Trinitarian Christians for the most part do not accept LDS Mormonism as really Christian because of polytheism/Henotheism. How would you respond to one who says that LDS Mormonism is more distant from historic, biblical, and traditional Christianity than historic and traditional Judaism and Islam are? Thank you.
One Response to “Trinitarian Christians for the most part do not accept LDS M…”
Bruno Rubio
2007-12-02 08:53:32
It is not true that most Trinitarian Christians believe that Mormons are not Christians. A recent poll suggested that half of white evangelical Christians do believe that Mormonism is a Christian religion; the percentage of other denominations who feel that way is likely to be even higher.
The claim that Mormonism is more distant from historic, biblical, and traditional Christianity than Judaism and Islam is nonsensical. Most objective scholars agree that Mormons are Christian. Consider this quote from an academic book entitled "Anthology of World Scriptures" by Robert E. Van Voorst.
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints see themselves as Christian, and most experts in comparative religions would view this labeling as basically correct. That they accept the Christian Bible as their first cannon is a good indicator of this. Moreover, "outsiders" to [Christianity], such as Buddhists, would almost certainly recognize them as belonging to the stream of Christian tradition."
It is also not accurate to say that Mormons are polytheists. While we do believe that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are separate beings, they function together in perfect harmony as one single monotheistic unit, which Mormons call the Trinity or, more commonly, the "Godhead."
The question of whether or not Mormons are henotheists is more complex and certainly not as straight-forward as your question implies. Most who claim that Mormons are henotheists cite the alleged Mormon teaching that God the Father Himself has a Creator-God, our supposed "Heavenly Grandfather." If the Mormon Church did proclaim the existence of a "Heavenly Grandfather" while asserting that only the "Heavenly Father" should be worshiped, it would be a henotheistic religion, but in reality the idea that "God has a father" is not well established in Mormonism. Mormons, like many other Christian denominations (specifically the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic branches of Christianity), do believe in "theosis," the idea that man can progress to become more like God. Historically, this concept (which was had among the earliest Christians) has led some Mormons to speculate that if Man can become like God, perhaps God was once a man. Perhaps He too had a creator, a "Father-God."
While this idea is interesting, it is not well-established in Mormon theology. I would classify it as "a theological question," not an official "Mormon doctrine." Gordon B. Hinckley, the current president of the LDS Church, has been asked this very question on several occasions. Here are some of his responses (verbatim or reported):
"There was a little couplet coined, 'As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.' Now that's more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about...Well, as God is, man may become. We believe in eternal progression. Very strongly. We believe that the glory of God is intelligence and whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the Resurrection."
"President Gordon Hinckley says the concept of God having been a man is not stressed any longer, but he does believe that human beings can become [more like God] in the afterlife."
"On whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, he sounded uncertain. I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it...I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think others know a lot about it."
Because the Mormon Church does not actively teach this "genealogy of gods" theory, it is not accurate to say that the Mormon religion is henotheistic. It is true that some individual Mormons are henotheists, however, but that is a matter of personal opinion. I am personally among those Mormons that do not subscribe to the "Heavenly Grandfather" theory.
The claim that Mormonism is more distant from historic, biblical, and traditional Christianity than Judaism and Islam is nonsensical. Most objective scholars agree that Mormons are Christian. Consider this quote from an academic book entitled "Anthology of World Scriptures" by Robert E. Van Voorst.
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints see themselves as Christian, and most experts in comparative religions would view this labeling as basically correct. That they accept the Christian Bible as their first cannon is a good indicator of this. Moreover, "outsiders" to [Christianity], such as Buddhists, would almost certainly recognize them as belonging to the stream of Christian tradition."
It is also not accurate to say that Mormons are polytheists. While we do believe that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are separate beings, they function together in perfect harmony as one single monotheistic unit, which Mormons call the Trinity or, more commonly, the "Godhead."
The question of whether or not Mormons are henotheists is more complex and certainly not as straight-forward as your question implies. Most who claim that Mormons are henotheists cite the alleged Mormon teaching that God the Father Himself has a Creator-God, our supposed "Heavenly Grandfather." If the Mormon Church did proclaim the existence of a "Heavenly Grandfather" while asserting that only the "Heavenly Father" should be worshiped, it would be a henotheistic religion, but in reality the idea that "God has a father" is not well established in Mormonism. Mormons, like many other Christian denominations (specifically the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic branches of Christianity), do believe in "theosis," the idea that man can progress to become more like God. Historically, this concept (which was had among the earliest Christians) has led some Mormons to speculate that if Man can become like God, perhaps God was once a man. Perhaps He too had a creator, a "Father-God."
While this idea is interesting, it is not well-established in Mormon theology. I would classify it as "a theological question," not an official "Mormon doctrine." Gordon B. Hinckley, the current president of the LDS Church, has been asked this very question on several occasions. Here are some of his responses (verbatim or reported):
"There was a little couplet coined, 'As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.' Now that's more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about...Well, as God is, man may become. We believe in eternal progression. Very strongly. We believe that the glory of God is intelligence and whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the Resurrection."
"President Gordon Hinckley says the concept of God having been a man is not stressed any longer, but he does believe that human beings can become [more like God] in the afterlife."
"On whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, he sounded uncertain. I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it...I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think others know a lot about it."
Because the Mormon Church does not actively teach this "genealogy of gods" theory, it is not accurate to say that the Mormon religion is henotheistic. It is true that some individual Mormons are henotheists, however, but that is a matter of personal opinion. I am personally among those Mormons that do not subscribe to the "Heavenly Grandfather" theory.
Click to hear two Mormon theologians with differing opinions debate this topic.