Mormons claiming they are CHRISTIANS?

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Hey guys, so I have run into numerous Mormons who simply say “I believe in Jesus, so I’m christian.” I have an actual quote here from a Mormon that I was talking online with:

“we are christians because we believe in christ, believing in christ makes you a christian, we are christian and we are mormon, ask any leader or apostle, we are christian, please dont be spreading falsehoods”

You cannot be Mormon and Christian, because they teach totally different doctrines. Mormonism is its own little cult. No matter how much biblical evidence I show that proves the Book of Mormon contradicts the bible, it won’t get through their thick Mormon skulls (or should I say, blind, stubborn hearts?)

This website, carm.org/is-mormonism-christian, does an excellent job explaining why Mormonism isn’t Christian, but it doesn’t go over my specific problem exactly.

My problem is with that quote the person said online, “we are christians because we believe in christ, believing in christ makes you christian.” My question is, what do I say to a Mormon who says this? The problem I have with it is, the Mormon is believing different parts of the bible to be true and other parts not to be true. So how does the Mormon accept some parts, while other parts are wrong? If the Bible can’t be trusted, then why do they trust some parts of it? Why not disregard all of it? Because if they didn’t accept some parts their scam wouldn’t work.

Mormons definition of “believing in Jesus” is different than Christians, because as Christians we believe there is only ONE god, and that is Jesus in flesh who is apart of the trinity, not a physical trinity with three physical bodies but more of a spiritual trinity. We believe that Jesus died for us, and by dying he TOTALLY and COMPLETELY allowed us to be saved, there is nothing more that is required by us accept faith. Mormons teach it is not through grace/faith alone but with works which is contradictory to the WORD OF GOD. Mormons believe that Jesus was a real man, a literal child of God who was born with a physical body in the pre-existence, but they don’t believe he is the only God who came to save us.

And I think Mormons are confused about this, because some of them accept the Christian idea that we are saved by Jesus completely when their doctrine teaches otherwise. I guess many Mormons are defending a faith that is teaching the opposite of what Christianity really is, and I can only imagine the despair God must feel for their soul as they are fighting for something that is clearly a fraud.

So, what do you say to a Mormon who says “I believe in Jesus (whatever that means) so I am a Christian, believing in Christ makes you a Christian.”

Thanks.
 
Well Mormons consider themselves the restored Church of Jesus Christ. So of course they consider themselves Christian. It’s also bad PR to not call themselves Christians. They want converts, and the best converts are those from Christian churches who are probably not informed enough on Mormon doctrine to know better.

But Mormons aren’t Christian, no.
 
Well why exactly aren’t they Christians?

They say they are Christians because they believe in Jesus, so how do I respond to that, knowing they aren’t Christians?
 
filter2700 said:
Well why exactly aren’t they Christians?

They say they are Christians because they believe in Jesus, so how do I respond to that, knowing they aren’t Christians?
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We have two different conceptions of Jesus.

Our Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity, part of one, eternal, unchanging God. He was born of the Virgin Mary (a true virgin in every sense of the word), had no wives (contrary to Mormon teaching), was sacrificed on the cross, rose again, ascended to heaven, and will return to reclaim his kingdom.

Mormons believe Jesus was a spirit child of the Father, himself an exalted man from another planet. Technically, Jesus is our spirit child brother. So is Lucifer. Jesus made a proposal on saving humanity, as did Satan. Jesus’ was accepted, the Devil’s rejected, and from this we got the rebellion. This all allegedly took place in the council of gods and spirits before mankind walked the Earth.

In Mormonism, Jesus is not eternal. If he’s not eternal then he is a creation. If he’s a creation then worshiping Jesus in the Mormon context is akin to Arianism. Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are not one God, but three separate gods.

All of this is entirely antithetical to the Christian faith. We cannot accept Mormonism as Christian because their Jesus is different from ours.
 
It really depends on what is being meant by the term Christian. Mormons try hard to do what they think Jesus would have them do. But their theology is very unorthodox - there is a bigger difference between Mormons and mainstream Christians than between mainstream Christians and Muslims or Jews.

