wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (01/31/85)
I am a devout, practicing Mormon. I may regret injecting myself into
the current fray (anyone know of a good source for asbestos jumpsuits
in the L.A. area? :-}), but I finally decided I "gotta" say something.
First, as to whether Mormons are Christian. This clearly depends on
one's definition (cf. the recent discussion on whether a Jew who con-
verts to Christianity is still a Jew).
(1) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the
"Mormon" or "LDS" Church) absolutely and unequivocally proclaims
belief in Jesus Christ as the Saviour and Redeemer of the world, and
considers this to be its central teaching and message to the world.
Hence, if you define "Christian" as someone who believes in Jesus
Christ, I am a Christian.
(2) However, many people who belong to other Christian churches -- es-
pecially those who often go by the names "fundamentalist", "evangel-
ical", or "born-again" -- refuse to apply the term "Christian" to
groups they consider to be "cults" (see below), and are unwilling to
accept as valid a profession of belief in Christ on the part of a
"cultist". On more than one occasion, I have been the object of
exchanges of the form:
"You aren't a Christian."
"Yes, I am."
"No, you aren't."
(3) I personally prefer the first definition above. I consider myself
to be a Christian, and I am perfectly willing in the spirit of tol-
erance and pluralism to call anyone a "Christian" who wishes to be
so called -- regardless of the extent to which I agree in detail
with his or her beliefs.
However, if someone who does not know I am LDS asks me whether I am
Christian, I am reluctant to simply answer "yes", because many or
most "fundamentalists" identify themselves as simply "Christian"
with no other denominational qualification.
As a result, I usually answer the question of whether I am a Chris-
tian by saying something like, "I belong to the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints -- often called the 'Mormon' Church."
Second, regarding the word "cult".
(1) Although "cult" indeed can (and often is) used as a generic term
referring to any religious group, most "fundamentalist" Christians
seem to use this term to mean a religion which claims to be Chris-
tian, but which in fact teaches doctrinal positions which are con-
sidered to be unacceptably different from those of "traditional"
Christianity as a whole, or "fundamentalist" Christianity in par-
ticular.
(a) I believe an intended connotation of "cult", as used by funda-
mentalist Christians, is that the religion in question is a
fraud or a counterfeit -- something that looks like "true"
Christianity but in fact is not.
Additionally, there is often the feeling that the supposed
"cult" practices deception on its membership. I was once told
that the "Mormon" Church really doesn't believe in Christ, and
that I would find this out when I became indoctrinated into the
higher levels or echelons of the Church -- an allegation which,
by the way, has to be the purest poppycock I have ever heard.
Fundamentalists don't generally seem to use the word "cult" to
describe religions that don't even claim to be Christian (such
as Judaism, Islam, or Buddhism); hence, the flames from non-
Christians who resented being called "cultists" were probably
misguided.
(b) Implicit also in this particular definition of "cult" is the
assumption that "fundamentalist" Christianity is true (and that,
by contrast, so-called "cults" are false). Hence, a statement
that such-and-so religion is a "cult" is by its very nature a
statement of belief -- and so, clearly, not everyone is going to
agree as to whether a given religion is or is not a "cult".
(c) For what it may be worth, members of the LDS (Mormon) Church do
not generally use the term "cult" to describe either their own
religion or anyone else's.
(2) One writer proposed that part of the definition of "cult" is that
the group in question teaches that "man can become God". While a
form of this teaching does constitute an essential doctrine of the
LDS Church (more about this below), most other groups which are com-
monly branded as "cults" (such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian
Scientists, Seventh-day Adventists, and sometimes even Catholics) do
not believe this as far as I know. I don't know enough about the
teachings of the Unification Church to say what they believe on this
point.
Third, let me try to clarify a few things about the LDS teaching about
"man becoming God". My intent here is not to try to "prove" this teach-
ing -- nor am I attempting to convert either the fundamentalists or any-
one else. I simply want to try, as briefly as possible (and it may end
up being TOO brief and oversimplified, but I'll take that risk), to ex-
plain the Mormon belief from a Mormon perspective (namely, my own).
I'll be happy to clarify later what I say if people want me to -- either
via mail or over the net. I refuse in advance, however, to enter into a
"Bible-bashing bout" or any other form of argument or flaming.
OK, here goes.
(1) We do indeed believe that it is possible for humankind (both men
and women) to eventually become like God. This potential is, we
believe, alluded to in such New Testament passages as Matthew 5:48,
Romans 8:16-17, and 1 John 3:1-2 -- though we do not depend on these
particular passages as "proof texts" for the doctrine.
(2) We do not view the belief that men and women can become "Gods" as
a usurpation of God's power, or as a denial of the necessity of the
atonement for sin made by Jesus Christ. In our minds at least, it
is NOT a question of our pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps
and grabbing power from the Almighty by our own efforts. Rather, it
is a question of God WANTING to share everything He has with us and
make us like Him.
For God to make us like Himself will not in any way detract from His
own majesty. Indeed, we believe it will be to His glory and credit
that He can do this with us.
(3) The fact that Satan, in the guise or through the medium of a ser-
pent, told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that if they partook
of the fruit they would be as God -- often put forth as "proof" that
this belief is inspired by the devil -- is, we feel, irrelevant to
the discussion. Just because Satan or one of his minions says some-
thing does not necessarily make whatever they say 100% false. For
instance, many of the wicked spirits whom Jesus cast out of people
during His mortal ministry acknowledged Him as the Son of God -- yet
this certainly doesn't change the fact that He was and is just that.
(4) We do believe that marriage for eternity is an essential part of
becoming like God, but we do NOT believe that women are totally
dependent on the merits of a righteous husband. A righteous woman
(or a righteous man, for that matter) whose spouse insists on mes-
sing his/her own life up will have the chance to marry someone else
for eternity later on.
Please note that the above does not even come CLOSE to a thorough
description of LDS beliefs. I have exchanged mail with at least one
person recently in an attempt to describe our beliefs and philosophy
intelligibly; it's taken over a thousand lines of writing so far, and I
don't think I'm done yet. But hopefully the above will start to clear
up at least a few often-misunderstood points which have come up in the
recent discussion (or pseudo-discussion :-}).
Some people will undoubtedly read what I have written and will still be
convinced that the LDS Church is a tool of the devil -- but I suspect
most of those people would probably continue to believe this no matter
what I (or anyone else) might say. Not much I can do about that.
My apologies if I've misrepresented anyone's beliefs through ignorance.
--
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Rich Wales
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Computer Science Department
3531 Boelter Hall
Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA
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Phone: (213) 825-5683 // +1 213 825 5683
ARPANET: wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA
UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!wales
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