Mormons As Christians Archive
Of all the numbers in the Pew Research Center’s recently released survey of “Mormons in America,” the highest, most overwhelming numbers are these: 98 percent of respondents said they believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 97 percent say their church is a Christian religion.
This comes on the heels of earlier surveys indicating that 32 percent of non-LDS U.S. adults say the LDS Church is not a Christian religion, and an additional 17 percent are unsure of LDS Christianity. The theological and semantic reasons for this can be complex, but for the 1,019 self-identified Mormons who participated in the Pew survey, their theological position is clear: Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, and they consider themselves to be Christian.
“Certainly in Latter-day Saint theology is this idea that if you understand who you are, you understand that there’s a purpose in life, you understand your connection to God, that certainly has... Read the rest of this entry »
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are informally called Mormons, have just opened their second environmentally-friendly meeting house. It is the second of three prototype buildings and is expected to earn sivler LEED certification, as did the first building. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is earned by creating an environmentally-friendly building according to strict guidelines. It measures performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality and is difficult to attain.
Mesa, Arizona
“For decades we have looked for innovative ways to use natural resources in our meetinghouses that reflect our commitment as wise stewards of God’s creations,” explained H. David Burton, the presiding bishop of the Mormon Church.
The second prototype building is in Mesa, Arizona. It is solar-powered and is designed to produce... Read the rest of this entry »
When people talk about Mormonism, they often focus in on small things that are not important, aren’t taught currently, aren’t even practiced today. By doing so they miss an opportunity to understand Mormonism as it lives today and even as it was originally taught.
The atonement of Jesus Christ is central to Mormonism.
To understand Mormonism, you must focus on core doctrines, those things which are canonized as official doctrine and taught consistently. While church practices sometimes change, truth does not.
There are a few guidelines that can help you evaluate whether or not a teaching is a core doctrine—or even a true doctrine of Mormonism.
First, it is important to understand that every word spoken by a prophet is not necessarily doctrine, particularly in the earliest days of the church. In the beginnings, the church was run much more informally. People talked among themselves and sometimes others took notes and published those conversations... Read the rest of this entry »
Dallin Oaks, apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaks at Chapman University on religious freedom and the Constitution.
On February 4, Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a former state Supreme Court justice spoke at Chapman University School of Law on religious freedom and it’s constitutional history and importance. The Mormon apostle focused on why the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom is important to the future of the United States and on the dangers of religious relativism.
The speech, which received a standing ovation, focused on four main points, that were summarized in this way near the end of his talk:
Religious teachings and religious organizations are valuable and important to our free society and therefore deserving of their special protection.
Religious freedom undergirds the origin and existence of this country and is the dominating civil liberty.
The guarantee... Read the rest of this entry »
This year, Mormon Sunday School classes for adults and teens and the Senior Primary children who are ages eight to twelve are studying the New Testament. All Primary children—those ages 3 to 11, will have a sharing time (a time when a number of classes meet together to be taught by their leaders) focusing on the truthfulness of scripture.
The Sunday School classes and senior Primary are on a four year rotation system. Each year they study one book of scripture—Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon and Church History/Doctrine and Covenants (a book of modern revelation). The Senior Primary, the teens, and the adults study the same book of scripture at the same pace but at their own level. This allows families to come together after church and during the week to discuss what they’ve learned and lets parents reinforce those teachings.
Younger children, ages four to seven, are on a two year rotation, covering two books of scripture in one year,... Read the rest of this entry »
Mormons celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christ.
Mormon beliefs sometimes get confused with the beliefs and practices of other religions. One such belief concerns the celebration of Christmas. Mormons tend to be very passionate Christmas celebrators, with many Mormon congregations hosting nativity festivals or free sing-alongs of Handel’s Messiah each year.
While Santa makes an appearance in some Mormon homes, the focus is always on the meaning of Christmas. Christmas is considered a sacred holiday and Mormon families are encouraged to simplify the secular portions of it in order to make more room for the spiritual elements of the Christmas celebration.
Mormons believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and celebrate His birth as a pivotal moment in eternal life. The Book of Mormon, which Mormons consider a companion book to the Bible, says, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write... Read the rest of this entry »
Every year, Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, but especially so at Christmas time. It is decorated for Christmas with millions of lights, nativities, and special religious programming designed to help us remember that Christmas is a Christian holiday.
A Temple Square Christmas celebration is one that is taken seriously and prepared for many months in advance. Staff begins putting out the cables and extension cords in August, quickly followed by thousands of strands of lights. Volunteers and workers hang garland and lanterns and set up nativities throughout the grounds in November in order to be ready the Friday after Thanksgiving. For many, decorating the Square is a family tradition. Read the rest of this entry »
Read More →
Recently, Elder Russell M. Ballard spoke to graduating students at Brigham Young University, a school owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of this church are often informally known as Mormons. He counseled them in ways to discuss their religion with others, pointing out
that most topics of greatest interest to detractors are not critical elements of the current religion, but are fringe elements or practices no longer carried out. He advised them to keep the discussions focused on the core of the religion, the elements that affect salvation, rather than those that are merely interesting intellectual discussion points. Read the rest of this entry »
Read More →
The Book of Revelation is the last book in our modern copy of the Bible. The following scripture from this book is often quoted to “prove” there can’t be a Book of Mormon:
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (Revelation 22:18)
If you read this carefully, you’ll notice it doesn’t say “add unto the Bible.” This is because the Bible didn’t exist when the Book of Revelation was written. It wasn’t until long afterwards that various documents were gathered together and a group of people decided which ones were going to be included in the Bible. Catholics disagree with some of the choices that were made by the committee, and so there is more than one version of the Bible.
However, since the Bible didn’t exist and no one had, as of yet, decided which... Read the rest of this entry »
Respuesta Personal de Steven
Mientras servía como misionero mormónque era a menudo tan cuestionada sobre si o no nosotros, como los mormones, eran cristianos. Al principio no entendía por qué la gente se pregunta el cristianismo de una religión que lleva el nombre de Jesús Cristo en su título. Me di cuenta de que nosotros, como miembros de la iglesia mormona, son bastante diferentes de los miembros de la mayoría de iglesias cristianas en dos formas principales. Creemos en un libro aparte de las Escrituras para ir junto con la Biblia (el Libro de Mormón), y creemos que Dios sigue trabajando a través de los profetas de nuestro tiempo, empezando por José Smith. Llegué a la conclusión de que la gente debe pensar que no son cristianos, principalmente para los dos razones. Me gustaría compartir una experiencia personal para mostrar cómo estas dos creencias me llevó a una fuerte creencia en Jesucristo.
Cuando tenía 14 años de edad, que era... Read the rest of this entry »
