How is it that Mormons can deny (or change the meaning of) every essential doctrine of Christianity and still claim that they're Christians? It's like (on a much lower scale) saying you're an Elvis fan, hanging Elvis posters on your wall and then attributing songs to Elvis that he never sang, and denying that he sang "Heartbreak Hotel", "Jailhouse Rock", and "Burning Love".
Such a person is NOT an Elvis fan, no matter how many posters, lunchboxes, and refridgerator magnets he has.
So how is it that Mormons can believe the complete fabrications of a false prophet such as Joseph Smith, and hold in contempt the teaching and doctrine of the church for the past 2000 years? This is where Smith showed his genius in bringing doubt upon the authority of the church and of the Bible. Mormons trust the book of Mormon and the teachings of Smith and Young more than the teaching of the Apostles and the church fathers. Go figure.
2007-05-12 13:41:49 · 36 answers · asked by stegokitty 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, absolutely not. Would a Christian write this:
"In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it." Teachings of The Prophet Joseph Smith, page 349.
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man,
Teachings of The Prophet Joseph Smith, page 345.
"Gods exist, and we had better be prepared to be one with them."
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol 7, page 238.
"As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become>"
Prophet Lorenzo Snow, quoted in Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, pages 105,106.
"When our father Adam came in the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organized this world. He is MICHAEL, the Arcangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! about whom holy men have written and spoken--HE is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom we have to do."
Brigham Young, in the Journal of Discourses, Vol 1, page 50.
"This leads to the investigation of that substance called the Holy Spirit or Light of Christ....There is a divine substance, fluid or essence, called Spirit, widely diffused among these eternal elements...This divine element, or Spirit, is immediate, active or controlling agent in all holy miraculous powers...The purest, most refined and subtle of all these substances, and the one least understood, or even recognized, by the less informed among mankind, is that substance called the Holy Spirit."
Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, pages45,105,46.
Lucifer speaking,"Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor."
Chapter 4 of the Book of Moses, found in the Pearl of Great Price.
Christ as a pre-existent spirit is not only the spirit brother of the devil (alluded to in the Pearl of Great Price, Moses 4:1-4,
later reaffirmed by Brigham Young in the Journal of Discourses, Vol. 13, page 282) and celebrated his marriage to both the Marys and Martha, whereby he could see his seed before he was crucified." (Apostle Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, pages 259-260)
"Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its cleansing power. Much that is believed and taught on this subject, however, is such utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to lose one's salvation. Many go so far, for instance, as to pretend and at least, to believe that if we confess Christ with our lips and avow that we accept Him as our personal Savior, we are thereby saved. His blood, without other act than mere belief, they say, makes us clean...Finally in our day, he has said plainly: "My blood shall not cleanse them if they hear me not"....Salvation in the kingdom of God is available because of the atoning blood of Christ. But it is received only on condition of faith, repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end in keeping the commandments of God." B.R. McConkie, What the Mormans Think of Christ, pages 27-33.
I can continue, but do I need to?
2007-05-12 15:38:37 · answer #1 · answered by Not perfect, just forgiven 5 · 4⤊ 8⤋
sure. provided which you're defining a Christian or a Mormon as somebody who does the will of the father. If one is a Mormon yet would not do the will of the father, than they are actually not Christian, and vica verca. If somebody (somewhat) does the will of the father, they're going to, as quickly as they right here related to the restored gospel, connect the Church, and become a mormon (member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), in the event that they have not carried out so already, no be counted if in this existence or the subsequent. So, in a feeling, all who've a broken heart and a contrite sprit and positioned away the organic guy, would be led to the actuality by way of the Sprit of God, and could in time become a Mormon as you place it. a real Christian will at last be led to the Mormon church, the place they might recieve ordiances by way of the skill of God, which has basically been approved by way of servents in his Church. The Lord loves you all.
2016-10-04 23:44:27 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I believe that Mormons do profess to believe in Jesus Christ. Doesn't that make them Christian? Many would say 'NO', because of certain doctrines of their faith, and because of the fact that they added another book to the Bible. Throughout their history this has marginalized them and kept them outside of what most people consider to be mainstream Christianity.
However...
Many mainline Christian denominations have, from their highest levels of clerical office, openly preached doctrines that most Christians would find repugnant. Such as the idea that Christ's Resurrection was not a physical one, but rather it was a Resurrection in the minds of His followers and therefore a spiritual one only. To many Christians, those who believe those doctrines would not be Christians.
