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
The Mormon faith dates back to the year 1830 when Joseph Smith, the founder along with 5 other men gathered together to form what they initially called The Church of Christ. This was later changed to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The writings, known as the Book of Mormon, describe how some Israelites traveled to the Americas to become the indigenous tribes (Gutjahr 7). The books and Joseph’s teachings laid out a faith that seemed radically different than any other. But Mormonism shares roots with other religions; it began as a form of Trinitarian Christianity. Like Christianity, it builds on Judaism; Mormonism also connects with the Jewish history as the Book of Mormon describes the families of a lost tribe of Israel. Like Protestantism, Mormonism can be considered a reformed version of Christianity. Mormonism, in fact, has much in common with Islam—both have Abrahamic roots and a modern prophet and sacred text. Mormon ideas may seem radical in some areas, but are Christian in many fundamental aspects. Mormons believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, although they see them as separate beings. They accept the Old and New Testament as the work of God, and believe in many Christian ideas such as sin, divine revelation, and God’s eventual return. The main difference, then, is simply that Mormonism is newer than other religions, and thus assumed to be invalid. As Noah Feldman summarizes, “Antiquity
Mormonism is a religion created by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830(The Mormon Trail), its believers are referred to as Mormons and practice the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) (The Mormon Trail). Smith believed himself to be a prophet destined to “restore the original pure church the Christians in the Book of Mormon had created (Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion).” However, he was killed by a mob in Illinois but was replaced by his successor, Brigham Young. Their beliefs include a particular set of deity, afterlife, and they practice polygamy, which is one of the reasons the Mormons sought religious freedom.
uniqueness of the Mormon religion is that it was the first church to have begun in the United
Based upon the information gathered from Robert Millet about the Mormon perspectives on their religion. The Mormons renounced a distant, unknowable god of the Neoplatonists God of philosophers and worshiping a God, who possesses every divine attribute.(251 Metzger) Some of the Mormons views of God is similar in nature to the Christianity God. Joseph Smith, who is the founder of the Mormons, do realize God is an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent God. He also knows God is a Holy God, who desire to reveal himself to his people. Muck points out; Mormons believe in the Jesus Christ of the New Testament. They believe "salvation is in Christ and that it comes by and through his holy name. The Mormons
This book attempt to show the common ground between Christianity and Mormonism by examining the individual areas of Scripture, God, Christ, the Trinity and Salvation. The summation of the author’s findings is that although there are great differences there is also much common ground that can be used to strengthen our relationship together and bring unity to the ecumenical community.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been the center of much attention throughout modern history, whether it be about the polygamists, the Book of Mormon, or Joseph Smith seeing God, or the restored priesthood. Though the church is known to have these forms of controversies, we see through history that no organization or group is free from mistakes and criticism. Throughout history in general, there has always been some sort of religious contention around the globe. A large point of contention then and even now is the factor of race in religion and the certain rules and restrictions implemented into the religion regarding race.
Joseph Smith established the church of Jesus Christ (Mormon Church) in the 1830, New York. It was established due to a lack of churches that wasn’t organized by Jesus Christ (Bushman, 517-18). The church has been growing larger since then, with 6 million members in the U.S. and 14 million members worldwide (Lyon, 622). Mormonism has been known for having different values and norms compared to other Americans, the ones that seemed most interesting and different were their lifestyle choices, and their views on polygamy.
Mormonism is a religious group part of the main branch of the Latter Day Saints movement, led by Joseph Smith in New York during the 1820s. Mormons believed in the Bible, as well as other scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon was about Jesus’s travels around the Americas. They also believed that it was Christian to have more than one wife, but to non-Mormons this was abhorrent. Many violent outbreaks have occurred with Mormons and their neighboring states. Technically, Mormons didn’t have a choice to move or not. Because of their different religion, they were forced West, all the way from New York to Utah. Utah had a very open government allowing the Mormons to vote and have a say in government decisions. It also provided
First, we will embark on the definition of Christian Orthodoxy by exploring the historical formation of Orthodox Christianity. Second, we will describe in detail the core theological doctrines of reformed Christianity, namely, the doctrine of Scripture Alone, Christology, the doctrine of the Trinity, and Justification by Faith alone. Third, we will look at the History and biography of Mormonism and its leader, Joseph Smith. Fourth, we will discuss Mormon doctrines and its incompatibility with Orthodox Christianity. Finally, we will
Would you like to worship self? Would you like to believe in a God that is almost exactly like humanity? Would you like to be your own savior one day? Then Mormonism is the religion for you! Through the study of Mormonism, I was able to see some stark contrasts with other major world religions. After observing the Mormon beliefs about God, humankind, and creation, I was able to see a related pattern of heretical statements that clearly contradict the doctrinal teachings of the Christian church.
The story of its creation and Joseph Smith is an example myth. The history of the religion is mythic, Mormons believe that the hebrew societies of the Lamanites and Nephites lived in North America(Lamanites). The Lamanites rejected the teachings of the gospel until the birth of Jesus Christ, however, two hundred years after Christ visited North America the two factions became wicked and the Nephites wiped out the Lamanites in war(Lamanites). The angel Moroni is believed to be the last Nephite, he wrote the plates of Mormon in the hopes someone would find them and preach Nephite values(Moroni, Son of Mormon). The faith is heavily influenced by
No, Mormon religion is not the same as Christianity. Although our book refers to the upcoming of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints as a “Christian Movement.” The religion is much different than Christianity. During the Second Great Awakening when Mormonism was forming, Mormons wanted their religion to be new and distinguished from Christians. Mormon religion traces its origins to Joseph Smith, while Christians trace their origins to Jesus Christ. Along with this, Mormons did not believe that they were the same as Christians. Rather than believing in the Bible, Mormons believed in their own book, “The Book of Mormon.” Most Christians felt that the “Book of Mormon” was not equal to the Bible. Christians also did not believe in the
“The chief feature of the Mormon Church, more formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, that distinguishes it from the many variations of mainstream Christianity is that Mormons believe not only in the Bible but also in another scripture, The Book of Mormon” (Fisher, 2005, pp. 453-454).
Christianity is the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Most followers of Christianity, called Christians, are members of one of three major groups--Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox. These groups have different beliefs about Jesus and His teachings. But all consider Jesus central to their religion. Most Christians believe God sent Jesus into the world as the Savior. Christianity teaches that humanity can achieve salvation through Jesus.