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Mormonism and Christianity

Mormonism has had an uneasy relationship with traditional Christianity from the day circa 1820 when Joseph Smith Jr leaned against the mantle of his father's home and declared to his mother, "I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true". Smith's claims of heavenly visions including word from God that the creeds of Christendom were "an abomination in my sight", with an admonition to "go not after them" aroused fierce enmity in his neighborhood. And that was in only the first days of Mormonism. By 1830, Smith had also claimed to recieve visits from angels who gave him new scripture (The Book of Mormon) and the sole priesthood authority on earth, restoring the "true" Christianity of the early Church. With its new theology, Mormonism rejected the creeds and sacraments of all other branches of Christianity. It wasn't long before many in greater Christanity followed suit by classifying Mormonism as a non-christian religion, or more pejoratively, a cult.

Practitioners of Mormonism always have considered themselves to be Christians. Those who practice Mormonism call themselves Latter Day Saints because they believe the Latter Day Saint movement is a restoration of the original Christian church of the New Testament ( see Church of Christ (Mormonism)). They also believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the son of God.

However, the Latter Day Saint movement's uneasy relationship with orthodox Christianity has not changed. Latter Day Saints believe that the creeds were departures from the teachings of Christ and his apostles. But many of the Christian creeds have enjoyed a general consensus among Christians for many centuries, and some consider the creeds to be litmus tests for Christianity. While Mormonism is based on a belief in Jesus as the Christ, most traditional Christian creeds conflict with the teachings of Mormonism concerning Jesus. Christians who delimit Christianity by those creeds typically consider Mormonism to be a heretical form of Christianity, or not a form of Christianity at all.

Mormonism has a number of doctrines and practices that distinguish the movement from other Jesus-based religions. The most unique of these originated later in the life of Joseph Smith, Jr in Nauvoo, Illinois, or under the leadership of Brigham Young, among the Mormons who followed him to Utah. As the Latter Day Saint movement has grown and gained worldwide acceptance, some denominations within the movement, such as the Community of Christ, have attempted to respond to charges through extensive ecumenical efforts, including engagement in dialog with Christianity and sometimes even relinquishing their earlier doctrines and practices. Nevertheless, many denominations within the movement, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (by far the largest) and many of its splinter groups including the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints still retain many, if not most, of Smith's original doctrines and practices that many Christians denounce.

Table of contents
1 Contrasting Conceptions of Jesus Christ
2 Unorthodox Latter Day Saint Practices
3 History of Latter Day Saint Dialogue with Mainstream Christianity
4 See also
5 References
6 External Links

Contrasting Conceptions of Jesus Christ

The most common reason proposed for excluding Mormonism as a branch of Christianity is that the Jesus Christ envisioned by some branches of Mormonism differs theologically from most traditional Christian conceptions of Jesus Christ. The historical details of his life as recounted by Christian tradition, especially in the Bible, are accepted by Mormons as matters of fact. However, some Mormon interpretations of who and what Jesus is, and his relation to God the Father, substantially contradict the traditional Christian view.

In Mormonism, like in traditional Christianity, Jesus Christ is considered to be the Messiah, the Savior, the son of God and of the virgin Mary. In addition, Jesus is considered to have lived a perfect life, was a sacrifice for sin, and was resurrected. In these terms, historically, the Mormon narrative of Jesus' birth, death, resurrection, and future coming is largely the same as the Christian narrative, such as described in the Apostles Creed.

Nevertheless, traditional Christianity conceives of this historical narrative as taking place in a larger context of God's purposes to redeem mankind from sin and the consequences of sin, to return mankind to an intimate knowledge of God, which is eternal life. This history, for traditional Christians, begins with God Himself; and so, the Christian life is concerned first and last with who God is, especially as revealed for salvation through Jesus Christ. It is only in that light that the creeds are important, which defend the Trinity and the absolutely unique divinity, and the true humanity, of Christ. In that respect the Mormon understanding of Jesus is quite different from the understanding accepted by the traditional branches of Christianity.

