Definition of Christianity
I read a post on another blog from someone who just moved and her new neighbors are Mormons. I told my Mormon friend about the post and our discussion led us to what is the definition of Christianity. The bottom line was this: who defines what it means to be Christians. There are some people who refer to themselves as Christians but do not include Mormons. All of the Mormons that I know define themselves as Christians. My friend said that his definition of Christianity does not exclude them so why do they exclude him (I am paraphrasing and summarizing several discussions here). Who has the right to say what it means to be a Christian? Both groups believe in the Bible. Is it a matter of ignorance and exclusivity? Does it come down to the theology of the Godhead in terms of who Christ is and therefore what a relationship with Him actually means?
posted by Ofelia @ 2:07 PM
3 Comments:
At 9/19/2007 8:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
Well, they 'sort of' believe in the Bible. They don't believe Jesus is God, they don't believe that the only way to the Father is through the Son, and they believe you need the bible *plus* the book of mormon. So saying they believe the bible, you have to define 'believe'. However, I think you'll find very little difference between most LDS members and the average American who calls him/herself Christian -- which is frustrating to the LDS.
At 9/19/2007 9:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
If the only definition of "Christian" is "believes in Christ", then of course Mormons are Christian.
My wife grew up in a Mormon family. I tried every which way I could to explain why I did not consider Mormons to be "Christians". She didn't buy any of it. Finally, I bought some books and forced her to read them. By the end, she was convinced. Then she had a discussion with her sister and ran into the same problem I had with her.
So I guess the point is that it isn't an obvious distinction and really requires some significant study to determine that there are real differences.
Sadly, the two religions can not be combined into one, no matter what the propaganda says.
At 9/24/2007 11:09 AM,
Anonymous said…
I figured I would simply talk alot about how wonderful Jesus is and how He helps me every day and how I depend on him for everything and how much in love with him I am and how close and faithful he is to me and how his power keeps changing me and making me more and more like him...
I am hoping that she will start to think ... "hmmm, this Jesus doesn't sound like the Jesus I know" and then we can go on from there.
So, That's what I am praying for, that Jesus's relationship with me will me her want one with him too. I wasn't going to try to get to theological, just focus on my relational exprience with him, and how he is active in my life.
It appears that there are a lot of LDS folks out here where I just moved, so hopefully I will stick out, talking about how great Jesus is all the time.
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