Tonight's TBR.com Religious Question of the Night

Is Mormon considered a legitimate Christian religion? If not, why? They have tons of followers, an entire state to themselves for the most part (Utah), and have a worldwide ministry. Still, some evangelicals don't consider Mormon a true way to knowing God/Jesus and a way to salvation.

I remember going to the State Fair in Raleigh with a friend of mine back in 1992 and they had a booth set up inside DORTON ARENA with representatives from several religions there. Over at the Mormon booth, they had 2 very attractive ladies handing out information. Mannnnnn, they almost made me sign up right on the spot !!!!!!!!

 

Those must just have been the sales reps. The 400 lb Mormon woman that lives up the street from me might make you reconsider!

 

Hey sds!

Depends on what you mean by 'legitimate'. I would have to say generally no. Keep in mind most Christian churches adhere strictly to the Bible (whether it is KJV, Catholic, etc.).

While the Mormon church does as well - they also teach from the Book of Mormon: Christ's 'teachings' to ancient peoples in North America.

As far as I know there are no Christian churches that recognize these teachings besides the Mormans.

 

Do the other mainstream Christian religions believe that Christ didn't return to the earth to minister to other people ? ? ? I mean, with Jesus you couldn't rule that out . . .

 

No they do not. I've been associated (one way or the other) with almost all the mainstreams (Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Church of God) and none of them recognize the Mormon religion as an extension of mainstream Christianity. Most consider it little more than an annoying cult.

Think of it this way:

Mormon is to Chrsitianity as Christianity is to Islam.

That may sound completely off the wall but believe it or not the Muslim religion actually does recognize Christianity. The Quran speeks highly of the Torah and New Testament. The Muslim religion just presents Mohammed as another 'prophet' similar to Jesus - only he was born a sinner and he was born after Christ's resurrection.

 

That might be a tad oversimplified, but Stewie has a good point. Maybe it would be better to say Mohammad is to Jesus as Joseph Smith is to Jesus.

To answer your question, SDS, most Mormons I've talked to (in a very limited way) believe in basic Christian doctrine. I'm not talking about the door-to-door Mormons, I'm talking about your run-of-the-mill, everyday kind of folks. The friction between the LDS and Christian doctrine comes from The Book of Mormon. The Bible is very explicit about adding to and taking away from itself, and the penalties for both. If there is a conflict between the Bible and the Book of Mormon, the Mormon church will take the side of the Book of Mormon, which is a serious problem in Christianity.

The Jehovah's Witnesses actually have the same problem. They have their own translation and their own references which supercede the Bible.

 

so basically, Mr. Mormon thought he was too good for the bible and wrote his own chapter?

 

Revelations has a lot to do with the Mormons too, doesn't it?

 

To hear him tell it, he got a vision/revelation/inspriation thingy from God and the result was Mormonism. Same thing with Mohammed. Basically, same as the writers of the books of the Bible... except the Bible writer(s) (St. John? I'm a little rusty) said that God said nobody else could say something and say God said it, because from now on, Divine Inspiration was being discontinued.

 

John, along with several others. I'm pretty sure Paul wrote a book or twelve.