Category: Apologetics

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Are Mormons Christians? A Repost from Justin Taylor

JUSTIN TAYLOR|4:26 PM CT

Are Mormons Christians?

The New York Times published a curious opinion piece by a devout Mormon who insists that he is not a “Christian.”

I’m about as genuine a Mormon as you’ll find — a templegoer with a Utah pedigree and an administrative position in a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am also emphatically not a Christian.

He equivocates on what he means by “Christian.” Sometimes he seems to refer to a set of historical and theological beliefs (he agrees with Richard Land that Mormonism is “a fourth Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism, Christianity and Islam”); other times to a culture of power and acceptance and behavior (“Being a Christian so often involves such boorish and meanspirited behavior that I marvel that any of my Mormon colleagues are so eager to join the fold”), and he also uses it in verbal form positively (“Mormons are certainly Christian enough to know how to spitefully abuse their power”).

One might think that a Mormon offering a strong defense of dissimilarity from historic Christianity would insist that theology matters. But that’s the opposite of this writer’s approach.

For the curious, the dispute can be reduced to Jesus. Mormons assert that because they believe Jesus is divine, they are Christians by default.Christians respond that because Mormons don’t believe — in accordance with the Nicene Creed promulgated in the fourth century — that Jesus is also the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Jesus that Mormons have in mind is someone else altogether. The Mormon reaction is incredulity. The Christian retort is exasperation. Rinse and repeat.

I am confident that I am not the only person — Mormon or Christian — who has had enough of the acrimonious niggling from both sides over the nature of the trinity, the authority of the creeds, the significance of grace and works, the union of Christ’s divinity and humanity, and the real color of God’s underwear.

Regarding the statement I’ve italicized: I understand that (1) this is an opinion piece, (2) that most Mormons don’t understand the Trinity, and (3) that many evangelicals—to useRobert Letham’s indictment—are “functional modalists”—but one would still think that the Paper of Record would flag a historical error this significant. The pro-Nicene theology emerging from the fourth century most certainly did not say that Jesus is the Father and the Spirit. That is a heretical belief.

For those who would be helped by a review of some of the key differences between Mormonism (or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and historic Christianity, I once constructed a Q&A format from the ESV Study Bible article on religious cults and sects (article available online to subscribers). It’s an attempt to be concise and accurate without being overly simplistic.

What do Mormons believe about apostasy and restoration?

Mormons claim that “total” apostasy overcame the church following apostolic times, and that the Mormon Church (founded in 1830) is the “restored church.”

What’s the problem with this understanding?

If the Mormon Church were truly a “restored church,” one would expect to find first-century historical evidence for Mormon doctrines like the plurality of gods and God the Father having once been a man. Such evidence is completely lacking. Besides, the Bible disallows a total apostasy of the church (e.g., Matt. 16:18; 28:20; Eph. 3:21; 4:11-16), warning instead of partial apostasy (1 Tim. 4:1).

What do Mormons believe about God?

Mormons claim that God the Father was once a man and that he then progressed to godhood (that is, he is a now-exalted, immortal man with a flesh-and-bone body).

What does the Bible teach about the nature of God?

Based on the Bible, God is not and has never been a man (Num. 23:19; Hos. 11:9). He is a spirit (John 4:24), and a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). Furthermore, God is eternal (Ps. 90:2; 102:27; Isa. 57:15; 1 Tim. 1:17) and immutable (or unchangeable in his being and perfections; see Ps. 102:25-27; Mal. 3:6). He did not “progress” toward godhood, but has always been God.

What do Mormons believe about the Trinity and polytheism?

Mormons believe that the Trinity consists not of three persons in one God but rather of three distinct gods. According to Mormonism, there are potentially many thousands of gods besides these.

What does the Bible teach about the Triune God?

Trusting in or worshiping more than one god is explicitly condemned throughout the Bible (e.g., Ex. 20:3). There is only one true God (Deut. 4:35, 39; 6:4; Isa. 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:18; 46:9; 1 Cor. 8:4; James 2:19), who exists eternally in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).

What do Mormons believe about human exaltation?

Mormons believe that humans, like God the Father, can go through a process of exaltation to godhood.

What does the Bible teach about humanity?

The Bible teaches that the yearning to be godlike led to the fall of mankind (Gen. 3:4ff.). God does not look kindly on humans who pretend to attain to deity (Acts 12:21-23; contrast Acts 14:11-15). God desires humans to humbly recognize that they are his creatures (Gen. 2:7; 5:2; Ps. 95:6-7; 100:3). The state of the redeemed in eternity will be one of glorious immortality, but they will forever remain God’s creatures, adopted as his children (Rom. 8:14-30; 1 Cor. 15:42-57; Rev. 21:3-7). Believers will never become gods.

What do Mormons believe about Jesus?

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit-child of the heavenly Father and a heavenly Mother. Jesus then progressed to deity in the spirit world. He was later physically conceived in Mary’s womb, as the literal “only begotten” Son of God the Father in the flesh (though many present-day Mormons remain somewhat vague as to how this occurred).

What does the Bible teach about Jesus?

Biblically, the description of Jesus as the “only begotten” refers to his being the Father’sunique, one-of-a-kind Son for all eternity, with the same divine nature as the Father (see note on John 1:14; cf. John 1:18; 3:16, 18; see also John 5:18; 10:30). Moreover, he is eternal deity (John 1:1; 8:58) and is immutable (Heb. 1:10-12; 13:8), meaning he did notprogress to deity but has always been God. And Mary’s conception of Jesus in his humanity was through a miracle of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20).

What do Mormons believe about our eternal destiny?

