LDS Perspectives: Are Mormons Christian?
Robert L. Millet was the Abraham O. Smoot Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University and has spent years engaging in interfaith dialogue with scholars of many religious traditions.
He has often been asked the core question: “Are Mormon’s Christian?” His answer is echoed in a recent Gospel Topics essay on LDS.org resolutely declaring, “Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unequivocally affirm themselves to be Christians.”
The early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have been considered peculiar, but they were rarely accused of not being Christian.
The current argument against Mormonism’s Christianity is based on three observations:
1) Latter-day Saints do not accept the creeds, confessions, and formulations of post-New Testament Christianity.
2) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not descend through the historical line of traditional Christianity. That is, the LDS Church did not break off of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant traditions.
3) Latter-day Saints do not believe in a closed canon.
In this LDS Perspectives Podcast, host Nick Galieti asks Robert Millet to clarify distinctions of doctrine, to suggest how members of the LDS Church can use the “Are Mormon’s Christian?” Gospel Topics essay, and to comment on why members of the LDS Church should embrace what is both unique about LDS theology and what they share with other Christian faiths.
Check out to the resources referenced in this podcast at LDS Perspectives.
You can listen to the podcast here:
Be sure to listen to these great podcasts coming up in June:
June 14 — Help! Teaching in Gospel Settings — John Hilton III
June 21 — The Word of Wisdom — Jed Woodworth
June 28 — The Divine Council — Stephen O. Smoot