Mormons are not Christians

One of the things I tell my research students on an almost weekly basis is that they need to define their terms. The recent fight over whether or not Mormons are Christians is a classic case in point.

Christian denominations insist that Mormons are not Christians. Mormons insist that they are. That is due to a fundamental disagreement over what we mean when we use the term Christian. Mormons as a group don't understand why people can't figure out that we are Christian. Our church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Look, we say, it's right there in the name. We accept Christ as our Savior. We believe in the virgin birth, His death on the Cross and the Resurrection. We believe He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father except through Him.  Where is the confusion coming from, we wonder.

But as essential as that all is to being a Christian, my understanding of what is entailed in the term Christian as used by other denominations goes far beyond those doctrinal issues. It requires a belief in a creedal history that Mormons do not have.

We can share most of the Apostles creed in common with mainstream Christianity. We don't believe that Christ descended into hell while he was dead, because we don't believe in hell the way that most Christians do. Rather, we believe that during the three days between his death and resurrection, Christ organized missionary efforts amongst the righteous dead to send his message to those who died without a knowledge of Christ. We also don't really believe in the Catholic/Christian church. The Nicene and Athanasian Creeds head further into unshared water.

We don't believe in the Trinity.
We don't believe in predestination.
We don't believe that most people are going to end up in hell.
We don't believe that man is, by nature, fallen.

What do we believe?

We believe that we are literally spirit children of God the Father, that we lived with Him in heaven before we were born, and that we all chose to come to earth to further our spiritual progression.

We believe that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three distinct personages. 

We believe that the Fall caused death to come to this world, and that as mortals we are subjected to weakness and temptation because of our existence in a fallen world and at the hands of Satan and his followers. We believe that only through the Atonement of Christ can we be saved, both from the effects of death and sin.

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved.

We believe that through the Atonement, not only can we be forgiven, but we can be perfected, long after this life is over. Yes, we believe that the biblical wording that "ye are gods" is actually descriptive. We can become like unto God, through probably millions of years of participation in the redemptive process of the Atonement.

We believe that families can be eternal. We believe that through ordinances available in the temple, families can continue forever.

To try and gloss over the magnitude of the differences between Mormonism and mainstream Christianity I think is both intellectually dishonest and demeans the belief systems of those who do not share our doctrine. To try and elide those differences as just minor points of disagreement is to try and ignore ideas that are so central to the spiritual life of millions of people that wars have literally been fought over these concepts.

So you know what I say? I say stop worrying about whether or not we are Christians. Christ Himself said that not everybody who says unto him, Lord, Lord will be saved.  Focus on living a Christlike life. Focus on living the gospel of Christ as you understand. Love one another. Love God above all and love your neighbor as yourself.

And fellow Mormons, stop downplaying what makes us distinctive so that we can fit in with everyone else. We are weird. We are a peculiar people. What we believe is different - amazingly, remarkably, eternally different - but that is why it is necessary. If Heavenly Father could have accomplished what he needed with the churches that were currently on the Earth, He wouldn't have had a restoration. There would have been no need for Joseph Smith, or the Book of Mormon, or temples or anything else that makes us stand out. If that makes us a cult in the worlds' eyes, so be it. I'm not particularly interested in what the world thinks of me, anyway.

Think about it this way: We believe all the people claiming the title Christian and refusing to apply it to us are apostate. So why are we so eager to fit in with them in the first place?

So stand tall, fellow Mormons. Embrace your inner Christian, come to terms with your peculiar divine nature, and let your freak flag fly.


Disclaimer: This is just my own beliefs and should not be interpreted as an official statement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Did you think to pray?

I suck at praying. I'm sure one of the early saints would have come up with a more eloquent way of saying that, like, "Lo, behold my soul shrinketh in comparison to the mercy and grace that thou has shown me, O Lord, and it is because of thy great goodness O Lord, that I am reluctant to come to thee in my daily trials, because what could someone like me be of interest to thy great Goodness and Mercy and Perfection. When I have gotten my act together, then O Lord, I will be willing to let you into my life. But not now, O Lord, for I have not figured out how to do this all on my own, and only once I have figured out how to do this without You, will I come unto You and say, look Lord, I have done it all on my own. Aren't you proud of me?"

And in that day, which will never come, for it is impossible for me be perfected under my own efforts, He will look at me and say, "O Child, for one so smart, you sure are stupid."

Okay, maybe He wouldn't actually say that, but He might be thinking it loudly. I am thinking it loudly at myself lately.

I know prayer works. When I pray I get answers, but I only pray when things are going really badly. It is difficult for me to keep myself constantly aware of my own reliance on God, without feeling like I am somehow failing at being an independent adult. And there we go, that's the root of the problem. (Writing is amazing. It's how I figure things out.)

I want to be an independent adult. I can do it all by myself. But I can't. My insistence on doing it by myself has brought on me additional trials. I've had people who I trust spiritually tell me that I go through difficult trials because I refuse to ask for help in prayer, and because I'm talented enough to get through most things without having to ask for help. That is why I get the big complicated ones, because only then will I humble myself enough to rely on the Lord for assistance. I kind of think that is one of the reasons why I am dealing with the health issues that I have, to make me more reliant on the Lord and on others for help.

The question that I am struggling with is how do I maintain the humility in good times that I am forced to have when times are rough? I'm not good at that at all, and I feel a strong need to improve in this area of my life recently.