The Mormon Jesus is in many ways more similar to the earliest Christian heresies. For example, unlike traditional Christianity, in Mormonism Jesus, the Son, is distinct from the Father not just in "person", but also is a separate being: which differs from the Nicene Creed. In addition, while Latter Day Saints believe that the "mind" of Jesus was coeternal with God the Father, Mormon followers of Brigham Young generally believe in Young's doctrine that Jesus was "born" into a "spirit body", like the rest of humanity, and remained in that state until his Incarnation. Further, Mormon followers of Brigham Young generally believe in the deification of humanity, identifying with God and hoping to become like him. Thus, they portray God and Jesus as fundamentally human or superhuman.

When the Latter Day Saint movement was founded in the early 19th Century, most early Latter Day Saints came from a Protestant background. But Protestantism at the time was undergoing a widespread decline from the Trinitarian conception, as various types of theosophy and unitarianism were gaining strength, especially in the region of the country where Mormonism originated. Early public teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr contained only hints of the later full-blown rejection of the Trinity. He claimed to have received revelation only after asking questions about a subject, pondering, and praying to God for an answer. As Smith's teachings evolved, his later teachings painted a strikingly different picture of the Father and the Son with physical superhuman bodies, being one in purpose together with the Holy Spirit, but not sharing identity as the same God.

Some Latter Day Saint churches such as the Community of Christ have chosen to adopt some of the creeds of orthodox Christianity. Most others, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teach some of the unique doctrines taught by Joseph Smith toward the end of his life. See Godhead (Mormonism).

Jesus as a physical being distinct from God the Father and the Holy Spirit

The Book of Mormon, published in 1830, describes God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as being "one", with Jesus appearing as a spirit before his birth, and as a physical being after his resurrection to thousands of witnesses, who were commanded to feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet. Mormons claim Jesus has stated in The Third Book of Nephi that he has come down from heaven from the Father, and that he will endow the people with the Gift of the Holy Ghost as a comforter.

In 1835, Joseph Smith, Jr (with the involvement of Sidney Rigdon), publicly taught the idea that Jesus Christ and God the Father were two separate beings. In the Lectures on Faith, taught in 1834 to the School of the Prophets, the doctrine was first presented that within the Godhead, the Father and the Son were two distinct "personages" who were nevertheless "one" because they possess "the same mind, the same wisdom, glory, power, and fullness" (Lectures on Faith 5:2m).

In 1843, in Smith's later years, he elaborated on the doctrine of Jesus being a separate personage from the Father, providing his most well-known description of the Godhead, where God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit were each three distinct personages: "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." D&C 130:22. See Godhead (Mormonism).

Jesus as coeternal with God, and as the Father's "firstborn"

From the beginning, Joseph Smith, Jr taught that Jesus Christ was coeternal with the Father. Beginning in 1833, Smith began to elaborate on the nature of "creation" and what it means to be eternal. In a revelation Smith dictated that year, Jesus Christ purportedly stated: "I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn.... Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be." (LDS D&C 93:21-23.) In his King Follett Discourse, Smith taught:
"[T]he soul—the mind of man—the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation.... We say that God himself is a self-existent being.... Man does exist upon the same principles.... [The Bible] does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man. It says 'God made man out of the earth and put into him Adam's spirit, and so became a living body.' The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself.... Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had not beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with our Father in heaven." (King Follett Discourse)
Thus, Smith taught that not only was Jesus Christ coeternal with the Father, but that so was the rest of humanity, and that the "spirit of man" cannot be created nor distroyed.

Smith also stated that Jesus was the "Firstborn" of the Father, a characterization that is also found in Collosians 1:15, which described Jesus as the "firstborn of every creature". While Smith never stated that Jesus Christ was literally "born" as a spirit child of God the Father prior to his physical birth to Mary , this doctrine was taught by some other Latter Day Saint leaders, primarily within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its breakoffs, where the idea is now widely-accepted that Jesus (and humanity) were born as spirits by the Father. In 1857, Brigham Young taught that every person, including Jesus, was "a son or a daughter of [the Father]. In the spirit world their spirits were first begotten and brought forth, and they lived there with their parents for ages before they came here." 4 J.D 218.

