Mormonism and Jesus?

Question

I saw the special on Frontline on Mormonism. Was disappointed that they didn't really explain much on their beliefs on Jesus. Who is Jesus to the Mormons? Is He the Christ who atoned for our sins and saved us as we christians believe? Is He a prophet like Joseph Smith was to them? Seems like they call their churchs church of Jesus Christ of the LDS, yet they follow Joseph Smith's book on Mormonism and His teachings. So why don't they call their church The church of Joseph Smith and the LDS? I'm a true christian who believes only what's in the christian bible. Thanks

Answer 1

Lots of questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

I too was sort of disappointed that it didn't focus on doctrine, at least in one "act". But I guess this is where we members come in.
Q: Who is Jesus to the Mormons?
A: He is Christ. The Only Begotten of the Father. The Savior of all mankind.
Q: Is He the Christ who atoned for our sins and saved us as we Christians believe?
A: He is. - However we don't believe in the Trinity as many of you believe. We do believe in God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, but that they have seperate and distinct bodies of their own. But it is Christ who Atoned for our sins, He is the ONLY one who can save us. We are utterly nothing without Him.
Q:Is He a prophet like Joseph Smith was to them?
A: He is Christ, therefore He is a prophet, but that is not what we focus on. Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ, it is He who heads the Church. It is His church, and no one elses. Christ is Christ. I converted from Methodist to Mormon, and Christ is the same Christ in both faiths, I just feel that I understand Him better as a Mormon than I ever could as a non-Mormon. (BTW, I still don't completely understand Him, but I do feel like my knowledge of Him has grown.)
Q: Seems like they call their churchs church of Jesus Christ of the LDS, yet they follow Joseph Smith's book on Mormonism and his teachings. So why don't they call their church The church of Joseph Smithe and the LDS?
A: (several topics to cover on this one) First, we don't believe that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. We believe he translated it. Others may not have that conviction, but that is one thing that seperates us and our whole belief system from other Christians. We do believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and was given the authority to be such from Christ Himself. We believe that save Jesus Christ only, no one else in the history of the world has done more for mankind than Joseph Smith. So even though we are taught that the most important teachings are those from the current Prophet, we do read and study other prophets words and direction, including Joseph Smith. However, I think you may be talking about the Doctrine and Covenants which we consider to be scripture - revealed through (primarily) Joseph Smith from Christ.
Second, because if we worshipped Joseph Smith then the natural thing to do would be to name the church after him, but we don't worship Joseph Smith, we worship Jesus Christ, therefore the church is named after the One we worship.
We respect Joseph Smith, we are grateful to Joseph Smith, we believe that through him God did a great and wonderful thing -- but it was GOD who did it, not Joseph Smith.

I believe I'm a true Christian too. We believe that the Church is the restored church. The Christian church that Christ set up with His Apostles. We believe that church was changed and that the leaders of it (after the Apostles died) lost the authority to speak on behalf of God. Most Christian churches today do not presume to thing that anyone can speak on behalf of God - and for them it is rightly so, but we believe that the Priesthood allows for such, and that the Priesthood was given from Christ to His Apostles and that they in turn gave it to Joseph Smith who has given it to worthy males in the Church.

Sorry if this seems long winded, it's hard to be concise when it comes to a topic so near and dear to my heart.


EDIT: Ask Mr Religion: We believe that the God of the OT, the God that created the earth is Jehovah and that Jehovah is Jesus Christ prior to His mortal birth. So with that in mind, we believe that God the Father is GOD, but that Jesus Christ is God too. It can be a difficult concept to wrap your mind around, even as a member. We don't believe in the Trinity as other Christians do, and we worship God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. It's sort of like when you call an office and ask to speak to either this person or that person - you know they will each give you the correct answer, because they know their stuff and would both give you the same answer, yet one is the boss of the other. So it is (in simplistic terms) with our view of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Rarely will you hear us speak of Jesus Christ as God, unless it is in an effort to teach that belief, however it doesn't change the fact that it's true.

EDIT 2: Creole: This wasn't a fishing expedition. There are certain things we just won't talk about outside of the temple. Period. End of story, next topic. It doesn't mean that we view them as secret, or that we're afraid to talk about them within the temple. It means to us that they are sacred, and just like you might be hesitant to share with someone an incident that happened to you that didn't happen to them because you're afraid they might not understand the significance of it or might make fun of it, so things in the temple are to us. I will however clarify two points for you - one, we DO wear the garment 24/7 except when batheing, swimming or in other situations where it might be seen by a non-member (like at the doctors office or in surgery). Second, we are counseled to not mistreat the garment, such as to step on it, or allow it to get holes in it or have untreated stains. When I take it off to bathe, I try not to let it land on the floor, but instead put it on top of my regular clothes (shirt or pants). That's a personal preference but I don't remember it being said that they were not to touch the ground when I was first introduced to it.
While I was also a little disappointed that more people of color (Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc) were not featured in the piece, what would you have us do? Parade our non-white (I hope that term isn't racially insensitive) members around? Wouldn't that be worse? It seems like it would to me. We can't help that the producer decided to include only one African American in her four hour show.

