On Mormonism

Mormons are generally good folk (historical realities put aside). They have high personal standards, good morals, and an excellent sense of community and family. Outwardly they are the idealized middle class hard working and honest group of citizens that most of us aspire to be like. They are also not Christians even though they often try to claim denomination status within Christianity. In the event that Mitt Romney does become president of the United States I suspect Mormonism will become more widely talked about in a positive light. The Billy Graham Association has already removed Mormonism from its Cult-Watch List, which may be for any number of reasons. I, however, want to preemptively write, not against Mormonism per se, but about the differences between Christianity and Mormonism. I want to establish where the line is before it becomes 'the big issue.'


The major difference between Christianity and today's modern Mormonism is an issue of authority. Christianity has always rooted its teachings in the Scriptures and the traditions laid down by Jesus and his Apostles. Christianity is the expression of faith in God and what He has been doing since the beginning of time as understood by His self revelation through Scripture, AKA, the Holy Bible. For Christianity, the Bible is the authority for understanding God because it is the Word of God. For Christianity as a world religion the canon of Scripture was closed at the end of the book of Revelation and no further additions can be made to it. The Mormons on the other hand did add to the Bible, they added the Book of Mormon, a collection of writings given by Joseph Smith who they hail to be a prophet. Why is this a big deal you ask? Let me explain further.

The Bible is actually a series of books written by different people at different times in history. Each book is different and addresses a different time and culture. Some books are poetry, others historical chronicles, others letters, and still others as analogy. Despite the many differences in all of these books they are united together and speak together as one entity. Each author that wrote was supported by, and wrote in accordance with, everything that came before him. The Law given by Moses was not a new invention, it was based on and supported by the pre-historic workings of God in Genesis. The Prophets and the Wisdom writers also did not create a new religion but preached and wrote in accordance with what was already laid down in Genesis and The Law. In fact, God commanded that any prophet who spoke contrary to what was already written was a false prophet, because he was not speaking in accordance with what God has commanded. Jesus also did not start a new thing, he was the fulfillment to the Law and the Prophets, the act of God to which the entire body of Scriptures at that point was pointing towards. The Apostles, Jesus' followers, likewise did not go off to create their own religion, they wrote and preached in complete accordance with the Word of God that had been laid down before them, from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. At every step of the way, the Word of God supported what came before it and was supported by what came before it. The Word of God stands together as a unity, each 'piece' interlocking with the rest of Scripture.

(I include 'The Epistles' with 'Acts of the Apostles')

This is the measure by which we discern true teaching and true understanding of God. Any true teaching or understanding of Scripture must build upon this foundation, just as every other author did. Numberless theologians, pastors, teachers, and prophets have done precisely that. (and even so they agreed that their works were not to be added to Scripture)

Mormonism does not have this understanding of Scripture though. They do not understand that the Scriptures speak as a unity and have instead put their faith, not in the collective Word of God, but on the teachings of Joseph Smith, which they believe added the final book to Scripture. Unlike the other authors of Scripture (and the countless persons who teach, preach, and prophesy in accordance with the Word of God) he took his followers in a different direction, one that was not supported by the Body of Scripture. The teachings of Joseph Smith sometimes sound like or make reference to different parts of Scripture, but viewed from the collective voice of all of Scripture it is a foreign element, precariously tied on by loose grammar and exegetical fallacies. Where Christianity draws its wisdom and its understanding from all of Scripture, Mormonism attempts to interpret all of Scripture through the teaching of Joseph Smith. In practice, Joseph Smith is more authoritative than the Word of God already established, and not even Jesus, the very Incarnate Son of God, foisted himself upon all of Scripture, but even He became submissive to it, not nullifying what came before, but continuing in the same direction.

The attitude of Mormonism is that God actually abandoned the Church, that He was not faithful in preserving his message and that only now, with the true teachings of Joseph Smith, can the Church finally be corrected from thousands of years of apostasy. Mormonism is its own religion, it is not the same as Christianity, although there are similarities on the surface, it has a different foundation and goes in a different direction. Christianity is the embodiment of faith in the God revealed through Jesus in accordance with the Scriptures and Mormonism is the embodiment of faith in the the God revealed through Joseph Smith in accordance with Joseph Smith.