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Christianity and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Many Christians who are acquainted with Mormonism do not accept the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as a Christian denomination. They reject the claim that Latter-day Saints (LDS), often called Mormons, are in any way Christian despite the LDS' family values, viewing Mormonism as heretical polytheism or tritheism and remonstrate that the LDS' use of the Bible as one part of its scriptural canon does not make them Christian. LDS, however, consider their religion as well as mainstream Christian denominations to be Christian although they reject many tenets of mainstream Christian dogma. The LDS doctrines and beliefs certainly differ greatly from modern and historical mainstream Christianity—differences which LDS unobjectionably acknowledge. A comparison of mainstream Christianity and the LDS Church, a catalog of their positions on this issue and a history of the relationship between them follow below.

Table of contents
1 Reasons that the LDS Church considers itself Christian
2 Reasons that others do not consider the LDS Church to be Christian
3 How Members of the LDS Church view differences
4 Are Mormons Christians?
5 Historical background
6 See also
7 References
8 External Links

Reasons that the LDS Church considers itself Christian

The LDS Church claims that apostolic succession was broken during the Great Apostasy, or falling away from the teachings of Jesus Christ and later restored in America. The LDS Church maintains that God the Father and his son Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith, Jr near Palmyra, New York in 1820. They believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet whose task was to restore the church and correct doctrines and practices to the Earth.

Latter-day Saints profess a belief in the New Testament, which explains that Jesus:

Although there are some differences in Latter-day Saint beliefs in the traditional Trinity as compared to their belief in what is commonly referred by Church members as the Godhead, the doctrinal section of Christianity is a fairly accurate representation of LDS beliefs that coincide with mainstream Christianity.

LDS members believe that these ideas are the core beliefs of Christianity, and thus they profess that they are Christians. (See Nicene creed for a common statement of Christian faith).

Reasons that others do not consider the LDS Church to be Christian

Latter-day Saints differ from traditional Christian doctrine in the following ways:

The following items do not coincide with most Calvinistic protestant sect doctrines:

Another doctrinal difference concerning the LDS practice of baptism for the dead demonstrates their belief that non-LDS do not have the Priesthood authority to act in the name of God, and that non-LDS baptisms (or any other Christian ordinance) are not legitimate ordinances. LDS baptism is considered by them a prerequisite to exaltation comparable to salvation or theosis in other Christian religions. LDS baptize (including other LDS ordinances) everyone (post-humously if not done while the person is living) who has not been baptized by a LDS-Priesthood-authority. Many Christians interpret this to mean that LDS do not consider them truly Christian, as baptism has always been a rite of initiation or entrance into Christianity. By post-humously baptizing Catholics, Orthodox, and other Christians in the same way that they post-humously baptize Jews, Muslims, and other non-Mormons, they demonstrate that all such people are equally separate from the Mormon faith and need to be given the chance to post-humously embrace it or become members of it, so that they can enter the Kingdom of God.

How Members of the LDS Church view differences

Latter-day Saints as a whole do not identify themselves as seperate from mainstream Christianity, however they do recognize some key differences. Typically members of the LDS Church believe that most Traditional Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant adherents have much truth, and strong faith in Christ, which is essential for their salvation. They also believe that most of these people will have the opportunity to accept the full gospel of Jesus Christ prior to the "final judgement," and that many (if not most) that truly have faith in Christ will be "saved" or possibly even exalted.

The biggest difference between mainstream Christianity and the LDS Church that members will typically say are three. These include:

Other members of the church will include the Gift of the Holy Ghost (as opposed to the manifestations of the Holy Ghost), Church organization, an open canon, and Temples (which includes Eternal Marriage).

Members of the Church typically believe that differences in the Trinity and the LDS view of the Godhead are relatively minor and can be supported by biblical scripture, ante-Nicean tradition, similar beliefs in some protestant churches and modern revelation.

Are Mormons Christians?

