Defining Mormons out of Christianity, or, How I Became a Mormon Apologist when I Wasn’t Paying Attention
I sent in my resignation letter to the LDS Church a year ago last Friday, and my membership was officially canceled three months later (you can read about all that here). I knew resigning as a Mormon would not free me completely from my religious background–my family is still very Mormon, and I live in the middle of Salt Lake City, Utah, the spiritual center of Mormonism–but I decided to do the best I could in that direction anyway. My efforts have been fairly successful. I hardly ever bring up my past in conversation anymore: I refer to my mission as “a few years I spent in Europe,” and when people find out I went to BYU and ask if I am Mormon, I just say no, instead of launching into a more detailed explanation of my sexuality and atheism. Imagine my surprise then at finding myself writing a blog entry defending the classification of Mormonism as a Christian denomination.
As I believe I’ve mentioned here before, I occasionally wander over to the Recovery from Mormonism boards to see what other former Mormons are thinking/talking about. Over the past day or so, the question of whether Mormons are Christian or not has obsessed the board in an increasingly acrimonious discussion: the ex-Mormon Christians on the one hand, vehemently denying that Mormons should be allowed into their club, and the atheists/agnostics/non-Christians on the other, arguing equally stubbornly that, despite doctrinal differences, Mormonism is essentially Christian in nature.
Back when I was still Mormon, if someone had asked me if my church was Christian, I would have said of course it was. Mormons believe in the literal truth of the New Testament account of Christ’s virgin birth, teaching, crucifixion and resurrection, and they believe they are saved from sin and spiritual death through Christ’s atonement–what else does “Christian” mean, if not that?
Well, it might mean that you accept the Nicene Creed, and by extension, the Trinity; it might mean that you believe that being saved depends entirely on making a one-time decision to devote your life to Christ; it might mean that you adhere to the doctrine of sola scriptura; it might mean a hundred different things that effectively exclude Mormons from being Christians.
So who is right? Well, since you asked, I’ll tell you: I am, as usual. And the thing I am right about in this case is that Mormons (by any reasonable definition) are indeed Christian, and non-Mormon Christians who won’t admit this are whiny, selfish babies. I was writing a long, eloquent argument that examined both sides and clearly demonstrated the superiority of my position, but after I got halfway through I started to feel like a Mormon apologist, which made me feel icky, so I stopped and resorted to name-calling instead.
I’ll close by saying that it is hilarious to me when different religions get so hung up on different points of doctrine. Now that I’m out of all of that, it seems so petty and insignificant and unnecessary. What does it matter whether the Father and the Son are made of the same substance or not? Two separate omnipotent beings made of matter are just as impossible as one omnipotent being that is somehow three beings, but is really just one being. I mean, come on. The fact that people have gone to war and committed heinous crimes because of questions like these just boggles my mind.
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September 26th, 2006 at 5:05 am
Yes these sectarian squabbles are silly, but as with the current dust-up between the Pope and the followers of Islam–at least if they’re so busy fighting each other, maybe they’ll lay off gays and others for a few nanoseconds.
By the way, I saw your Scissors Sisters this past weekend on a Channel 4 Saturday morning show called “Popworld.” At the moment if you go to http://www.channel4.com/popworld and click on the “Home” button there is a place to click to see “Scissor Sisters clips too rude for TV…” (but not too rude for the Channel 4 Web site, apparently).
September 26th, 2006 at 5:07 am
Actually, here’s a better link for the Scissors Sisters clips:
Click Here
September 15th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Hi Sean,
I respectfully disagree about the “Mormons/Christian” thing. The Bible says God was always God and was not a man. Joseph Smith taught that God was once a man and became God and lives near Kolob with his heavenly wives (and that he he had a father, grandfather, etc.) and that you can become a God…
Just don’t think any Christian Church would swallow that.
Sam
September 15th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Interesting that in your definition, no “Christian” church would accept the idea that God was ever a man, when that is exactly what most mainstream Christian church do believe—i.e., that God came down and lived on Earth as a man for 33 years in the form of Jesus. Especially interesting that your definition of “Christian” has no reference to “Christ” at all.
Understand that I’m an atheist and don’t believe that “God” was anything, is anything or does anything, whether we’re talking about the “Christian” god or the “Mormon” god or whatever. I just question any restrictive definition of Christianity that doesn’t include religions that, to me, clearly seem to fall within the Christian tradition. To me it matters less what weirdness these religions have added on top of the bizarre conglomeration that is mainstream Christianity than the fact that they accept Christ as the son of God and their savior. This would include all the different flavors of Mormonism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, by the way.
September 21st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
As an evangelical Christian, I assert that Mormonism is in no way consistent with orthodox Christianity. It borrows Christian themes and texts, but its most basic beliefs directly contradict the central teachings of Christianity.
Mormonism holds that God is an exalted man, with a physical body. Christianity teaches that God is Spirit. Mormonism denies the historic Christian understandings of the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, and the doctrine of salvation. Christianity promises salvation through Christ’s atonement and the sinner’s justification by faith. Mormonism promises deification. Christianity calls for personal faith in Jesus Christ. Mormonism calls for obedience to its own teachings as the path to exaltation. Mormonism replaces belief in the sole authority of the Bible with other writings, including the Book of Mormon. This list is only a brief summary of the vast chasm that separates Christianity from Mormonism. Put simply, Mormonism is not just another form of Christianity. It is a rejection of historic Christianity.
September 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Mike, your argument founders when you start talking about “orthodox Christianity.” Orthodox by whose measure? By a Catholic measure, for instance, even you aren’t orthodox.
As for “historic Christianity,” it was a lot more varied, heterogeneous and interesting than you seem to give it credit for. Who gets to decide that modern Christianity is any more “Christian” than all the heretics that were disowned and silenced by the Councils and Creeds—and yes, there were Christians back then who didn’t believe in the Trinity, and who believed God and/or Jesus was physical instead of Spirit—or who were tortured, burned and murdered by “orthodox” Christianity for centuries?
It is true—and I have never disputed—that Mormonism contains doctrines and ideas that are different from the doctrines of any other Christian denomination. That is what makes it Mormonism instead of Presbyterianism or Catholicism. On the other hand, Mormonism also teaches “salvation through Christ’s atonement and the sinner’s justification by faith” as well as “personal faith in Jesus Christ,” which is what my definition of “Christian” hinges on.
Your task, if you insist that Mormons are not Christian, is to defend a use of the word “Christian” that does not hinge on belief in, faith in and dependence on Jesus Christ and his purported teachings.
That said, I won’t accept any more comments on this post—this tw0-year-old post—unless commenters start responding to the above challenge instead of simply “asserting” things dogmatically and listing differences between Mormonism and their favorite brand of Christianity.
Thank you.