Are Mormons Christians?

Having sat at the feet of the grandson of Joseph Smith who converted to Christianity (not mormonism) and listened to him extol and explain how perverted the founders of the mormon religion are, I cannot in any way attach mormon and Christianity in any way. The book of Galations and Revelation both speak of the damnation that comes upon anyone who adds to or detracts from the Word of God. The mormons do just this with their "primers" which are taught as the fuller "gospel" if you will. There are those who are not Christian in the Biblical sense in many religious organizations. Jesus Christ is God and no one else can be. The Bible is the Word of God and nothing is to be added to it. Distrust any religious organization where there is secrecy, manipulation and legalish. Further, "distrust all within whom the impulse to punish is powerful" Neitzsche In closing, please do not associate mormonism, a religious organization, with Christianity, a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Father, three in one.

Then why does it also say that in Deuteronomy 4: 2? Should we have stopped the bible at that point? Have you really read and understood the bible, book of mormon and all? Why do the Native Americans look more like Middle Eastern People than Russians or Chinese or any other nation in Asia? If Mormonism isn't based on Christianity now than what is it based on?
Rose

I've always seen Mormons as patriotic Jehovah's Witnesses. They each have their own interpretations of the Bible (and work vigorously to spread the word by knocking on doors), each believe they'll be the last ones standing, and each pay their taxes. The only difference I see is politics.

I don't see Mormons as Christians.

Why do you think we don't believe in Christ?
Rose

I must say I would like to echo John Porter comments. "I don't see Mormons as Christians."
Very good article!!

I repeat "Why do you think we don't believe in Christ?"
Rose

The responses thus far remind me of past studies about "self image". Peoples self image rarely correspond with the image others have of them.

Steven:

You said: "Having sat at the feet of the grandson of Joseph Smith who converted to Christianity (not mormonism) and listened to him extol and explain how perverted the founders of the mormon religion are, I cannot in any way attach mormon and Christianity in any way."

Would you have also sat at the feet of Judas and believed what he said about Jesus? You are implying a false sense of authority here. You don't say which grandson, but he was probably never a Mormon and likely never adhered to his grandfather's teachings.

You said: "The book of Galations and Revelation both speak of the damnation that comes upon anyone who adds to or detracts from the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God and nothing is to be added to it."

The Book of Deuteronomy has the same counsel. Using your interpretation we would have to throw out not only the Books of Galatians and Revelations, but also most of the bible! Think about what you're saying!

You said "The mormons do just this with their "primers" which are taught as the fuller "gospel" if you will."

As a Mormon, I've studied and used the bible all of my life. So has every other practicing Mormon I know.

You said: "There are those who are not Christian in the Biblical sense in many religious organizations."

Perhaps, but as bible believers and as Christians, aren't we cautioned about judging them?

You said: "Jesus Christ is God and no one else can be."

Amen, brother.

You said: "Distrust any religious organization where there is secrecy, manipulation and legalish."

Is this part of your Christianity?

You said: "In closing, please do not associate mormonism, a religious organization, with Christianity, a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Father, three in one."

If you define Christianity as that religion that evolved after God stopped sending revelation, after all of the apostles were martyred and as the European world descended into what's usually called the Dark Ages. . . that form of worship became pretty dark itself. Sometimes it's called historic or traditional Christianity. I don't think very many people today want to be associated with what really happened back then, including me!

You are welcome to your opinion. That really is your choice. Other people reading your post should realize that your opinions as expressed don't respond to my Mormon beliefs and appear nonsensical to me.

Best wishes . . .

I loved the way you said that. I know that I am also related to Joseph Smith but didn't know it until I was researching my ancestry. Apparently not all of his relatives stayed with the main branch of the church and some just fell away. Some even thought that after Joseph died one of his sons or nephews should have taken over the position of Prophet. I wouldn't have joined the church unless it believed and followed Jesus' teachings.
Rose

John and Maureen

I encourage you to look a little deeper before judging whether I am my fellow Mormons are Christians. Politics is hardly a Christian criteria. Being patirotic and paying taxes are also usually considered non religious activities.

