Should Mormonism be Classified as Christianity?

EmperorTigerstar · Oct 2, 2015

Mormons believe in the bible and its contents. Yet their theology radically differs from most other branches of Christianity. One could argue that Mormonism is to Christianity as Christianity is to Juddaism: very similar yet very different. Heck, Muslims believe in Jesus and merely have different interpretations on his son-of-god aspect yet their addition of another prophet in Muhammad made the difference and distinction which clarifies Islam as a separate religion, just like Jesus did for Christianity. With that in mind, could the additional theology and scriptures from Mormonism mean that Mormonism should NOT be considered a sub-division of Christianity like Catholicism, Methodism, and so on? Or is it still a branch of Christianity just radically different? After all what a Catholic does and a Protestant does can be very different.

Boudicca · Oct 2, 2015

I voted no.

Osfrith · Oct 2, 2015

Yes and no. It obviously grew out of Christianity, being created in a Christian environment by Christians, using much Christian material. However, it remains the most absurd and bizarre distortion of this imaginable, and its dumbfounding how successful it's become! Its mythology is like embarrassingly badly written Jesus fanfic by some thirteen year old.

Boudicca · Oct 2, 2015

Osfrith said:
Yes and no. It obviously grew out of Christianity, being created in a Christian environment by Christians, using much Christian material. However, it remains the most absurd and bizarre distortion of this imaginable, and its dumbfounding how successful it's become! Its mythology is like embarrassingly badly written Jesus fanfic by some thirteen year old.

I agree 100%, and it's racist.

Osfrith · Oct 2, 2015

Boudicca said:
I agree 100%, and it's racist.

So am I.

royal744 · Oct 2, 2015

Not sure I care one way or the other. It has aspects of Christianity. There are evangelical Christians running around the country worshipping snakes, populations that worship God by ingesting mind-altering drugs, congregations that preach love and practice hate, churches sending missions all over the world doing good works, and churches that make huge fights over the most trivial matters. Some of it's good; some of it's bad; some of it's bat-sh*it crazy; and a lot of it is just magical thinking.

SSDD · Oct 2, 2015

Definitely not. Mormonism is just an Abrahamic religion. Islam recognizes Jesus as prophet so does Mormonism. That's all.

Otranto · Oct 2, 2015

The Catholic Church does not regard Mormons Christians, unlike Protestants, who are considered Christians, their baptism is not regarded as valid and their divergence on the trinity unacceptable. Therefore, Mormons are not even regarded as heretics, having no sacraments, but as another religion entirely.

Boudicca · Oct 2, 2015

SSDD said:
Definitely not. Mormonism is just an Abrahamic religion. Islam recognizes Jesus as prophet so does Mormonism. That's all.

I don't think most Mormons see Jesus as a prophet. They see Joseph Smith as one.

constantine · Oct 2, 2015

Both can work, it depends on one's perspective. If one considers Islam to be a Christian heresy or Christianity to be a Jewish heresy, then it makes sense to classify Mormonism as a Christian heresy. But if one considers Judaism, Islam, and Christianity to be distinct religions, it probably makes more sense to classify Mormonism as a distinct religion. It's largely subjective in all these cases though.

royal744 · Oct 2, 2015

constantine said:
Both can work, it depends on one's perspective. If one considers Islam to be a Christian heresy or Christianity to be a Jewish heresy, then it makes sense to classify Mormonism as a Christian heresy. But if one considers Judaism, Islam, and Christianity to be distinct religions, it probably makes more sense to classify Mormonism as a distinct religion. It's largely subjective in all these cases though.

Yeah, as I said, "magical thinking".

Shtajerc · Oct 2, 2015

I've seen some Mormons just yesterday.

I'm not sure, I don't know much about them except for how they look like (men) and they do something similar to Jehova guys (brochures, door to door etc). They tried to catch me a couple of times but I always escaped them, haha. There was or is some sect of them somewhere in America, where they went really weird with having several wives, usually minor ...... I wouldn't dare classifying them much, but I always saw them as Christians of some kind, so I woted yes. For someone like me who lives in a country with one Catholic church on every thousand people, pretty much everything is exotic. From Orthodox Churches, Evangelicans, Amish, Mennonites, Greek Catholics, Anabaptists, Baptists to Quakers and god knows who, they all offer something to me unseen and that's why I don't like to be quick in such matters.

