Christian asking other Christians about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.?

Question

Both of our Religions believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and both Religions agree about everything about Jesus. However they believe several other variations of the Christian Religion that we do not agree with in the least. However the Mormans go around and spread their beliefs to the Population. I believe they are better at sharing they're beliefs then the Christians. You never hear about Christians going door to door to talk to people. What I'm trying to get at, is I don't understand why a lot of Christians shun Mormans. I don't really have a problem with them. A lot of people don't like what they don't understand. Just because the two religions disagree on certain subjects, they have similar goals. So why don't Christians and Mormans fellowship with each other? They don't have to get together and have religious debates or anything, but why can't we be friendly? Any thoughts?

Answer 1

I am not a Mormon, but have a lot of friends that are. I have the utmost respect for them and their values. They say you can judge a tree by the fruit it produces. The Mormon children I have met are respectful and intelligent.

Answer 2

Are you asking "what is a Christian" ? Hmmm. You don't want to compare doctrines, but isn't that what really matters? If a person's doctrines contradict the Bible, then isn't that the ONLY reason why it's wrong? Or are you asking "what is the difference" ? Again, it is doctrinal. The Mormon church uses a lot of Biblical type of words, but they create their own dictionary, so when you say something in "mormonese", it sounds Biblical, but when you apply the mormon "dictionary" to define these same words, it is no longer Biblical. But if you discount doctrine or theology, you can have anything you want mean anything you want, and without the "rosetta stone", you don't know what's actually being said. So, what exactly is it you want to know? You said, "When asked for a definition of what a Christian is the answer is simply stated "You need to believe in Jesus Christ" ", and the words sound good, but when a mormon says it, it doesn't mean the same thing, because of the mormon's own personal "dictionary" in which some of these words mean something different to a mormon than to a Christian. This is why "the answer given can, and frequently does turn into a hour long discussion" It has nothing to do with prejudice. It has everything to do with the definitions and usages of certain "high profile" words and terms. It is not the non-mormon that is misconstruing things, but the mormon who hasn't studied deeply the mormon meanings that get misconstrued, so when an educated non-mormon tries to explain what the mormon theology is really saying, then to the non-educated mormon (by "non-educated", I mean those who have not deeply studied what the mormon theology is really all about), so they SOUND good, but when the non-mormon tries to explain to the mormon what the mormon teaching REALLY is, it only SOUNDS misconstrued. There is one last thing I need to point out to you, that disagreement does NOT imply hate! The homosexuals make that same mistake, claiming that Christians HATE them, just because we disagree with them! Disagreement can NOT be "construed" as "hate". They are two totally different words in the dictionary, with two totally different definitions. But to answer your question (if I haven't done so already), Christians who answer mormons have to give a different answer than they give to other people, because the words are the same, but the meanings behind the words change, so when Christians say ONE thing, mormons here something different, so we can not use the same words. Sorry about the length of the answer, but I knew of no other way to make sure you knew what I was telling you.

Answer 3

Both religions believe in Jesus Christ. However, most "Christian" religions don't understand or want to believe that mormons are Christian. That's the first point of contention - "My pastor said you're not Christian and that you don't believe in the same Christ as me".... hm.. that doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? Just because we differ on some points doesn't make your church or my church all wrong.

Mormons are evangelical through their missionaries and through their day-to-day behavior. Mormons are more "active" about spreading Christ's word.

One of the things that I love about being a "Mormon" is that I have never been among other mormons (whether members, leaders, etc) that have anything bad to say about any other religion - we recognize that all Christian religions have value and all Christian religions have truth. I have never been taught by any church leader that any Christian church is "bad" or "wrong" - EVER! I am continually disappointed, however, that when I go into our local "Bible Book Store" there are books about "How to Talk To A Mormon" "How to talk to a J.W." How to talk to a .... whomever... I have seen "classes" at other churches about "why xxx church is wrong" .... it's disappointing that "Christians" can't accept each other.

I am always dismayed when people question my Christianity - I may believe different things about Christ and the afterlife than the local Baptist church teaches, but that doesn't make me (1) wrong (2) stupid (3) evil. I dream of the day that I'm accepted at my local Bible Bookstore.


Chloe: We believe that we have modern-day prophets. So when your Pastor says "The Mormons have added to the Bible" we answer "God isn't through speaking to us - He has appointed a prophet and apostles just as Jesus did when he walked the earth" Why accept that God is done talking to us? Is He dead? No? Then why doesn't he have more to tell us?

It may not make sense to you, but consider this: Some religions believe in the trinity and some don't; but they don't discount each other's entire religions - So why is it that we have different beliefs, and that's permission to completely disregard us?

Answer 4

First of all, Good for you! You actually get the fundamentals of Christianity, which include following Jesus Christ who taught to love one another despite our differences!