Answer 2

Jesus is our Lord ans Savior. He is the Son of God and our brother. He atoned for our sins and died on the cross so that we all might live again. He is the core and foundation of our religion. We do not believe Joesph Smith to be like a God, but he does hold historical value to us. We believe him to be a prophet much like Abraham and Moses. We follow is revelation the same that we would follow the Ten Commandments. We don't follow JS teachings, we follow the Lords teachings given to us through revelation through Joesph Smith. He like any other prophet of old was an instrument of God, providing guidance and even repremand to His people from God. He restored the gospel to the earth so yes there is much more teahcings of him and his life and the coming about of the restoration, but Jesus Christ is what our church is centered around and we strive to live by His teachings both old and recently revealed. If it wasn't Joesph Smith it would have been someone else. The Lord would have His church be restored with or wothout J.S. If J.S. was not faithful and decided to deny what he knew to be true, the Lord would have used someone else. His work will not be stopped, no matter what the opposition. As for Diasymae, actually they were always called the Church of Christ, but added the latter day to distinguish themsleves later when so many other churches had the same name. This can be found in any history of the church both LDS documented and anti-mormon literature. Hope that helped:)

Answer 3

Mormon's believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that mankind can enter Heaven in no other way, than through believe in and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. he is our redeemer, he atoned for the sins of the world, including my own. Christ is our Savior.

Mormon's also believe, that just like in times of old, that there can be prophets, priests, evangelists, etc that lead the Church. These church leader positions existed in the time of Christ. Mormon's do NOT worship their prophet as Christ. The prophet is merely a man, given the position and authority to lead the Church. Joseph Smith was the first, Gordon B. Hinckley is the current prophet.

The Book of Mormon is not Joesph Smith's teachings. Mormon's believe that the Book of Mormon contains Christ's teachings to the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. Christ told the Jews that he had "other sheep" that he must go teach. (John 10:16 ). Mormon's believe that the inhabitants of the Americas were these "other sheep."

Answer 4

I found the special on Mormonism (I've only seen the first half so far) to have a great deal of inaccuracy and negative spin. I expected more professionalism in the production.

To answer your question, we believe Jesus Christ is our Savior, the son of God, who atoned for our sins. It is only through Christ's atonement that we can obtain salvation. The teachings and atonement of Jesus Christ are central to the LDS Church.

The Book of Mormon is a record of a different group of people from the bible that had their own prophets and were also visited by Jesus Christ. Thus it is a 2nd witness of Jesus Christ's divinity and of the teachings in the bible. Just because the bible contains inspired writings from some people, doesn't mean there aren't other people who have been inspired to write about Christ.

We also believe that the church of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith who like the prophets in the bible, received revelation to help guide us through today's peculiar circumstances. None of his revelations conflict with the teachings of Jesus Christ as found in the Bible.

Answer 5

Job 38:4-7, angels are spirit beings and were created before mankind, they are all sons of God, does that make them brothers? God gathers them all together, Job 2:16, only Satan sounds like a vengeful nut case, even in Matt.4:1-11, he likes to boast about all he owns, which of the angels, or which being did God create that is above all others, Heb.1:1-13. The holy angels, Matt.25:31-34, need the new heavens and the new earth the same as we do, this will not happen until after Satan has been in the pit 1000 years while all is made new, Jesus does more in 1000 years than Satan and all of mankind has done in 6000 years. Rev.20:7-10, Satan must be destroyed, but he is not alone.

Answer 6

Exmormon here, there are many problems to be had, but I don't think their view of Christ is really all that different than protestants. I was Methodist before I was LDS, and when I got baptized, I never found much difference in the "Jesus of the Methodist church" and the "Jesus of the LDS Church." Of course it is interesting and sad that as a LDS, I would sit through church many times and hear Joseph Smith's name more than Christ. They even have a song all for Joseph Smith, it's called "Praise to the Man."

Answer 7

After reading all the answers to your question thus far, I have noticed that there are a lot of people who are 'anti' mormon. That is a sad statement on their behalf. I am a member of Ther Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have been a member for all of my life except for a 15 year hiatus where I had to look elsewhere and study other faiths and try to find God. The 15 year hiatus was a waste of time. I find it funny that all mormons will tel you their beliefs, but invite you to find out for yourself. Anyone can find faults and nit pick all religions to death, but when it comes down to it, YOU need to know for YOURSELF that things are right or wrong. You can listen to me and the other LDS people who have answered you, or you can listen to all the other hooey. I suggest that if you are truly interested in finding out what the LDS church teaches and preaches, then look for yourself.

Answer 8

I watched the special too and it had inaccurate information in it. We do believe that Jesus atoned for our sins and saved us. Joseph Smith was just a prophet. Christ is held much higher them in him in the church. none of us could ever get to heaven without Christ's atonement.

Answer 9

We believe that Jesus is our savior and redeemer who atoned for our sins. He was also a prophet. The teachings in the Book of Mormon are another testament of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith isn't even in it, he's just the one who translated it.

Have a nice day!!!!!!

Answer 10

Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour of all mankind. He was more than a prophet.

The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is the word of God.

What do you think IS the "teachings of the book on Mormonism"?

Answer 11

Mormons believe Jesus is "divine", but only in the sense of being an exalted man. He is not considered equal to the Father, therefore, is not to be worshipped in the same way as the Father. Thus, the Mormons deny the Christian Trinitarian God.

Mormons believe Jesus was a created being, and separate from God the Father. Jesus is the "spirit brother" of Lucifer and, ultimately, all humans; his uniqueness was based on the fact that he was conceived physically by God the Father.

References:
JS History 1:17

Surprisingly, this teaching is actually contradicted in the Book of Mormon, which clearly portrays Jesus as being God himself:
2 Nephi 11:7
2 Nephi 26:12
Mosiah 15:1-5
Alma 11:38-39
D&C 20:28