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Romney run prompts Mormon questions
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A few weeks ago Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas set off a fire storm of criticism after he told audiences that Mormonism is a cult, calling presidential candidate Rick Perry, "a true follower of Jesus Christ." This, of course, was an obvious statement aimed directly at Mitt Romney's Mormon faith and people immediately rallied to the cause of one side or the other.

My interest in this whole thing is not necessarily in Romney being a Mormon or Perry being a Baptist. I have nothing against Romney; heck, I don't even know the guy. He's probably a nice fellow, good husband, father and family man. Most Mormons I've met are good people, hard working, industrious and patriotic citizens. Many Mormons have fought for this country and have shed their blood on foreign soil. Unfortunately, the moral qualities of a certain group does not make them Christian.

So, my interest is in truth. Jesus said you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. Truth can be liberating, eye opening, and sometimes inflammatory. So we ask the question; Is Mormonism Christian? In other words is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just another Christian church or is it something far different than what is presented as Christianity in the New Testament?

What is a Christian? Many feel that a Christian is anyone who goes to church or believes that Jesus is the Son of God. If that's the definition, then Mormons would be considered Christians in that sense.

However, the orthodox and historic meaning of a Christian is one who has been born again by the Spirit of God, believing that Jesus Christ is the eternal God who was made flesh (John 1:1), lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay the debt and penalty of our sins, then rose from the dead victorious.

People might ask, "Don't Mormons believe that?" It might appear that they do when you talk to them, however, Mormonism uses Christian terms but they have attached their own definitions to those terms. To the Christian believer Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh-the eternal God in human form (John 1:1, 14; 5:18; Col. 2:15). When Christians use the term "Son of God" or "Only Begotten," it is a unique term. The term "Only Begotten" is from a Greek word that means "one of kind, unique, nothing else like it." Mormon theology does not teach that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. According to Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie, we are all sons and daughters of God because we were first created as spirit beings before we came here. This also means that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer, the devil, which McConkie himself points out. Jesus is said to be the polygamous offspring of Elohim, the Mormon god, and the Virgin Mary with whom the god of the Mormons literally had sexual relations. Early Mormons taught that Jesus was married to Mary of Bethany, Martha, and Mary Magdalene and had children. This is not New Testament theology nor is it Christian.

Mormonism teaches that the god Elohim was born to human parents on an earth similar to this one. He grew up and adhered to the principles of Mormonism. He died and was resurrected and was found worthy to be exalted finally to the position of being a god. He was given this planet earth to populate by having sexual relations with his many wives. Early Mormons, such as Brigham Young, the second Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of the Church, taught that Elohim came to Earth as Adam and brought Eve one of his wives with him. (Volume of Discourses 1:50).

Mormonism teaches that there are three gods in the Trinity. God, therefore, is tri-theistic in Mormonism, not Triune as the Scriptures teach. Neither is God eternal, but eternally regressive to the Mormons having a father just as his father before him and so on. He has a body of flesh and bones and really is nothing more than a glorified man. Lorenzo Snow, an early Mormon coined the phrase, "As man is now God once was; as God is now man may become." Mormons are taught that every male Mormon can become a god and be given his own planet to populate with his many wives just like Elohim the Mormon god populated this planet. Believing in more than one god makes Mormonism a polytheistic religion and disqualifies them from being Christian in the New Testament sense of the term.

However, that even though the Mormon Church still believes in the practice of polygamy in principle (being reserved for the Celestial Kingdom) they no longer practice it. It is also important to note that that even though Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and some early Mormons taught that Adam was God, the church does not teach that today.

Many times Mormons accuse evangelicals of attacking their church. But who attacked who in the beginning? When Joseph Smith allegedly asked God what church he should join, he said he was told to join none of them "for they were all wrong...that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that they draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." (Joseph Smith 2:19, 20).

Really? "All Christian creeds are an abomination in His sight?" That's an indictment against the church, against the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Reformation, etc. That, ladies and gentlemen is an attack on the Christian church. We are to respond and fervently defend the "faith that was once and for all delivered to the Saints..." (Jude 3).

Mormonism, therefore, can be classified as a cult by the evangelical church just based on their doctrine of the nature of God alone.

We must remember that this is a doctrinal issue not a personal one. Whether or not a person votes for Mitt Romney is left up to the wisdom of each man or woman. We live in a free society which affords us the opportunity to vote our conscience. That is one of the things that make America a great nation.