Are Mormons Christians?

[Anonymous]

Obviously Mormons have some interesting beliefs. They believe there are three gods instead of in the Trinity. Yet, they do believe Jesus is god and died on the cross for our sins and they follow him as their savior. I used to tell myself the bare minimum for someone to considered a Christian was that they don't deny Jesus' divinity, but now I am thinking there's probably more to it than that. Do the trinitarian beliefs they have prevent them from being christian, or maybe their reliance on modern day prophets? I'm curious as a Catholic, because I know some of the Vatican 2 documents (is it Lumen Gentium? Correct me if I'm wrong, Catholics) talk about protestants being brothers and sisters in Christ, imperfectly joined to the body of Christ. Where is the line and why might Mormons not fall into that category as well? I just recently started learning about Mormonism so my knowledge is limited, I'd love to hear from someone with more experience and understanding of that faith.

[Anonymous]

They say they are

[Anonymous]

Watch the PBS series. Read The Godmakers by Ed Decker.

[Anonymous]

Mormons believe in a heaven that women cannot enter unless their husband invites them. That should be enough to warn you away.

[Anonymous]

They say they are, so it's hard as an outsider to say they aren't. That said, I agree with the Vatican (I'm Christian, but not Catholic) that they probably have a heterodox enough understanding of the Trinity that you should rebaptize Mormons joining other churches.

[Anonymous]

They say they are, but most other denominations would consider them heretics at best based on their beliefs

[Anonymous]

They mostly follow their own religious book and teachings, not the Bible.

[Anonymous]

Fundies do not consider them christians.

[Anonymous]

If your definition of Christian is some who believes in a follows Christ, then yes. It’s even in their name - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

As a former Mormon, l can tell in you practise there is equal emphasis and time spent on the Bible and Book of Mormon in Sunday school etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your definition of Christian is some who believes in a follows Christ, then yes. It’s even in their name - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

As a former Mormon, l can tell in you practise there is equal emphasis and time spent on the Bible and Book of Mormon in Sunday school etc

and if my definition is someone who believes in the Apostle's Creed?

[Anonymous]

I was Mormon for most of my life. Mormons think of themselves as Christians, but they disagree with the Nicene Creed, so their beliefs would have made them “anathema” to the leaders of christianity in in the first century.

It depends on how you define “Christian.”

Here is the original text of the the Nicene Creed from AD 325:
The (Original) Nicene Creed of 325
We believe in one God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages.
Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made,
of one essence with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became man.
And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,
and suffered, and was buried.
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit.
But as for those who say, There was when He was not, and, before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing, or who assert that the Son of God is from a different hypostasis or substance, or is created, or is subject to alteration or change – these the Catholic Church anathematizes.

There are several things here Mormons disavow. First, the idea of the Trinity that God the Father and God the Son and the Holy Spirit are the same. Mormons definitely teach that each of those are separate entities. They also don’t technically believe that God is “almighty” (or “omnipotent” as it is also translated), because they believe that there is a fundamental law that preexists God. That good is good and evil is evil and that God is powerful because He is so fully aligned with good as to be able to master the universe that is based on this goodness. The idea that God is omnipotent implies that good is whatever he says it is. There is no fundamental good that he cannot alter merely by willing it to be so.

All That said, you can tell that at the time of it’s writing, there were competing ideas about Christ and his origins and the nature of God, because they specifically disavow the idea that anything existed before Christ/God. So a Mormon would say that the idea of the Trinity was not a fundamental doctrine taught by Christ, but was a doctrine of men, added later and perpetuated by those seeking unjust authority.

As for the idea that Mormons only read “their own scriptures” and not the Bible, that is laughable. Mormons study scriptures on a four-year rotation, with one year being the Old Testament, then the New Testament, then the Book of Mormon, then concluding with the Doctrine and Covenants (which is essentially the writings of Joseph Smith and the early history of the church prior to his death). In high school, Mormon teens attend an additional scripture class 5 days a week during the school year and each year they study one of the 4 books above. Then in college they are encouraged to attend additional “Institute” classes that cover the same material (and not just at BYU). I had read the KJV cover to cover before I reached adulthood, and continued to study it in particular and alongside Mormon-specific texts throughout my time in the LDS Church. Compared to some of my friends of charismatic faiths growing up in the “Bible” Belt, I was a downright biblical scholar!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They say they are, but most other denominations would consider them heretics at best based on their beliefs

Heretics are Christians though. I mean not the ones from other religions.

[Anonymous]

No, they are not.

[Anonymous]

I'm not religious and don't have a dog in this fight, but am a scientist and like characterizing things.

I consider them an offshoot of Christianity, much as Christianity is different than Judaism. They have their own holy book(s) that are distinct from the Bible with different theology and that makes them distinct from mainstream Christianity.

[Anonymous]

Mormons explicitly deny the Trinity, which makes them pretty far removed from any Christian doctrine.