Boudicca · Oct 2, 2015

Shtajerc said:
I've seen some Mormons just yesterday.

I'm not sure, I don't know much about them except for how they look like (men) and they do something similar to Jehova guys (brochures, door to door etc). They tried to catch me a couple of times but I always escaped them, haha. There was or is some sect of them somewhere in America, where they went really weird with having several wives, usually minor ...... I wouldn't dare classifying them much, but I always saw them as Christians of some kind, so I woted yes. For someone like me who lives in a country with one Catholic church on every thousand people, pretty much everything is exotic. From Orthodox Churches, Evangelicans, Amish, Mennonites, Greek Catholics, Anabaptists, Baptists to Quakers and god knows who, they all offer something to me unseen and that's why I don't like to be quick in such matters.

The ones with all those wives are Fundamentalist Mormons. They practice Mormonism the way Joseph Smith did.

Shtajerc · Oct 2, 2015

Boudicca said:
The ones with all those wives are Fundamentalist Mormons. They practice Mormonism the way Joseph Smith did.

And the state authorities do nothing?

Boudicca · Oct 2, 2015

Shtajerc said:
And the state authorities do nothing?

yes and no. most of the time they leave them alone. unless there is abuse going on. And it's not like you can prove anything.

Osfrith · Oct 2, 2015

You've got to hand it to Joe Smith, though. The L. Ron Hubbard of his day, but with more .....!

Boudicca · Oct 2, 2015

Osfrith said:
You've got to hand it to Joe Smith, though. The L. Ron Hubbard of his day, but with more .....!

Don't forget his magical seeing stones.

Edratman · Oct 2, 2015

As usual whenever I see a question here that poses an enigma, I Googled the question.
Interestingly enough, the very first result was that the answer is no; actually it was a qualified no.

1. How does Mormonism differ from other branches of Christianity?

In fact, Christian churches do not regard the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) as a branch of historic Christianity. Nor does the LDS church regard itself as a branch of a common Christian tree. To Mormons, their church is the tree — the one true church of Jesus Christ — and the rest are, at best, withered branches. But the picture is confusing because Mormons consider themselves as the true Christians and more and more they are speaking in familiar Christian idioms.

But although Mormons speak of God, Jesus as the Son of God, salvation and eternal life, which are also Christian terms, what they mean by them is substantially different. For example, Mormons believe that God was once a man like us, that he has a wife, and that married couples can "progress" in the afterlife to become gods themselves. Because of beliefs like these, ecumenical Christians do not accept Mormon churches as members of local Councils of Churches.

2. Which Christian church does Mormonism most resemble?

Well, there are a lot of trees in the Christian forest but none resemble the LDS church. The church it most resembles is the Unification Church founded by Dr. Sun Myung Moon. Both stress the importance of marriage for salvation. Both are headed by a married prophet and are guided by the revelations of their respective founders. Both seek to unite the people of the world into one religious family — if not in this life, then in the next — and both see themselves as superseding all previous religions.

10 Questions: About Mormons - CBS News

Shtajerc · Oct 2, 2015

Boudicca said:
yes and no. most of the time they leave them alone. unless there is abuse going on. And it's not like you can prove anything.

Isn't poligamy illegal? Or at least ..........? I guess they don't hide it much either.

Boudicca · Oct 2, 2015

Shtajerc said:
Isn't poligamy illegal? Or at least ..........? I guess they don't hide it much either.

What they do is marry the first wife (legally) and the other marriages are done in a religious ceremony. So they aren't actually breaking any laws. Then when the non legal wives have kids. they qualify for welfare. as far as the underage ...... These people mostly live in certain communites together so it's kept a secret. There have been a few times when they've been prosecuted. The biggest case was in Texas. Maybe that's the one you were talking about. Thank gof they caught the leader and put him in prison. although he still runs the group from Prison. oh, and In most communites the people are all related to each other.

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Should Mormonism be Classified as Christianity?

Should Mormonism be Considered a Subdivision of Christianity?

Yes

No

Both can work

I'm not sure, but there needs to be a definite answer.

EmperorTigerstar

Boudicca

Osfrith

Boudicca

Osfrith

royal744

SSDD

Otranto

Boudicca

constantine

royal744

Shtajerc

Boudicca

Shtajerc

Boudicca

Osfrith

Boudicca

Edratman

Shtajerc

Boudicca

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