Are Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses Christian?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jas84173
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
So this has been a very lively post with good dialogue but lets face it. JW and Mormonism are restoration faiths. So the underlying assumption is that the Church went off the rails pretty early and fell into apostasy. The gospels that these faiths teach is very different from that of Catholics/Protestants.

So even if JW/Mormons would say that they are Christians, they would have to exclude each other as well as Catholics and Protestants just as Catholics and Protestants would have to exclude them.

That’s not passing judgement, that’s just saying the 3 gospels in question are so different that I don’t know they can be reconciled.
 
ajcstr said:
So even if JW/Mormons would say that they are Christians, they would have to exclude each other as well as Catholics and Protestants just as Catholics and Protestants would have to exclude them.
Click to expand...
The same way Catholics exclude non-Catholics from communion? And the same way various Protestants excludes other Protestants from communion?
 
Jesus_123 said:
MORMON HERESY_______________________
  1. Teaches that there are many gods, and that humans can become gods and goddesses in the Heavenly kingdom: “History of the Church” 6 p. 306; “Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,” pp. 28, 51-53.
  2. Teaches that God the Father was a man like us who progressed to become a god and presently has a body of flesh and bone. “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!”—“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, pp. 345-47.
  3. Teaches that Jesus is our elder brother who progressed to godhood, after being procreated in spirit by the Father and a heavenly mother, and conceived physically by the Father and an earthly mother. “The Restoration of Major Doctrines Through Joseph Smith.” in, “The Ensign,” Jan 1989, pp. 28-29. They hold that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers—“Mormon Doctrine,” pp. 192, 546-47, 589-90.
  4. The Holy Spirit is a spirit in the form of a man and only his influence is present everywhere.—“Doctrines of Salvation” I. pp. 38, 49-50 by Joseph Fielding Smith.
  5. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate Gods—“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” p. 370.
  6. The :bible1: Bible is corrupt, missing many “plain and precious parts” and does not contain the fullness of the Gospel—“Doctrines of Salvation” III. pp. 190, 191.
  7. Information from the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. “The American Indians are physically Mongoloids and thus must have originated in eastern Asia.”—Cf. J. B. Billard, editor, “The World of the American Indian,” Washington, DC, National Geographic Society, 1974, 1979. See esp. the chapter “Across an Arctic Bridge” by J. D. Jennings.
Provided Courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network
5817 Old Leeds Road
Irondale, AL 35210
​
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing this

Continued Blessings

Patrick
 
jane_doe said:
The same way Catholics exclude non-Catholics from communion? And the same way various Protestants excludes other Protestants from communion?
Click to expand...
Can’t speak for Protestants, but for Catholics, the Eucharist is the ultimate joining with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ here on earth. When you take communion in the Catholic Church, your action is saying that you accept everything that the Church teaches, and that “we are one” in belief. So, for a non-Catholic to take communion in our Church, is a counter- sign to the truth.
 
JMM1957 said:
Can’t speak for Protestants, but for Catholics, the Eucharist is the ultimate joining with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ here on earth. When you take communion in the Catholic Church, your action is saying that you accept everything that the Church teaches, and that “we are one” in belief. So, for a non-Catholic to take communion in our Church, is a counter- sign to the truth.
Click to expand...
And yet Protestants don’t teach a “different Gospel”?
 
jane_doe said:
And yet Protestants don’t teach a “different Gospel”?
Click to expand...
You can’t limit the Gospel to just the four authors, it involves the whole Word of God. Protestants believe much that we believe for sure, but not all. And many don’t even understand the Eucharist the same way we do, so to take our Eucharist is, as I said, a counter-sign to the truth. It may sound harsh to some, but that’s how seriously we are to take the Truth.
 
JMM1957 said:
You can’t limit the Gospel to just the four authors, it involves the whole Word of God. Protestants believe much that we believe for sure, but not all. And many don’t even understand the Eucharist the same way we do, so to take our Eucharist is, as I said, a counter-sign to the truth. It may sound harsh to some, but that’s how seriously we are to take the Truth.
Click to expand...
And they may reject that the Eucharist is the Blood and Body of Christ still be the “same” Gospel?
 
jane_doe said:
The same way Catholics exclude non-Catholics from communion? And the same way various Protestants excludes other Protestants from communion?
Click to expand...
I can only speak to the first part of the question but those that do not share the Catholic understanding of the Eucharest are not in full union with us.

