Joseph Smith receiving his vision
Posted on 12/19/2009 7:02:14 PM PST by delacoert
Mormons want you to believe that they are "Christians" and that their church, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints", is just another Christian denomination. Mormons themselves believe that they are Christians and that their church is the only true church.
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Joseph Smith receiving his vision
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There is even a move among Mormons to shorten the name of their church to simply "The Church of Jesus Christ."
Their founder, Joseph Smith claimed to have been told in a vision regarding the Christian churches that God "forbade me to join with any of them" and "all their creeds were an abomination in his sight." It is hence Mormons (not Christians) who established, from the beginning of their group, an antagonistic relationship with those Christian groups already in existence. While in recent years Mormons have sought to downplay this antagonism, that testimony of Joseph Smith continues to be prominently featured on Mormon websites.
In one sense clearly, Mormons are Christian. If you were going to categorize Mormons according to world religion criteria, you would have to say they are Christians. World religions are the major belief systems found around the world that frame a tradition of enough cultural richness to support a civilization. The major world religions are: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and Islam. Clearly Mormonism fits into the broad "Christian" category. And so would many other groups whose relationship with the wider Christian world is antagonistic: Jehovah's Witnesses, Branch Davidians, Oneness Pentecostals, etc.
It may be that in the not-too-distant future, we will have to categorize Mormonism as a separate world religion. It is the fifth largest religious group now in the US, having just passed the Lutherans, and the LDS are experiencing rapid expansion in other countries. In many ways its development parallels that of Islam. Both religions were founded by prophets who claimed to have been visited by an angel. They borrow heavily from Judaism and Christianity, yet reject their central tenets. Both rely upon strange revisions of history. The Koran identifies Mary, the mother of Jesus, with Miriam the sister of Moses, who lived over fourteen centuries earlier. The Book of Mormon makes numerous claims regarding the peoples of the Americas (including the idea that the American Indians descended from a lost tribe of ancient Israelites) that have been refuted by history, archeology and anthropology. Both Islam and Mormonism claim that where their sacred writings contradict the Bible, the Christian and Jewish scriptures have been corrupted.
It might be argued that Mormons have the right to say that they are "Christians" and no one should deny what they say about themselves. It is possible however for us to respect their right to call themselves whatever they wish without feeling compelled to validate that claim ourselves. This is complicated by the fact that to many Catholics, Mormonism seems no more strange than the Baptist faith, or that of any other Protestant denomination. In part this is because Mormons themselves generally use the language and terminology common to (especially Protestant) Christians. In their initial approach to you, they will do all they can to hide or gloss over the distinctive beliefs of their church. Statements of Mormon belief sound so much like statements of the Christian faith that many Catholics and Protestants are quite willing to recognize Mormons as "Christians", not merely in the world religion sense, but in the sense in which we Catholics recognize Protestant Christians as our "separated brethren". This is a serious error with two major consequences:
First, Christians (including Catholics) are misled into the Mormon church where they are indoctrinated in a religion which rejects the central doctrines of the Christian faith, resulting in them bringing their children up as non-Christians. Second, Christians embrace Mormons as fellow Christians instead of evangelizing them.
In order to protect Christians from this deception and to help Mormons learn the truth, we must understand how Mormon doctrine differs from the historic Christian faith that we share with Protestants. To do this, we will examine first what Mormons say, then how they define the terms they are using and how that differs from the Christian faith. Finally we provide a biblical, Christian response and suggestions for how to discuss these things with a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
What Mormons will say they believe about God:
Jesus, Brother of Lucifer
Why the Mormon Jesus is not the Christian Jesus:
Challenging Mormons
What Mormons will say they believe about salvation:
When Talking to a Mormon
Remember that the Mormon is trained to hide the difference between his beliefs and yours and to present himself as a Christian. However, his belief that he is a Christian is sincere, and his efforts to hide the distinctives of the Mormon religion are pursued in his desire to get you to accept Mormon teachings.
Do not allow glib, surface responses to go unchallenged; press the Mormon to define the Christian-sounding words he is using.
Define your own terms also. Draw the contrast for the Mormon. Calmly and clearly insist that what you and he believe about the nature of God, the identity of Jesus, the nature of man, salvation and eternal life are different. To pretend otherwise is dishonest.
Appeal to his honesty and sense of fairness. You might say, "Look, we are not going to get anywhere unless we are honest with each other. Without making any statement about which one of us is right, can't we just acknowledge that we do not worship the same God?" or "Can't we just acknowledge that we do not have the same hope for the future?" Help the Mormon to consider the logical and philosophical problems with the Plan of Eternal Progression.
If God had a Father and He had a Father and so on — then who was the first God? Mormons say it is an "infinite regression". But since there is no way to cross an infinite distance or pass an infinite amount of time, there would be no way to get to "now" and to "us" from an infinite past. Time has to have had a beginning and it did. It began with the creation "of all things seen and unseen" by God. Mormons say that God is omnipotent (almighty, all-powerful), yet they say there are many Gods. There cannot be more than one omnipotent being, so the Mormon conception of God is shrunken and distorted.