Creativity and Christianity

This post is part of a synchroblog - where a lot of different bloggers write about the same topic.

We are supposed to take the theme of creativity and Christianity as our theme this month. When I read the topic, the first thing that came into my mind was, "What? I'm supposed to be creative? When, in between teaching and grading and dissertating and parenting and wifing -yes, I just verbed wife, I'm being creative - am I supposed to find time for creativity?"

Luckily, the synchroblog moderator posts the topic early, so I've had time to think about this for a while, and I've come to a few different ways of thinking about the role of creativity in the life of a Christian. First, my theology is  informed by a view of God as Creator. When I look around me at the world, I am struck by the wonder and beauty of the created world. The diversity and splendor of creation teach me something about the nature of God. Even understanding the biological and geological processes that are in play, I still see the hand of someone creating something for the sheer beauty of it. Wilderness places are always places where I can feel the hand of God.

Created nature also teaches me something about the nature of God. He has a sense of humor - just look at the platypus. The thousands of different beetles let me know that there are lots of ways that the same job can get done, and helps me fight my natural tendency to insist on my way or the highway. The interconnectedness of redwood trees, with their roots linking into each other, supporting each other, sustaining each other, teaches me about how to support members of my community, and also emphasizes how reliant I am on the support of others for my own survival. All of these lessons affect my praxis on a daily basis, as I strive to become more like the Creator in my own life.

However, for Christians, nature also has a different meaning. We know that "the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been since the fall of Adam." We are natural, sinners, carnal and sensual. To become like Christ requires us to reject our nature, and create something new. I have always loved Jehovah's words to Jeremiah.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

I see myself not only as clay in the potter's hand, but as the potter, with the clay being the stuff of life. I tend to make my life as I see fit to make it, and frequently that creates a marred vessel. My pride and arrogance keep me from being a fit vessel, from being a vessel of the Lord. However, the Lord can make of us a perfect vessel. I reject my nature, a hardened heart and a rebellious spirit, to become malleable as moistened clay in the hand of the Lord, to do His work.

This is where I am creative - in surrendering creative control over my life to the Lord. He is the master artist, and can make of my life more than I can on my own. I may not be an artist or a poet or a playwright, but I am creating a life in the image of Christ, and I cannot think of anything more beautiful.

Other posts in the synchroblog:

• Bethany Stedman – How God Creates
• EmmaNadine – Creativity and Christianity
• Bill Sahlman – Created, Continued Creativity
• Heidi Renee – Synchroblog Creativity and Christianity
• Annie Bullock – Old Things are New
• John O’Keefe – What is Half of 11
• Kathy Escobar – open.
• Tim Nichols – Artist-Priests in God’s Poetic World
• Maurice Broaddus – The Artist and the Church
• Jeremy Meyers – Creativity First Christian Act
• Steve Dehner – The Divine Projectionist
• Ellen Haroutunian – Creativity and Christianity: It Matters
• Tammy Carter – His Instrument His Song
• Steve Hayes – Creativity and Worship
• Marta’s Mathoms – Mythos and Create-ivity as a Spiritual Act
• Peter Walker – Creativity and Christianity?
• William Lecorchick – Heaven and Hell
• Jacob Boehlman – God’s Magicians

A prayer in my heart

We had to drive 50 miles to get to the airport to fly out to California. We left at 4:30 in the morning, after digging our cars out of the driveway from the foot of snow. The freeway had been fairly well plowed, so for the first half of the drive, the road was clean and mostly dry. In the 36 hours before we left, we got a foot of snow. I had prayed the night before that they would be able to get the roads plowed, and the airport plowed, and that we would be able to get to the airport safely.

I hate travelling. It always stresses me out. I always worry about all the things that could possibly go wrong. I also hate inconveniencing people, so you can just imagine what traveling with a toddler does to me. And there we were, on the freeway driving along and I was praying the whole way that everything would be okay. I asked GeekBoy, "What's the difference between always having a prayer in your heart and just being a nag?" He answered with the parable of the unjust judge. We started talking about the difference in attitude and trust between the two behaviors when we hit ice. Luckily, my husband had seen it coming so we were fine, but the road conditions started getting worse, and then it started to snow, and get very windy.

Right as the snow started, a car pulled onto the freeway in front of us. The whole way through the snow and wind, the last 25 miles to the airport, that car stayed right in front of us. We had tail lights to guide us through, to alert us to bad patches of road, to allow us to see the changes in the terrain, and to blow the drifting snow off of the freeway in front of us. When that car left with just a few miles to the airport, another one pulled in front of us to take its place. The road was really bad. At one point my husband, who does not worry, leaned over and said, "Now would be the time to start nagging." But we were guided through that whole stretch of dangerous road.

And about five miles into those treacherous conditions, my prayers turned from a nagging, "please keep us safe, please keep us safe, please keep us safe" to a simple "I trust in your care, Father, for my family." And with that change, I felt a change in me. My tension melted away. That's the difference between a prayer in your heart and nagging. Heavenly Father doesn't want us to die in a car crash any more than I do, so me bugging him about it isn't going to change things. Me going to Him for comfort in a time of stress, and allowing myself to remember the constant care I have always received from Him, and putting myself back in that care is the essence of a prayer in my heart. We had done the things we knew to do to prepare us for the situation we were in. Now we could honestly trust in Heavenly Father to let us know if there was something else we needed to do to keep ourselves safe.

Now if I can just remember that the next time I have to drive through a snowstorm.