Are Mormons Christian?

Many Christians outside of Mormonism claim we, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are not Christian. It is a convenient way for them to dismiss what we believe and to avoid having to admit the possibility of any truth in our message or beliefs.

Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Despite the fact that we proscribe to the logical definition of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìChristian?¢‚Ǩ¬ù, they insist that we follow a different Christ and thus are not Christian.

The Jesus I follow was born to Mary in Bethlehem. He is the Son of God. He performed countless miracles during his ministry. He taught that we should avoid acts of retribution and replace them with acts of generosity and forgiveness. He died on the cross at Calvary. He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. He rose from the dead on the third day.

Do other Christians believe something different from this? Does that mentioned above not suggest to the sane, intelligent reader that one who believes in such is indeed Christian? Even is s/he is a Mormon?

43 thoughts on “Are Mormons Christian?

  1. Mormons are not Christian for the simple fact they do not believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Jesus is a lesser god that rules over the earth because he was extra good in the past. Jesus has three wives according to Mormons and we are his offspring. Mormons believe you can be baptized on behalf of non-believers after death. Mormons believe Native American are Jewish and there used to be a vast society in the Americas, none of which can be proven. How is this anywhere near what biblical Christians believe? Mormons are Mormon, Christians are Christians. Do not mix the two, they have two very opposing views.

  2. When Mormonsim first came to be, didn’t they place themselves above Christian? Wasn’t Christian to low for them?

    “Christians – those poor, miserable priests Brother Brigham was speaking about – some of them are the biggest whoremasters there are on the earth…” (Heber C. Kimball (First Counselor to Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 5:39)

    And now, in the present, Mormons want to claim Christianity. Why? So, they can be whores like Heber C. Kimball said Christians were…

  3. No, just a Christian. I am wondering how you can believe what you do when there are so many glaring errors in what you believe.

  4. As a Mormon, I will take a stab at this. I am not a church scholar, so correct me if I am wrong here.

    Mormons are not Christian for the simple fact they do not believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins.”

    Um, yes they do. I have been taught that at church for my entire life. I’ve been attending Mormon Primary and Sunday School for 27 years and the fact that Jesus died for my sins has been taught to me virtually every week.

    “Jesus is a lesser god that rules over the earth because he was extra good in the past.”

    Mormon’s believe in the God Head that consists of three Gods. They are God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. None of which is a lesser god.

    “Jesus has three wives according to Mormons and we are his offspring.”

    That’s news to me. Mormons are taught that Jesus is our brother.

    “Mormons believe you can be baptized on behalf of non-believers after death.”

    This is true.

    “Mormons believe Native American Indians are Jewish and there used to be a vast society in the Americas, none of which can be proven.”

    Also true (kind of), but unrelated. I thought we were talking about whether or not Mormons are Christian.

  5. We do have a sizeable portion of the church, well represented in the nacle, that is not Christian in that they have a notion of self salvation/exaltation by their works rather than through the grace of JC. But theirs is a folk theology, not taught by church current church authorities, and every denomination has their share of such theological morons. To pick on Mormons in this regard is plain old bigotry.

  6. Minor point – Mormons believe Christ paid for our sins in the Garden before he died, not on the cross. Remember he sweat blood at every pore?

    Ben said: No, just a Christian. I am wondering how you can believe what you do when there are so many glaring errors in what you believe.

    What version of Christian are you Ben? You might be surprised at the things you claim to believe that are not true and made up. I expect you do every thing your pastor says without question. Have you ever heard of Waco? Were they Christians? They claimed they were just like you are.

  7. “Mormons believe Christ paid for our sins in the Garden before he died, not on the cross.”

    Mormons believe Christ paid for our sins in Gethsemane and on the cross.

  8. Amen, Kim.

    That is why the Saviour did not leave this earth until the point on the cross when He said: “It is finished.”

    At that point He had completed all that He needed to do for us with respect to suffering the pains of all, and performing the “infinite and eternal sacrifice” that was required.

    All that remained after that was the resurrection, which we celebrate with joy, because it assures us of all the blessings that the Saviour promised in the realms of His, and our, Father.

  9. “Do you believe caffeine is against the Word of Wisdom too, George?”

    Are you asking if I believe caffeine is included in the Word of Wisdom or if caffeine is ok to partake of?

