Is Mormonism Christianity?
When I set up the post category hierarchy originally (see the Categories box over there?), I put Mormonism under Christianity because, while it may be considered to have many serious errors according to most Christian denominations, I figured it was the best place to put it since they use the Christian Old and New Testaments (or at least their version of them) as one of their foundational scriptures. Justin Taylor, however, pointed out a New York Times opinion piece by a devout Mormon who insists that he is "emphatically not a Christian".
Now, what the writer means by "Christian" varies between a theological definition and a cultural one. Taylor deals with some of the points in the article, but then goes on to describe some of the key differences between Mormonism and historic Christianity. I think it’s a good start at understanding the religion of the likely Republican nominee for President.
And as clarification, while I think that a candidate’s religion is fair game for scrutiny during an election, it is mostly as a gauge to understand how he may act politically. I’m not electing a national pastor; I’m electing a political leader. To the degree that his religion affects his politics and policies, I think it’s worth understanding. However, this particular examination of the Mormonism is for the purposes of understanding it as a religion; disassociated from politics. Just an FYI.
Filed under: Christianity • Doug • Mormonism • Religion
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
I’ve had Bible studies with Mormons and was surprised at how much agreement we had about the meaning of scripture. Surprised because I’ve read some of the book of Mormon and it’s pretty clearly a whole different animal from the Bible.
So, I would say that while Mormons believe an awful lot of things most Christians believe (I would say they probably endorse most of what CS Lewis called “Mere Christianity”) they also believe a whole lot of other things as well.
If someone said they were a Christian, but insisted that critical parts of Christian belief weren’t true (baptism, the Resurrection, etc.) I’d say they weren’t really Christians but something else. Likewise, it seems to me, if someone is adding things that the believe are critical that I can’t square with Biblical teachings, I’d say they weren’t Christians, but something else.
Now I’m sure, from my discussions, that many Mormons WOULD say they are Christian. However, since they believe things to be critically important that most people who call themselves Christians cannot accept, to consistently argue that they are Christians, they’d have to also be saying that most people who call themselves Christians must really be something else.