Are Mormons Christians?

I find it a bit mystifying that some Mormons find it so important that they be regarded as "genuine" Christians ("We're Christians too," by Jana Riess, Oct. 2). It seems akin to Christians wanting to be accepted as Jews: "Sure, we have new scriptures, a new understanding of what God is like, and a completely new eschatology, but really, we're Jews like you." Riess's strongest argument seems to be simply, "We're Christians, we're Christians, we're Christians."

Mormonism has been on the rise partly because it confirms latent mainstream Christian idolatries: those of nation and family. Mormons may not all be Republicans, but there's no denying that they make the idolatries of family and nation an explicit part of their account of what God is like and what God desires for us. Christians have always been susceptible to the same idolatries, but at least we have theological and scriptural resources to help us get out from under them. A "Christianity" that needs Jesus to show up in America at the second coming and that divinizes the family is one that Christians are rightly suspicious of.

I'm not more likely to seek the exclusion of a Mormon from conversations about how to serve God better than I would be to exclude a Muslim or Jew. But Mormons should be encountered as Mormons. There's no sense whitewashing that fact.

Scott Williams

Waynesburg College, Waynesburg, Pa.

Riess was not able to sway my opinion that it is inappropriate to incorporate Mormonism under the canopy of Christianity. For one thing, Mormons have long taught that they are not a part of mainstream Christian faith. Mormons claim that the "true church" did not exist on earth between 100 CE and 1830 CE. According to Mormon doctrine, what is commonly called the Christian church is only a "church of men"; God restored the "truth, power and priesthood authority of the Ancient Church" to Joseph Smith. Mormons historically contended that those who adhere to the Christian religion are apostate. It is only in more recent years that Mormons have attempted to identify more closely with traditional Christianity. None of Mormonism's longstanding teachings about apostate Christianity have been revoked. Riess really should be arguing that Mormons are Christians and the rest of us are not.

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Though Oneness Pentecostals deny the Trinity, other aspects of their doctrine are pretty much in line with traditional Christianity. Nor does believing that the biblical canon is still open necessarily preclude one from being considered Christian. Mormons don't hold a monopoly on hard-to-swallow teachings. The problem, however, is that in the case of Mormonism we're not faced with debating just one or two of these issues. There are so many anomalies in the Mormon faith that one is compelled to ask at what point such a religion crosses over into a category separate from Christianity. Mormons may be similar to Christians in various ways, but that doesn't mean that they actually are Christians.

Scott Alan Nesbitt

First United Presbyterian Church, Clinton, Iowa

Belief in the triune God is still a legitimate litmus test to determine whether or not one belongs under the Christian umbrella. Muslims and Jews part company with Christians precisely in our claim to worship One God in Three Persons. If Jesus-only Pentecostals reject the Trinity, then they too are something other than Christian. Riess could not have made the Mormon position any clearer: "Mormons do not believe in the Trinity."

I wonder why Mormons would even want to insist on taking a stand among Christians. Mormons are 13 million strong and growing. Their faith has credibility in our culture whether they are deemed Christian or not.

David Brockhoff

Spring Hill, Fla.

I grew up in southwest Idaho among many Latter-day Saints. Since 1985 the LDS church has tried to show that its members are Christians. They now have pictures of Jesus in their ward and stake houses, whereas before they had pictures of LDS pioneers in covered wagons or pictures of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.

To their credit, Mormons have a strong lay-led body which has been reaching out to help small communities in the west every year. Not long ago 800 Mormons descended on the community of Colton, Oregon, one Saturday and cleaned up the landscape around three schools, a cemetery and a community center. The next day you would not have even known they had been there.

I still have difficulty with the fact that Mormons do not believe in the Trinity and do believe that they can become gods in one of the three heavens. However, I do not consider them a cult, but just good folks who have what appears to be a truly America-based religious belief.

Stan Hoobing

Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Prineville, Ore.

COPYRIGHT 2008 The Christian Century Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning