Are Mormons Christians?
This is the introduction to a comparison of beliefs, see link above for the whole article.
The question “Are Mormons Christian?” is probably the most popular question in the world for those just discovering the church and its beliefs. It’s also probably the most polarizing one. How should it be answered?
To help everyone understand the question, I’ve prepared a brief comparison of the beliefs of LDS (if you don’t know, this abbreviation derives from the official name of the Mormon church: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”) to the beliefs of most Christians, from the time of Christ to the present day.To demonstrate Christian beliefs, I’ll be using the Nicene Creed (or, if you like to nit-pick, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed). Catholics profess it each Sunday as a statement of our common faith, and many other Christian communions also use it, or at least accept the beliefs contained in it. The LDS church doesn’t have as complete a creed; the nearest thing to it is the “Articles of Faith,” which is contained in one of their volumes of scripture called The Pearl of Great Price. But it doesn’t cover as much of their belief as the Creed does ours. So for LDS beliefs, the reader will just have to take my word for it. I’ve read all of the LDS scriptures and interacted with LDS for a little over two years, so I think I can be fairly accurate. Though LDS authorities sometimes have varying opinions on some points of doctrine, I’ll only include that which is firmly established as official LDS belief at this time.
The question “Are Mormons Christian?” is probably the most popular question in the world for those just discovering the church and its beliefs. It’s also probably the most polarizing one. How should it be answered?
To help everyone understand the question, I’ve prepared a brief comparison of the beliefs of LDS (if you don’t know, this abbreviation derives from the official name of the Mormon church: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”) to the beliefs of most Christians, from the time of Christ to the present day.To demonstrate Christian beliefs, I’ll be using the Nicene Creed (or, if you like to nit-pick, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed). Catholics profess it each Sunday as a statement of our common faith, and many other Christian communions also use it, or at least accept the beliefs contained in it. The LDS church doesn’t have as complete a creed; the nearest thing to it is the “Articles of Faith,” which is contained in one of their volumes of scripture called The Pearl of Great Price. But it doesn’t cover as much of their belief as the Creed does ours. So for LDS beliefs, the reader will just have to take my word for it. I’ve read all of the LDS scriptures and interacted with LDS for a little over two years, so I think I can be fairly accurate. Though LDS authorities sometimes have varying opinions on some points of doctrine, I’ll only include that which is firmly established as official LDS belief at this time.
posted by Sean at 3/24/2006 08:12:00 PM
2 Comments:
Have you read into the Mormon understanding of the Trinity? They use the same words, but the meaning behind them is completely different in that each person of the Trinity is believed to be completely individual, rather than "one in being with the Father." They are united only in purpose.
I've read a little. I think its kind of modalistic as well. I'm currently trying to study this a little closer being that my boss is a mormon.
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