Over on PW there's some evangelical blowhards posting "Mormons aren't Christian."
Let me add some context so you understand what is going on.
First, the name "mormon" has never been a proper identifier for us. We have the Book of Mormon, additional scripture alongside the Bible. We believe that Mormon was a prophet in the Book of Mormon. We also believe there was a place called the Waters of Mormon somewhere in the Americas. But that's about the extent of our association with the word "mormon".
Second, the word "Christian" can mean "a follower of Jesus Christ". In which case, we're obviously "Christian" alongside a lot of other people. If you think "Christian" means "someone who follows a subsect of Christianity at large" then we're probably not the Christians you're thinking of. To be specific, we're not part of the Catholic Church. We're not a protestant church. We're not baptist, or presbyterian, etc...
The biggest divider between us and them is probably our doctrine of the Godhead versus their concept of the Trinity. To wit, they invented the doctrine of the Trinity, specifically the concept that the three Gods are one in substance or homoousis around the 4th or 5th century. Then they started killing people who disagreed. But if you read the Bible and the writings of the earliest Church Fathers, it's clear that the earliest Christians believed that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost were three separate beings. In fact, in John 17, it explains that the oneness that they experience is the same oneness God intends to share with the disciples of Jesus Christ.
So we align with early Christianity and the writings of Paul and the gospels and the New Testament, while they do not.
There are other doctrinal differences, some of them very major. Most of them believe in "creatio ex nihilo" or "creation from nothing" while we believe that matter has always existed alongside God. They believe that God and Man are two distinct species while we believe that we are literal children of God and co-eternal with God.
Furthermore, Joseph Smith restored ancient practices that the modern Christian churches have lost due to one reason or another. For instance, temple worship, priesthood authority, and certain teachings about the nature of family and marriage.
So in that sense, if you think that we are just another sect of Christianity, you're going to be disappointed to find out there are a lot of major differences between us. For the most part, we align very much with the teachings of the early Church Fathers and the text of the New Testament and the text of the Old Testament, while they do not.
Third, you may have heard of the "Mountain Meadows Massacre". Let me give some historical context as to why an otherwise peaceful religious group would go on a murderous rampage.
Persecution of our church started from the very beginning. When Joseph Smith told a pastor that he had a vision where he saw God and Christ, the pastor become angry and told him to tell no one. When people found out that an angel had told him where golden plates were buried, some people felt like they were entitled to a portion of the treasure, and others wanted to steal it for themselves. When he went to retrieve the plates, he was violently assaulted on the way back to his home multiple times. He had to go through great lengths to keep the plates secure from thieves and robbers.
Joseph Smith was constantly being accused of various crimes, but was never convicted, despite standing trial multiple times. In fact, after standing trial, the common response was for people to stop accusing him of bad things and instead turn their ire on the accusers. Almost all of these accusations were false. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out.
If it were only accusations, though, no one would've cared to mention much of it. Alongside the accusations came violence. Tarring and feathering, The death of infants exposed to the cold. Then the murders began. The members of our church, collectively called "Saints", settled in Jackson County Missouri. At the time, it was a town on the edge of civilization. Missouri wasn't even a state. The Saints purchased land there, and started moving in, building homes and farms and a printing press. The locals, probably concerned because the rapidity which the Saints started moving in, plus the fact that Missouri was intended to be a slave state while the Saints were from the north and likely to vote for it to be a free state, violently chased them out of Jackson County. When Joseph Smith showed up with a group of 200 men to reclaim the land that was stolen from them, they were met with around 500 Missourians who threatened to kill them all by sunrise. By providence of God, the weather protected them and when daylight broke the Missourians were gone. Events continued to spiral out of control, however, despite the Saints being granted their own county to live in. Eventually, mobs were looting farms and murdering men, raping women, and shooting children in the face.
