Mormonism on Christianity

I don’t want to overstate the conclusions of this piece. I do not have a horse in this race--I don’t think that the claims of either Mormonism or Christianity are true. What I want to point out is that Mormonism has traditionally argued for an incompatibility between itself and all other religions. Mormonism has carved out it’s own little categorical niche that excludes all other faiths.

The very foundation of the LDS church requires all other religions to be abominations in the sight of God.

The canonical version of Joseph Smith’s First Vision (written 1838, published 1842, allegedly happened 1820), has Jesus Christ himself calling all other Christian religions “all wrong; and … an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt” (Joseph Smith History 1:18-20). Later, Jesus again, dictating to Joseph Smith, says that Mormonism is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased” (D&C 1:30-31).

The “only” true and living church? What about the other churches?

[T]here are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. 1 Nephi 14:10

The sine qua non of Mormonism is that all other faiths are illegitimate: “Nothing less than a complete apostasy from the Christian religion would warrant the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, v. 1, p. xl).

Prior to 1990, the Mormon Temple ritual portrayed Christian ministers as hirelings of Lucifer, who tells the minister that they will be well paid if they can convert people to the preachers orthodox religion.

Church leaders have likewise said that all non-Mormon Christianity is of the devil. George Q. Cannon, while he was serving as 1st Counselor to Mormon Prophet John Taylor: “We belong, because of our obedience to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to what is known as the Church of Christ, while those who have not embraced this Gospel and entered into covenant with God, belong to the other church—that is the church which is called in the revelations of God, the whore of all the earth, or the mother of abominations. That is the distinction which exists between the Latter-day Saints and the rest of mankind.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol 25, pp. 362-363).

John Taylor, while an Apostle in the church, said "We talk about Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense…and what is it? It is a sounding brass and a tinkling symbol; it is as corrupt as hell; and the Devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, 1858, p. 167). Following which, Brigham Young sealed the deal: “Brother Taylor has just said that the religions of the day were hatched in hell. The eggs were laid in hell, hatched on its borders, and kicked on to the earth.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol 6, pg 176).

Joseph Smith made it quite clear in the temple ceremony that Christian pastors were in the employ of Satan, but he also stated so, explicitly: “What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270), and that “...all the priests who adhere to the sectarian religions of the day with all their followers, without one exception, receive their portion with the devil and his angels." (The Elders Journal, Joseph Smith Jr., editor, vol.1, no.4, p.60)

What did the fathers of Mormonism think of Christian people? We’ve already seen what the first prophet thought. Was the second prophet’s attitude different? Brigham Young says, “The people called Christians are shrouded in ignorance, and read the Scriptures with darkened understandings.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p.333).

Third Prophet John Taylor? “Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as the brute beast…What does the Christian world know about God? Nothing...Why so far as the things of God are concerned, they are the veriest fools; they know neither God nor the things of God." (Journal of Discourses 13:225). “We talk about Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense…it is as corrupt as hell; and the Devil could not invent a better engine to spread his …. (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 167). “The present Christian world…is mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, and it needs no prophetic vision, to unravel such mysteries. The old church is the mother, and the protestants are the lewd daughters…`There is none in all christendom that doeth good; no, not one.” (Times and Seasons, Vol.6, No.1, p.811).

If, as is stated above, the very reason for the foundation of the LDS church was the illegitimacy of Christianity, we might ask if, over the years, the position of the church has changed, and whether Mormonism now accepts the validity of non-Mormon Christian denominations. Sadly, no. And if we look at the statements of recent heads of the church, we see this stated explicitly.

President Spencer W. Kimball (the President/Prophet from 1973-1985) says: “This is the only true church ...This is not a church. This is the Church of Jesus Christ. There are churches of men all over the land and they have great cathedrals, synagogues, and other houses of worship running into the hundreds of millions of dollars. They are churches of men. They teach the doctrines of men, combined with the philosophies and ethics and other ideas and ideals that men have partly developed and partly found in sacred places and interpreted for themselves." (Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.421)

President Kimball’s successor, Ezra Taft Benson (President/Prophet from 1985-1994) likewise says that we are not part of the same category as the Christian churches: "This is not just another Church. This is not just one of a family of Christian churches. This is the Church and kingdom of God, the only true Church upon the face of the earth..." (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.164-165).

