If Mormons are christians why do they despise the cross?

Question

The cross is a strong symbol of the Christian faith and the means by which atonement was made between God and humanity. Colossians 2:13-15,Mt. 10:38,Mt. 16:24,Lk. 9:23,Jn 19:17,Acts 2:23,1Cor. 1:17,Gal. 5:11,Gal 6:12,Eph 2:16, Heb 12:2. I know the LDS members have heard this verse in Revelation 22:18-19 "I warn everyone who hears the prophecy of this book: if ANYONE ADDS ANYTHING to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. vs 19 And if ANYONE TAKES WORDS AWAY from this book of prophecy, "God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. vs 20 He (Jesus) who testifies to these things says, Yes I am coming soon." Can the LDS church explain why they do not obey the scriptures in the bible and claim to be christian? Anything that is not of God is antichrist. I would like some feed back from an intelligent and civil LDS member to answer these questions.

Answer 1

While others have answered this quite well, I'd like to throw in my 2 cents worth as a member of the LDS Church.

I've been asked this myself (why don't we use the cross as a symbol of our faith). While we believe that the Crucifiction was an important part of the Atonement (Christ paying for our sins), it's only one part of the overall process by which Christ did that. The Atonement wasn't complete until Christ rose three days after his mortal death. One of the comercials the LDS Church runs around Eastertime states that the message of Easter isn't just that He died, but that he rose!

And as for the Revelation scripture (about adding onto or taking away from the Bible), besides the fact (as has been mentioned above) that the Bible as we know it today didn't even exist at the time, one thing very few people mention when tossing that scripture around is that it actually comes up first in Deuteronomy 4:2 (and both say that MAN - here meaning all people, rather than just adult males - shall not do that; it doesn't say anything about GOD not adding onto or taking away from the word of God, and who are we to tell God what He can and can't do?), so if we are to accept that at face value, everything from Deuteronomy 4:3 should be disreguarded! (After all, it comes after, and thus could be considered "added on to", right?)

Answer 2

A nice question and other LDS have answered it well. I believe that the LDS follow the Bible better than anyone else. It is an important part of their scriptural canon.

Your reference to Revelations has been quoted many times by those thinking that the Book of Mormon is an "addition" to the bible. Many do not understand that Revelations was not written chronological as the last book of the bible. Furthermore there is a scripture in Deuteronomy 4:2 that says the same thing: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."
Taken the same was as you do Revelations 22:18-19, it would imply that everything AFTER Deuteronomy in the Bible is false because it was "added" unto the Bible.

As you are aware that the Bible is a collection of numerous "books," I believe that the correct interpretation of Revelations 22:18-19 is that no one should add anything to the BOOK of REVELATIONS, and that scripture applies just to that book. It is makes sense when compared to the Deut scripture.

One more comment. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that no one can reutne to God but by Christ. Through his grace, the atonement is made available to mankind. It is only becasue of Christ that we are saved. The cross symbolizes Chrsit's death. Christ hismelf reperesents his live and resurrection. Mormons worship the resurrected Christ, and do not use the symbol of his death to be something we worship.

We focus on Christ himself in our worship, and do not focus on the cross. We bleive in the living Christ.

I am a Mormon and have been for all of my life..

Answer 3

Many LDS has answered your questions quite truthfully, and there is not much I should add, but just a few personal points.

1. We do not despise the cross, we do recognizes as other people's symbol of their faith, in turn we hope other faiths will recognized that we LDS put our faith in the living resurrected Christ and not on the cross.

2. Each Sunday we partake of the sacrament, in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ, and renewing the baptismal covenant we made with him.

3. We do obey the scriptures in the Bible, just not the way most other faith interpret it. What makes you think all of you are right? when all of you have conflict interpretations to each other? While on the subject, let me hand you a few of my thoughts.

A) Where are your Prophets and Apostles according to

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
(New Testament | Ephesians 4:11)

B) Didn't God said he will only reveals his secret to his prophets as stated in:

7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
(Old Testament | Amos 3:7)

C) By what authority your church officials are called, are they call by God or just some guy with a Phd.

4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
(New Testament | Hebrews 5:4)

D) where are your Temples that has been mention in both the Old and New testament?

I ask these not to say who is right or or who is wrong, but to illustrate that the question, "Who is not obeying the scriptures" is also a question should be answered by all other Christian faiths, and not just the LDS.

Answer 4

Sammyv25 answered your first question very well. LDS members focus more on the actual resurrection of Christ, rather than his death on the cross. This does not mean, though, that we think anything less of Christ's sacrifice. Through his sacrifice, we believe that he has given us the opportunity for Eternal Life.

As for the verse in Revelation 22: 18-19, consider what John is referring to. At the time, there was no Bible. The new Christians had the Septuagint and scattered writings of some of the apostles, but there had not yet been any known attempt to establish a New Testament canon or to bring the Gospels into a single volume. John is referring to the newly written text before him when he speaks of "this book," the Book of Revelation. He refers to the prophecies and contents of this book and urges that no one change what he has written.

Remember, the Bible says nothing about itself to imply that the canon is complete. As one of many passages implying incompleteness, consider John 21:25, which says....

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."

John understood that there could have been many other books written to describe all the words and deeds of Christ. It is simply a human assumption that all the truly important information has been recorded and preserved, and that we don't need anything more. When you interpret things that way, is it really that we are "disobeying" the scriptures? I don't think so.

