Why are some people so afraid of Mormons? I mean, seriously. What's the big hullabaloo? So we are another of many, many different religions in the world. What's the problem?
Against my better judgment, I followed a link in an advertisement to a blog post titled "Are Mormons really Christian?". Why do people feel the need to waste their time disproving another church's beliefs? "Pastor Dan" composed 3 lively installments of his blog series dedicated to informing other Christians of the reasons that Mormons are not Christian and "what you should do if you happen to meet one."
What?
Would he ever write a blog about how Judaism is wrong and what you should do if you ever meet a Jew? No. Would he ever devote blog space to picking apart the differences in doctrine between his teachings and another pastor's teachings? Possibly, but not to prove that he isn't a Christian.
Unfortunately, this blog was based on two things:
1) Pastor Dan's own INTERPRETATION of the scriptures. (Or rather, the interpretation decided upon by the men who attended the Council of Nicaea.)
2) Information about the Mormon religion that was not, for the most part, acquired from the church itself, and therefore largely untrue or misunderstood.
This whole issue goes back to the Nicene Creed (which originated in 325 AD), which was basically a big gathering of religious men who sat down and decided on a set of beliefs, doctrines, and correct interpretations of the scriptures. These men decided what one had to believe in order to be considered "Christian". Wikipedia says this about the Nicene Creed: "The Nicene Creed, both in its original and revised formulas, is an implicit condemnation of specific beliefs as errors. Thus, as different variations in Christian belief evolved in the fourth century and were perceived as threats, new phrases were seen to be needed, like amendments to a constitution. As the historical developments of a constitutional society can be traced through amendments to its constitution, the particular theological developments in a religious society show in the successive forms of its written creed." Hmmm... this sounds more like the word of men than the word of God.
So, because Mormons interpret the scriptures differently than a bunch of old men thousands of years ago, they are not Christian? I thought Christians were followers of Christ. I thought being a Christian meant that you believe in, love, and devote your life to Christ, follow His teachings, and are saved through his atonement. If there was no room for individual interpretation of the scriptures, Pastor Dan would have to declare all other denominations- and even other congregations of his own faith- "unchristian".
How can a person bash another faith and consider themselves truly Christian?
I realize I shouldn't let something like this get to me, and I rarely do, but today I felt the need to get some of these thoughts out. If you made it this far... kudos to you! :)