...and if I'm privileged to be around at the last day, I certainly indend to be kneeling and not standing!

I also intend to be kneeling at the last of the battle.
Rose

I am Roman Catholic, but I believe Mormans are Christians. They believei in the basic concepts that make a person a Christian. So what if they send out missionaries to convince other people to join them. What makes them any dirffernt from the Protestants who place religious tracts all over the place, preach on television and the radio, and send people to places like Ehiopia and Vietnam to do the same thing, for which they dislike the Mormans.

People who say that the Bible should not be added to and use quotations from certain books in it to prove their point and ignore older books in it should not speak at all, for they seem wholly ignorant of how the Bible came into being. God certainly didn't put it together. Early Christian churches didn't have a Bible and used various sets of texts at their meetings. One chuch might have a sacred group of readings that varied from a church in another city or another part of the same city. It wasn't until Emperor Constantine the Great decided that Christinity should be the official religion of the Roman Empire and wanted every Christian to hold the same body of work as sacred that the Bible came into being. Certainly the New Testement books that are quoted to discredit the Mormans were not a part of any Bible when they were written. And, if there hadn't been some kind of "legalish" system in place in the fourth century of the Common Era, there very well may not have been a coherent set of beliefs that Christians are expected to hold. As well, if the Catholic Church (before it split into various branches later) had not been around when the Roman Empire fell and the Middle Ages commenced, we may very well not have a Bible today. It may have been lost with so many other things.

What is so wrong about a branch of Chrisitianity using more than the Bible to teach its members? Just becaus it is in addition to the Bible doesn't seem to make it a bad thing. People who only use the Bible to teach are actually adding to it. I would wager they are not going back to St. Paul's letters in their original Greek or placing those texts in proper historical context before they teach them. So they, or someone else, has interpreted the Bible and are teaching others what they think it means. This is an addition.

I find it interesting that some people will judge other people as unholy because they are not living a life that is outlined in the Bible. Those people, firstly, are not lliving a Christiian life because no one can deny that biblical texts advise against judging other people. Christians follow both the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures. If someone says in order to be Christian you must adhere to teachings that are in the Bible, then that person must him/herself do the same. This means he or she cannot treat the Bible as if he or she is in a cafeteria. Everything in it must be followed, or you have not a right to complain that soemone else is not living his or her life as expressed in the various scriptures. This is expecially true of the people who claim to be Christian but throw out these beliefs when acting to the contrary is in ther best interests.

What else can I said besides That I love the way you wrote the explaination?
Rose

Edward Sanford

Yours is a most compelling argument. Thanks for contributing to our understanding. Your more inclusive vision is a step in the direction of religious tolerance.

I agree.
Rose

The answer to the question is, "No. It is not Christian." Like all non-Christian cults, the Jehovah's Witness organization distorts the essential doctrines of Christianity. It denies the deity of Christ, His physical resurrection, and salvation by grace. This alone makes it non-Christian. To support its erring doctrines, the Watchtower organization (which is the author and teacher of all official Jehovah's Witness theology), has even altered the Bible to make it agree with its changing and non-Christian teachings.
reply by mmmhollywould on January 27, 2007 4:59 PM (EST)

I cannot say a lot bad about the Mormons bu to ocmpare them to Jehovahs witnesses is a horrible. Their is a HUGE differnce in the two and JW's while they may be good peopel per se are not Christians and the Faith is not a good faith and it is based on lies.
comment by mmmhollywould on January 27, 2007 4:55 PM (EST) [ reply ]

We will have to wait on the possibility that a JW will respond. That religion was introduced by a respondant off the cuff and diverted the topic away from our original question. But thanks for participating in our discussion. I suspect you have aroused curiosity about that topic in some of our readers.

John is right, the JW practice Arianism. Making Christ a demi-god (kinda)

I am Lutheran and I think that there is no doubt that Mormons think themsleves consider themselves Christian ei. Church of Latterday Saints. ...(get ready for the but)............But the Mormons who practice polyigamy think that that is what Christ did and think Christ had children.

