Should I Vote for a Mormon? by Ross Anderson

Author:Ross Anderson [Anderson, Ross]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780310514060
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2011-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Are Mormons Christians?

When Latter-day Saints assert that they are Christians, many evangelicals disagree. Latter-day Saints, in turn, are confused and hurt by this denial. How do we handle it when our LDS neighbors ask, “Do you believe Mormons are Christians?”

I try to avoid discussing this issue when it’s framed in this way. It doesn’t usually lead anywhere fruitful because Mormons and evangelicals define “Christian” in completely different ways.

Latter-day Saints use a broad definition: a Christian is someone who follows Jesus Christ. They point out that Jesus is central to their Church’s very name. Mormons believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, healed the sick, raised the dead, and offered himself as a sinless sacrifice for the sins of the world. They believe that he literally rose from the dead and lives today. They commemorate his death in every Sunday service and conclude their prayers in his name. So they are bewildered when anyone claims that they are not Christian.

Latter-day Saints also have in mind an ethical or behavioral definition: Christians are people who live Christlike lives. They point to their lifestyle, which embodies “Christian” virtues like marital fidelity, obedience to God, service, tithing, charitable action, and the like. When people claim Mormons aren’t Christian, it comes across to Latter-day Saints as saying, “Your upright way of life is not recognized as valid.”

Based on that broad definition, the LDS Church has a pretty good claim to make. Jesus Christ does have a central role in their beliefs and practices. Mormonism is certainly within the Christian family of religions compared to Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism.

Latter-day Saints view themselves not only as legitimate Christians, but as the only fully authentic Christians. After all, the LDS Church claims to be the only valid representative of Jesus Christ on earth. It portrays itself as the complete restoration of what Jesus originally established. Joseph Smith said that God told him that all the churches were wrong, that their creeds were abominable to him, and that those who professed those creeds were all corrupt. Latter-day Saints may say they respect other churches and don’t attack other people’s faith, but Smith’s claims can only be understood to mean that Mormons are the only fully authentic Christians and all others are Christian in some lesser sense or in name only.

As evangelicals, we use the word “Christian” in different ways among ourselves, depending on the context. We are willing to use “Christian” in a broad sense when we’re talking about the whole historic Christian tradition. We talk about Nestorian Christianity or Catholic Christianity even though we disagree with the Nestorian view of the natures of Christ or the Catholic view of justification. We include the Episcopal Church in the Christian family even though we are concerned about their views on homosexuality. Many Mormons find this to be a confusing double standard. For evangelicals, “Christian” means something different when applied to an institution than it does when applied to an individual. We are asking, on one hand, is Mormonism Christian? And

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