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FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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===Did LDS leaders only recently claim to be a part of Christianity?=== | ===Did LDS leaders only recently claim to be a part of Christianity?=== | ||
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Latter-day Saints have claimed to be Christians from the very beginning of the restoration. There are many statements by early Church leaders which demonstrate this. It is ridiculous for critics to make this claim. For a list of quotes from early LDS leaders, see the main article. | Latter-day Saints have claimed to be Christians from the very beginning of the restoration. There are many statements by early Church leaders which demonstrate this. It is ridiculous for critics to make this claim. For a list of quotes from early LDS leaders, see the main article. |
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
An argument often used by critics who are attempting to exclude Latter-day Saints from being counted among Christian religions is that the early leaders of the Church "condemned" Christianity. The argument then follows that Latter-day Saints voluntarily separated themselves from being classified as Christian, and should therefore not desire to be included among the family of Christian religions. Among the references critics use to support these assertions are the following:
Consider these quotes from Brigham Young:
Notice that Brigham didn't say that there were no Christians, but instead stated that they had lost their direction.
There is a reason that Brigham had a low opinion of those who those who called themselves "Christian" during the early days of the Church. "Christians" were among those who persecuted the Latter-day Saints:
One of the major issues that early LDS leaders had with those that professed to be "Christian" was the fact that they were sometimes foremost among the persecutors of the Saints.
Brigham's point was that those who persecuted the Saints were not extending the charity that typically characterized Christianity. This was not a condemnation of Christianity in general, but rather a condemnation of those who professed to be Christian but did not practice Christian principles. Brigham was denouncing hypocrites. Likewise, Joseph F. Smith also denounced such hypocrisy:
The denunciation of hypocrisy among those who professed to be Christians is not a denunciation of Christianity itself. Latter-day Saints certainly identified themselves as Christians during this period of time.
George A. Smith's comments indicate that there was not a general condemnation of Christianity:
Main article: Latter-day Saints aren't Christians—Saints claim to be Christian only recently?]]
Latter-day Saints have claimed to be Christians from the very beginning of the restoration. There are many statements by early Church leaders which demonstrate this. It is ridiculous for critics to make this claim. For a list of quotes from early LDS leaders, see the main article.
The myth that 'It is only recently that LDS leaders have attempted to identify themselves as Christian' has been thoroughly debunked in an article produced by FAIR. (Saints claim to be Christian only_recently).
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