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.