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Are Mormons Christians? Essay example

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Worldwide, there are 14.1 million Mormons with 28, 660 congregations based in over 176 countries (“LDS Statistics and . . .). Despite this large amount of people, little is known about the LDS religion. As seen in recent events, people believe that Mormons are not Christians. However, Mormons are Christian based on their church’s name, scriptures, and teachings.

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, a Christian is somebody who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ. As spoken of in The Holy Bible, Christ was born 2000 years ago of a virgin mother. In his ministry, he taught that he was the foretold Messiah of the Old Testament. While on the earth, he performed the Atonement, enabling all people to overcome their sins. For his …show more content…

Many people and churches refuse to allow Mormons the title of Christians based on differing theological views (Walker). Many Christians believe that revelation stopped with The Holy Bible. Mormons believe in modern prophets that constantly receive instruction and doctrine for the LDS church. This continuation of instruction makes people view Mormons as misguided and deceived (Perry). Mormons cannot be defined as “historical” Christians because although they believe in The Holy Bible, they do not believe in the various creeds and councils that appeared after New Testament times. Part of these creeds states the idea that God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three beings but the same God (Walker). Since the LDS Church rejects the Holy Trinity creed, they do not believe in God. A large part of the Christian belief is salvation through the grace of God. Mormons, however, believe only in salvation through good works (Stephenson).
All these differing theological issues pale in comparison to the disagreement that many Christians have with the LDS Church’s origins. In 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded after Joseph Smith claimed to have received a vision of God and Jesus Christ telling him that the true church was not on the earth at that time (Perry). If this is true, it implies that all other Christian religions are false. Prior to the Church’s organization, Joseph Smith published The Book

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