I also try to clarify for others when I can.
Recently an acquaintance of mine started a blog to explore all the ways in which Mormons are not Christians. I responded to her first post about the Trinity and gave her many Biblical citations supporting my view.
It didn't help. She still said: Mormons may believe in Christ, but they aren't traditional or mainstream Christians.
At first I thought of all the ways I could prove her wrong. I thought about the name of our Church, the beliefs and teachings and a number of ways that show me we're the very best kind of Christians.
Then I thought about Jesus, his apostles and his followers and I realized something: None of them were accepted as "Traditional Jews."
They weren't Sadducees, Zealots, Herodians, or Pharisees. The weren't mainstream Jews. They didn't live according to all the accepted rules of the time, written or oral. Jesus and his apostles had a different interpretation of what was appropriate on the Sabbath. According to other Jews - they didn't wash as they should and they didn't fast when they should. They believed in new rules, new views.
They also believed they were the realization of ancient prophecy. Jesus was the foretold King of the Jews and his apostles were to carry forth the Fulfilled Gospel to the world.
But apparently that wasn't "Jewish" enough. Jesus was told he was a blasphemer and was crucified because of it. His apostles eventually suffered the same fate.
Jesus was the pinnacle of Judaism, the very Lord and King of the Jews - yet he still wasn't accepted as a "Traditional Jew."
I'm starting to think I shouldn't care so much about how others choose to define me either. I've been told before that I belong to a cult: that I'm a heretic and a devil worshipper. I've been told that I've been brainwashed; I'm deluded and deceived.
I've been told I'm not a mainstream or "traditional" Christian.
Jesus' followers eventually accepted the fact that they weren't going to be accepted as traditional "Jews" - as ironic as that might sound.
I'm starting to feel the same way about being called a "Christian."
7 comments:
Honestly never thought about it like that.
My brain thanks you.
Exactly.
Well, you are definitely a Christian if you think Jesus was the King of the Jews.
Mormons’ theology is based on New Testament Christianity, not Fourth Century Creeds. For example, the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) views on Baptism, Lay Ministry, the Trinity, Theosis, Grace vs. Works, the Divinity of Jesus Christ comport more closely with Early Christianity than any other denomination. And Mormons’ teenagers have been judged to “top the charts” in Christian Characteristics by a UNC-Chapel Hill study. Read about it here:
http://MormonsAreChristian.blogspot.com
According to a 2012 Pew Forum poll of members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) 98 percent said they believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 97 percent say their church is a Christian religion. Mormons have a better understanding of Christianity than any other denomination, according to a 2010 Pew Forum poll:
http://www.pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx
11 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence (including several presidents) were non-Trinitarian Christians. Those who now insist on their narrow Trinitarian and salvation-only- by-grace definition of Christianity for candidates for public office are doing our Republic an injustice.
Bot - thanks.
I remember the Pew Poll. In fact I posted about it here:
http://thoughtsofasimplecitizen.blogspot.com/2013/01/religious-iq-who-really-knows-their.html
I like your blog, keep up the good work.
riithK"But apparently that wasn't "Jewish" enough. Jesus was told he was a blasphemer and was crucified because of it. His apostles eventually suffered the same fate." Who was it who told this to Jesus and who was it who crucified him, according to Mormons? Was it traditional Jews? Please point me to the information. Thank you.
My information all comes from the King James Bible.
I assume most any Jew today would disagree with me as I beleive Christ was the promised Messiah of the Jews and the world, they do not.
I guess that's what I've realized. I see my church as the same church that Adam presided over, and Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Christ, Peter, etc... I see it as the restoration of God's true religion on the earth.
Every previous time God established his church on the earth it was changed, persecuted, or ignored and had to be reestablished.
Just like when Jesus came to the Temple and all the "people of God" and corrected them.
The same thing is being done today.
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