Pastor Jeff raises the question: Do Latter-day Saints believe in the same Jesus—the one who was born to a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose on the third day? Latter-day Saints would say, “YES!”
Pastor Jeff of Hello Saints provides some background on the topic and he will be using only the Bible. His reasoning reminded me of the debates I’ve been hearing lately—Latter-day Saints against atheists and Latter-day Saints against Calvinists. But if you want to be considered a Christian, it seems you must do so using only the Bible.
Sola Scriptura. In his explanation, and in short, the scriptures have authority over the Church. He shares:
HEBREWS 1:1-2
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
I believe this argument is meant to support the idea that God spoke to prophets in times of old, then through His Son, and now we have His word in the Bible—so we only need the Bible.
I would counter: If that were the case, why did He establish apostles and send them out to teach His word? He had prophets before His Son and apostles after His Son, yet now He supposedly needs neither?
I’m not going to dwell on this—if you can’t see it, you can’t see it.
Honestly, I love Pastor Jeff, but every time he speaks, it reaffirms how grateful I am to be a Latter-day Saint. I’m not sure I could handle the mental gymnastics required to follow all the evangelical or Protestant teachings.
- Who God is as a monotheistic transcendent trinitarian being three persons in one, father, son, and holy spirit
- Who are we as his image bearers who have fallen and are in need of salvation
- How Jesus is the Godman who came to earth and died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave to defeat death
- Who ascended to the Father and will return one day and judge the world and will bring about the new heavens and a new earth
- Universal Priesthood that the scriptures teach about for all believers regardless of denomination
- Guidelines on how the church is supposed to function
- Baptism
- Communion
Then there is a list of secondary beliefs that don’t need to be agreed upon.
I don’t have the time or patience to go through that list. I would simply say, fine—don’t call us Christians. I know the dogma he outlined, and I don’t see how they believe those things, nor do I have any desire to try. I should simply say they are wrong. I also believe that one day they will see the error of their ways, and we will openly embrace them as they join The Church of Jesus Christ.
The Trinity is an issue—it’s not what the Bible teaches. What is this “Godman” term? I can guess, but it seems odd. The concept of universal priesthood is also not the pattern found in the Bible.
Then there is baptism—I’ve discussed that at length. Pastor Jeff has often treated it as a secondary doctrine while flip-flopping and calling it a primary doctrine, yet everyone still treats it as secondary. That still doesn’t make sense to me. The Gospel of Jesus Christ should make sense; it should be easy to understand.
What is a Christian?
- Hopeless Sinner [Romans 5:8]
- Faith in Christ Alone
- Saved by Grace [Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 10:9]
- Forgiven and Justified [Romans 8:1]
- God’s Wrath is Satisfied
- Restored to God
- Born Again, New Creation [2 Corinthians 5:17]
- Indwelled by the Holy Spirit
- Member of Christ’s Body
They believe in a different Jesus
- Historic – This seems to be Yes, as long as you don’t tie in LDS scripture
- Nature – Because of the trinitarian godhead, No. If you consider the LDS Plan of Salvation, God and Jesus being two different beings, Jesus being the offspring of God and a Heavenly Mother; absolutely No. It violates core doctrine.
- Mission – Likewise, because it is tied to the LDS Plan of Salvation, No. The faith differs too drastically from what Protestants believe the bible teaches on the mission of Jesus Christ.
Honestly, I pray for the day when more scripture is revealed, validating the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—that it confirms the gospel received by the Prophet Joseph Smith. I pray that all Christians will see and receive a witness of the Holy Spirit. We will gladly welcome them with open arms, and together, we will all be believers in Jesus Christ.
Perhaps being called a “Christian” is similar to being called a “Mormon.” We should desire to be called by His name—Jesus Christ. Maybe the word Christian is a subtle distraction from the name we should truly seek to follow. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ. Honestly, after everything that has been explained, I’m not sure the word Christian is much better than the word Mormon.
We are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a reason.