Recently on CNN, the pastor of a large church in S. Carolina was asked about the possibility of a Mormon president and he replied that he thought the situation was like when John Kennedy, a Catholic was running for office. In effect he was equating Catholicism with the Mormon church and implying that both are different from evangelical Christianity, but that the Mormon church different in a similar way just like the Catholic Church is different from evangelical Christianity.
I am sure this statement, and ones similar to it, that equate the Catholic Church and the Mormon church, as simply different from evangelical churches, but all part of the same overall Christian family that will be made in various ways over the coming months. It sounds so rational and non-offensive, however, it is totally, categorically untrue. It is very important that you understand the difference between the Catholic Church and the Mormon Church.
We will be studying these differences in detail in the coming months in our Live Life by the Book class; the following is a brief overview of the issue of the Catholic and Mormon churches.
Similar terms do not make a similar faith system
The Mormon Church, though it uses Christian terminology, is not a Christian religion. It worships a different Jesus, it has a different view of sin, of the Bible, of what constitutes Scripture, of the Trinity, of judgment and the final end of man than what has been held by the historic Christian faith.
The historic Christian faith, as some Protestants seem to forget, was reformed, not changed, during the Reformation. For almost sixteen centuries, the Catholic Church, kept intact the core of the Christian faith. The protesting reformers removed some of the barnacles that had attached themselves to the ship of faith, but on the basic tenants of the faith: that the Bible is the Word of God; that the Trinity consists of eternally existing Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that Jesus is the fully God and Fully Man Savior, that Satan is a created being, a fallen angel, that the end of man is judgment based on his or her relationship to Jesus, that humanity, though redeemed and given eternal life in Jesus, will always be subject to God and never become a god, in these and many other areas of doctrine all Protestants and Catholics stand on one side of faith and doctrine and Mormons totally differ.
Mormon views are totally different from those of the historic Christian faith
Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers, that Jesus death made salvation possible for everyone, but that belief in the tenants of the Mormon church are essential for the highest exhalation in the afterlife and that like the god of this earth (Adam, Jehovah or whoever, it varies in their teaching) was once a man such as men today and that any man (not generic humanity, specifically males only) will progress in exhalation to become god of his own world if he follows specific Mormon doctrines and practices. They believe the Bible was distorted and that their books, including the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price along with the continuing teachings of their church leaders are the true revelations of God. These books contain can easily be shown to be inaccurate historically and factually—for example, the Book of Mormon tells the supposed history of the American Indians as descendants of ancient Israel. In the Book of Mormon Jesus went and preached to these people.
However, the “Jesus” who went to preach to the inhabitants of these fictitious lands, as the Book of Mormon claims, is not the Jesus of the Catholic and Protestant Bible. As the Apostle Paul warned us in 2 Corinthians 11: 3-4:
” But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
The Mormons worship a different Jesus
Though styles of worship may vary, the Catholic and Protestant churches worship the Jesus of the Bible. The Mormon Church does not. This is a foundational truth we cannot vacillate on. We want to be kind and gracious in our conversation, but we cannot deny our Lord. We must be clear on this, not for political reasons or to win an argument, but with the humble prayer that those who are deceived might learn about the only and true Jesus who is our savior.
There will be many opportunities to learn more about these issues in the coming months and our Live Life by the Book Class will help equip you to discuss them wisely.