Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Prayer and study. The Holy Ghost tells you. It's the only way to know.>> The problem with that argument is that it is the same one used by Protestant Fundamentalists who claim that the LDS are not Christians.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<The problem with that argument is that it is the same one used by Protestant Fundamentalists who claim that the LDS are not Christians.>> There you go again. Your brush is too broad. Many protestant denominations accept that Mormons are Christians.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Many protestant denominations accept that Mormons are Christians.*** Wow, really? They accept the fact that the mormons believe in countless gods, that god as we know him was once a mortal, scholarly Mormon, and that some day it's possible for anyone to become a god? And that Satan is the brother of Jesus? They really accept that? If so, I'd like the email address of the leaders of such protestant faiths. I'd really like to question them about this.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***They accept the fact that the mormons believe in countless gods, that god as we know him was once a mortal, scholarly Mormon, and that some day it's possible for anyone to become a god? And that Satan is the brother of Jesus?*** Posted too soon. What I meant to say was, they understand that all those facts are part of the mormon doctrine and they still "accept that mormons are christians"? I've never heard of any sort of christianity that was even remotely similar to this.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf "There you go again. Your brush is too broad. Many protestant denominations accept that Mormons are Christians." That's only because they don't really know what Mormons believe. For example, Mormons will say that Christians have no authority to baptize and therefore any rituals they have ever performed are null and void in god's eyes. Mormons will say the bible is not enough and that merely having faith in Jesus is vastly insufficient if you wanna be saved. Mormons will say that Christians can not live with god unless they accept that Joseph Smith was a prophet, restored the "true" Christian Church, believe the Book of Mormon is the most correct of all books ever written, and live by all the rules and rituals that go along with it. If you Christians are cool with a group that openly says you are not real Christians then all power to you. You've got that "turn the other cheek" going on real good.
Originally Posted By Mr X Is there any sort of deathbed repentance ritual I should be aware of, Eighth? I want to make sure I have my bases covered. The catholic one is easy-cheesy. Just call for a priest and tell Jesus you're super sorry and you really, REALLY mean it...and you are IN! But I could do the mormon thing too if that might help.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip To my knowledge only the Catholic and Methodist churches have specifically ruled that Mormons are not Christians and therefore must be re-baptized if they convert. On the other hand the Google has shown me that most protestant religions take the view that Mormons are not "true Christians". Even though the Catholic Church will not accept Mormon baptisms, they appear somewhat more open about Mormon's acceptance of Christ. <<Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese, said from now on all Mormon converts will be baptized as if for the first time. He stressed that the decision "in no way is to be considered any kind of judgment about the relationship between Jesus Christ and members of the Church of Latter-day Saints." He added that the new baptism rule would have no effect on ecumenical cooperation with Latter-day Saints. "We continue to share beliefs in the strength and importance of the family and a number of life issues. We'll continue to work in those areas as we do with other faiths that don't share our particular beliefs," Tamberg said.>> Source: <a href="http://www.apologeticsindex.org/news1/an010723-05.html" target="_blank">http://www.apologeticsindex.or...-05.html</a> Silly me. I guess I figured anyone who accepted Christ as the son of God who died on the cross for our sins was a Christian. I guess I never read the fine print. I hate the freaking fine print.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf "Silly me. I guess I figured anyone who accepted Christ as the son of God who died on the cross for our sins was a Christian." If you think that's enough, then you're a Christian I guess. It's when you say "Christ's death was nice and all, but if you don't believe in this here prophet of ours....." that your Christianity gets called into question. Historically speaking, there have been a lot of "Christian" beliefs that have been labelled heretical (i.e. non-Christian) because they didn't follow orthodox christian thinking. The Arians, Montanists, Gnostics, etc. Mormons don't exactly follow orthodox Christianity (as it has come down to us over the centuries) but, like I said, if you wanna call them Christians, be my guest. I don't really care anymore.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Many protestant denominations accept that Mormons are Christians.>> I specifically said "Protestant FUNDAMENTALISTS". I'm sure that denominations like the United Chruch of Christ don't worry to much about LDS heresies.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Mormons will say that Christians can not live with god unless they accept that Joseph Smith was a prophet, restored the "true" Christian Church, believe the Book of Mormon is the most correct of all books ever written, and live by all the rules and rituals that go along with it.>> I have always found this LDS/Islamic parallel to be quite fascinating.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf "Is there any sort of deathbed repentance ritual I should be aware of, Eighth?" Write your name on a piece of paper and give it to a Mormon. They can do everything for you after you die - that's the beauty of Mormonism.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf "I have always found this LDS/Islamic parallel to be quite fascinating." Me too. And would you a call a Muslim a Christian? Muslims believe in Jesus too you know. But like with Mormons, that's not enough.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Even though the Catholic Church will not accept Mormon baptisms>> My understanding is that this is because the LDS do not adhere to the triune form of baptism. This is why thye RCC accepts most Protestant baptisms as valid. That is to say, those that are done in the name of the Trinity. In some evangelical churches people are baptized only in Jesus's name, whuich makes the form invalid. It is my understanding that while the LDS do baptize in "the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit/Ghost" that the baptism is considered invalid because the LDS do not believe in the Trinity. Now, that said, just because one hasn't been properly baptized doesn't mean one isn't a Christian (from the RCC's perspective)
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<The catholic one is easy-cheesy. Just call for a priest and tell Jesus you're super sorry and you really, REALLY mean it>> The last part (being sincere) is the tricky part.
