Posted by
Steve on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 2:05:44 PM
Dennis Prager wrote an article about why Evangelicals do not like Mormons. In the article, he wrote that the main reason that Evangelicals do not like Mormons is that they object to Mormons claiming they are Christians. I always thought that Evangelicals were bigots, now I am sure they are bigots.
My opinion on whether a person is a Christian or not is whether that person professes a belief in Jesus Christ and that they live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. If both criteria are met, the person is a Christian. Evangelicals have a different definition of Christian. They believe that anyone that does not subscribe to the Nicene Creed is not a Christian.
A little history is in order at this point. At the time of Christ and for the next almost 300 years there was no disagreement on the nature of Jesus Christ. He was separate from his father and separate from the Holy Ghost. Because he was resurrected he was known to have a physical body. Around 300 AD Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire wanted to be a Christian. He had a vision which helped him win his victory that made him Emperor. As a result, he wanted to recognize the church. He called together leaders of the various Christian churches to Nice and asked them to come up with what made someone a Christian. He also wanted something that meant as little change for him to make as possible. At Nice, the various Christian leaders discussed the nature of God and the Godhead. The ones closest to Constantine’s view of God won and wrote the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed was accepted by the Roman Catholic Church at that time and has continued to this day. Protestant Churches broke off from the Catholic Church and had nothing to go on except for what the Catholic Church believed. They then adopted positions that were in line with that of the Nicene Creed.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not a Protestant Church. We did not break off from any other church. We were started after God the Father and Jesus Christ visited Joseph Smith in 1820. Since the Church is not a Protestant Church nor is it a Catholic Church, we do not believe the Nicene Creed. We believe in Jesus Christ as he was understood before Emperor Constantine called the Christian leaders together in Nice. That is why we call ourselves Christians. We believe in Jesus Christ as he was understood by the Christians from the time of Jesus Christ until the death of the Apostles almost 100 years later.
Evangelicals believe in Jesus Christ as understood after the Nicene Creed was written around the year 300 AD. We must still be fighting the battles that were fought during the great conference in Nice. Some of the leaders wanted the traditional Jesus with a body of flesh and bones. The winners followed Constantine’s lead in wanting a Jesus that was without form. It is easier to worship something that is not understood and more mysterious. Evangelicals are just jealous that they do not understand who they worship. We know who we worship and that makes our love grow stronger. They do not know who they worship and that lack of knowledge is what makes them insecure around those that do. I am not saying that they do not love Jesus. I am just saying that Evangelicals just do not know who Jesus is. They say he is the Son of God, yet he is also God. How is that possible? They will say that with God all things are possible. We say he is the Son of God. He has a Father who is God.
Dennis Prager says that Evangelicals would be more comfortable with Mormons if we said we established a new religion with Jesus as our Savior. That way we would differentiate between their lack of knowledge and our knowledge. That is what happened. We are just trying to fit into the English language. When someone uses the term Christian, what do they mean? Are they Christians, like from the dictionary? Or are they Christians, as Evangelicals understand the term? Mormons are Christians as the dictionary understands the term, not as Evangelicals use the term. As Evangelicals use the term, we are not Christians. We do not believe in the Nicene Creed. Therefore we are not Evangelical Christians nor are we Catholic Christians. We are Pre-Nicene Creed Christians.