A big selling point of the Mormon hope for the future is the idea that families will be together eternally. But if Mormons become Gods of planets and then their children become Gods of other planets — how do the children and parents get together? Can a God leave his planet unattended while he goes to a celestial family reunion? This Mormon selling point would be diminished if we Christians were more vocal about our hope for the "new heavens and new earth" in which we know one another in the all the relationships of our present lives, only in glory (2 Pet. 3.13, Rev. 21.1).
Welcome the participation of Mormons in causes which we share for the common good: strengthening family life, fighting pornography and abortion, fostering the virtue of patriotism. We honor each Mormon as a person who desires what is genuinely good for himself, his family and his society — and when we share the truths of the Christian faith with him.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Mary Kochan. "Drawing the Line for Mormons - A Closer Look at the LDS Church." Catholic Exchange (December, 2002).
This article reprinted with permission from Catholic Exchange.
THE AUTHOR
After growing up as a third generation Jehovah's Witness, Mary Kochan worked her way backwards through the Protestant Reformation to enter the Catholic Church on Trinity Sunday, 1996. Mary has done extensive work and research on the problem of religious cults, writing and speaking to live and radio audiences and answering questions about all aspects of cultic behavior. She is married to Daniel and is a member of St. Theresa parish in Douglasville, Georgia.
Arrangements to host Mary Kochan as a speaker at your event can be made by contacting her directly mkochan@i4f.net or through her agent, St. Joseph Communications, Inc. reached by writing to P.O. Box 720, W. Covina, CA, 91793, by calling (626) 331-3549, via email at kadee@saintjoe.com or the internet at: http://www.saintjoe.com . Mary's tape sets can be viewed at the St. Joseph Communications website by entering "Kochan" into the website search window.
Copyright © 2002 Catholic Exchange
What Mormons will say they believe about salvation:
Joseph Smith = L. Ron Hubbard = Mohammad
“follow the money....”
That's totally bogus. Mary should stick to writing about Catholic Education and not try to portray herself as an expert on other religions.
Freepers are Freepers as far as I'm concerned and if we can't respect each other no one can.
If you want to talk about the tenents of your particular faith, go for it, but stop the damned mudslinging and condemnation baloney!
We have common enemies, in case you haven't noticed! They don't like any of us!
The one and only thing I care about mormonism is if some reporter is going to ask Willard Romney the questions about his beliefs and demand that he answer them. If he believes a tenth of this nonsense then the public should hear about it. Willard thinks he’s God’s gift to man, but which God? Does Romney think that he will get his own planet to rule over someday? That’s a yes or no question, has anyone asked him that?
When they come to my door I chase them away quickly.
All the things that the Mormon church tries to hide from outsiders is the giveaway that it’s a cult, not a religion, sort of like Scientology.
Let’s defeat a religion that is growing stronger and stronger in America day by day, and if successful, will cause the decline of our once great republic:
The religion of atheism.
and..That why "the hammer" is raised.
Attack Romney then. The fact that he is a RINO isn’t a religious issue!
Great post. Thank you.
A C of R view of the matter.
Good comparisons today to look at.
At least Joe Smith proclaimed to see an angel. He didn’t pin holy sightings on the back of a road sign or a piece of toast.
Why is it that when I walk into the Nuns of Mother Teresa soup kitchen to do service, I walk into a courtyard with a 8 foot statue of Mary, not Jesus?
This is dead on. It is an excellent point by point comparison between the LDS and Christian doctrine. While some of what she discusses is the “meat” of Mormon doctrine (and thus not taught/discussed with non-Mormons), it is Mormon doctrine and has been taught by their leaders/prophets.
Her discourse on Mormon doctrine is exactly what I was taught as a LDS member at Brigham Young University and in their wards (congregations).
If a person does not study the Bible two hours a day for ten years,
- - - - —
Just out of curiosity, what about people who do?
Totally bogus - hardly. Lds have made a big push over the past couple of decades to appear more "Christian" (in contrast to refuting it over the greater course of its history). Within the similar period, the words "Jesus Christ" in the title plates at each ward were enlarged to assist in the process. This would not be the first name change, it changed its name several times in the early years. AFA the rest of the article, please show where the information presented in not correct.
I expect crickets.
That's totally bogus. Mary should stick to writing about Catholic Education and not try to portray herself as an expert on other religions.
You are mistaken. Mary was absolutely correct! From "Adapting 'Mormon' to Emphasize Christianity" by Gustav Niebuhr appearing in the New York Times on February 19, 2001:
Elder Oaks said church leaders decided it was possible to begin using the abbreviated name of Church of Jesus Christ because no other major Christian body in the United States had laid claim to it. (Some have come close, as in the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ, the Churches of Christ and the United Church of Christ.) He said it was possible that some churches might take exception to the Mormons using the abbreviated name. "This decision is right-oriented, not result-oriented," Elder Oaks said. "We're only trying to do what the Lord wants us to do."
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