Are we all Christians?

I recently signed up online for Latter-Day Saint (LDS), a.k.a. Mormon, missionaries to come to my house and talk. I had talked with other missionaries before, but I still had some questions about the LDS culture. One of the main questions dealt with was the position of the LDS church that Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons are all Christian.

Google the phrase ‘Mormon Christian’ and you’ll get 4-6 articles on the first page claiming Mormons aren’t Christian. LDS scholars have responded to this with various counter claims.

Daniel Peterson and Stephen Ricks said the following:

Mormons declare themselves Christian, and are astonished to be told that they are not. They belong to a Church in which every prayer is uttered, every sermon is given, and every ordinance is performed literally in the name of Jesus Christ. Their hymns—the devotional heart of their Sunday worship—sing of Christ and his atonement. . . In baptism and in the weekly communion they know as “the sacrament,” they testify that they are willing to take upon them his name. Their first Article of Faith announces their belief in "God the eternal Father, and in His son, Jesus Christ."

For the sake of discussion, 'Christian' was defined as ‘someone who believes in Christ and follows His teachings.’ I asked about someone who believes Christ was a good teacher who taught good moral principles, but doesn’t believe He was God. They agreed that kind of person is not a Christian. So a Christian has to accurately believe and follow Christ to be a Christian, not just do part of it.

I’ve heard missionaries claim those other denominations are Christian because they all believe in salvation by grace through the atonement. But the problem is those faiths believe very different things about salvation, grace and the atonement. If Mormons are following those teachings accurately, then other faiths that believe differently are not believing accurately and therefore not Christian.

One objection the missionaries had was they didn’t want to say other faiths aren’t Christian because they don’t know all the beliefs of the faith. But you don’t have to know all their beliefs. Salvation is one of the most important doctrines Christ taught. If they don’t view salvation as Christ and His disciples taught it, they aren’t Christian.

Some missionaries I’ve talked to said they don’t say other faiths aren’t Christian because they don’t want to offend people. I will respond to that in my next blog.

One true religion

I would like to respond to one more thing about the video I linked to in my last blog. About 35 seconds into the video, it says, in a sarcastic tone, “After all, only one god can be right.”

I’ve heard many other people say it’s mean and intolerant to claim only one belief is right. What’s wrong with that statement? Christians, Muslims and other religions have used the claim for violence, but that doesn’t make the claim itself wrong. By itself, the claim that “My religion is the only right one” is not mean or intolerant. It’s simply an expression of a belief about reality.

Like I said in an earlier blog, all religions can’t be right because they contradict each other. When I say my religion is the only true one, I’m not being intolerant. Other people have every right to believe whatever they want to believe.

It seems some people treat belief about religion like opinions about movies and music. Everyone has their own opinion about what the best music and movie is. But in reality, there is no such thing as the best music or movie. Different genres appeal to a variety of tastes and there are varying levels of quality, but there is no “best.” Religion is different.

We all live in the same reality. Our tastes, desires and beliefs can never change our reality. There’s no concrete evidence for which religion reflects that reality, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is only one true religion.

So what’s wrong with believing your religion is the true one? As long as you don’t try to force other people to believe it or use the belief for violence, there’s nothing wrong with thinking yours is the true one.

Holy Bible = Rule Book

Many of the causes of hostility between belief groups is confusion. A good example of this is a video recently posted on a comedy site here.

I’ll respond to a few of the points video brings up. I realize it was probably meant as a joke, but it also reflects many complaints I’ve heard before.

Near the start of the video, an animation claimed the “Holy Bible = Rule Book.” But that’s a misunderstanding of what the Bible is.

Yes, it does list some rules, but it’s far more than that. Most Bibles are over 1,000 pages long, and only a small fraction lists rules. Most of it is story telling, history, poetry, wisdom and doctrine.

Besides, "rules" does not accurately describe that small fraction of the Bible. One of the main purposes of the Bible is to teach us about God so we can have a relationship with Him, similar to a parent/child or husband/wife relationship.

Let's say you're married and your spouse wanted to let you know what her likes and dislikes are, how you can make her happy in what you say and do. She knows you tend to forget some things, so she makes a list detailing how she would like you to live out your marriage vows (love, cherish, support). What would you consider that list? They aren't things you must do. You have free will to chose what you want to do. It's just her way of reminding you "If you love me, here's the best way to show it." I wouldn't call those rules.

Think about it from the other way. If you wanted to have a loving relationship with someone, would you require them to follow a list of rules? That’s not how a healthy, loving relationship works. If the Bible was really written by God, the basis and model of a loving relationship, then why would he want a domineering relationship with us?

I’m not saying the Bible teaches we should have a marriage relationship with God. Reverential, awe-inspired respect is also part of the teaching, but having a rulebook for our relationship with God is not.

A Great Religious Lie

A common approach to religion I’ve seen is someone saying it doesn't really matter what you believe. They say if there is a God, He would be happy with our devotion no matter what religion we claim, as long as that religion doesn't hurt anyone else. That view is called Unitarian Universalism (UU) or just universalism, all focusing on the idea of unity.

The view basically says all religions are right. There are many ways to God and heaven. The official UU website says their congregations “Unitarian Universalists include people who identify as Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, and others. As there is no official Unitarian Universalist creed, Unitarian Universalists are free to search for truth on many paths.”

But there's one major thing wrong with that philosophy. It contradicts itself.

All of the major religions say they are the only way to God. Catholics say you MUST take the sacraments, and religions that don't are wrong. Mormonism says you must do temple work to get to God, and religions that don't are wrong. Traditional Christianity says you must have complete faith in the grace of Christ and put your trust in Him, and religions that add to that are wrong. There are others, but you get the point. How can all of these be right if they all say they are the ONLY right way?

The list from the UU website includes the major religions of the world. Most of them believe in at least one god. Yet it also mentions atheism. If any of the world religions are true, then atheism is wrong. If atheism is right, then all religions that believe in a god are wrong.

This is not a ploy to get you to join a religion or read the bible, I'm just asking you to be philosophically realistic. Don't believe the lie that there are many roads to the truth, whatever it is. Search for yourself and find out which belief true.

Why talk about philosophy?

This is my blog to talk about philosophy, religion, spirituality and anything related to those topics.

These topics have been the subject of countless arguments. So why should we keep talking about them? Because they have eternal significance and they are crucial to understanding each other.

What happens after we die? Is there an afterlife? Are we reborn in another form or do we cease to exist? Do we have any control of what happens to us after death? Is there a purpose to our existence? If so, what is it? These are all questions with eternal significance. Everyone should deal with these questions and find an answer for themselves. It’s naïve to pretend these questions don’t exist or aren’t important.

But there’s more to this than just focusing on your own philosophy. A crucial part of understanding each other is making an effort to understand other philosophies. This means listening to others instead of assuming you know what they believe. Christians and atheists, Baptists and Mormons, liberals and conservatives, both sides in each case need to do a better job of listening to the other side. Even if you’re on the correct side of an issue, not listening to the other side will lead to arguments.

‘Listening’ to supporters of the other side means more than just hearing what they say. We also need to respectfully consider the strengths of a philosophy even if we disagree with it.

I will try to make frequent posts on various topics for this blog. Some will be dealing with broad topics like truth in general, but I will also talk about specific conflicts between philosophies and religions. If anyone has questions, I’ll be happy to respond to them and possibly write a blog about the question.