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Published Saturday, February 18, 2012 in Religion

Pastor's Corner: Are Mormons Christians?

By DANIEL AUSBUN, First Baptist Church, Moreland

daniel@fbcmoreland.org

Do Mormons believe the same doctrine as other Christians?

Was Joseph Smith a latter-day saint? Should you vote for a Mormon as president?

Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religious sects in the United States and Latin America. Nearly 2 percent of U.S. adults claim to be Mormons. The fast growth rate of the Mormon Church is one reason Christians need to be well-versed in the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Church.

Mormon leaders want to blur the lines of doctrinal differences, claiming their sect is just one among many denominations. In their world the worst thing you can be is an apostate -- someone who left the Mormon Church. The LDS Church warns its members about reading literature not published by LDS.

Mormons argue they are Christians, claiming that anyone is Christian if they profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When speaking with a Mormon, it often will not be long before they will start to share their testimony. They "know these things are true" because they think they have had feelings given by God.

Mormonism cannot be considered orthodox Christianity because the religion itself begins with a rejection of historic Christianity.

• The Earth is one of several inhabited planets ruled over by gods and goddesses, who were at one time humans on other planets. Mormonism is polytheistic -- multiple gods -- in its core.

• The Trinity consists of three gods born in different times and places; the Father begot the Son and Holy Spirit through a goddess wife in heaven.

• Humankind is of the same species as God. God begot all humans in heaven as offspring of his wife or wives, who were sent to Earth for their potential exaltation to godhood.

• Salvation is resurrection. Exaltation to godhood for eternal life in the celestial heaven must be earned through self-meriting works.

Mormonism is another religion. It does not have an orthodox view of the Trinity and the full and complete deity of Jesus Christ. One sentence from the teaching of Mormonism says it all: "As man now is, God once was. As God now is, man may become." They have every right to believe that, and we should protect that right under the First Amendment, and it shouldn't be a disqualification for office.

But it doesn't qualify as orthodox Christianity.

Unfortunately some individuals believe Mormons are harder to win to Christ than others. But all unbelievers are dead in their trespasses and sins, as Ephesians 2:1 states. The salvation of Mormons is no more difficult for God than that of any other believer.

If you're talking to a Mormon, the most important thing is to show that we as Christians worship eternal God who never was a man. You have to tell them, "The Christ I'm telling you about is different from the Christ you're talking about." Isaiah 43:10 says: "No god was formed before Me, and there will be none after Me."

For a Mormon, "God" is not the monotheistic God revealed in the Old and New Testaments. I remember talking to a Mormon who once told me, "God has hands, feet, toes and used to be a man, just like you." He continued to tell me if I work hard enough I too could become a "god."

We must heed the warning in Galatians 1:8 that if even an angel from heaven preaches a Gospel other than that of the apostles, let him be eternally condemned. If you prepare yourself to witness to a Mormon, God will provide the opportunity.

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2/18/2012