Posted by
Steve on Monday, August 15, 2011 9:11:47 AM
Today, I want to talk about something that has bothered me for some time. Every time Mitt Romney is discussed or any other candidate who happens to be LDS, someone or a group of someone’s writes about how Mormons are not Christians and so on. I know that I wrote about this during the 2008 campaign, but it does need to be addressed again. This time I thought I would use the logic of the Evangelicals that claim that LDS members are not Christians in reverse and see how they come out.
First, let us look at their claim that “Mormons” are not Christians. The name of the “Mormon” Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If the church was not Christian, it would not have the name of Jesus Christ in its title. Most Evangelicals belong to the Baptist church or other similar church. The name of the Baptist church is not The Church of Jesus Christ, so are they Christians? Their church does not say that they are so maybe they do not believe in Jesus Christ, they might worship some other being and just talk about Jesus to fool us.
Another argument that Evangelicals use is that the Jesus that they worship is not the same Jesus that Mormons worship. Now The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses the King James Version of the Bible and the New Testament as the central source for our information on Jesus Christ. If we worship a different Jesus, then maybe the Baptists or other so called Christian church uses some other text to tell them about Jesus. Or if they use the Bible, they have changed the Bible from the King James Version of the Bible so that their Jesus has changed to fit into their changing view of the world.
As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we accept anyone as Christian who claims to worship Christ. That does not seem to be the case for other so-called Christian groups. We are not afraid of other Christian groups who claim to worship Jesus and what they believe. If their Jesus is not exactly the same as ours, the main thing is that they recognize Jesus as their Savior. Errors can be corrected through discussion.
Many outside of the LDS church believe that we worship Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was the man who prayed which church was right and saw Our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ appear to him. They told him to join to church then on the earth. Through further instruction, he organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We revere him as a prophet, just like we revere Moses or Abraham as prophets, no more, no less. If you came to an LDS church on a Sunday, you might hear reference to Joseph Smith in a class or two, but overall would have a hard time hearing anything about him most weeks. On the other hand, you would hear a lot of talk about Jesus in every meeting and class. But the people who make the claim we are not Christian, have never set foot inside a chapel.
If you throw stones, it is best not to live in a glass house. I hope that this discussion has given you an insight into the controversy. This discussion will not change any minds that are not already open to the truth. Minds that are closed to new ideas or different ideas will decide that my discussion is not worth their time and ridicule it. That is fine as it just shows their ignorance. If it causes even one person who believes that Mormons are not Christians to think twice, the article will have served its purpose. Thank you for this opportunity to discussion this important but controversial subject.