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Christianity Today, May (Web-only), 2007 |

Speaking Out

Mitt's Mormonism and the 'Evangelical Vote'

Can conservative Protestants vote for a member of what they consider a cult?

Robert Millet and Gerald McDermott | posted 5/31/2007 08:20AM

Robert Millet, professor of ancient Christian Scriptures at Brigham Young University, and Gerald McDermott, professor of religion at Roanoke College, are co-authors of Claiming Christ: A Mormon-Evangelical ...

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Jim (One star only)

Posted: June 12, 2007 10:33 PM

As an ex-Mormon, I can tell you that the difference between Mormonism and Christianity is like night and day! Mormonism teaches that all good Mormon men can progress to become a god and rule over his own planet with his many wives; that God was once a man who lived on another planet and worked hard enough to become the god of this earth; that he has a body of flesh and bones and is not a spirit; he has hundreds of wives and millions of children; he had a father, who had a father, etc; and he is eternally progressing, learning new things to become even smarter. The Mormon Jesus was not born of a virgin because Mary was married to God first; that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer; that he is eternally progressing also and someday can become a god of his own planet; that he is married to several women and has multiple children. This is not the God nor Jesus of the Bible. This is only a small amount of the many doctrinal differences that exist between Mormonism and Christianity.

Marsha Norton

Posted: June 12, 2007 9:29 PM

I am appalled by the article on Mitt Romney! Evangelicals are not the ones who accuse Mormons of adding revelations, believing salvation by works, teaching that men can attain godhood, or purporting that they are the same species as Jesus. Those are prominent LDS beliefs! As “A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction,” CT owes its readers a Biblical perspective, not one that paints Christians as hatemongers when they expose Mormon teachings. This article showed Mormonism in a favorable light, while also painting Christians as narrow-minded. It did acknowledge that there are fundamental differences in belief systems, but it did not say that the Mormon belief system could cost someone their eternal soul! This is too high a price to be “politically correct.”

R.T. Myers

Posted: June 12, 2007 8:46 AM

I'm pretty much with Luther on politics and religion. What worries me about any candidate is an overtly religious position rather than a thoughtful consideration of the Common Good. I would say the same for both Democrats and Republicans. It's fine if a leader is a person of faith, but didn't Jesus say something to the effect, "When you pray go into your closet and shut the door"? I much rather prefer a politician in the tradition of the late Dag Hammaskjold whose faith was not uncovered until his untimely death in a plane crash while serving on a peace mission as the Secretary General of the United Nations. Of course, I find my own political convictions closer to the Greens so religious posturing of the Republicans and Democrats isn't very impressive from my perspective.

LITTLE BIG MAN

Posted: June 12, 2007 1:01 AM


A LETTER TO MITT ROMNEY' WHEN DID GOD TAKE THE CURSE OFF BLACK PEOPLE?????????

Jed	Posted: June 09, 2007 10:25 AM

I just commented on the article on Rudy and now this? Come on folks, I'm a life long Christian, and rarely have anyone I know taken the time to have any conversation with a Mormon, and yet now, albeit Mr. Romney may be the nicest person in the world, he is a true candidate. Evangelicals have taken shooting lesssons at Democrats for years, now GOP candidates are in the same barrel, including Mitt. Some find the "doctrinal differences" between Mormons and Christians are acceptable. How about political willingness of moderate Repulicans and moderate Democrates to work together to repair the great divide that now exists in our country. The question: "The evangelical vote and Mitt," well personally, show this voter you can work with others Mitt and you may have my support.

mish again

Posted: June 07, 2007 3:58 AM


Meant to set only one star in my last post. (It didn't take for some reason the first time.) I was glad to see other Christians upset with CT for posting this piece of propaganda and unequally yoking themselves. I am reminded of James' warning: Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

J. Gary Ellison

Posted: June 06, 2007 3:03 PM

You state that for Mormons, Jesus is not only the Son of God, but also God the Son. This totally ignores the fact that for Mormons, God is only the god of this universe and that there is a multiplicity of universes and a multiplicity of gods. When I once confronted a couple of Mormons with their doctrine "As we are, He once was; as He is, we shall be", they told me that this is the gift that their heavenly Father has given them, that they shall be gods as He is. If, as the Mormons teach, there are many gods who were once men, and the God of this universe was once a man, then there is nothing unique in saying that Jesus is God the Son. Just how evangelical is that? Our analysis had better go beyond the use of correct theological jargon; any liberal or cultic group can do that. Whether you vote for a Mormon or not, let's not whitewash polytheism and try to present it as Christian. It is not.

Anonymous

Posted: June 06, 2007 2:17 PM

What a disgrace to Christianity Today for posting such rhetoric and lies on their site. Of course the author is going to try and make Christians believe the Mormonism is similar to Christianity - he works for a Mormon University! What the author fails to say is that Mormons believe that God the Father was once a man and became God - who has a physical body as does His wife. Little different slant on the sovereignity of God there. They also don't believe in 'the Trinity' - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Mormons believe taht Jesus is a separate 'god' and is a spirit child - that His death on the cross does not provide for full atonement for all sin but provides all with resurrection. Mormons believe we are saved by our works (including faithfulness to church leaders and secret temple rituals) not by grace. What a sin that Christianity Today would promote such garbage - hopefully Evangelicals really do know the difference and won't believe everything they read.

Christy

Posted: June 06, 2007 2:04 PM

Jarrod Brown - You say that you have never heard the Mormon Church say anything negative of other Christian churches? Your founder, Joseph Smith, based Mormonism on the premis that 'ALL other churches are an abomination to God'. That is the basis for the Mormon religion from the start, and it is highly offensive to other Christian churches. I believe that there are many good people in the Mormon church, and they do a lot of good things, but there are some real negatives, as well. The Mormon church has a history of extreme racism and sexism, and I think this country has come a long way in this area; I would hate to see a setback.

Matt Vessey

Posted: June 06, 2007 11:38 AM

I'm extremely disappointed at ChristianityToday for not having the discernment to know how destructive Mormonism is to the human soul. It’s a false religion that can do nothing in saving the soul from hell, and it’s an idolatrous religion that God hates. There has been a big push to graph Mormonism into mainstream Christianity from the echelons in the Mormon Church, and its evidence is clear in the way they minimize the differences. It was said, “Mormon beliefs are not as un-evangelical as most evangelicals think.” And that, “Mormons hold firmly to the deity of Christ.” This is a flat-out lie. Mormons deny that Jesus is divine by nature, and the same goes with God the father. According to Mormonism these persons are Gods only in the sense that they hold a divine status, and they can theoretically lose that divine status just as they attained it. They do not “firmly” hold to the deity of Christ - how can they if the “divine” persons can’t even firmly hold on to their own divinity?

JDC	Posted: June 05, 2007 3:22 PM


Jesus is not the spirit brother of Lucifer. I cannot become a God. There is only one God.

Sue	Posted: June 05, 2007 12:43 PM

Hey, fellow Christians, you need to LEARN before you scorn! Mormons DO accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. This is, in fact, the foundation of all Mormon doctrine. The much misused word "cult" is also a point of ignorance among its users. If you'll read Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, you'll see that even "mainstream Christianity" fits the definitions found under "cult." As far as Romney is concerned, I'm reminded of the controversy around John F. Kennedy running for President; the world wondered if a Catholic could ever be voted into this office. We would find this idea archaic today. The main concern of any conscientious voter should be whether or not a candidate has the leadership qualities this high office requires.

George T.

Posted: June 04, 2007 8:37 PM


I personally cannot judge/debate if Mormonism is or not true Christian. However I know for sure they conform much more to traditional Christian beliefs in general than some past Presidents have practiced.Moreover Mormonism is strict,conservative and based in honesty. Are we not ready and needy yet for some of this "old stuff?"

Kurt Van Gorden

Posted: June 04, 2007 6:59 PM

As an author who is occasionally quoted in CT on American cults (since 1987), I object to McDermott and Millet’s whitewashing and reinterpretation of Mormon theology. Their statement that Mormonism is “not as un-evangelical as most evangelicals think. Unlike Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons hold firmly to the deity of Christ” is ludicrous at best and deceptive at worse. This equivocates terms and demonstrates ignorance of Arianism and Mormon polytheism. Jehovah’s Witnesses hold firmly to the “deity” of Christ who is reinterpreted as a second god to the Father and Mormons reinterpret Jesus as a god born in heaven from a Mother god and Father god who coexist with billions of gods. Both groups deny the historic Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity. If that is evangelical in any sense, then evangelicalism has apostatized from the truth. Kurt Van Gorden Mormonism (Zondervan, 1995) Senior Researcher, Kingdom of the Cults, Walter Martin, Ravi Zacharias, ed. (Betahny, 2005)

Tim	Posted: June 04, 2007 1:35 PM

I have to say that I really appreciate Sonnie's and Drew's comments. It is an abomination to believe "what God is man can become"--an essential doctrine of Mormonism. That is not Christian in any way, shape, or form. Why should we even try to find spiritual commonalities with a cult for a political reason anyway? The whole endeavor is completely wrong headed and really lacks sound Christian thinking. Conversations between Christians and Mormons about faith is one thing, but to say "throw doctrine and belief out the window because we are not really that different anyway, religiously speaking, so lets agree to vote on so and so" is quite another. I am, like most in my generation, completely ambivolent to the whole political process. There is no hope to be found in politics that are of this world. We are NOT the nation of Israel--we have no theocracy. Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world. So why do we think politics is the answer anyway?

Anonymous

Posted: June 04, 2007 7:33 AM

The tendency of religions is as Jesus said about the Pharisees; they follow their own interpretations of the law and ignore others. Just as the pharisees judged everyone according to their own standards of purity but did not practice mercy and justice towards neighbours so the evangelicals want to judge peole according to a level of spiritual purity without practicing mercy, justice and love. Matthew 23:23: Jesus said : "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." The scripures CLEARLY say love your neighbour and Jesus clearly explains who your neighbour is but you choose to be judgemental and not to set malice and anger aside when judging Mormons. Your own level of malice and anger and enmity make you impure and unacceptable to God. Do you not see?

Evidence Ministries.org

Posted: June 04, 2007 1:39 AM


CT's lack of discernment is appalling. I think it is really sad that Mormons can use a Christian magazine and pastor as a platform for their heresy. It is also sad that some Christians accept this in the name of tolerance, friendship and conversation. Dialogue can be accomplished without placing the flock in danger of deception. Unfortunately, this is not the way it should be done.

Anonymous

Posted: June 02, 2007 7:01 PM

Jesus will judge us according to our fruits including how kind and respectful we are to others who are themselves fruitful, even though they might be of a different religion. The acts we should have towards everyone else in the whole world, including our enemies, are: Gentleness, kindness, self-control, patience and love, bearing with others who have not got the faith we have. So if we find a Mormon (or God help us a Muslim) who is kind, self-controlled, gentle, patient and loving and who bears with others despite their faults then we should direct kindness and patience and gentleness towards them. If we act with malice and anger towards anyone and judgementally condemn people just because of the ideas and philosophies they have then we are wrong. In the west find it easy to judge people re: content of their words and to treat them unscripturally with malice when they do not adhere to the right doctrines: What about the bible doctrine of the evangelicals to have no malice (1 Peter 2:)

Dave	Posted: June 02, 2007 6:33 PM


I don't think speaking the truth about the Mormons is "demonizing" them. This article seems like it was written by Mormon apologists. Christianity Today? God help us.

Rob	Posted: June 02, 2007 1:24 PM

I personally do not care for Romney. I do have a very high opinion of another Mormon, Orrin Hatch. There are two things at work here...one, the extremes of the Christian political movement have to remember the existence of two documents..The Constitution and the Declaration Of Independence. They validate an American citizens' rights, reguardless of what the religious objections to that person are. Secondly, I hope the LDS is close to their version of Vatican 2. I believe God may be using Romney to make the evangelical and LDS camps speak to each other. The belief of the founders that freedom of speech and debate would lead to truth means such dialogue in the end will glorify God, which last time I looked is why were here, right?

Drew	Posted: June 02, 2007 11:56 AM

KC is right. There is definitely a pro-Mormonism vibe to this article. Is this not "Christianity Today?" The historic and unanimous position of the Christian Church is that Mormonism is a cult. Mormon baptisms are not recognized by any Christian denomination, and neither are they recognized in the Catholic church -- because Mormon's don't believe in the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity. How can CT print an article that says, "Mormon beliefs are not as un-evangelical as most evangelicals think"? This is an outright distortion some would describe as a "lie." The "Jesus" taught by Mormonism is not the same Jesus of the Bible. Neither is their "God the Father" -- who is apparently little more than a "Martian" from another planet. This is such a poorly researched, misleading, and politically-correct article. What is CT's intent in publishing it? I have my suspicions. Shame on you CT!

Sonnie

Posted: June 02, 2007 9:51 AM

This article stunned me! I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw who authored the same. A Professor from Brigham Young U. is hardly one to be writing in your magazine, let alone representing the argument that Mormonism is Christian. As the great grandaughter of a devout Mormon polygamist, I am speaking out in honor of my father who was persecuted when he accepted Christ as His Savior and left the Mormon church. He beleived in Christ alone as his only redemption. There is no such thing as "grace alone" in this cult. Remember the Ten Commandments? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me!". Ask any Mormon man if he hopes to be a god someday and inhabit his own heaven with all of his "wives" who have been "sealed" to him on this earth. If he is honest, he will answer in the affirmative. It is their core belief. As you listen to the masterful "spin doctors" in the Mormon church (perfect example-this article!) during this election time, remember that GOD calls these beliefs blasphemy!

Steve H

Posted: June 02, 2007 9:47 AM

We have an opportunity here to examine some of the arguments of a Mormon apologist. Please see Dr. James White's comments yesterday and today on this article for a perspective of what Mormonism truly teaches about the nature of God and Jesus Christ. His site is www.aomin.org. After reading this, ask yourself, "Would I prefer the next president of the US to be a person that brings glory to the true Christian God of the Bible?" And vote accordingly.

Tracy Hall Jr

Posted: June 02, 2007 12:35 AM


Thank you for posting this article by two voices of reason -- men who hold differering faiths, but who seek earnestly to understand one another. I second the reference to article6blog.com, also hosted by two men who have different faiths but who are united in their belief that there should be no religious test for public office.

Derek

Posted: June 02, 2007 12:07 AM

This line from the article is completely untrue: "Historically, evangelicals and Mormons have demonized each other." That's perhaps the most frustrating thing about the "relationship" between Mormon and Evangelicals--because Mormons are not taught to hate, to disparage, to specifically counter Evangelical teachings or to think any differently about Evangelicals than any other religion. Evangelicals have Sunday School classes that teach them how to specifically "break down" a Mormon's beliefs--how to counter the Mormon missionaries' teachings, and they are routinely taught half-truths and lies about doctrines and Mormon Church history and worship. If there are ill feelings that Mormons have toward Evangelicals it is only because they constantly attack us in the most vicious of ways, i.e., they show up at General Conference in Salt Lake City and shout epithets, wipe themselves with our sacred garments, and look Mormons square in the face and calmly say, "You're going to hell."

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