  10. name some things: “What version of Christian are you Ben? You might be surprised at the things you claim to believe that are not true and made up.”

    What is made up?

    PS I do not go to church, although I grew up as a pastor kid in a non denominational church. Why won’t anybody explain the fact that the Book of Morman has been revised to account for inaccuracies over 4,000 times and the bible has never been changed? Why won’t anyone explain the differences between Mormonism and Christianity, you are only highlighting the similarities and I am pointing out the differences. I think you guys have been fed the so-called “milk” doctrine that most mainstream Mormon’s believe, and you haven’t gotten to the bottom of what Mormons really believe, maybe you guys should keep digging to explain the discrepencies in what you believe. That’s what led me to become a stronger Christian, because there are no inaccuracies or discrepencies in the true bible.

  11. “Why won’t anybody explain the fact that the Book of Morman (sic) has been revised to account for inaccuracies over 4,000 times and the bible has never been changed?”

    Because we’ve seen this mousetrap too many times and we know exactly where it will go if we take the bait. You’re welcome to being a troll, but don’t be surprised if you don’t get a bite. Well, except maybe from George.

  12. It’s not a trap Kim, it is a fact. Perhaps it is touched on so many times and you will not “take the bate” so to speak because it is a trouble point in what you believe and you prefer to gloss over this fact rather then confront it and wonder why that is? I’m not picking a fight, I’ve done some serious research in to what Mormon’s believe and it absolutely is not the same as a Christian beleives. Sure, on the surface it is, but that’s the way it is with all counterfeit religions, the devil is not going to make it obvious. Who knows, maybe you guys (Mormons) are just as Christian as what we believe and we’re all going to heaven together, I’m just trying to figure out the discrepencies between the two, because to me the discrepencies are large enough to completely discredit what Mormon’s believe.

  13. The premise of the question is false: It simply isn’t true that the Bible has never been changed. Anyone who has even the slightest familiarity with the history of scriptural texts knows that.

    The changes that have been made in the Book of Mormon have been made to bring it in conformity with the earliest available manuscripts. They correct, for the most part, errors that are the normal product of the publishing process, brought about by the fact that publishers are human and fallible.

  14. Ben – You claim to be a Christian yet you also claim to not attend church. Since there are so many Christian religions it would be hard to compare the LDS religion to an unknown one.

    Why do you believe your unknown religion is the correct one and the guy down the street is preaching a false one since Christian religions preach different things?

  15. I personally believe ltbugaf would be much better at answering Ben’s questions than I would.

    Mu suggetion would be for Ben to invite the missionaires that live near him, over to his house and let them answer his questions. Assuming he wants answers and not to argue.

  16. i believe Christ died on the cross for our sins, sent by God as his son. Apparently those beliefs are similar. Texts of the bible have not been changed, Isaiah was discovered in the dead sea scrolls as identical to today’s text. My “unknown” religion is Christianity, straight up. I do not attend church because you do not need to attend church to get to heaven. What bugs me about the Book of Mormon is it’s claims to be the Word of God. Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, assumed to be the Words of God, cannot contradict each other, it’s not something an omniscient god would do. The discrepencies I’m talking of to be specific are things like vast civilizations mentioned in the book of Mormon, and contradictions such as Genesis saying before Babel “the whole earth was of one language”, and then in your bible later on in Esther a group of people known as the Jaredites had their separate language, before the tower of Babel. There are many errors like this, and what I consider (and a billion other Christians as well)the true bible there are no contradictions whatsoever, because it is the Word of God and God will not contradict himself. A human such as Joseph Smith would obviously contradict himself, because no one is perfect.

  17. Ben,
    I have to be blunt. You’re showing such ignorance of the Bible, its compilation and origin, that a meaningful dialogue isn’t possible. It also appears you’re a disciple of Harold Camping, a Calvinist who tells people not to attend any church. FYI, Camping predicted Jesus would return in 1994. He’s a false prophet and a half. He also has an axe to grind against Mormons. Call the Mormon missionaries and walk into the light. Good luck and G-d bless.

  18. Ben, you’re wrong about the Isaiah passages from the Dead Sea Scrolls. They aren’t identical to “today’s text.” In fact, the various versions of “today’s text” aren’t even identical to each other.