Mormons believe that most people will end up in one of three kingdoms of glory, depending on one’s level of faithfulness. Belief in Christ, or even in God, is not necessary to obtain immortality in one of these three kingdoms, and therefore only the most spiritually perverse will go to hell.

What does the Bible teach about our eternal destiny ?

The Bible teaches that people have just two possibilities for their eternal futures: the saved will enjoy eternal life with God in the new heavens and new earth (Phil. 3:20; Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5), while the unsaved will spend eternity in hell (Matt. 25:41, 46; Rev. 20:13-15).

What do Mormons believe about sin and atonement?

Mormons believe that Adam’s transgression was a noble act that made it possible for humans to become mortal, a necessary step on the path to exaltation to godhood. They think that Christ’s atonement secures immortality for virtually all people, whether they repent and believe or not.

What does the Bible teach about sin and atonement?

Biblically, there was nothing noble about Adam’s sin, which was not a stepping-stone to godhood but rather brought nothing but sin, misery, and death to mankind (Gen. 3:16-19;Rom. 5:12-14). Jesus atoned for the sins of all who would trust him for salvation (Isa. 53:6; John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).

What do Mormons believe about salvation?

Mormons believe that God gives to (virtually) everyone a general salvation to immortal life in one of the heavenly kingdoms, which is how they understand salvation by grace. Belief in Christ is necessary only to obtain passage to the highest, celestial kingdom—for which not only faith but participation in Mormon temple rituals and obedience to its “laws of the gospel” are also prerequisites.

What does the Bible teach about salvation?

Biblically, salvation by grace must be received through faith in Christ (John 3:15-16; 11:25; 12:46; Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:22-24; Eph. 2:8-9), and all true believers are promised eternal life in God’s presence (Matt. 5:3-8; John 14:1-3; Rev. 21:3-7).

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Perhaps Christianity Has no Intellectual Future in North America . . .

. . . which is to say, no future at all.

Sean McDowell, Truth Matters Tour, a Review.

Last Sunday night a few of us attended the “Truth Matters Tour,” hosted at Global Kingdom Ministries. Phil Wickham and Paul Baloche lead worship before Sean McDowell spoke. It was an interesting night for me, because I have not been to a Christian concert since I heard the late Larry Norman around 1998. I know that this wasn’t billed as a Christian concert, but it was intended to be a worship session. During this time McDowell spoke about 20 minutes or so. I was interested in hearing McDowell, because I heard his father, Josh (of Evidence That Demands a Verdict fame) in 1975 at Kansas State University. There the Ahearn Fieldhouse was packed with several thousand university students, and the elder McDowell spoke for a couple of hours, for several nights. I still have the tapes somewhere.

I was excited that anything to do with apologetics was being targeted to young people. We had a few from our church attend, although I tried to get others to go. I’m glad I didn’t get more people to attend, though.

1) The musicians were musically talented. But I would ask them, and other worship leaders today, whether or not Matthew 6:7 was really meant by Jesus. Content-less repetition of words for 1 1/2 hours doesn’t constitute worship. I am not sure if it was intended to induce a trance, but are we not to sing with our minds also (1 Corinthians 14:15)? If this is the state of worship today, and not an anomaly, I am very sad. Not all the so-called “great hymns of the faith” were all that great, but at least they did try to say something of the faith. What I heard was a dearth of content, almost an intentional repudiation of content.  The musicians were, I’m sure, sincere Christians, but they need to lead hearts and minds to think God’s thoughts. During this time, Paul’s command in 1 Timothy 4:13 was ignored. I found myself thinking, if the music was broken up for Scripture reading, would it ruin the mood? Probably, but that would be a blessing. Anytime reading Scripture in worship spoils the worship, we have to ask who and why we worship in the first place.

2) During the concert/worship/whatever,  I was reminded of Winston Churchill’s quote from 1943, “First we shape our buildings, then they shape us.” When we worship in what is basically a modified theatre, in darkness, does our worship become become an audience/performer relationship? I understand why live theatre and movies are presented in darkness, but I personally dislike worshiping in the dark, and find it hard to do so. When all the lights are focused upon the musician, one can feel as if they are very alone; but I didn’t feel alone with God (if that is the intention), just alone with the guy on the stage. Given the kind of instructions Paul offers regarding worship (again, see 1 Corinthians), I wonder if the isolation and individualism of a theatre is such a great way to bring awareness of the body and bride of Christ at worship.

3) The worship session ran about an hour and a half, with the two musicians named above leading. Following McDowell’s short segment, more music followed. I really can’t believe that it must be necessary to provide nearly two hours of music/entertainment/worship to lure high school and university students to hear an apologist speak for 20 minutes. I think McDowell is a very good speaker, and probably knows a lot more than he revealed in his time slot; I also know that apologetics can be intellectually demanding and difficult to get much across in one evening. But 20 minutes? He used his time wisely, and made one point: absolutes exist in morality and religion. If I compare Sean’s talk to what his father’s in 1975 (to a much larger crowd), the precarious future of the faith of the young in North America becomes painfully evident.

For one thing, even in 1975 Josh McDowell’s topics were not considered all that difficult or cutting-edge: he popularised C. S. Lewis’ “Lord, Liar, or Lunatic” argument, and some of F. F. Bruce’s conservative Biblical criticism. I read Josh McDowell in high school, so I know at that level it was not hard stuff. I am afraid that the younger McDowell knew his audience well, and spoke accordingly. I do not blame him for this, but it frightens me if it is true that today’s youth can take much in.

If the crowd in Scarborough Sunday night is typical of a majority of North American young Christians, there is no intellectual future for the Christian faith; faith will become privatised into total irrelevance. Do we wonder why students lose their faith in university? They may have had very little to lose to begin with. I saw many hundreds worshiping with hands stretched upward; do they know much about the God they worship, or why?