If He did have children then he wouldn't have been divine, if he wasn't divine then He didn't come from God, If He didn't come from God then all of Christianity is a crock.

That's what all the fuss about the Divinci Code was all about. IT WAS FICTION!!!

but in the original text for when Mary Magdalene sees Jesus after he has risen does it sound like he is talking to a wife. And if he was the traditional Jewish son; he would have been engaged to someone. If he was following obediently the commandment about honor you parents. While in the olden times girls were in engaged when young. While young boys couldn't get engaged until they have finished their apprenticeship. They men had to be able to support their families. And so following Jewish traditions he would have at least have been engaged. Yes he was of divine blood but don't forget about Mary's blood (his Mother). He came to earth to be human and follow the rules down here at the time he lived.
Rose

Tom L.

You're laboring under some tremendous misinformation about Mormons. We don't practice polygamy, we don't believe Christ was married and we don't believe that Jesus had any children. We do believe that Jesus is divine, the Only Begotten Son of God. I didn't see any official fuss about the Divinci Code, it was just fiction.

Have a good day!

There are some sects that have fallen away from the main branch that still practice polygamy like the Fundamentalist LDS whose leader is Warren Jeffs.
rose

I believe in Christ!

I am saddened by those who read this and nothing else and then determine that Mormonism is Christianity.

Of course, if I want to fit into the larger denomination, I will promote the portions of my belief system that reinforce a commonality. I will not mention the odd particulars that have caused decades of citizens to reject Mormonism as a cult.

Mormons believe that Jesus was once a human like us and that because of his good works, he rose to a position of being Saviour of our planet. They also believe that each Mormon can do the same. This is blasphemy and certainly doesn't fit into the pale of orthodoxy.

And, if you study the life of the founders, the entire Mormon revelation has been completely discredited. The history of Joseph Smith is fully documented and not a positive biography.

I do not want to prohibit anyone from seeking God. And I appreciate the way the Mormons, when pushed out of the East, inhabited a desolate land and created a society in the desert.

But please don't ask me to accept major tenets of your beliefs in the name of ecumenicalism. I believe in the truth that is so evident in the Gospels. That is sufficient for me.

Jud.

No we believe that he was the son of God and Mary. And now we are everywhere in the world. How do you feel now?
Rose

I am a member of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" I do believe in Christ. I know he lives and that he loves all of us. He came to earth for the purpose of bringing souls back unto God and He made it possible for us to return by his atoning sacrifice on the cross and in the Garden of Gessemene. I cannot stand by and say that I am not Christian, when all of what I believe is centered on Jesus Christ. To me this is "Christian". I agree we may not believe in the same doctrines as alot of other organized Christian religions. The basis of our beliefs however say that we most assuredly believe in Christ.

Judson Vaughn
I want to comment on what you said about mormons believing that Jesus was once human like us.
We do not believe this.
--We believe that Jesus Christ came to earth and is God's Only Begotten Son whom He sent to redeem the world from sin and make it possible for us to repent and return to live with Him (Jesus Christ) and God in Heaven.
We do not believe that he rose to be the Saviour of our planet. He was our Saviour even before the world began. God the Father sent His Son to the earth to do His will.

Furthermore, I'd like to post what the Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord in whom we believe as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said in the Scriptures.

—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.
4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles?
5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have acursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.
6 Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?
7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?
8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two enations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.
9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.
10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.
11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.

These are the words of Jesus Christ. He is referring to those who believe they need not other words other than the Bible or that it cannot be added to. The Book of Mormon is another testiment of Jesus Christ of those living on the American continent.

It's interesting to me that those who are so vehement in their judgement of Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses have obviously not gotten to know what those folks believe by asking those folks. They have read their information in books written against these religions.

I'm not going to judge one way or another. I know that both of those religions have Christian beliefs, but I also know that it is in a man's heart where the decision is made as to whether or not he is a Christian and I believe the Christian scriptures warn against judging as that is for God to do. Which, since those folks have broken God's law about judging, opens a whole other discussion as to whether those folks are Christians.