If you are writing a text-book on world religion, this is how I’d describe it - historically it comes out of Christianity but has very significant theological differences.

But if you are talking about actual people, what are you really accomplishing by telling them they are not really Christian? Are you trying to separate them from Jesus, from being his follower? Why not make the assumption that they are a follower of Jesus if that is what they say, and try to show them a better way to really do that?
 
Mormons are not Christians. You can not be a Christian without having a valid baptism. Baptism and only a valid one is what makes a person into a Christian. Mormons do not have a valid baptism.
 
Simply saying “I believe in Jesus” is not enough to be a Christian.

If I say I believe in Jesus, you might assume I am a Christian. But if later on you find out that the Jesus I believe in is a magical purple dragon that lives under my bed, you might change your opinion.

Paul
 
PaulDupre said:
Simply saying “I believe in Jesus” is not enough to be a Christian.

If I say I believe in Jesus, you might assume I am a Christian. But if later on you find out that the Jesus I believe in is a magical purple dragon that I believe lives under my bed, you might change your opinion.

Paul
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Exactly Paul! And just the same, going up to the altar during the alter call at an evangelical, Protestant, or fundamentalist church and “accepting Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior” is not enough to be a Christian.
 
If those Protestants, Evangelicals or Fundamentalists validly baptize, then they are Christians, because they believe the same Christology that we do. The Catholic Church recognizes them as “separated brothers and sisters imperfectly joined to the Church”. Mormons get no such designation.

Paul
 
filter2700 said:
Hey guys, so I have run into numerous Mormons who simply say “I believe in Jesus, so I’m christian.” I have an actual quote here from a Mormon that I was talking online with:

“we are christians because we believe in christ, believing in christ makes you a christian, we are christian and we are mormon, ask any leader or apostle, we are christian, please dont be spreading falsehoods”

You cannot be Mormon and Christian, because they teach totally different doctrines. Mormonism is its own little cult. No matter how much biblical evidence I show that proves the Book of Mormon contradicts the bible, it won’t get through their thick Mormon skulls (or should I say, blind, stubborn hearts?)

This website, carm.org/is-mormonism-christian, does an excellent job explaining why Mormonism isn’t Christian, but it doesn’t go over my specific problem exactly.

My problem is with that quote the person said online, “we are christians because we believe in christ, believing in christ makes you christian.” My question is, what do I say to a Mormon who says this? The problem I have with it is, the Mormon is believing different parts of the bible to be true and other parts not to be true. So how does the Mormon accept some parts, while other parts are wrong? If the Bible can’t be trusted, then why do they trust some parts of it? Why not disregard all of it? Because if they didn’t accept some parts their scam wouldn’t work.

Mormons definition of “believing in Jesus” is different than Christians, because as Christians we believe there is only ONE god, and that is Jesus in flesh who is apart of the trinity, not a physical trinity with three physical bodies but more of a spiritual trinity. We believe that Jesus died for us, and by dying he TOTALLY and COMPLETELY allowed us to be saved, there is nothing more that is required by us accept faith. Mormons teach it is not through grace/faith alone but with works which is contradictory to the WORD OF GOD. Mormons believe that Jesus was a real man, a literal child of God who was born with a physical body in the pre-existence, but they don’t believe he is the only God who came to save us.

And I think Mormons are confused about this, because some of them accept the Christian idea that we are saved by Jesus completely when their doctrine teaches otherwise. I guess many Mormons are defending a faith that is teaching the opposite of what Christianity really is, and I can only imagine the despair God must feel for their soul as they are fighting for something that is clearly a fraud.

So, what do you say to a Mormon who says “I believe in Jesus (whatever that means) so I am a Christian, believing in Christ makes you a Christian.”

Thanks.
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They are called “pseudo-Christian” which means “false Christian”, (as the Church has also called them) because they believe in a false Jesus. They do not believe in the Trinity, - a most essential and fundamental belief among all “true” Christians. This belief in One God, three persons, (God = Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is tantamount to determing who is Christian. Since Mormons do not believe this truth, and instead believe in three separate gods, they are NOT Christian. For that reason, Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Christian as well, since they believe Jesus is the arch angel Michael.

