Reflections on Mormon 'Christian' discussion

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post dealing with the question ‘Can Evangelicals and Mormons religions both be Christian when they disagree on how to follow Christ.’ Soon after I posted it, I started a thread on a Mormon Apologetic forum. The thread has grown over 200 posts since then and I’ve learned a few things about why this is such a touchy subject. These are trends in the Mormon church, but I’ve also noticed some in other religions.

1. One of the fundamental reasons why there is confusion in this area is most Mormons define ‘Christian’ differently than these other groups saying Mormons aren’t Christian. What I didn’t expect though was the fact that this difference isn’t based on the difference in doctrine between the groups. A user by the name of ‘flameburns623’ explained this difference:

There is a narrow and a broad interpretation or definition of the term 'Christian', The broad term, while a bit fuzzy around the edges, is simply one who accepts Jesus Christ as the principal figure of their religious faith and who therefore orders their life and worship around Him and His teachings in some way, to the best of their human ability by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Ghost.

The narrow definition of a Christian is: one who believes rightly about Jesus Christ as He Himself intends for them to believe, and who therefore orders their life and worship around Him and His teachings in the way He intended them to do, to the best of their human ability by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Ghost.

Speaking broadly therefore: Quakers, Unitarians, Unificationists, Christian Scientists, Latter-Day Saints, Seventh-day-Adventists, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Presbyterians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Anglicans, fundamentalists, followers of the Unity School of Christianity, and all manner of the various and sundry denominations each and all collectively are Christians.

Speaking narrowly however--some, many or most of the above, named or unnamed, cannot meet the definition of 'Christian'. If Catholicism most-perfectly conforms to the narrow definition of Christianity, then--speaking narrowly--Mormons are not Christians. If Mormonism most-perfectly meets that definition, then Presbyterians and Baptists--speaking narrowly--are not Christians.

So if you’re interested in talking with members of other religions about who may or may not be Christian, make sure you clarify what you each mean by the term ‘Christian.’

2. To be clear, I’m not saying someone has to be a member of a specific church or group to be a Christian. You just have to be following Christ’s teachings as He taught them. As I read more responses and thought about this more, I realized one reason why Mormons might have a problem with that idea.

I visited BYU a few months ago with some friends and we sat in on some classes. One class I visited was called ‘Teachings of the Prophets,’ and the lecture that day was on what happens when we don’t follow the prophets. According to the professor, “questioning and looking for flaws in prophets is sinning” and “doubting is a sign of spiritual sickness.” Another class I visited said we have to follow the prophets if we want to be right with God.

The Mormon church teaches taking the sacrament, going on a mission and performing temple ceremonies are all required to be right with God, and being a member of the church is the only way to do those things.

So Baptists can use the narrow definition of ‘Christian’ without implying people need to join their church to be Christian. But Mormons can’t make the same do the same thing. If they used a narrow definition of ‘Christian,’ they would also have to say people must join their church to be Christian. Of course, this doesn’t prove anybody right or wrong, it’s just an observation.

3. A few members on the forum insisted someone doesn’t have to believe specific doctrines to be a Christian. A member by the name of Flyonthewall said, “belief is general, doctrines are specific.” As long as you say Jesus is the Son of God, the redeemer of the world and our personal savior, then you are a Christian. It doesn’t matter how you define those beliefs or what doctrines you attach to them, as long as you believe them, you’re a Christian. Even if you believe ‘redeemer’ means Christ is perfecting the world so we will be prepared for when the aliens come to earth to make a super-race of human-alien hybrids, you will still be a Christian.

Frankly, I think that view makes no sense. I looked up various definitions of ‘doctrine’ and a common theme was that a doctrine is a belief that is taught and believed by a group. The Bible doesn’t give clear definitions for either ‘doctrine’ or ‘belief,’ but that doesn’t mean we should make up our own definitions for them.

Belief itself is general. It can be applied to many different things. I could say, ‘I believe the Cardinals will win the next Super Bowl’ or ‘I believe my grandfather was a good person.’ But Christ didn’t ask for a general belief. He didn’t say, ‘Just believe.’ He said, ‘Believe in Me.’ That is a specific belief focusing on specific doctrines like ‘He is the Son of God’ and ‘He came to save us.’

Simply put, a Christian is someone who is following Christ and His teachings. We can’t be a Christian if we recite a few beliefs and fail to follow His other teachings.