So if we are going to say that Mormons are not Christians, fine. But we would also have to look at a lot of other so-called mainstream Christian denominations and ask the same question.
2007-05-13 12:40:50 · answer #3 · answered by Zezo Zeze Zadfrack 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
They claim that the historical Christian church is in error about the things that it teaches and the God withdrew His favour from the church shortly after the time of the apostles.
Lest you think that I believe that nonsense, I will tell you that I don't! There are some problems with that then. 1. Jesus said that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the church. It looks like that if you believe the Mormons. 2. The book of Hebrews sets forth a number of things in chapters 4-9 that prove that the priesthood of the Mormon church is NOT a restoration of the one in the Bible.
2007-05-14 01:53:41 · answer #4 · answered by Buzz s 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Who is really being a Christian? A Christian is someone who believes and follows the teachings of Jesus and only God knows who is really doing this. What religious sect they choose does not determine if they are Christians or not its the way you live your life through your actions towards others. That is what a true Christian is. I have know many people who claim to be Christian but by the way they live their life you wouldn't know it. Actions speack louder then words.
2007-05-13 03:19:16 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Who says that the teachings of non-LDS Christian churches are held in contempt by us? I sure don't hold anything in contempt. I don't believe some of it, but that's not hte same as holding it in contempt.
The church has no authority, the Bible has no authority. Only the priesthood has authority.
And it's not that we don't trust the teachings of the apostles, it's that we don't believe some people's interpretation of them.
2007-05-14 02:57:12 · answer #6 · answered by mormon_4_jesus 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I have been meeting with the LDS missionaries and they told me some of their beliefs, they told me to read the Book of Mormon (which I browsed through), pray about it, and seek a feeling. I prayed for God to lead me to the truth, and I found verses in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon that contradicted all the things that they told me that they believed in, like that God has a physical body (both bible and BOM say He is spirit), that the trinity is 3 different Gods, (both bible and Bom say different), etc. They went back to their testomony that they believe in the first vision of Joseph Smith and that he is a prophet, and refused to look at the verses. Any time that someone is unwilling to look at the proof that disproves what their church is teaching them (using their own scriptures as the proof...) Talk about being blinded and refusing to look at the truth. The Bible says that we are to be Bereans and to check scripture to see that it is so. They are refusing to believe in anything other than the feeling that they got when they sincerely prayed if the Book of Mormon was true. Well, feelings can lie, and Satan is the father of lies, and he is the root of the religion that is going to send a bunch of people to Hell unless they see the truth, turn to the TRUE Jesus and get saved.
2007-05-12 16:26:49 · answer #7 · answered by Dispachcops 3 · 2⤊ 4⤋
The name for the Mormon church is: The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints. It's true, that the traditional "christian" bible was revised by the early leaders of the Mormons. I believe that the representative books of most major religions are the product of revisionist history. I find nothing irregular by the interpretation of the bible as it is represented in the book of Mormon.
2007-05-12 14:05:25 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
In all fairness, they believe that the bible has been twisted by men over the centuries, mainly because of translation errors (if you have ever tried to translate something, it is hard to get it across exactly the way it was meant to). So, if you open your mind to think outside of the box, you might understand that they truly believe the bible to be corrrupted by human error. They believe that the Book of Mormon to be scripture that clarifies the nature of Christ and that is why they worship Christ the way they do.
2007-05-12 16:24:32 · answer #9 · answered by Her 2 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Lets put it this way, you have a group of people deciding what books go into the bible alone, like the whole Paul, John. There are more books out there that THEY think are not qualified to be in The bible, so the bible really has been edited alot from its original form.
2007-05-12 13:48:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
The Mormon religion was founded less than two hundred years ago by a man named Joseph Smith. He claimed to have received a personal visit from God the Father and Jesus Christ and was told that all churches and their creeds were an abomination. Joseph set out to impose a brand-new religion that claims to be the “only true church on earth.” The problem with Mormonism is that it contradicts, modifies, and expands on the Bible. Christians have no reason to believe that the Bible is not true and adequate. To truly believe in and trust God means to believe in His Word. And all Scripture is inspired by God, which means it comes from Him (2 Timothy 3:16).
2007-05-12 16:54:00 · answer #11 · answered by Freedom 7 · 2⤊ 6⤋