Posted on 06/07/2012 9:24:28 PM PDT by dixjea
While some Christians insist that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not Christian enough, one Christian professor says “Mormonism is obsessed with Christ.”...Stephen H. Webb, says that “what gives Christianity its identity is its commitment to the divinity of Jesus Christ. And on that ground Mormons are more Christian than many mainstream Christians who do not take seriously the astounding claim that Jesus is the Son of God.” “Mormonism is obsessed with Christ,” Webb continues, “and everything that it teaches is meant to awaken, encourage and expand faith in him. ... Webb...says that he came to this conclusion after reading the Book of Mormon. “I was utterly surprised,”... Webb points out the ways in which “the Mormon Jesus is different from the Jesus of traditional Christianity,..."Still,” he writes, “not all heresies are equally perilous. ... If you had to choose between a Jesus whose body is eternal and a Jesus whose divinity is trivial (as in many modern theological portraits), I hope it would be an easy choice.” ... both Davis and Stetzer urged their listeners to “drop the ‘cult’ language,” referring to some in the Christian community who have publicly labeled Mormonism as a “cult.” “We don’t want to demonize people of other religions,” ...there’s really no need for us to engage in an argument.” Unless, of course, you're among those deriving some pleasure from it. "Making Mormons look bad helps others feel good," ..."By imagining Mormons as intolerant rubes, or as heretical deviants, Americans from left and right can imagine they are, by contrast, tolerant, rational and truly Christian," ... "But until Americans work through our contradictory impulses regarding faith, diversity and freedom, there is no reason to believe anti-Mormonism will go away anytime soon."
(Excerpt) Read more at deseretnews.com ...
"By imagining Mormons as intolerant rubes, or as heretical deviants, Americans from left and right can imagine they are, by contrast, tolerant, rational and truly Christian," wrote Fluhman,"
..."But until Americans work through our contradictory impulses regarding faith, diversity and freedom, there is no reason to believe anti-Mormonism will go away anytime soon."
LDS ping!
“Christians who do not take seriously the astounding claim that Jesus is the Son of God”
If one does not believe Jesus is the Son of God, then they are not Christian to begin with.
LOL!
Mormons are not Christians, did you get that?
Mormons are not Christians.
I have quite a few good Mormon friends and I respect them but a part of me keeps edging toward their views as being a combination of Christian core beliefs - with the side caveats being written by H.G. Wells and/or Robert Heinlein.
mormonism is NOT Christianity in any words you would like to say.
mormonISM is not Christianity!
Wrong, lds are obsessed with their christ.
The christ that was created by having Mary have intercourse with their god (who was once a man).
The christ that paid the price in the garden, the cross is secondary.
The christ who is not sufficient in himself for salvation and salvation must earned.
mormonism is NOT Christianity.
Well, its a curious article. Postmodern to the core. A great example of the left’s aversion to “true truth,” as it is sometimes called.
Note the unfounded presumption that it can’t possibly be that Christians reject Mormon doctrine because it is just flat out wrong, that it is wrong because it cannot be reconciled to the Bible.
No, it must be that those intolerant rubes on the right are just sadistic and want to make Mormons look bad for the sheer pleasure of it. Can you imagine anything more opposed to the conservative’s truth-oriented (as opposed to feeling-oriented) worldview?
Mormonism:
God the Father is an exalted man (a man who has progressed to godhood) with a body of flesh and bones.
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1973 ed., p. 346 - “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man...I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in a form-like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man.”
D & C 130:22 “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also.”
Holy Scriptures:
The Bible is most explicit in stating that God is not a man (Nu 23:19; 1Sa 15:29; Hos 11:9). God the Father, the eternal God is Spirit (Isa 55:8-9; 6:1-5; 57:15; Pss 90:2; 113:5-6; 123:1; Jn 4:24: 8:23) Jesus said that a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Lk 24:39)
_________________________________________________________
Mormonism:
God the Father became a God after learning truth, aggressively pursuing godhood, and being obedient to the laws of the gospel.
Holy Scripture:
God the Father has always existed as such (Dt 33:27; Isa 43:10; 44:6; 45:5, 21; 46:9; Mal 3:6; 1Co 8:4; 1Ti 2:5; Rev 1:8; 21:6; 22:13).