As for being Christian...that depends on what guidelines you put on the label itself. LDS believe that Christ is our Savior, our Lord. We believe that he has given us Eternal Life with his sacrifice. We pray and worship in his name. Christ is the central figure of our faith...Hence the name, The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints. That, in the simplest of terms, is Christian to me.

Answer 5

The word for 'cross' is not in the earliest known Bible manuscripts. "Stauros" is, and it means "upright stake".
"Xylon" is, and it means tree. The word for 'cross is entirely absent. Yet, it was in existence long before that.

What Does the Cross Symbolize?
- “Guard Yourselves From Idols”

The Gospel accounts all use the Greek word stau·ros′ when referring to the instrument of execution on which Christ Jesus died. (Mt 27:40; Ma 15:30; Lu 23:26; Joh 19:17,19,25) The word stau·ros′ refers to an upright pole, stake, or post. The book The Non-Christian Cross, by J. D. Parsons, explains: “There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross."

At Acts 5:30, the word xy′lon, meaning “tree,” is used as a synonym for stau·ros′, denoting an ordinary piece of upright timber or tree, rather than a two-beamed cross.

Quite some time before the Christian era, crosses were used in ancient Babylonia as symbols in the worship of Tammuz, the pagan fertility god. From there, the use of the cross spread far & wide. Centuries later, the Israelites even adulterated their worship of Jehovah God by thus venerating the false god Tammuz. This form of worship is refered to in the Bible as a >'detestable thing'<. Ez 8:13,14

It was around 300 years after Christ's death that some professed Christians promoted the idea that Jhe was put to death on a two-beamed cross. But, this view was based on tradition and a misuse of the Greek word stau·ros′.

Also noteworthy is that some ancient drawings exist that depict Roman executions featuring a single wooden pole or tree.

Answer 6

Who says we DESPISE the cross? Just because we don't adorn our buildings and our bodies with an instrument of the most inhumane form of torture and death, does not mean we DESPISE what happened on it. But, think, without His RESURRECTION from the dead, He would be just another dead prophet. Without the empty tomb, the empty cross means nothing.

If you want to wear a cross, or put them up in your buildings, as a focal point, that's OK for you. I'm not gonna judge. But, those verses do not tell me that I must adorn everything sacred with a cross, if I don't need to. I can keep my scriptures with me, if I need something in church. And out of church, it seems like the cross has no meaning anymore, since you see it in outrageous sizes, in gold or silver, adorned with all sorts of diamonds and other jewels, turned it into "bling", on people who don't give two hoots about Christ and His sacrifice.

As for Revelation, John says that MAN can't add to his revelation. Nothing about The Bible, since there was no such thing as The Bible when he wrote this. There is many schools of thought that there were two or three books of the New Testament that were written AFTER Revelation.

Also, it says nthing about GOD being able to add more revelation and scripture.

Deuteronomy 4:2 says the same thing as Revelation 22:18, and yet, we don't throw out eveything after Deuteronomy as added scripture. The whole Bible is added scripture.

So, it's deceptive to say that we do not obey thescriptures in the Bible, just because we don't obey them the way you think we should.

Answer 7

the reason many human beings say Mormons at the instant are not Christians comes from their extra exploration of Mormon doctrine, which expresses a theology and christology truly distinctive from that discovered in the Gospels. some say that the guy the Mormon church follows is a fictional character who's basically NAMED Jesus Christ. I comprehend your puzzlement, nonetheless. frustrating stuff, that faith employer. On judgment day, nonetheless, all incorrect accusations would be printed and exceeded over. additionally, a superb form of human beings, which includes many Christians, have doubts relating to the guy Joseph Smith. authentic or fake, the accusations and controversies surrounding him are undesirable exposure.

Answer 8

Hmmm... well, first of all.. I am not very familiar with the Bible. I have read portions of it but have not finished studying all of it so any meaning I get from them right now is from a general first reading and not a pondering and praying for meaning...

For me, the atonement was done by Jesus Christ.. not by the cross...

Also, I believe that the atonement was done in the Garden of Gethsemane...

The cross was just the place that Jesus willingly gave up His life for us.. it was still JESUS that did the giving and not the cross...

Colossians 2:13-15
Cross in this case is His burden.. He adds our sins to HIS burden and takes them away from us.. Just like when He tells us to take up His Yoke.. to take up His work.. to be missionaries and to spread the Gospel. And I think that the other references to the cross are probably much the same...

As for Revelations.. I believe that we use the same KJV of the Bible that most other people use. We have had some clarifications of parts of the Bible by the Prophets but that is neither adding nor taking away from them...

I believe that Jesus is the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...

I believe that there is a Prophet on the Earth today and Jesus talks to Him so that He may speak to the World...

I do not believe that is is anti-Christ to listen to a Prophet of Christ...

I believe that many people forget that Jesus LIVES TODAY.. He is RESURRECTED!!! And what do you think He is doing?

Answer 9

During a temple visit to make baptism for the deaths I read that question in a magazine and Gorgon B. Hinkley answered it by saying that what the cross means is Christ's death and that the church does not want to represint Christ's death, it wants to representate/celebrate his life because he is alive and that is why the cross is not used.
It was very interesting and the answer was very detailed, sorry if I can't be very clear but my english is not very good.

Answer 10

I'm not a mormon, but in regards to the not adding or taking away from th book stuff, that is pretty clearly just refering to the the book of revalations ( since there was no bible when it was written). Their book of mormon doesn't violate that ( though it is silly for other reasons).