View source for Question: Did early Mormon leaders consider themselves Christians?

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==Question: Did early Mormon leaders consider themselves Christians?==
===Early Latter-day Saint leaders clearly considered themselves Christians, but condemned the hypocrisy of other Christians who persecuted the Saints===

It is also clear that early LDS leaders did not object to Christianity ''per se''&mdash;since they clearly considered themselves Christians, this would have been nonsensical.  What early Church leaders ''did'' object to was the hypocrisy of some Christians, who discarded Christian scripture and principles and lied, misrepresented, persecuted, and visited violence on a Christian group with whom they disagreed: members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The Saints are not unique in this regard; history is full of violent or bigoted men who claimed the sanction of Christ for their mistreatment of others, as victims of crusades, pogroms, shunnings, and inquisitions can bear witness.

===Many of the present-day authors who misrepresent the Saints profess to be Christians===

It is ironic, but perhaps not surprising, that many present-day authors who attack and misrepresent the Church are likewise Christians.  Latter-day Saints understand, however, that such critics are not representative of all Christians.  Happily, they are generally a small, if shrill, minority.  We reject their tactics without rejecting the Christianity in which they claim to drape it.  It is difficult to believe that the Prince of Peace would sanction such tactics.
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