Megan Stewart
November 29, 2012
RELI 3303
Jesus: Who He Is to the Mormon and Christian The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church) professes to be a Christian church. However, careful comparisons of basic doctrinal positions of that church to those of the historical, biblical orthodox Christianity reveal many radical differences. The Pew Research Center found that when asked if one considered Mormons to be Christian, many were unable to answer with a definite yes or no. What is worse, when Pew Research Center polled those who considered themselves to be faithful in participating in a religion, an almost even split occurred in efforts to provide foundational evidence in a case for or against considering the Mormon faith to be a Christian religion. This lack of knowledge is a growing epidemic among church goers. In efforts to answer the debate of whether or not Mormon beliefs are in line with Christian orthodoxy, one must know and understand how the two religions view Jesus as person as well as how each religion views Him in terms of His ministry, and relation to God, His Father.
The Beginnings of the Mormon Church Mormon’s believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. They define a prophet as a special witness for Christ who testifies of His divinity. The prophet is also responsible for teaching His gospel and commandments to all nations while upholding the truth and give understanding to the word of God. He calls the unrighteous to repentance, receives salvations and directions from the Lord for the benefit of all mankind. He is allowed to see into the future and foretell the coming events so that the world may be warned. A prophet also has God’s authority, or priesthood, to act in His name and make available sacred religious ceremonies (ordinances) to all of God’s children. Jesus Christ called Joseph Smith as a prophet to restore the earth to the condition for which God intended it to be. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ established His church, but after the apostles died people fell away and the truth of God’s authority of His priesthood was lost. However, it was bought back to its fullness with the endowment of Joseph Smith as prophet. Joseph Smith officially reestablished the priesthood on April 6, 1830 and as part of this restoration which was foretold in the New Testament (Acts 3:19-22), Jesus Christ brought forth the Book of Mormon through His elected prophet. Mr. Smith also received additional direction from God about the establishment of Christ’s Church on Earth. These revelations are found in a book of scriptures called the Doctrine of Covenants. Joseph had many doubts and questions where to go to church when he was younger. It is written that during his time of prayer, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision (JOSEPH SMITH HISTORY 1:8-17). With this revelation, Joseph Smith began the foundational work for what is now the popular practice of the Mormon religion. The beliefs, practices, scriptures, and ideals that Joseph Smith claims were given to him by God the Father and Jesus Christ are the very pieces that of information that will prove, or disprove, whether or not the Mormon faith can be considered to be in conjunction with the Orthodox Christian. The beliefs of the Mormon Church are based primarily on the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the numerous teachings of church leaders. They are based little on the Book of Mormon, and only verbally on the Bible. Several contemporary leaders of the church speak and write about their doctrines expounding on them and developing them.
Comparisons
Many Gods vs. One Trinitarian God Joseph Smith taught that “I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ is a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit.” He believed these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods