Posted on 10/12/2011 7:31:09 AM PDT by Kaslin
"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell.You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
C.S. Lewis's famous "trilemma" confronts those who affirm the moral teachings of Christianity while distancing themselves from Christ's more difficult declarations about His deity, man's sinfulness, and the narrowness of the path to salvation. Jesus' famous "Golden Rule," is enthusiastically embraced in postmodern society while his other teachings are widely rejected. Accustomed to defining their own reality, postmodernists pick and choose from Jesus' teachings as if He offered them some kind of spiritual smorgasbord. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is selected as a delicacy, while "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me" is rejected as distasteful.
The tension between benign Christian morality and the exclusivity of the claims of Christ recently came into play when Baptist Preacher Robert Jeffress - by way of expressing his support for Rick Perry's presidential candidacy - asserted that Mitt Romney is not a Christian and that Mormonism is a cult. In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Jeffress clarified his point, explaining that from a theological perspective, Mormonism is considered a cult because it is outside the historical tradition of Christianity, it recognizes a human being (Joseph Smith) and not God as it's founder, and it regards extra-Biblical texts (The Book of Mormon; The Pearl of Great Price) as being on equal footing with Holy Scripture.
For his part, Cooper seemed offended that Jeffress would presume to judge the claims of another when it comes to religious identity. If someone says they are a "Christian," then who is to say otherwise? If the Mormon Church says it is Christian, then that is their truth and no one has a right to refute it.
This gets back to Lewis's "trilemma," and the dissonance that occurs when society affirms Christ's moral teachings, but rejects his other claims. As Lewis points out, Christ did not leave this way open to us. He made very specific assertions about His nature and that of humanity which we either believe or not. Therefore, we cannot all call ourselves "Christian" unless we empty the word of its meaning.
The Nicene Creed is one of the oldest and most widely accepted distillations of what Christians believe:
We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, of all that is - seen and unseen. We believe in One Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten from the Father. God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father, through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, He came down from Heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified. We believe in one holy and catholic apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
This creed incorporates the historic tenets of the Christian faith.
Therefore, when an individual or group holds itself out as "Christian," it is a fair exercise to evaluate how their beliefs align with this historic affirmation. That's true whether Anderson Cooper likes it or not. Does Mormonism fit within the historic definition of Christianity or not? Do Mitt Romney's beliefs conform to what Christians over the centuries have affirmed or not? Does the word "Christian" have objective, propositional meaning or not? If it does, then isn't it fair to test the claims of those who call themselves "Christian" against those beliefs that have historically been associated with that religion?
Of course, we live in a free society and people can identify themselves however they choose, but merely saying something doesn't make it so. I can say I'm the Queen of England if it makes me feel good about myself, but this self-delusion won't carry any weight with those guarding the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Pastor Jeffress real sin in the eyes of Anderson Cooper may be that the Reverend deigned to mix religion with politics in an apparent attempt to create a political advantage. If that was the case, then Mr. Cooper's indignation may have been justified. Article VI of the United States Constitution provides that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." And long before our Constitution came into being, none other than Martin Luther declared, "I would rather be governed by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian."
That said, the question remains, "Are Mormons Christian?" Since Mormons assert that they are, isn't this a fair subject of public debate? Since religious truth claims have eternal consequences, isn't it in the public interest to examine the merits of those claims? The election of a Mormon president will likely do more than any other single event to mainstream Mormonism into American life, with all of the consequences attendant thereto. That being the case, why should the claims of that religion be any more immune from scrutiny than those of any other religion?
America will be a poorer country when we reach the point where discussions about religion and our eternal destiny can no longer be part of the public dialogue.
Mormon teaching is that the wife will not be head of her own kingdom. Only the husband. Not sure what happens to unmarried women. Would the left wing media approve of this obvious bias against women?
Of course, now that mormonism has been injected into the debate, it’ll never be mentioned again. Perry was either in on it or he’s a useful idiot.
You LDS are becoming unglued ... accusing C.S. Lewis of pedophilia is anew one from your ilk.
This argument has always annoyed me. Article VI is a prohibition against the GOVERNMENT using a religious test, not a prohibition against a citizen using it to determine his or her vote.
Contrasting Mormonism and Christianity is not about politics. It is about defining worldviews.
Mormons devote and commit to their religion; their CHURCH.
Christians are Christians because they live their lives following Jesus Christ.
It’s the difference between saying, “I’m a ball player” and I play ball for the New York Yankees..”
Do you believe “He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” ?
This seems to be the crux of the discussion. If you believe that statement you believe as the Mormons do. If you don’t believe that statement then you disagree with the Nicene Creed and I don’t know what that makes you. Do you?
Ahh, the angry mormon posts a slanderous accusation against one of the most respected and prolific Christian authors of the 20th century. Color me surprised. NOT!
Do you have a REPUTABLE source to back up your slur?
I have many that show your “prophet” to be an adulterous pedophile.
Want to go a round or two?
He may be confusing C. S. Lewis with Lewis Carroll.
—You will only vote for a Christian?—
No. But a candidate’s religious beliefs are very important to me. I want to know what field they think they are playing on.
If this is dropped now, which is what the libs want, believe me, when Mitt gets the nomination it WILL be back!
Does it really matter whether anyone knows or believe thay are or aren’t? Why not just let God take care of that and quit worrying about others?
What's pathetic is your unsubstantiated slanderous lie regarding C.S. Lewis.
“Does it really matter whether anyone knows or believe thay are or aren’t? Why not just let God take care of that and quit worrying about others?”
I like how you think. Thank you.
I’m a Mormon Christian, and I disagree with Lyman’s statement.
You are certainly a rare find here on FR.
Probably ... but think about the brazenness, to accuse so forcefully trying to defend a peepstone sexual predator of married women and girls, Joseph Smith!
Excellent point
Let me join the chorus on this one. This is such an outrageous accusation that you better have some solid proof or you should withdraw it.
As SZonian has pointed out, you'd better be real careful how you define pedaphilia or you'll have to hang a pedaphile label on your "prophet."
They teach that Jesus and Lucifer were “brothers”.
They teach, “As we are now, God once was. As God is now, we shall someday be.”
///
exactly. The idea that God was once a man, and we can become Gods? that God literally had sex with Mary?
That God personally ordered Smith’s wife, to permit Smith to marry other women, or SHE would go to Hell?
...there is so much in there, as Colofornian has shown,
that it cannot be considered a branch of Christianity.
...not to mention, that Smith was a convicted conman in NY. and ran the “magic stone” scheme. similar to the “translating” stone, which made hundreds of “errors” ?
ancient writings that are word for word identical with the flowery King James “translation” of earlier texts?
...hundreds of years of history, which is totally unknown and unsupported by Science ? ludicrous.
and why shouldn’t i want good Mormons freed, of this obviously man-made cult ? Just as i wish for Muslims.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.