Are Mormons Christian?

There are so many ways to answer this question, but it really boils down to what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a Mormon.

A person can label himself anything—Mormon, Christian, liberal, conservative, pro-life, pro-choice—but the label is only as good as the substance it represents. We use labels to make designations or demarcations in what we are or ascribe to for the purpose of associating or disassociating with certain other groups. The label becomes a way of saying that you belong to a group that has certain qualities or believes certain things. In other words, you hold certain key things in common that differentiate you from others and that define who you are. The important point is that you hold certain things in common that make you uniquely different from others. However, without understanding the meaning poured into the label, the label is virtually useless and can be used to cloud the picture or create an association, whether intentional or not, that really doesn’t exist.

For example, humans and monkeys hold certain things in common, but no one would confuse the two because of the things that make them uniquely different. Therefore, monkeys cannot be said to be human. The same is true for beliefs. All religions hold certain things in common (e.g., belief in something greater than self and in a future beyond death), but there are key beliefs with each one that make it impossible to say that all religions are the same.

Consequently, it’s important to know what key things make a person uniquely a Mormon and what key things make a person uniquely a Christian. If they are the same things, then Mormons are certainly Christian and, conversely, Christians are Mormon. On the other hand, if the key things are significantly different, then it cannot be true that Mormons are Christians and Christians are Mormons.

Let’s take a look at a few things that make a person uniquely Mormon. A Mormon believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, was the key figure in restoring an apostate church, and delivered the fullness of the gospel in translating the Book of Mormon from gold plates that were written in reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics. A Mormon believes that the Book of Mormon is true and, therefore, that Hebrews made their way to the Americas by boat, populated the land, fought wars, met Jesus, and recorded all this on gold plates that were subsequently buried and discovered in upstate New York. Pertaining to God, a Mormon believes that he was once a man just like us and progressed to his current exalted state where he took a wife (or wives), had spirit children who then were given the opportunity to follow in his footsteps and become Gods themselves. As a result Mormons must believe in the existent of many Gods in the ultimate sense, which makes them polytheistic. Pertaining to Jesus, Mormons believe that he, along with the rest of mankind, is the spirit brother of Lucifer, was conceived through literal, sexual relations between God and Mary, and atoned for Adam’s sin, which allows all of us to be resurrected. Pertaining to man, Mormons believe that we are the literal offspring of God—and, therefore, exactly the same in nature—were tested in a pre-mortal state, became mortal so that we could progress to exaltation, and may become exactly like God by obeying the commands and ordinances of God (including baptism and temple work), keeping our covenants, and truly repenting of all our sins.

I think it is fair to say that if you are a Mormon, you will ascribe to the foregoing, perhaps begrudgingly in some case but at least allowing for the possibility in all cases. No one outside of Mormonism will ascribe to the list in the way it is presented in Mormonism. Therefore, believing these key things makes a person uniquely a Mormon and rejecting the list, in part or in full, means rejecting Mormonism. No smoke and mirrors there.

Now, let’s take a look at a few things that make a person uniquely Christian. Pertaining to God, a Christian believes that there is only one God in nature or substance who has always been God, from eternity past to eternity future, and who is eternally expressed in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or Ghost, who are co-eternal and co-equal. Pertaining to man, Christians believe that we were created by God and in his image, which means in the attributes that could be given to us, such as holiness, righteousness, creativeness, the ability to love and be loved, and an eternal future existence, among many others. Christians believe that man was created perfect but fell because of sin and cannot be reconciled to God by any effort of his own. Pertaining to Jesus, Christians believe that he is God revealed in the flesh, that he paid the penalty of our sin by bearing them on the cross, and declared us righteous by his blood shed for us on the cross. Man’s work has nothing to do with attaining a perfect state before God; it is completely by the work of Jesus that we have a perfect standing.

Are these key beliefs the same? Obviously, no. They are, in fact, quite contradictory, such that believing in on set of beliefs precludes believing in the other—an example of the law of non-contradiction, which states that two contradictory things cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense. Is it right, then, to say that Mormons are Christians too? Obviously, not. In fact, it has become popular among various Mormons to state that they believe everything that Christians do, but they have additional revelation. This very brief comparison should make it very clear to anyone reading this that it’s not a matter of additional revelation; it’s a matter of different—far different—revelation. Because Mormons and Christians hold virtually nothing similar in any of these key beliefs, Mormons cannot be Christian and Christians cannot be Mormon.

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t conclude with the following very fundamental difference. A Christian in the orthodox Biblical sense is someone who is perfect in Christ right now. A Mormon is someone who is trying desperately to become perfect and, thus, attain a state of exaltation. In God’s economy, there is either perfect righteousness or there is sin. There is either complete reconciliation or everlasting enmity. And there is the complete propitiation (remission or removal) of sin or there is the remaining state of being spiritually dead. There is no attaining righteousness or a greater degree of glory. There is no increasing grace and forgiveness as you obey the commands and ordinances.

Christ either did it all for you or He did nothing for you. One must believe that Jesus Christ paid the just penalty for sin—all sin past, present, and future—and put their faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are saved by grace through faith and not of works, lest anyone should boast. Jesus took our sins, cancelled the debt that was against us, satisfied God’s justice, and provided righteousness as a free gift to all who believe. This was done so that we might not perish in our sins and find ourselves condemned and hopeless before the judgment seat of God.

Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 1 that if anyone, including an angel from heaven, preaches a different gospel than the one preached to them, then he would be eternally condemned. What is the gospel preached by Paul? It’s Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins as summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. The Mormon gospel states that we must have faith in Christ, plus repent of our sins, plus be baptized, plus receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, plus obey all of God’s commandments (see Gospel Principles, pages 75, 118, and 125 and Doctrine and Covenants 14:7 and 76:52).

From the above, Mormons believe in a different Jesus and a different gospel than what is taught in the Bible and what Christians believe. Mormons may want to use the label of Christian, but the reality is that if you are not fully forgiven, righteous and perfect right now in Christ, you are still in your sins and your label cannot save you.

See also A Tale of Two Gospels. For more Biblical study on this see Romans chapters 3-5 and 10, Galatians chapter 2, Philippians chapter 3, Titus chapter 3, and 1 John chapters 1 through 5.