    You’re also wrong about the People of Jared having a separate language before Babel. I have to assume this is because you’re condemning the Book of Mormon without ever having bothered to read it. It’s kind of hard to take seriously someone willing to do that.

  19. …and by the way, you’e also wrong about the name of the Book of Ether, and about what you call a contradiction regarding “vast civilizations.” The Bible doesn’t say there were no civilizations in the Americas; it says nothing at all on the subject. For an explanation of why, see 3 Nephi 15:11-24.

  20. Ben

    I know Jesus is the Christ. I know He suffered and died for our sins. I know He is the Son of God and my Saviour. Not only does the Bible testify of this, so does the Book of Mormon. In order to have a correct opinion of the Book of Mormon, you have to read it. Then decide if it is true or not. It sounds to me like you have a true desire to believe and follow Jesus Christ. You have the right to believe as you want to believe, and so do we all. Let the Spirit testimfy to you of truth and speak to your heart. But the Spirit cannot speak to a closed heart. In order to truly know, you must read it and pray about it. I know I am a Christian, because my testimony of Jesus Christ is real. He is my Saviour and I worship Him as such. I always have. I have prayed about the Book of Mormon, I have read it, many times. I know it’s truth. But taht is my experience.

    Another thing you have wrong is, the Book of Mormon is not our Bible. Our Bible is the King James Version of the Holy Bible. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, as it claims to be. Not a replacement of the Bible in any regard.

  21. I’d like to follow up on comment #12:

    I don’t think the Atonement was complete until Christ’s resurrection was complete. He atoned for our physical death as well as our spiritual death, and that portion of the Atonement was accomplished by his resurrection.

  22. I have read the book of Mormon which is what bugs me, there are so many departures and contradictions from the real Bible found in the following books:

    • First Nephi
    • Second Nephi
    • Jacob
    • Enos
    • Jarom
    • Omni
    • Words of Mormon
    • Mosiah
    • Alma
    • Helaman
    • Third Nephi
    • Fourth Nephi
    • Mormon
    • Esther (which is also in the Christian bible but the Book of Mormon added to it)
    • Moroni

    The 66 books in the Christian Bible have no errors and don’t contradict each other, the errors begin in what was added. Sure, you have the Bible, but all this other stuff is where the errors occur. And you guys must also not be truly die hard Mormons, because real Mormons go way beyond what you believe. Perhaps you are more Christian then I thought, good for you, that other kookie stuff, keep away from it, it’s false doctrine.

  23. One other thing, if Jesus is our Savior, and God’s Word is infallible, He is not going to come up with some supplemental text to contradict his original words. God would no longer be perfect.

  24. All this talk of the original words of God got me thinking…

    I’m interested, Ben, in which version of the Bible you enjoy more; the original in Hebrew or the KJV?

  25. It’s Ether, not Esther.

    “there are so many departures and contradictions from the real Bible found in the following books”

    How many exactly?

  26. Are all Hebrew versions of the OT the same? There are different versions of Jews.

  27. I am not a “disciple” of anyone. Good grief, I believe in Jesus who died on the cross for my sins, nothing more. Regarding all the discrepencies in the book of Mormon, do a little research, this blog will take up too much time to go over it all. Good luck. Whoever this Camping dude is, sounds like a nutjob. I prefer the original Hebrew. Pardon the typo for “Ether.”

  28. “Regarding all the discrepencies (sic) in the book of Mormon, do a little research, this blog will take up too much time to go over it all.”

    Why? You made the claim; the onus is on you to substantiate it. It’s not our responsibility to do research for you.

  29. Two questions for Ben – 1st How did you develop this unique religion of one? I assume you are the only member of your religion.

    2nd – Where did you learn Original Hebrew?

  30. Ben, I’m afraid I just can’t believe you’re telling the truth when you claim you’ve read the Book of Mormon. If you had, you would, at the very least, have caught on to the fact that the Book of Ether is not a modified version of Esther from the Old Testament.

  31. They are two completely different books, Ether and Esther. Two completely different people with no relation to each other at all.

  32. You sure about that? I could have sworn that Esther in the Old Testament built a boat and had some glowing rocks.

  33. My favorite Book of Mormon quote is 2 Nephi 31:13.

    I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word .

    Need I say more? Mormons are Christians. I guess I did need to say more. Sorry.

Comments are closed.