As Psalms 90:2 and 93:2 state, God has been God “from eternity to eternity.”
________________________________________________________
Mormonism:
God the Father has a wife, through whom he procreates spirit children.
“Implicit in the Christian verity that all men are the spirit children of an Eternal Father is the usually unspoken truth that they are also the offspring of an Eternal Mother. An exalted and glorified Man of Holiness (Moses 6:57) could not be a Father unless a Woman of like glory, perfection, and holiness was associated with him as a Mother” (Mormon Doctrine, 1977 ed., p. 516)
Holy Scripture:
The Godhead determined to make man in their image, not to procreate spirit children (Ge 1:26). Nowhere does Scripture even hint at the existence of an Eternal Mother.
___________________________________________________
The list is lengthy. This is just a sample.
Mormonism is Paganism.
Baptism of the Dead???
Is there something about their religion and keeping records (even the non mormon records)?
Having spent various amounts of time in just about every flavor of church from Catholic to Charismatic, I think I can honestly say that I've never met a Christian that didn't believe that Jesus was God. The author did use weasel words, however, in saying that many Christians "don't take seriously" the claim that Jesus is God, and perhaps he's asserting that Mormons take the claim more seriously than others. Whatever.
Roman Catholics Rule on Mormons
Association Press/July 19, 2001
Salt Lake City — The Roman Catholic Church, which recognizes the baptisms of most denominations, has decided that Mormons who convert to Catholicism must be rebaptized.
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decided the Mormon view on the nature of God was too different from its own, according to Tuesday’s editions of L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s daily newspaper.
The doctrine agency said the church could not accept Mormon belief that “God the father had a wife, the Celestial Mother, with whom he procreated Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.” The body therefore decided that Mormon baptism “is not the baptism that Christ instituted.”
Two major U.S. Protestant denominations, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and United Methodist Church, have taken similar stands on Mormon theology in recent years.
Catholicism and most other Christian denominations believe God is a divine entity consisting of three persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - of one spiritual substance.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three separate entities, and that God and Jesus have bodies of flesh and bone while the Holy Ghost is spirit only. Church founder Joseph Smith taught that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man...”
The Rev. Luis Ladaria, a Jesuit theologian speaking for the Congregation, acknowledged the ruling marks “a change from the past practice” of accepting the Mormon rite.
The congregation took up the matter after receiving a request to look into the validity of Mormon baptisms in conversion. L’Osservatore Romano did not specify the origin of the request.
Its about making baby deities. Seriously. Baptism of the dead is merely a means to an end. A long time ago, when my parents were visiting a friend in Utah, my mom was approached by a young man who wanted to know her maiden name. We found out later he was doing the necessary groundwork to have her included in his “harem” on the other side. Sick actually.
The sneakiest, most slippery and evasive religions that I have ever run into and tried to look behind the curtain of are Mormonism and The Children of God cults, and the Hare Krishnas.
Mormonism and The Children of God were the most evasive and deceitful.
Reminds me of the Somali who saw my name tag "Joseph" at work and promptly asked me if I like pork.
That's their way of asking "Are you a Jew?"
When I told him I liked pork, he smiled and became friendly with me.
Should actually be “baptism *for* the dead,” the belief that certain highly qualified Mormons can be baptized on behalf of people who died without ever becoming Mormons, even from ancient times. This will expand their net membership on the other side. For all we know, Hitler may have been posthumously comverted.
“”Current IGI TM Addendum temple ordinance entries for Mr. [Adolf] Hiedler (Hitler) show that Hitler was “baptized” by Mormons on September 30, 1993, and “endowed” on April 27, 1994, in the Jordan River Temple, Utah..... Eva Anna Paula Braun, born in Munich, Bavaria, Germany , on February 7, 1912, was “baptized” by Mormons on October 16, 1964, and “endowed” on February 5, 1965, in the Los Angeles Temple. She had been “sealed” to her parents some time prior to 1970. This information is current and is easily accessible in the IGI TM Addendum, in which file Ashton stated that no information was available for either Hitler or Braun.”” (http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_helenradkey.html)
There are a lot of people with different beliefs around. My objections to Mormonism would be lessened if they did not try to say they were Christians. If they posited themselves as a separate religion, it would be better imho
Yikes. Who knew.
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