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Are Mormons Christians"Are 'Mormons' Christian?", you ask. To answer that question, you need to first know what a Christian is. What are the most important attributes of a Christian?
"Mormons" share all of these same beliefs with Christians. Interestingly, there's no such thing as the "Mormon" Church. The real
name of the church is "The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints" (if anything, on this website it will be shortened to "The Church of Jesus Christ" or "The Church").
But opponents of The Church like the term "Mormon" since it takes away focus from
"Jesus Christ" in the real name of the Church. And let's face it—it is actually a little easier to just say "Mormon",
so even members of the Church of Jesus Christ refer to themselves as "Mormons" sometimes. There
has been no official document made by the Church that refers to itself as the "Mormon Church".
The term "Mormon Church" is never found in the scriptures of the Church, but the term "Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints" is found 6 times.
So why do people say that "Mormons" are not Christian? If they have all the core beliefs of Christianity, what makes people ask this question? The story starts almost 200 years ago... In 1820 there was a 14 year old boy named Joseph Smith living in a small town in New York State. At that time there was a religious revival in that area, which meant there was a lot of excitement about religion, and also a lot of contention. Even his family had split on religion: some of them became Presbyterians; the rest didn't join any church. Joseph was drawn toward the Methodist church, but never joined it. Joseph read the Bible. One day he read in the book of James chapter one verse five: James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. This verse hit him harder than any he had ever read. He realized that he could actually ask God for an answer and it would be given him. So he did. On a spring morning in 1820, Joseph left his home and found a grove of trees where he could be alone. He knelt down and began to pray. As he did so, he says that he was nearly overcome for some time with a very real, powerful, evil influence, but read what he says happened as he continued to pray to God: ...exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right...and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them... So there you have the answer to the question 'Are "Mormons" Christian?'. The very founding event—Joseph's prayer and "First Vision"—was a visit by Jesus Christ Himself, similar to Jesus' appearances to Paul and Stephen many centuries prior. This event, which defines the very foundation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is one of the main things opponents of the Church take issue with. They don't like that Jesus told Joseph to "join none of them". If anything, they would rather the response had been "Join any of them". Or the Baptists, for example, might like to hear that Jesus had said "Join the Baptists". Perhaps Evangelicals would be much more open to the vision if the reponse had been "Join any Bible preaching church". Not long after Joseph had the vision, he was in the company of a Methodist preacher in his town. Joseph said: I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them. As this Methodist preacher claimed, many still claim today that there can be no such thing as visions or revelations now. The truth is that such people have nothing to back up this claim. It is certainly not a Biblical claim. On the contrary, the pattern God has used throughout Biblical history is to give his word through revelations to men on the earth. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints know that Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in that grove of trees in 1820. But they don't expect anyone to take their word for it. Such an important piece of knowledge must be obtained by each individual that truly wants to know if it really happened. Can God tell you if it is true? Yes! But you must ask. Jesus never just said "you will receive"; he said "ASK, and you will receive". Are you a sincere follower of Jesus Christ? Are you a seeker of truth? Then you need to know whether or not Jesus really appeared to Joseph and spoke to him. Think about it: if he actually appeared to Joseph with a message, then don't you think that message must have been an important one? As a Christian yourself, don't you think you should know what the message was that Jesus Christ brought? As you investigate this and search, ponder and pray, you may have questions. Many members of the Church take time out of their lives to be missionaries to help people answer their questions about these things and learn more about the message Jesus Christ brought. There are two missionaries in your area that can answer your questions. Don't be afraid to have missionaries contact you. If you're not ready for that yet but you would like to talk to someone anonymously, chat online with a Church representative. Or maybe you just want to find a church near you to check it out. |
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