In 1909, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statent:

Jesus, however, is the firstborn among all the sons of God—the first begotten in the spirit, and the only begotten in the flesh. He is our elder brother, and we, like Him, are in the image of God. All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity." MFP 4:203.
Therefore, among followers of Brigham Young, and particularly Latter-day Saints, it is widely accepted that Jesus is a created being, although it has also been postulated that Jesus (and humanity) had a kind of pre-spirit "intelligence" that always existed and that was coeternal with God. Among other Latter Day Saint denominations, however, there is a difference of opinion. Notably, many within the Community of Christ teach that Jesus is coeternal with the Father, more in the sense taught by trinitarianism.

The Deification of Humanity

Comparison of the Jesus Christ Conceptualized by Mormonism with the Jesus Christ Conceptualized by Other Christian Professions

The Jesus of Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism

The Jesus of Early Christian Heresies

The Jesus of Modern Nontrinitarian Sects

Unorthodox Latter Day Saint Practices

The second main reason proposed by those arguing to exclude Mormonism as a branch of Christianity is that the practices of Mormonism are not within the range of permissible Christian practices.

Acceptance of extra-Biblical scripture

Latter Day Saints accept as scripture several books which other Christian groups do not recognize, and which Mormons hold to be revealed by God, and therefore more correct (although no more authoritative) than modern versions of the Bible, which they believe to contain significant errors and omissions regarding basic principles of the gospel necessary for salvation. This lowered reverence for the Bible is particularly the source of difficulty between Mormons and evangelical protestants.

Latter Day Saint Rituals

Salvation by means of ritual and good works

While Mormonism is certainly not alone among organizations that practice symbolic rituals in the name of Jesus Christ, some Christian organizations exclude Mormonism from Christianity because of the Latter Day Saint belief that God's gracious salvation is obtained by means of certain rituals, and by a virtuous life.

Calvinism, a type of evangelicalism, teaches that salvation is based on God's granting to some the gift of faith, and of good works. Their ability to believe, and to do works that are acceptable to God, is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ. The gift of the Spirit is not granted because of their first believing, or because of the performance of any ritual, or because of their good works meriting God's acceptance. In other words, salvation is God's rescue of sinners from the penalty and the power of sin, not the reward due to righteous actions, according to Calvinism.

Although Calvinists and Evangelical protestants do not deny the need for works, most adhere to the belief that grace alone will save man (sola gratia). That is, they teach that good works are not the basis of their acceptance by God, but rather the product of his acceptance. Faith, not works, is the instrument by which salvation is received; and works proceeding from faith do not make the person worthy of salvation, but rather are the outworking of salvation already received by faith, according to the evangelical understanding.

Many evangelicals, especially dispensationalist Protestants, teach that sola fide, salvation by faith alone, means that if only a person professes belief in Jesus Christ, they are Christians and they are saved. These evangelicals are particularly distrustful of any form of doctrine which speaks of the necessity of good works. Nevertheless, many of those who adopt this view do not believe that Latter Day Saints who profess belief in Jesus Christ are Christians. This is because their understanding of salvation rests on the eternal deity of Christ, according to the trinitarian conception.

Baptism for the dead

One unorthodox practice is baptism for the dead, practiced by some Mormons, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) demonstrates their belief that non-Latter Day Saints do not have the Priesthood authority to act in the name of God, and that non-Latter Day Saint baptisms (or any other Christian ordinance) are not legitimate. In Mormonism, baptism is considered to be a prerequisite to exaltation comparable to salvation or theosis in other Christian religions. The LDS Church conducts baptisms and other ordinances for everyone (posthumously if not done while the person is living) who has not been baptized by a LDS-Priesthood-authority. Many Christians interpret this to mean that LDS Church does not consider them truly Christian, as baptism has always been a rite of initiation or entrance into Christianity. By posthumously baptizing Catholics, Orthodox, and other Christians in the same way that they posthumously baptize Jews, Muslims, and other non-Mormons, they demonstrate that all such people are equally separate from the Mormon faith and need to be given the chance to posthumously embrace it or become members of it, so that they can enter the Kingdom of God.