Hope that helps to explain.

by the way, the demons and Satan “believe” in Christ – they KNOW He is the Messiah and God, yet that doesn’t make them “Christian”.

blessings,
CEM

P.S. Additionally, as Holly said, a valid baptism is needed as well, and this validity comes with the belief in the Trinity, and the proper (or valid) words of baptism: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, along with the use of water, and completed with Holy (Chrism) oil.
 
I was baptized into the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil 2008. I honestly thought that for my whole 61 years that I was a Christian.

I never went to church, (not since I was a child) didn’t know much about Jesus or God but I was a Christian. I mostly believed and it was just the way it was. Christian. I HAD NO IDEA. Scary huh?

Who knew? I was a heathen.

So for about 20 minutes I was a saint. It was great. 😃
 
CEM5 said:
by the way, the demons and Satan “believe” in Christ – they KNOW He is the Messiah and God, yet that doesn’t make them “Christian”.
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Good point (James 2:19; Matt 8:29). 👍

Paul
 
they believe in a different god(s) and have a different gospel, according to Paul they are anathema (Gal.1:9).
 
CEM5 said:
They are called “pseudo-Christian” which means “false Christian”, (as the Church has also called them)
Hope that helps to explain.

**by the way, the demons and Satan “believe” in Christ – they KNOW He is the Messiah and God, yet that doesn’t make them “Christian”.
**
blessings,
CEM

l.
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I think this is the best response to your mormon friends to get them to think. There is actually a Bible verse for this, just do not have it right now. Hopefully others can provide it.

To be a Christian, one has to be baptized in the Trinitarian formula. The Vatican made a determination that the LDS baptism is not a valid baptism because of their beliefs in Jesus and the Trinity is different than that of the CC.
 
pablope said:
I think this is the best response to your mormon friends to get them to think. There is actually a Bible verse for this, just do not have it right now. Hopefully others can provide it…
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James 2:19; Matt 8:29

God love you,
Paul (formerly LDS, now happily Catholic)
 
Muslims believe in Jesus, too. They believe that He was a prophet, but not God, and that he was superseded by Mohammad.

They, like LDS and Mormons, borrowed heavily enough from Christianity to be in some sense Christian heresies. In that they redefined Christ to suit their theology, they ceased to be Christian.
 
Depends on the definition of Christian.

Mormons believe that Christ was and is the Son of God, the Savoir of the World, the Messiah, the One to suffer and atone for our sins.

They believe he is Co-Equal with God the Father, but not Co-Eternal. (Sorta like Arianism? if I am correct? I think the word is called subordinationism; ie, just a slightly bit less than the Father.)

Sure, Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet, but not as the Son of God, Not as the Saviour of the world who came to suffer and sacrifice to atone for our sins. Muslims dont believe He is the Messiah. So it’s a poor comparison IMO.

Mormons do believe that Christ is all of that.

It all comes back to their not believing in the orthodox views of the Trinity. Because they believe in a great apostasy, they would say all Christians denominations are in heresy, where as many Christians denominations see they are in heresy.
 
filter2700 said:
… as Christians we believe there is only ONE god, and that is Jesus in flesh who is apart of the trinity, not a physical trinity with three physical bodies but more of a spiritual trinity. …
Thanks.
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Filter,

It sounds to me like you have some misunderstandings about Latter-day Saint beliefs. The Holy Ghost doesn’t have a physical body. “Spiritual trinity”, except for all the Catholic connotations built into the word “trinity”, could just as well be used to describe the Latter-day Saint belief about the Godhead and One God.

As far as the word “Christian”, it clearly in the New Testament is talking about a way of life as well as about acceptance of and faith in Christ as the Only Begotten Son of God and the One and only Savior and Redeemer.

As a child, if I had been asked whether Catholics were “Christians” I would have said, “I don’t think so”–so it seems to me that the Catholic church has its own need for clarifying in whatever way the misperceptions that happen as people encounter the word “catholic” and differentiate it entirely from the word “Christian”. The word “Christian” has to do with what people do (their actions toward others and toward themselves) as much as with what their faith and beliefs are.
 
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