Christianith / Mormons /Baptism

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Elzee

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a person on the “Ask an Apologist” forum asked when someone is considered a Christian. Fr. Serpa said when someone is baptized they are considered a Christian. I’m assuming he means when they are baptized in the name of the Trinity (some churches baptize only in the name of Jesus Christ).

Given that…are Mormons baptized? Are they baptized in the name of the Trinity?

An Evangelical friend of mine is insistent that Mormons are not Christians, and without knowing more, I hate to make this broad generalization since I know there are variations of “Mormonism” and different sects believe different things.
 
Elzee said:
a person on the “Ask an Apologist” forum asked when someone is considered a Christian. Fr. Serpa said when someone is baptized they are considered a Christian. I’m assuming he means when they are baptized in the name of the Trinity (some churches baptize only in the name of Jesus Christ).
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Correct. When they are validly baptized.
Elzee said:
that…are Mormons baptized? Are they baptized in the name of the Trinity?
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No. They do not have a valid baptism.
Elzee said:
An Evangelical friend of mine is insistent that Mormons are not Christians,
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She is correct.

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20010605_battesimo_mormoni_en.html
 
In Mormonism you can become your own “Christ” on your own planet.

According to LDS doctrine “our” Christ right now lives on a planet called Kolob.

It’s all very different from Christianity.
 
I sometimes have trouble with getting my head around the idea that Mormons are not Christian. My reasons are:
  1. It appears from THIS that their Baptism uses the Trinitarian form which we generally recognize as valid.
  2. The Catechism, in Para 818 states, “All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church.”
  3. Para 838 states; “The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter."322 Those "who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.”
Each of these references point to 1) belief in Christ, and 2) Proper Baptism as the prerequisites for being accepted as Christian.

Now - there are any number of generally accepted Christian communities in our world who hold to some pretty peculiar notions about the faith and about Christ, his mission, his teachings etc. But they are accepted based on their belief in Christ and their valid baptism…
So far as I know the LDS believes that Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead and ascended into heaven…

So I guess what I’m trying to ask here is, how do we distinguish that a community is “too far off” in their belief in Christ to be considered “Christian”.

I’m not trying to defend the Mormon theology, I’m just trying to understand what is the “tipping point” between those who profess belief in Christ who, “do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety”, but are worthy of being called and accepted as Christians, and those who profess a belief in Christ who, “do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety”, but are NOT worthy of being accepted and called Christians.

Reference to Church documents defining these differences, these “tipping points” would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Peace
James
 
JRKH

Such situations are evaluated individually by the Holy See. I linked to the Vatican ruling on Mormon baptism.
 
1ke said:
JRKH

Such situations are evaluated individually by the Holy See. I linked to the Vatican ruling on Mormon baptism.
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Thanks Ike,
But that link seems to be mighty skimpy - as in totally absent - on the reasons why…
All it really says is that JP II approved the decision and ordered it published. 🤷

Peace
James
 
They don’t believe in the Trinitarian Christ.

While Christ is divine, he is not equal. A good Mormon can become a Christ (a divine being) in their own Eden.

That is NOT our belief in Christ.

Just because something is 100% Beef, it is not necessarily a New York Strip Loin!
 
I am not 100% certain on this but I am 99% certain on this. I am pretty sure that in order to be a Christian you must have an orthodox view of the Most Holy Trinity and an orthodox baptism which is Trinitarian. The Mormons do not have an orthodox view of the Most Holy Trinity and therefore their baptism is also invalid.
 
Holly3278 said:
I am not 100% certain on this but I am 99% certain on this. I am pretty sure that in order to be a Christian you must have an orthodox view of the Most Holy Trinity and an orthodox baptism which is Trinitarian. The Mormons do not have an orthodox view of the Most Holy Trinity and therefore their baptism is also invalid.
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Right, It’s not just the words but the intent as well.
 
Hi James,

The reason that Mormon baptism is not valid in the Catholic is because they have redefined for themselves the terms Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They have redefined Trinity and also what it means for Jesus to be the begotten Son of God. They use the same words, but because those terms do not mean the same thing to them as they do to Catholics, the Church cannot consider their water baptism valid.

Another problem with considering Mormons as Christian is the fact that they are not monotheists, but rather, henotheists. They believe that the Father is the God of our planet, and they worship only Him, but unfortunately they also believe that there are other gods of other planets (those who have gone through “eternal progression”).

I think the best benchmark of considering who is Christian is to look at the Nicene Creed (I think it was written around 325). If a group doesn’t profess these truths, then I would not consider them Christian. Mormons could not honestly profess first line… “We believe in ONE God…”
 
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