Questions about Church members
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Recently, one unit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a public information session entitled "Are Mormons Christians?" Many members and non-members attended, including clergy from other denominations. Written questions were taken from the audience, and answered extemporaneously.
These questions are reproduced below by the kind permission of those who held the fireside. FAIR volunteers have here suggested some answers to these questions—many of which are commonly asked—and then provided links to further material for interested members and non-members who wish to learn more about these issues.
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Question: If Mormons believe their church is the only true church on earth, wouldn’t it be more important to define the differences in Mormonism and not be so concerned with whether others consider you Christian or not?
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Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that their first and most important duty is to testify of Christ. They have each made a covenant to "stand as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places that [they] may be in, even unto death, that [they] may be redeemed of God and be numbered with those of the first resurrection" (Mosiah 18꞉9). Therefore, Latter-day Saints consider themselves honor-bound to rebut the common claim that they are not Christians.
Furthermore, Latter-day Saints do not wish for those who hear them to abandon the knowledge and faith in Christ which they already possess. Rather, they hope only to add to what non-members already believed about Jesus. It would be counterproductive, then, to focus on differences without first making clear the great truth that Latter-day Saints believe with the rest of the Christian world—that Jesus was the Son of God, that he was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, suffered and was crucified for the sins of the world, and was resurrected the third day to reign in glory forever and ever.
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Question: What must a Mormon do to attain eternal life forever with God?
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Eternal life is a gift from God. He promises us this gift if we enter into a keep a covenant with Christ. This covenant is made through faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receipt of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. As part of the covenant, members promise to serve God and Christ and to walk in newness of life through the grace of God.
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Question: In Mormonism, is it believed that Jesus is God’s only Son? Because it has been stated that all people are literal spirit children of God, yet in John 3꞉16 it states that “God sent His only son...."
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Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of the Father. This means that only he has God as the father of his physical, mortal body.
To be a spirit child of God is an entirely separate matter.
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Question: Isaiah 44:6, 8 says: “I am the first and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” “Is there a god beside me? Yes, there is no god; I know not any.” The LDS Church does not believe God is the first or the last and believes there are a host of other gods. How do you answer scripture on this point?
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Question: Teachings of Joseph Smith, p. 370 --- Joseph Smith teaches multiple gods. Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 576-577 --- “As each of these persons is a God, it is evident from this standpoint alone that a plurality of Gods exists.” How does this compare with Isaiah 44:6-8, Psalms 90:2, Isaiah 43:10?
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Question: In the King Follett discourse, Joseph Smith said, “You have got to learn to become gods yourselves, the same as all gods have done before you.” How does this work with clear verses like Isaiah 43:10 (Please read aloud . . .)
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Question: How do you explain these two verses? Isaiah 43:10-11 (lists passage)
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ANSWER HERE
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John 1:1, 14 teach that Jesus is God, God the Son. Philippians 2:5-11 clearly indicate that Jesus is “equal with God,” but gave up his place with the Father to become the Savior of mankind. Why does the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS not teach this truth?
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The Church does teach this truth. Jesus was God. He voluntarily gave up his exalted state, and condescended to come to earth to become the savior, in accordance with the will of the Father. He was resurrected and returned to dwell in glory with the Father, exactly as this scripture teaches.
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Is there more than one God in the Godhead? ["Godhead" is an LDS term often used as other Christians use the term "Holy Trinity.]
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This question turns on the question of how language is used. In one sense, there is only one God. In another sense, there are three beings to whom the title "God" is rightly applied: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Thus, in one sense the answer is, "No," because these personages together make up "one God." In another sense, the answer is "Yes." One must first be clear about which sense one means before answering the question. And, in answering the question, one must realize that the other sense is not suddenly false.
All Christian groups must grapple with this issue. Much of Christianity settled on the Nicene creed as a solution. The Latter-day Saints reject that solution as unbiblical.
To learn more:
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In what ways, specifically, can Mormons become like God?
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Latter-day Saints accept the teachings of the Bible that the Saints can become like God and Christ. We regard Christ as the model or pattern toward which the believer is journeying:
- Said Jesus, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:21).
- "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3꞉2-3).
- "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:17).
Latter-day Saints are always mystified when creedal Christians dispute this point—the Bible teaches clearly that the believer will be like Christ in every way: a joint-heir with him of his glories, attributes, and powers, through his grace.
To learn more:'
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In DC 132꞉37, it says we have the ability to become gods. Is that Christian? Nowhere in the Bible does it state that we can become gods. If so, where?
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- Said Jesus, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:21).
- "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3꞉2-3).
- "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:17).
This belief is also, contrary to the views of some conservative Protestants, entirely Christian. Many early Christian writers and thinkers discussed it:
- Irenaeus: "We were not made gods at our beginning, but first we were made men, then, in the end, gods." [1]
- Clement of Alexandria: "yea, I say, the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god." of alex
- Justin Martyr: "[By Psalm 82] it is demonstrated that all men are deemed worthy of becoming “gods,” and even of having power to become sons of the Highest."[2]
There are many others.
The best article(s) to read next on this topic is/are:
In addition, such Christian groups as the eastern orthodox continue to hold the belief today. It is the modern conservative Protestant, not the Latter-day Saint, that is out of step with the larger sweep of Christian thought and belief on this issue.
To learn more:'
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Endnotes
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- [note] Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 94. ISBN 0192830090.
- [note] Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, 3.1 see also Clement, Stromateis, 23.
- [note] Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 124.
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