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 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
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Show MoreIn 1820, at age fourteen, Joseph Smith Jr. was confronted with a decision to join a church. Being a man of no formal education or religious organization, he went to a grove of trees to pray and ask God which church was the right one to join. Smith said God and Jesus appeared to him as “Two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description.” (Book of Mormon: Joseph Smith History Ch. 1 Verse 17) They told him that none of the churches had it right, and he should not join any of them.
A large portion of the Book of Mormon describes the history of several pre-Christian civilizations that existed throughout America. A group of Israelites lead by a righteous man named Nephi established a society o...
...ately I have found that I have a great deal of respect for most who follow the Mormon faith and look forward to hopefully becoming friends with a person who is a Mormon.
Mormonism is a way of life that is practiced by members of the Church of Jesus
Bushman, Claudia L., and Richard L. Bushman. Building the Kingdom: a History of Mormons in America. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
“I am not learned, but I have as good feelings as any man.” – Joseph Smith Jr. It was Joseph Smith who brought the Mormon religion about again. It was about while Christ was alive but fell away as people only took part of what he said and created their own religion. As time passed it was forgotten and only came about again after God prophesied to Joseph Smith and told him what to do. Joseph Smith became the first prophet and brought the Mormon religion back to the surface. Now the Mormon religion relies on their history to teach of Joseph Smith, the Mormon trail, and of Mormons today.
In 1830, Smith organized the first Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints based on the translation he did from the golden plate. Smith’s new church was based on Book of Mormon which promised the restoration of the early Christian church by revitalize the views about the nature of God, cosmology, family structures, political organization, and religious collectivism. (Joseph Smith, 201...
Before comparing Mormonism to a cult, a definition must be laid down. A cult, according to Dr. Walter R. Martin as quoted in Edmond Gruss’s book entitled Cults and the Occult, is “the Adherence to major doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity, yet which claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources. Cultism, in short, is any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith” (Gruss 3). Anthony Hoekema calls cults the “unpaid bills of the church” (Hoekema 1). Hoekema also goes on to say that cults sometimes arise because they believe “established churches have failed to emphasize certain important aspects of religious life, or have neglected certain techniques or values.” ( 1) Many times cults either contain all or some of the following ten characteristics.
Mormons have gone through a lot, have broken apart and come together several times while the different branches of Mormonism continue to grow and new branches may still form in the futures. One thing is known that the ‘new religion’ is strong and its believers continue to have faith. To outsides certain practices do seem questionable, yet one question remains, if it is part of Christianity or their own ‘new religion.’
...shall, eds. Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia. New York, New York: ABC-CLIO, August 10, 2010. Print.
...For Mormonism only being over 200 years old, it already has over 10,000,000 followers. But with every religion come the non-believers, and the non-believers and ex-Mormons believe that Smith was a fraud. There was also a sense of fear of Mormon take over and power. There was fear that Mormons were trying to undermine the American institution of marriage. Americans persecuted the Mormons because they believed that if the Mormons gained too much power that polygamy would be allowed and monogamy would no longer exist. Bushman is a believer who wrote the book for other believers to read, but there is little effort on Bushman’s part to fling Smith in a flawless light. Instead, Bushman sees the controversial issues of Mormonism with polygamy, and Bushman tries to provide information and explain Joseph Smith’s notions in a way that is acceptable by the Mormons’ terms.
On the other hand, Christianity traces its origin from Jesus Christ from whom the disciples, at Antioch, were first called Christians due to their manner of living, which was like Jesus Christ’s. Both Christians and Jews believe in one God who is called Jehovah; however, the point of divergence is that while Christians believe in the trinity (that is, God is one substance but three persons in one namely the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), the Jews believe in God being just one substance one
I am regularly (such as last night) in conversation with well-educated Mormons who struggle when trying to deal with rational concepts related to things like science, investment strategies, politics and other purely secular matters. And I see in their struggles infections likely attributable to the magical thinking at the heart of what is required these days to be a literally believing Mormon. The conversation in which I participated last night that caused this essay had to do with an investment opportunity that a bright, successful young Mormon had been offered. Some Mormons still respect my judgment regarding investments that seem not to require "the Spirit", and he wanted to run by me what had been proposed to him. I was happy to listen for a few minutes and tell him what I thought.
The Church of Latter Day Saints otherwise known as the Mormon Church is very different from the Catholic Church. The Mormon Church origin goes back to the 1800’s in Fayette, New York. The founder of this religion is Joseph Smith; the
The Mormons as do all Christians believe in God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and The Holy Ghost. By the time a follower reaches university age they can then start missionary work. I suppose your thinking why should they wait as they have made a life decision when he or she was 8. Well it’s because they can go all over the world with some sort of maturity and common sense. The Church has some 60,000 full-time missionaries serving throughout the world. They are typically young men dressed in a white shirt, black tie and black pants. The missionaries contribute to their own support for up to 18 months and can be anywhere in the world spreading the word of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.