Quoting the Dallas Morning News: “Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said that Mormonism is a false religion and that Mr. Romney was not a Christian. “Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise,” Dr. Jeffress said in a sermon Sept. 30. [ed: (sarcasm on) Well duh! Is this a revelation? (sarcasm off)]”Even though he talks about Jesus as his Lord and savior, he is not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult.”
Some in the large crowd began to applaud as Dr. Jeffress continued with his remarks. “What really distresses me is some of my ministerial friends and even leaders in our convention are saying, ‘Oh, well, he talks about Jesus, we talk about Jesus. What’s the big deal?’ ” he said. “It is a big deal if anybody names another way to be saved except through Jesus Christ.”
What a disconnect! I can’t believe that otherwise intelligent people actually believe this lie. And why was he pointing out that Mitt Romney was a Mormon as if anybody was trying to hide it? How many years will ministers of other churches put their fears on public display as they continue to claim that Mormonism is not Christianity? It never ceases to amaze me how they can call the fastest growing church in the world a cult.
The best response I can think of is to refer people like this to Elder Holland’s latest General Conference talk but it’s doubtful they would seriously consider it. “…any criticism that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not hold the contemporary Christian view of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost is not a comment about our commitment to Christ but rather a recognition (accurate, I might add) that our view of the Godhead breaks with post–New Testament Christian history and returns to the doctrine taught by Jesus Himself.”
As Elder Holland points out that Harper’s Bible Dictionary records that “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the [New Testament].”
So I guess it’s true that we don’t believe in the same Jesus Christ because they have created a God that is not Biblical. Their understanding of God is based on non-authoritative creeds of men, established many years after the Lord taught the truth about Himself and His Father in the gospels. It is amazing to me that people like Jeffress can say that we claim there is some other way to be saved except through Jesus Christ.
He is either naive, has been mis-informed or simply will not accept what 13 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know and teach. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. It is only through Jesus Christ that can return to the presence of God. There is no other way to be saved from the effects of our sins except through Jesus Christ. Dr. Jeffress, get your facts straight. Or do you delight in mis-representing what Mormons believe?
The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is often accused by Evangelical pastors of not believing in Christ and, therefore, not being a Christian religion This article helps to clarify such misconceptions by examining early Christianity’s comprehension of baptism, the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.· Baptism: . Early Christian churches, practiced baptism of youth (not infants) by immersion by the father of the family. The local congregation had a lay ministry. An early Christian Church has been re-constructed at the Israel Museum, and the above can be verified. http://www.imj.org.il/eng/exhibitions/2000/christianity/ancientchurch/structure/index.htmlThe Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continues baptism and a lay ministry as taught by Jesus’ Apostles. Early Christians were persecuted for keeping their practices sacred, and prohibiting non-Christians from witnessing them. · The Trinity: . A literal reading of the New Testament points to God and Jesus Christ , His Son , being separate , divine beings , united in purpose. . To whom was Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and Who was speaking to Him and his apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration? The Nicene Creed”s definition of the Trinity was influenced by scribes translating the Greek manuscripts into Latin. The scribes embellished on a passage explaining the Trinity , which is the Catholic and Protestant belief that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The oldest versions of the epistle of 1 John, read: “There are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water and the blood and these three are one.” Scribes later added “the Father, the Word and the Spirit,” and it remained in the epistle when it was translated into English for the King James Version, according to Dr. Bart Ehrman, Chairman of the Religion Department at UNC- Chapel Hill. He no longer believes in the Nicene Trinity. . Scholars agree that Early Christians believed in an embodied God; it was neo-Platonist influences that later turned Him into a disembodied Spirit. Divinization, narrowing the space between God and humans, was also part of Early Christian belief. St. Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox) wrote, regarding theosis, “The Son of God became man, that we might become God. ” . The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) views the Trinity as three separate divine beings , in accord with the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts. · The Deity of Jesus Christ Mormons hold firmly to the deity of Christ. For members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS), Jesus is not only the Son of God but also God the Son. Evangelical pollster George Barna found in 2001 that while only 33 percent of American Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists (28 percent of Episcopalians) agreed that Jesus was “without sin”, 70 percent of Mormons believe Jesus was sinless. http://www.adherents.com/misc/BarnaPoll.html · The Cross and Christ’s Atonement: . The Cross became popular as a Christian symbol in the Fifth Century A.D. . Members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) believe the proper Christian symbol is Christ’s resurrection , not his crucifixion on the Cross. Many Mormon chapels feature paintings of the resurrected Christ or His Second Coming. Furthermore, members of the church believe the major part of Christ’s atonement occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane as Christ took upon him the sins of all mankind. · Definition of “Christian”: . But Mormons don’t term Catholics and Protestants “non-Christian”. They believe Christ’s atonement applies to all mankind. The dictionary definition of a Christian is “of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to a religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ”: All of the above denominations are followers of Christ, and consider him divine, and the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. They all worship the one and only true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and address Him in prayer as prescribed in The Lord’s Prayer. It’s important to understand the difference between Reformation and Restoration when we consider who might be authentic Christians. . Early Christians had certain rituals which defined a Christian http://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/207/2070037.htm , which members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continue today. . If members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) embrace early Christian theology, they are likely more “Christian” than their detractors.· The Need for a Restoration of the Christian Church: The founder of the Baptist Church in America, Roger Williams, just prior to leaving the church he established, said this: “There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking.” (Picturesque America, p. 502.) Martin Luther had similar thoughts: “Nor can a Christian believer be forced beyond sacred Scriptures,…unless some new and proved revelation should be added; for we are forbidden by divine law to believe except what is proved either through the divine Scriptures or through Manifest revelation.” He also wrote: “I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual powers have been not only corrupted by sin, but absolutely destroyed; so that there is now nothing in them but a depraved reason and a will that is the enemy and opponent of God. I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it.”The Lutheran, Baptist and Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) churches recognize an apostasy from early Christianity. The Lutheran and Baptist churches have attempted reform, but Mormonism (and Roger Williams, and perhaps Martin Luther) require inspired restoration, so as to re-establish an unbroken line of authority and apostolic succession. * * *· Christ-Like Lives: The 2005 National Study of Youth and Religion published by UNC-Chapel Hill found that Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) youth (ages 13 to 17) were more likely to exhibit these Christian characteristics than Evangelicals (the next most observant group): 1. Attend Religious Services weekly2. Importance of Religious Faith in shaping daily life – extremely important 3. Believes in life after death4. Does not believe in psychics or fortune-tellers 5. Has taught religious education classes 6. Has fasted or denied something as spiritual discipline 7. Sabbath Observance 8. Shared religious faith with someone not of their faith9. Family talks about God, scriptures, prayer daily 10. Supportiveness of church for parent in trying to raise teen (very supportive)11. Church congregation has done an excellent job in helping teens better understand their own sexuality and sexual morality LDS Evangelical1. 71% 55%2. 52 283. 76 624. 100 955. 42 286. 68 22 7. 67 408. 72 569. 50 1910. 65 2611. 84 35