I recently toured the new temple in Philadelphia. I would not be permitted to enter it again. Is this because Mormons want to exclude others? No, I would think it’s because they hold the temple to be so sacred it has to be that way.

This a little different than considering if they are Christians or not. I also know that neither Catholics nor Mormons consider the others baptism to be valid. So that is a hint also.
 
jane_doe said:
And they may reject that the Eucharist is the Blood and Body of Christ still be the “same” Gospel?
Click to expand...
That is a question for the ages. Many would say no.

And I’m sure you are aware that many Protestants do not consider Catholics to be Christians either for this reason.
 
jane_doe said:
And they may reject that the Eucharist is the Blood and Body of Christ still be the “same” Gospel?
Click to expand...
I’m in no way an expert on all the different Protestant churches out there, because they have their differences, but I do know that some Protestant churches believe in the “real presence” in the Body and Blood similar to what we do, but the difference is they don’t accept transubstantiation, iow, the bread and wine really become the Body and Blood. They will say that its still bread and wine after the consecration, but the Body and Blood are “alongside” (for lack of a better word right now) the elements of bread and wine. Catholics reject this notion as not what the Savior taught in John 6. I’m getting away from the question asked a bit, so I’ll just say that we generally share the same Gospel, but there are differences obviously.
 
ajcstr said:
That is a question for the ages. Many would say no.

And I’m sure you are aware that many Protestants do not consider Catholics to be Christians either for this reason.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is equally silly of them. You don’t have to agree on everything, nor be in communion, to acknowledge another person’s relationship with Christ.
 
jane_doe said:
Yes, that is equally silly of them. You don’t have to agree on everything, nor be in communion, to acknowledge another person’s relationship with Christ.
Click to expand...
No, but it sure would be nice wouldn’t it? All relationships with Christ have to start somewhere, you don’t go from A to Z in one day. This is why the CC teaches the possibility of salvation outside the Church.
 
JMM1957 said:
No, but it sure would be nice wouldn’t it? All relationships with Christ have to start somewhere, you don’t go from A to Z in one day.
Click to expand...
Very much agreed.
JMM1957 said:
This is why the CC teaches the possibility of salvation outside the Church.
Click to expand...
And the LDS church acknowledges others as Christian, despite disagreements on theology.
 
ajcstr said:
I’m really not trying to be a smart-*** but how can we be apostate and Christian at the same time?
Click to expand...
The same way Catholics acknowledge Protestants as being Christian but lacking the fullness of truth.
 
jane_doe said:
Very much agreed.

And the LDS church acknowledges others as Christian, despite disagreements on theology.
Click to expand...
And this statement sort of goes back to the OP of this thread. The question being, how much difference in theology is acceptable to be still considered Christian in the eyes of the one asking the question? As for me as a Catholic, my bare bones definition would be; A Christian is a person who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, develops a personal relationship with him, and lives every day according to his teachings and values, to the best of their ability. I guess the only sticking point for some, would be to define “his teachings”. That is what separates people into different denominational churches, who call themselves Christian.
 
JMM1957 said:
And this statement sort of goes back to the OP of this thread. The question being, how much difference in theology is acceptable to be still considered Christian in the eyes of the one asking the question? As for me as a Catholic, my bare bones definition would be; A Christian is a person who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, develops a personal relationship with him, and lives every day according to his teachings and values, to the best of their ability. I guess the only sticking point for some, would be to define “his teachings”. That is what separates people into different denominational churches, who call themselves Christian.
Click to expand...
From the LDS perspective:
Being a Christian is more than a theology quiz. Rather it is about being His disciple: beliefs, actions, words, etc. If a group or person claims to be following Him, we acknowledge that. Now as to how well a group or person does on that discipleship quest is another matter.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top