The governor of Missouri dispatched a general to raise the militia and put down the violence. The general arrived on the scene, discovered the truth of the situation, and raised the Saints as a militia. Obviously the Missourians weren't happy with that, so the governor dispatched another general who raised the militia from the rapists and murderers, and there was a bit of a war called the "Mormon War". When it became clear that further fighting would be pointless, Joseph Smith and his brother and others, under the white flag of truce, offered to negotiate a resolution to the conflict, and he was thrown in prison for it. They threatened to execute him in the morning but for the threats of others that to do so would be murder. So they threw him in prison during winter, under no charges whatsoever, and chased the Saints out of Missouri. Many had to flee with little food or even with bare feet in the middle of a Missouri winter.
They settled in Nauvoo Illinois, which was a swamp before it became a city. After suffering from an outbreak of Malaria, through miraculous means, they were healed and set to work draining the swamp and building a city on the edge of the Mississippi River. Saints from all over the world began flooding into Nauvoo, and soon Nauvoo was threatening to become the largest city in Illinois. The people of Illinois were initially welcoming to the refugees and allowed them even to have their own standing army, which Joseph Smith was appointed general of. By some accounts, it was the largest standing army at the time in the US. After the mayor was caught committing multiple acts of adultery and chased out of Nauvoo, they appointed Joseph Smith to be the mayor as well.
During this time, there was relative peace. The Saints had no beef with their neighbors and their neighbors had none with them, except for a few people spreading lies and rumors. While this is going on, the governor of Missouri is trying to extradite Joseph Smith on trumped up charges. One of the charges was that Joseph Smith tried to kill the governor. It was alleged that his dear friend Porter Rockwell had tried to assassinate the governor but missed. When Rockwell was put on trial, he basically said, "If I tried to do it, I wouldn't have missed." Charges were dropped (he wasn't even in Missouri at the time) and he was let go, but that didn't stop people from trying to arrest Joseph Smith in Nauvoo.
Eventually, the anti-mormons conspired to publish lies about the church in a printing press in Nauvoo. The city council ordered the press to be destroyed, and Joseph Smith carried out the order. It was common practice at the time to destroy printing presses when the contents of the publishers was deemed unworthy. However, people at the time would do it through mob action rather than legal action. Nauvoo tried to do it legally, citing the safety and security of the people.
At this time, Joseph Smith was running for president of the US, and he was getting quite a lot of support. Other men realized that Joseph Smith could end up president, if not this election cycle then the next one. They hatched a conspiracy to assassinate Joseph Smith. **THIS IS ALL DOCUMENTED HISTORICAL FACT!**
Using the charges of "public disorder" (apparently someone raised their voice while destroying the press) the governor of Illinois wanted Joseph Smith to leave Nauvoo and stand trial. Obviously, there was no way this charge was going to stick, but the governor pretended to negotiate a bargain that would secure the safety of the Saints while pacifying the mob. Joseph Smith saw right through this plan and realized that they were going to kill him. Initially he fled, but when threats were made on his community, he turned himself in, "like a lamb to the slaughter."
Outside of Nauvoo, the mob assassinated Joseph Smith. Falling out of a window, he was propped up against the well in the courtyard, where a baptist minister ordered the men to kill him.
Thinking that the death of Joseph Smith would end the movement, the mob quickly moved on Nauvoo. What they forgot, however, was that Nauvoo had an army, and they had just killed their general. However, and this is key here: Rather than wage war of vengeance, or even a pre-emptive war of protection, the Saints instead packed their bags and left for the Salt Lake valley.
At Mountain Meadows, a group of immigrants passing through boasted about how they had murdered, raped and shot boys in the face. They did this knowing they were passing into the territory run by the Saints.
Now you have the background on what happened before the massacre.
All of that said, this is the darkest moment in church history. Never before or since has anything so vile ever been done. For that crime, the church as a whole has apologized profusely and even erected a monument to remember the event.
So, are "mormons" "Christian"?
I don't care what you think. I don't claim title to "Christian" anymore than any other man can. All I care about is whether my personal relationship with Christ is strong or not. I would hope you're mature enough to do the same. Leave me to worship my God the way I prefer, and I'll leave you to do the same.