Apostle Elder Bruce R. McConkie, one of the most respected recent theologians of the church, says it as explicitly as is possible: “Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not Protestants, and the Church itself is not a Protestant Church. The true Church is not a dead branch from a dead tree; it is a living tree planted again by revelation in the vineyard of the Lord, and it shall grow and flourish long after. (Mormon Doctrine, p. 269)

In most Christian faiths, salvation is relatively independent of which church one is a member of; most Episcopalians would not have a problem believing that a Lutheran or Baptist can go to heaven, and vice versa. Not so in Mormonism. In the LDS church, membership in the church is essential for salvation, and “[t]here is no salvation outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Mormon Doctrine, p.670).

So what about those who are baptized into other faiths? Will a loving and understanding God not honor these acts of faith? President Charles W. Penrose, who served as a Mormon Apostle and as 1st and 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency of the church lays it out for us: “Every baptism of the Catholic Church, and of the Episcopal Church, and of the Baptist Church, or any other church, if God Almighty did not ordain and authorize the man who performed the ordinance even though he performed it in the right way and used the right words, is null and void…” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 25, p.339)

And the prophet, president Spencer W. Kimball, goes even further: it’s not only meaningless, but “[p]resumptuous and blasphemous are they who purport to baptize, bless, marry, or perform other sacraments in the name of the Lord while in fact lacking the specific authorization.” (found in the horribly misnamed The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 55).

But wait, there’s more. Not only is the Mormon church necessary for salvation, but so is Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith is necessary for the salvation of all. Brigham Young makes it clear that "..no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith...every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p.289), and if you don’t accept this you are anti-christ: “he that confesseth not that Jesus has come in the flesh and sent Joseph Smith with the fullness of the Gospel to this generation, is not of God, but is anti-christ" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 9, p.312).

This is not some quaint 19th century position. It was taught well into the 20th century. President Joseph Fielding Smith said that there can be "no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth...no man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p.190).

Bruce McConkie agrees: "If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no salvation outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Mormon Doctrine, p.670).

This principal was taught explicitly as recently as 1988. The 1988 Melchizedek Priesthood Study Guide (p. 142) quotes George Q. Cannon as saying “"If we get our salvation, we shall have to pass by him [Joseph Smith]; if we enter our glory, it will be through the authority he has received. We cannot get around him [Joseph Smith].”

Some critics of Mormonism have tried to argue that the Jesus of Mormonism is not the same Jesus of traditional Christianity. President Gordon B. Hinkley implies that these critics are not entirely off the mark: “They say we do not believe in the traditional Christ of Christianity. There is some substance to what they say… (Ensign, May 2002, p.90). Apostle Bruce R. McConkie explains why. The Jesus of traditional Christianity is mythical: “Virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ" (LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, in Mormon Doctrine, p.269).

In comparing the Mormon belief in a resurrected Jesus to a focus of Jesus on the cross, President Hinckley asserts that “[t]he traditional Christ of whom they [non-Mormons] speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this, the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. He together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages." (LDS Church News Week 6/20/98, p.7)

To summarize:

• The sine qua non of Mormonism is that all other Christianity is invalid, an abomination to God.

• All other Christianity is inspired by the devil, the leaders are corrupt, and the followers ignorant.

• There is no salvation in any of the other churches. Their rituals are blasphemy.

• Mormonism is not part of the same category as the traditional Christian churches.

• You have to be a member of the LDS church to get into heaven.

• Joseph Smith has to approve your entry into heaven.

• The Jesus of Mormonism might not be the same “mythical” Jesus of Christianity.

Does this sound like Mormons have traditionally put themselves in the same Category as the other Christian faiths? Of course anybody believes in or worships Jesus is a Christian. That is not the point of this post. The best conclusion from the above is that Mormonism has created it’s own category that it identifies as being the true version of Christianity, and the only member of this category is the Mormon Church.

In recent years, observers have suggested that Mormonism is softening its position, trying to align itself more with traditional Protestantism. If so, part of this project of mainstreaming needs to include disavowing those doctrines that make Mormonism incompatible with mainstream Protestantism, doctrines like all other churches being an abomination to God, the necessity of LDS membership for salvation, and the necessity of being judged by Joseph Smith.