
For one of the first times in our Free Republic, voters were disallowed to think in a certain way when they voted. It became, in effect, a "thought crime" to vote with certain motivations -- as if these black-robed rogues could discern Colorado voters' motivations at such a distance & lump them together to begin with!
You display this same sort of internal judgmentalism with such a simple question.
Then, once the gay activist community realized they had a court precedent of your "animus" angle, what have they done with it?
They've been tossing it up for the past year and a half trying to use it vs. Prop 8 -- something many Mormon citizens opposed with their $ and voice!
Examples:
* Prop 8 On Trial--Animus takes center stage
* 'Voter animus' to be issue in California marriage case
All you continue to do is to reinforce liberal logic...
(I certainly won't say it, but I'm sure some people could tell you where to stick that animus!)
Their loss...
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
It does NOT just say 'study'; but do so to make yourself APPROVED unto GOD.
No; YOU are the reason you don't go to church!
YOU are SO much better than everyone else.
I believe in God and Jesus, but I refuse to hang around people like you..
And yet those that we would consider as intelligent (Glen Beck as an example) keep falling for this BS. Of course, as a Protestant, I believe he moved from one cult to another. But that is just me. ;-)
But you ain't GOD.
What does HE require?
"What does it profit a man..."
Also, the BYU Cougars are one of the dirtiest football teams I've ever seen. They grab, hold, bite, whatever, and get away with it because the referees refuse to believe a bunch of "nice Mormon boys" would play dirty.
Finally, I know several Mormon couples who've divorced, showing they're no different from anybody else (sadly including Evangelical Christians).
There are plenty of good arguments backed by facts 0n this thread. My post is more emotional, but I still believe in it.
Good statement...
Mormon Missionary Rules
The Mormon Scriptures teach that the purpose of life is a test to see if we will do everything that God commands us to (Abraham 3:25). Once we get pretty advanced in the game God might push the envelope on this and command us to do something totally bizarre and immoral such as killing our children (Genesis 22:2), but most of us never reach that level.
The Mormon missionary is given innumerable opportunities every day to show God that he will obey. The missionary's life is defined by rules. The rules dictate who he will be with, what he does with each hour of the week, which books he may read, and that he won't receive information about the world through radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, or the Internet. And he is assigned a vigilante to follow him around 24-7 to make sure he obeys. A church video about missionary life has a scene depicting a missionary reading the newspaper. That missionary was breaking the rules.
Last night, my wife saw me reading the Missionary Guide. It brought back all sorts of nasty memories from her mission and she said I must be a masochist for reading it. I laughed at that, but now I'm wondering if she had a point--just thinking about the mission rules is painful to me. As a missionary, I felt that the mission, God's church, and ultimately God himself despised individuality and freedom. My efforts to obey the mission rules resulted in immeasurable amounts of emotional and physical pain. I have had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis since I was a child, and it was impossible to take care of my body and obey the missionary rules. So, I tortured my body throughout my mission, and abused it to the point where I literally couldn't stand, much less walk.
The mission rules caused my body permanent damage, and did serious damage to my emotional health--I've been home for over 10 years and apparently I still haven't completely recovered.
The above are the rules from The Missionary Handbook (commonly known as the "White Bible"). It is a little booklet that the missionaries carry in their shirt pocket. There are many rules the missionary is subjected to that aren't in the White Bible, but these are the basics. I am frequently asked if I am serious about these rules. The answer is yes. A few parenthetical comments have been added.
As you think about these rules, it is worth also considering psychologist Steven Hassan's BITE model. Hassan asserts that if a group passes a certain threshold of manipulating its members behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and access to information, the group is rightly categorized as a cult and is exercising destructive mind control. You can read about his model here. You may decide for yourself if such manipulation exists, if it is harmful, and whether or not the Mormon missionary experience is a good example of this phenomenon. Here is a site that brings the BITE model to bear on the Mormon missionary program.
(From --> http://www.lds4u.com/Missionaries/rules.htm )
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.