Let me add some context so you understand what is going on.
First, the name "mormon" has never been a proper identifier for us. We have the Book of Mormon, additional scripture alongside the Bible. We believe that Mormon was a prophet in the Book of Mormon. We also believe there was a place called the Waters of Mormon somewhere in the Americas. But that's about the extent of our association with the word "mormon".
Second, the word "Christian" can mean "a follower of Jesus Christ". In which case, we're obviously "Christian" alongside a lot of other people. If you think "Christian" means "someone who follows a subsect of Christianity at large" then we're probably not the Christians you're thinking of. To be specific, we're not part of the Catholic Church. We're not a protestant church. We're not baptist, or presbyterian, etc...
The biggest divider between us and them is probably our doctrine of the Godhead versus their concept of the Trinity. To wit, they invented the doctrine of the Trinity, specifically the concept that the three Gods are one in substance or homoousis around the 4th or 5th century. Then they started killing people who disagreed. But if you read the Bible and the writings of the earliest Church Fathers, it's clear that the earliest Christians believed that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost were three separate beings. In fact, in John 17, it explains that the oneness that they experience is the same oneness God intends to share with the disciples of Jesus Christ.
So we align with early Christianity and the writings of Paul and the gospels and the New Testament, while they do not.
There are other doctrinal differences, some of them very major. Most of them believe in "creatio ex nihilo" or "creation from nothing" while we believe that matter has always existed alongside God. They believe that God and Man are two distinct species while we believe that we are literal children of God and co-eternal with God.
Furthermore, Joseph Smith restored ancient practices that the modern Christian churches have lost due to one reason or another. For instance, temple worship, priesthood authority, and certain teachings about the nature of family and marriage.
So in that sense, if you think that we are just another sect of Christianity, you're going to be disappointed to find out there are a lot of major differences between us. For the most part, we align very much with the teachings of the early Church Fathers and the text of the New Testament and the text of the Old Testament, while they do not.
Third, you may have heard of the "Mountain Meadows Massacre". Let me give some historical context as to why an otherwise peaceful religious group would go on a murderous rampage.
Persecution of our church started from the very beginning. When Joseph Smith told a pastor that he had a vision where he saw God and Christ, the pastor become angry and told him to tell no one. When people found out that an angel had told him where golden plates were buried, some people felt like they were entitled to a portion of the treasure, and others wanted to steal it for themselves. When he went to retrieve the plates, he was violently assaulted on the way back to his home multiple times. He had to go through great lengths to keep the plates secure from thieves and robbers.
Joseph Smith was constantly being accused of various crimes, but was never convicted, despite standing trial multiple times. In fact, after standing trial, the common response was for people to stop accusing him of bad things and instead turn their ire on the accusers. Almost all of these accusations were false. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out.
If it were only accusations, though, no one would've cared to mention much of it. Alongside the accusations came violence. Tarring and feathering, The death of infants exposed to the cold. Then the murders began. The members of our church, collectively called "Saints", settled in Jackson County Missouri. At the time, it was a town on the edge of civilization. Missouri wasn't even a state. The Saints purchased land there, and started moving in, building homes and farms and a printing press. The locals, probably concerned because the rapidity which the Saints started moving in, plus the fact that Missouri was intended to be a slave state while the Saints were from the north and likely to vote for it to be a free state, violently chased them out of Jackson County. When Joseph Smith showed up with a group of 200 men to reclaim the land that was stolen from them, they were met with around 500 Missourians who threatened to kill them all by sunrise. By providence of God, the weather protected them and when daylight broke the Missourians were gone. Events continued to spiral out of control, however, despite the Saints being granted their own county to live in. Eventually, mobs were looting farms and murdering men, raping women, and shooting children in the face.
