ARE MORMONS CHRISTIAN?

Joel Osteen on Mitt Romney: Mormons are ‘brothers in Christ’

Mitt Romney                              Joel Osteen

Joel Osteen, the Texas Pastor of the largest mega-church in the US, has again declared that Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican candidate for US President, and a devout Mormon is a Christian. In an interview with CNN, Joel Osteen is quoted saying, “When I hear Mitt Romney say that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God–that he’s the Christ, raised from the dead, that he’s his Savior–that’s good enough for me. [...] Mormonism is a little different, but I still see them as brothers in Christ.” [Washington Post, 25 April, 2012] So, Joel Osteen declares that Mormons [officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS)] are Christians, “brothers in Christ.” Based on the above statement some Christians might tend to agree. However, before accepting Osteen’s view, we ought to examine the question--"Are Mormons Christian?"--more closely. The article below seeks to answer this important question. Mormons do not believe in the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). They believe in at least four gods, including “a heavenly Mother”! Mormons also deny important elements of the Nicene Creed, a statement of orthodox Christian beliefs. [Those seeking a simple, direct answer can skip to last paragraph]

Are Mormons Christian?—by Joe Carter

"Are Mormons Christian?" Since the 1820s, when Joseph Smith founded the Mormon religious movement, evangelicals and other orthodox Christians have answered with a resounding "no." Over the past decade, though, many Americans have begun to provide a different response. In an interview with CNN, mega-church pastor Joel Osteen said that while the Mormon faith is "not traditional Christianity" he still views them as "brothers in Christ."…

Are Mormons our fellow "brothers in Christ?" Are the theological distinctions between Mormons and evangelical Christians similar to the differences between Presbyterians and Methodists?

What do Mormons believe about God?

Mormons claim that God the Father was once a man and that he then progressed to godhood (that is, he is a now-exalted, immortal man with a flesh-and-bone body). According to the Mormon’s Doctrine and Covenants, "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also;" but "The Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit."

As evangelical Kevin DeYoung says, [For Mormons] “Whether God the Father is self-existent is unclear. There was a long procession of gods and fathers leading up to our Heavenly Father. [Mormon leader] Brigham Young once remarked, ‘How many Gods there are, I do not know. But there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds’."

What is clearer is that the Mormon God is not a higher order or a different species than man. [For Mormons] God is a man with a body of flesh and bones like us. (Kevin DeYoung, "Mormonism 101")

Do Mormons believe in the Godhead?

Yes, but Mormons mean something completely different by the term "Godhead" than it has been understood throughout Christian history. As Mormon leader Bruce D. Porter explains,

“The Book of Mormon refers in several passages to God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost as "one God," but Latter-day Saints [Mormons] understand this to mean they are one in mind, purpose, will, and intention. …Hence, Latter-day Saints [[Mormons] rarely use the term Trinity, but prefer the title Godhead to refer to the three divine beings who govern our universe in perfect oneness." (Porter, "Is Mormonism Christian?")

Do Mormons believe in the Trinity?

No. As the religion scholar Gerald R. McDermott notes, "At the end of his life…(1844), Joseph Smith prophesied against the Trinity, saying that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate Gods." (McDermott, "Is Mormonism Christian?)

What is the Mormon view of Jesus?

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit-child of the heavenly Father and a heavenly Mother. Jesus then progressed to deity in the spirit world. He was later physically conceived in Mary's womb, as the literal "only begotten" Son of God the Father in the flesh (though many present-day Mormons remain somewhat vague as to how this occurred). (1)

Mormon Bruce D. Porter explains that,

A vital aspect of Latter-day Saint theology--and its most obvious difference from traditional Christianity--is the belief that Jesus Christ is an individual being, separate from God the Father in corporeality and substance. Mormons do not accept the phrase in the Nicene Creed that describes the Father and Son as being "of one substance," nor do we accept subsequent creeds by ecumenical councils that sought to clarify the nature of the Trinity in language describing them as one indivisible spiritual being. (2)

How many Gods do Mormons believe exist?

At least four separate gods. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism teaches that there is a "Mother in Heaven," who is like the Heavenly Father "in glory, perfection, compassion, wisdom, and holiness." God "is plural," it declares.

Is Mormonism polytheistic?

… The Mormon picture is closer to henotheism, which posits a supreme God over other lesser, subordinate gods. The Mormons say that the Father is at least functionally over the Son and the Holy Ghost, and they are the only Gods with which we have to do.

How do Mormons view orthodox Christians?

[Mormons hold the view] that we [Christians] are apostates. Mormons claim that "total" apostasy overcame the church following apostolic times, and that the Mormon Church (founded in 1830) is the "restored church." (1)

Are Mormons Christian?

No. On many key points Mormon beliefs are antithetical to historic Christian orthodoxy. However noble the intentions for wanting to include them as "brothers and sisters in Christ," we do violence to the historical understanding of the term "Christian" by expanding it to mean [Mormons] who have rejected orthodox Christian beliefs for a nineteenth-century heretical theology.

We can't love our neighbour and turn a blind eye to their eternal fate. We should therefore pray diligently that our [Mormon] friends and family who put their trust in this false [Mormon] religion might come to know and accept the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sources: 

1 - ESV Study Bible article on religious cults

2 - Kevin DeYoung, “Mormonism 101”

3, 4 - Bruce D. Porter / Gerald R. McDermott, Ïs Mormonism Christian? "