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Does the New Testament define Christianity? Several leading anti Mormons cite as their mandate against the LDS Church Jude 3-4 which states:
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
But how does this apply to the LDS Church? Do Latter Day Saints deny the Father and the Son? Not according to the Articles of Faith which affirms the belief in both. Are Latter Day Saints prone to lasciviousness? Where is the evidence for such a claim? It seems quite clear according to these verses that the admonition of Jude 3-4 for the followers of Christ to “contend for the faith” against “ungodly men” cannot refer specifically to Mormons or Mormonism.
Another set of verses used to state that Mormons are not Christians is 1 John 4:1-3,6
Another set of verses used to state that Mormons are not Christians is 1 John 4:1-3,6
1 BELOVED, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
What the passages in question do not say is the word Christian. So Christian is not defined nor is it mentioned. Only one doctrinal standard is laid down. The spirit of thuth will not teach gnosticism or docetism, early Christian heresies which denied or downplayed the reality of Jesus’ physical body but will affirm the actual incarnation of Christ. It will not teach that Christ was only spiritually the Son of God, or that he did not have an actual body of flesh and blood. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God. Do Latter Day Saints deny that Jesus is the Son of God? No, the first Article of Faith and literally hundreds of passages teach his divine Sonship.
In Acts 11:26 we are told that “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” How did this term come to pass? It falls in the same classification as Herodian o Caesarian already in circulation. Christian being defined under the same type terms would be followers of Christ. In the United States, we have frequently called people “Jacksonian democrats or Marxists". Other examples in Christianity can include Augustinians, Pelatians, Lutherans, Calvinists and Mennonites as well as other examples. So who were these people who were first called Christians? What was the composition of the Church at Antioch. For one thing it included prophets! This flies in the face of the fact that the claim has been made that Jesus fulfilled the High Priesthood and Prophets an office of the High Priesthood were no longer necessary. Also this flies in the face of those who say that no additional revelation is necessary (i.e. The Book of Mormon) since Jesus Christ is the final revelation from God. Yet here, the first congregation of Jesus’ followers to receive the title of “Christian” is characterized, precisely by Christian Prophets. Imagine that.
Paul was not the only influence at Antioch. In fact he was not even the dominant one. Why is this fact important? Mormonism is often expelled from Christendom because they do not accept the supposedly Pauline doctrine of salvation by grace alone. But neither did it seem that members of the congregation at Antioch who were the first in the Old World to receive the title of Christian.
So what makes a Christian today? Simple, a commitment to follow Jesus Christ! This is not disqualified in the LDS Church and in fact the LDS Church follows closer to the Early Church in its followings of Christ and his Church then most protestant Churches today.
In Acts 11:26 we are told that “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” How did this term come to pass? It falls in the same classification as Herodian o Caesarian already in circulation. Christian being defined under the same type terms would be followers of Christ. In the United States, we have frequently called people “Jacksonian democrats or Marxists". Other examples in Christianity can include Augustinians, Pelatians, Lutherans, Calvinists and Mennonites as well as other examples. So who were these people who were first called Christians? What was the composition of the Church at Antioch. For one thing it included prophets! This flies in the face of the fact that the claim has been made that Jesus fulfilled the High Priesthood and Prophets an office of the High Priesthood were no longer necessary. Also this flies in the face of those who say that no additional revelation is necessary (i.e. The Book of Mormon) since Jesus Christ is the final revelation from God. Yet here, the first congregation of Jesus’ followers to receive the title of “Christian” is characterized, precisely by Christian Prophets. Imagine that.
Paul was not the only influence at Antioch. In fact he was not even the dominant one. Why is this fact important? Mormonism is often expelled from Christendom because they do not accept the supposedly Pauline doctrine of salvation by grace alone. But neither did it seem that members of the congregation at Antioch who were the first in the Old World to receive the title of Christian.
So what makes a Christian today? Simple, a commitment to follow Jesus Christ! This is not disqualified in the LDS Church and in fact the LDS Church follows closer to the Early Church in its followings of Christ and his Church then most protestant Churches today.