There are a lot of non-Mormon Christians who are friends with the Mormon's. A lot of my friends aren't Mormon, and we get a long just fine. We aren't always talking about religion like some people think. (although the subject has come up, we agree to disagree.)

But unfortunately there are a lot of people who are just plain nasty to us Mormon's, just because we believe a little differently than they do.

It's a little ridiculous actually. I don't go around bashing them, and I try my best to be friendly to everyone despite their religion, ethnicity, culture, color, sex, age, beliefs, clothes, looks, or whether they are poor or rich. Of course, I, like everyone else on this earth, am not always perfect in this, but I do try. The least consideration they could give us is to accept that we are different and leave it at that.

But we can't control other people. It really would be a better world if people of all faiths could come together and be friends, despite who, what or how they worshipped.

P.S. Chloe: Well, no we actually haven't added to the Bible, because the Book of Mormon is not in the Bible. It is it's own book, and it is another Testament of Christ. Hope that clears that up!

Jiahua44: No, we aren't polygamists. We haven't been for over a century now. Perhaps you are confusing us with the RLDS faith? Or some other faith that people confuse us with on a regular basis. Don't worry. You aren't the only person who believes everything they hear. And you forget that there are polygamists in other countries, and it is a good thing for them. Have you ever seen Anna and the King?

Lifeilluminate: Well, you are almost right there. We DO actually believe in hell, but we call it outer darkness. But you are right about the different levels of heaven. There are three kingdoms: Telestial, Terrestial, and Celestial (Celestial being the Highest Kingdom, and Telestial the lowest.) The only people who will go to Hell are sons of perdition, along with Satan and his angels.

Its not necessarily a BAD thing to go to the Telestial kingdom, even though it is the lowest part of heaven. It is still a glorious place nonetheless. Afterall, its heaven, not hell. To me, it makes sense to have different levels of heaven. Only an unfair God would send people to Hell for minor discrepencies (Which we all commit). He wants us to be happy, so it makes sense for him to have designed a plan in which we wouldn't have to be entirely miserable, although those people in the Telestial Kingdom would not be nearly as happy and glorious as those in the Celestial Kingdom.

My seminary teacher explained it like this: You have a small cup, a large cup and a basin of water. The basin of water is God's glory which he willingly pours upon all of his children. When God pours the basin of water on the large cup, it can contain a fullness of God's glory. But when it is poured upon the small cup, the glory overflows. The small cup can not contain it and will never know as much glory as the other cup.

Obviously, to the smaller cup, this isn't a bad thing because it is as full as it can be. But to the larger cup, which is more glorious, it's amount of glory is better.

I hope this hasn't confused anyone. If you are confused, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer any questions you have.

Answer 5

I am LDS (a Mormon) and I agree completely. I would love to be able to just get along with people of other religions. Many of the people I know are of other faiths and we don't have any issues with it. I think that some people of different faiths can't get along because the don't really know what the other person believes so they listen to rumors and misunderstandings about other people's churches. I think friendships between people of all religions should exist.

Answer 6

I dont think allot of people realize how Holy God is! And who God is! You cannot fix a lie by telling another lie! God cannot dwell with sin, if you are covered by the blood of the true Christ, God See's you cleansed and pure. If you have been worshiping a false Christ, ( A lie someone made up!) When you die you are not cleansed. We do not shun them. We tell them the truth and they dont like it! My entire family is Mormon, I dont shun them. I love them. The only way they are going to see the truth is if we never stop telling them the truth. And keeping them reading God's word, (the Bible) if anybody is going to change them it will be God. If you are a born again believer you should understand. I went to their church all my life. There are probably a few of them who are truly saved, but the majority of them dont have a clue who Jesus Christ is. Im not saying that to be mean, but their worship services are scary to me.

Answer 7

I used to work with a Mormon and we had religious debates quite frequently. He was very smart and very knowledgable about Mormon beliefs. I think the beliefs that Mormons and Chritians do share are conducive to these types of friendships. He was pretty good at these debates too, he really had me going there for a while.

Answer 8

Because they want to save us brainwashed cult members from a fiery eternity of hell. lol

I personally dont take any church too seriously that believes in a God that condemns good decent people to an eternity of torurous hell for not getting all the finer details correct in life.

I would rather be believed to be a brainwashed cult member who will never be saved then believe in such a cruel unfair God.

Answer 9

There is no reason why they should not treat each other with love and respect. I think that is what Jesus would do. However, there is one aspect of their Christianity that bothers me: The Bible says to not add to it. The Mormons have added to the Bible.

Answer 10

It'd be nice, but it's said in the Bible and in the BOM, that Satan will do anything to fight off the truth: now look who is being one of the most fought religions: Mormonism?!