Polygamy

Non-Use of the Cross

Latter-day Saints do not typically use the Christian cross as a symbol of their faith. While the weather vanes that were built atop the earliest Latter Day Saint temples were often in the form of a cross, many modern Latter-day Saints are purportedly disturbed by this symbol of Christ's death, and say that they prefer instead to focus upon his life.

History of Latter Day Saint Dialogue with Mainstream Christianity

Early Latter Day Saint Antagonism Toward Christianity

In Joseph Smith's Wentworth letter, he listed the following as the 11th Article of Faith:
"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may" (11th Articles of Faith).

Thus, at least in theory, Latter Day Saint are expected to be tolerant of other religions and religious lifestyles. However, early leaders and members of the Latter Day Saint movement at times voiced views concerning "the Christian world" which could be considered antagonistic. Much of this had to do with the sometimes violent and deadly conflicts that early Latter Day Saints had with mainstream Christians.

The Church's founder and first prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., at times criticized what he saw as important flaws in Christianity. He once said,

"we may look at the Christian world and see the apostasy there has been from the apostolic platform; and who can look at this and not exclaim, in the language of Isaiah, 'The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant?'" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 15).

In another instance, Smith said,
"The teachers of the day say that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and they are all in one body and one God. Jesus prayed that those that the Father had given him out of the world might be made one in them, as they were one [one in spirit, in mind, in purpose]. If I were to testify that the Christian world were wrong on this point, my testimony would be true" (Ibid, pg 311).

As for Catholicism and Protestantism, Smith had these words:
"Here is a principle of logic...I will illustrate by an old apple tree. Here jumps off a branch and says, I am the true tree, and you are corrupt. If the whole tree is corrupt, are not its branches corrupt? If the Catholic religion is a false religion, how can any true religion come out of it?" (Ibid, pg 375).

Smith's grievances with other religions seem to be primarily doctrinal in nature. On the other hand, from a personal or secular point of view, Smith at times showed considerable tolerance and acceptance for the members other faiths:
"I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves" (Ibid, pg 313).

Mormonism and Christian Ecumenism

Typically, Latter Day Saints believe that most traditional Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant adherents have much truth, and strong faith in Christ, which is essential for their salvation. They also believe that most of these people will have the opportunity to accept the "full" gospel of Jesus Christ prior to the "final judgement," and that many (if not most) that truly have faith in Christ will be "saved" or possibly even exalted.

Mormons believe that differences in the Trinity and some Latter Day Saint conceptions of the Godhead are relatively minor and can be supported by biblical scripture, ante-Nicean tradition, similar beliefs in some protestant churches and modern revelation.

Ecumenical Efforts by the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Brigham Young, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the majority of Mormons after Smith's death, also sounded a conciliatory tone, saying,
"Some who call themselves Christians are very tenacious with regard to the Universalians, yet the latter possess many excellent ideas and good truths. Have the Catholics? Yes, a great many very excellent truths. Have the Protestants? Yes, from first to last. Has the infidel? Yes, he has a good deal of truth; and truth is all over the earth." (Discourses of Brigham Young, pg 10).

In the last several decades, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been making a sustained effort to demonstrate that Latter-day Saints' beliefs are associated with Christianity. These efforts have included participation in ecumenical endeavors, adding the subtitle "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" to The Book of Mormon, and recently re-branding of the church's official logo to place more emphasis on the phrase "The Church of Jesus Christ."

Ecumenical Efforts by the Community of Christ

More so than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Community of Christ has made dramatic efforts to reconcile its doctrines with mainstream Christianity, and to appear more orthodox to Christians.

See also

References

  • Stephen E. Robinson; Are Mormons Christians?; Bookcraft, Inc.; ISBN 0-88494-784-X (Hardcover 1991)
  • Joseph Fielding. Smith; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith; Deseret Book Company; ISBN 0-87747-655-9 (Softcover 1976)
  • John A. Widstoe; Discourses of Brigham Young; Deseret Book Company; ISBN 0-87747-664-0 (Softcover 1954)

External Links




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