Are Mormons Christian?

You’re in a conversation, and someone says, “Mormonism is just another kind of Christianity."

What would you say?

Many people think Mormonism is a kind of Christianity, like Baptists, Methodists or Presbyterians. In the media, Mormons are often lumpedin with Christians, and most Mormons think of themselves as Christian, too. After all, it’s right there in their name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

But similar is not the same. Just because people use the same language does not mean they believe the same things. Simply put, havingthe same vocabulary is not the same as having the same dictionary.

So, the next time someone says that Mormonism is just another kind of Christianity, here are three things to remember:

First, Mormons add to the Bible, and what is added changes the Bible.

Mormons claim to believe in the Bible. But Mormons add in books other than what is in the Old and New Testaments. According to LDS, The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price are also Scripture. That matters a lot.

Mormons claim these writings supplement the Christian Bible. But these extra-Biblical teachings actually change the fundamental message ofChristianity: that an Eternal God made us, that Jesus is God, and that we aresaved through Christ alone. For example, these additional books, which werewritten by Joseph Smith, teach that multiple Gods organized the world, insteadof one all-powerful God creating the world. They describe God the Father as having literal flesh and blood. And, most famously, it is in the extra Mormonwritings that polygamy is taught to be an eternal covenant established by God.

Second, Mormons have an entirely different view of God

Christianity is divided by denominations that disagree about how God works and what He expects of us. These differences are important, but the differences between Christian denominations and Mormonism are fundamental.

Mormonism describes God wholly differently than Christianityhas always described God. The disagreement is not just about how God does things, but what kind of being that God is.

According to Christianity, God eternally exists as Trinity, One God in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. For Mormons, the Trinity becomes a kind of team but did not eternally exist as the Godhead. Further, for Christians, God has always been God, and He has never not been God.

Joseph Smith described God differently in what’s known as the “King Follett Sermon”:

God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man,and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. … I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form.

Third, Mormons have a wholly different view of Jesus Christ. They do not think that Jesus is fully God or that salvation is through Christ alone.

While Christians believe Jesus is the Eternal Son of God and Someone who was and is fully God as a member of the Trinity, Mormonism claims Christ is a son of God in the ordinary sense and is the child of a heavenlymother.

Mormonism also teaches that Satan is a son of God and aheavenly mother, as is everyone else. Therefore, according to Mormonism, Christ is not God in Himself, nor is He eternally the Son.

Mormons also have a different view of salvation from what is taught in the Bible. Rather than salvation being the result of the work of Christ alone, which then plays out in the believer’s life, salvation in Mormonism is dependent on human works. Though many Mormons will claim to besaved by grace alone, the Mormon church has historically taught that works suchas baptism into the LDS church, tithing, and having a temple marriage arerequired to spend eternity with God the Father.

In fact, the Book of Mormon says that works are required to receive grace:

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and denyyourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of allungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is hisgrace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. (Moroni 10:32)

Christians and Mormons disagree on many other things aswell, but these differences, about Scripture, about God, and about salvation inChrist, make them incompatible. So, the next time someone says that Mormonismis a form of Christianity, remember these three things:

1. Mormons add to the Bible, and what is added changes the Bible.

2. Mormons have an entirely different view of God

3. Mormons have a wholly different view of Jesus Christ. They do not think that Jesus is fully God or that salvation is through Christalone.