In his book, Are Mormons Christians?, Stephen E. Robinson, an LDS scholar, addresses the issue of excluding Latter-day Saints as Christians by definition. Some critics deny that Latter-day Saints are Christians by using the term 'Christian' in a (usually implicit) historical, traditional, canonical, doctrinal or sectarian sense that specifically excludes Latter-day Saints. However, using 'Christian' in such a way is merely a way of saying that it is only one particular history, tradition, canon, doctrine or sect that is justified when such justifications are debatable; in some uses such specialized definitions could fairly exclude the primitive church and Jesus Christ himself. Robinson also observes that detractors sometimes exclude the Latter-day Saints by contrasting a biased definition of Christian with a misrepresentation of Mormon doctrines, and also exclude by labeling the Church with ad hominem tags like cult. The exclusion phenomena which Robinson observes may be seen between relatively antagonist sects (or even between sects of other religions) past and present. Robinson's contribution is unique in presenting how the exclusion phenomena is applied to Latter-day Saints in particular (with an acknowledgement that some Latter-day Saints have also excluded other sects in a similar manner) and in presenting Christian history, tradition, canon, doctrine, etc. that supports a definition that is inclusive of Mormonism. However, most other Christian churches, the Catholic, Orthodox, and many Protestant, do not recognise Mormons as even heretics, because of the massive belief difference.

Historical background

Early leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at times voiced views concerning "the Christian world" which could be considered antagonistic. This is understandable in light of the sometimes violent conflicts that early Mormons had with those professing to be Christians.

The Church's founder and first prophet, Joseph Smith, at times criticized what he saw as important flaws in Christianity. He once said,

"we may look at the Christian world and see the apostasy there has been from the apostolic platform; and who can look at this and not exclaim, in the language of Isaiah, 'The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant?'" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 15).

In another instance, Smith said,
"The teachers of the day say that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and they are all in one body and one God. Jesus prayed that those that the Father had given him out of the world might be made one in them, as they were one [one in spirit, in mind, in purpose]. If I were to testify that the Christian world were wrong on this point, my testimony would be true" (Ibid, pg 311).

As for Catholicism and Protestantism, Smith had these words:
"Here is a principle of logic...I will illustrate by an old apple tree. Here jumps off a branch and says, I am the true tree, and you are corrupt. If the whole tree is corrupt, are not its branches corrupt? If the Catholic religion is a false religion, how can any true religion come out of it?" (Ibid, pg 375).

These grievances seem to be largely doctrinal in nature. Smith and the Latter-day Saints weren't often critical of other faiths. No doubt remembering the injustices the Latter-day Saints suffered because of religious intolerance, Joseph Smith also said,
"I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves" (Ibid, pg 313).

Smith's successor, Brigham Young, also sounded a conciliatory tone, saying,
"Some who call themselves Christians are very tenacious with regard to the Universalians, yet the latter possess many excellent ideas and good truths. Have the Catholics? Yes, a great many very excellent truths. Have the Protestants? Yes, from first to last. Has the infidel? Yes, he has a good deal of truth; and truth is all over the earth." (Discourses of Brigham Young, pg 10).

The Church's 11th Article of Faith (penned by Joseph Smith) states,
"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may" (11th Articles of Faith).

In the last several decades, the LDS church has been making a sustained effort to demonstrate that Latter-day Saints' beliefs are associated with Christianity. These efforts have included participation in ecumenical endeavors, adding the subtitle "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" to The Book of Mormon, and recently re-branding of the church's official logo to place more emphasis on the phrase "The Church of Jesus Christ."

Most Christians hold that the tremendous doctrinal differences between Mormonism and mainstream Christianity are signifigant enough to define LDS teachings as non-Christian. Mormons believe these differences are due to corruption and apostasy in the early Christian era, specifically abandonment of revelation in favor of counsels of men, including rejection of the Trinity in favor of a Godhead containing three separate individuals. On the other hand, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox in particular insist that the teachings of the church in those centuries were consistent with what the apostles taught, which the apostles learned from Christ.

See also

References

External Links