The governor of Missouri dispatched a general to raise the militia and put down the violence. The general arrived on the scene, discovered the truth of the situation, and raised the Saints as a militia. Obviously the Missourians weren't happy with that, so the governor dispatched another general who raised the militia from the rapists and murderers, and there was a bit of a war called the "Mormon War". When it became clear that further fighting would be pointless, Joseph Smith and his brother and others, under the white flag of truce, offered to negotiate a resolution to the conflict, and he was thrown in prison for it. They threatened to execute him in the morning but for the threats of others that to do so would be murder. So they threw him in prison during winter, under no charges whatsoever, and chased the Saints out of Missouri. Many had to flee with little food or even with bare feet in the middle of a Missouri winter.
They settled in Nauvoo Illinois, which was a swamp before it became a city. After suffering from an outbreak of Malaria, through miraculous means, they were healed and set to work draining the swamp and building a city on the edge of the Mississippi River. Saints from all over the world began flooding into Nauvoo, and soon Nauvoo was threatening to become the largest city in Illinois. The people of Illinois were initially welcoming to the refugees and allowed them even to have their own standing army, which Joseph Smith was appointed general of. By some accounts, it was the largest standing army at the time in the US. After the mayor was caught committing multiple acts of adultery and chased out of Nauvoo, they appointed Joseph Smith to be the mayor as well.
During this time, there was relative peace. The Saints had no beef with their neighbors and their neighbors had none with them, except for a few people spreading lies and rumors. While this is going on, the governor of Missouri is trying to extradite Joseph Smith on trumped up charges. One of the charges was that Joseph Smith tried to kill the governor. It was alleged that his dear friend Porter Rockwell had tried to assassinate the governor but missed. When Rockwell was put on trial, he basically said, "If I tried to do it, I wouldn't have missed." Charges were dropped (he wasn't even in Missouri at the time) and he was let go, but that didn't stop people from trying to arrest Joseph Smith in Nauvoo.
Eventually, the anti-mormons conspired to publish lies about the church in a printing press in Nauvoo. The city council ordered the press to be destroyed, and Joseph Smith carried out the order. It was common practice at the time to destroy printing presses when the contents of the publishers was deemed unworthy. However, people at the time would do it through mob action rather than legal action. Nauvoo tried to do it legally, citing the safety and security of the people.
At this time, Joseph Smith was running for president of the US, and he was getting quite a lot of support. Other men realized that Joseph Smith could end up president, if not this election cycle then the next one. They hatched a conspiracy to assassinate Joseph Smith. **THIS IS ALL DOCUMENTED HISTORICAL FACT!**
Using the charges of "public disorder" (apparently someone raised their voice while destroying the press) the governor of Illinois wanted Joseph Smith to leave Nauvoo and stand trial. Obviously, there was no way this charge was going to stick, but the governor pretended to negotiate a bargain that would secure the safety of the Saints while pacifying the mob. Joseph Smith saw right through this plan and realized that they were going to kill him. Initially he fled, but when threats were made on his community, he turned himself in, "like a lamb to the slaughter."
Outside of Nauvoo, the mob assassinated Joseph Smith. Falling out of a window, he was propped up against the well in the courtyard, where a baptist minister ordered the men to kill him.
Thinking that the death of Joseph Smith would end the movement, the mob quickly moved on Nauvoo. What they forgot, however, was that Nauvoo had an army, and they had just killed their general. However, and this is key here: Rather than wage war of vengeance, or even a pre-emptive war of protection, the Saints instead packed their bags and left for the Salt Lake valley.
At Mountain Meadows, a group of immigrants passing through boasted about how they had murdered, raped and shot boys in the face. They did this knowing they were passing into the territory run by the Saints.
Now you have the background on what happened before the massacre.
All of that said, this is the darkest moment in church history. Never before or since has anything so vile ever been done. For that crime, the church as a whole has apologized profusely and even erected a monument to remember the event.
So, are "mormons" "Christian"?
I don't care what you think. I don't claim title to "Christian" anymore than any other man can. All I care about is whether my personal relationship with Christ is strong or not. I would hope you're mature enough to do the same. Leave me to worship my God the way I prefer, and I'll leave you to do the same.
Have you actually read the Book of Mormon, or do you just believe what your pastor tells you?