They Will Always Hate You. Always.

[Hound of Heaven]

That is absurd logic, HoH

In what manner is it absurd? Do Mormons believe that the gospel of Christ was removed from the earth after the death of the original apostles?

Isn't it true that Mormons refer to the 1800 years during which the gospel was absent from the earth as the great apostasy?

In essence, Mormons believe every church that claims to be Christian is an institution established by human beings. Am I mistaken?

[Whiskey]

Mormons are Christians.

Having kids running around the world saying it is the “one true church” earned an unfriendly reputation. It was deserved even if it was unfair.

[drumdude]

I think Christians can disagree with Mormons. They often do, vehemently. There are many anti-cult ministries who have spent years passing out fliers around temples, making videos, writing books.

What I haven’t seen a lot of is violent rhetoric. This has been changing a little - you can see Robert Boylan engage with some very niche unhinged evangelicals in weird spaces online. Debating evangelicals in their bedrooms. Not mainstream stuff. But Robert himself is not without sin, you’ll recall he loves to post a photo of Brigham Young pointing a gun and other violent memes he thinks are hilarious.

If someone is trying to argue that there are a ton of evangelical Christians out there who want to harm Mormons with violence, I think they should back it up with evidence. One lone unhinged shooter is a tragedy but it does not on its own make a trend.

[Xenophon]

Yeah, I was really thrown by the results of that survey. Maybe it’s the part of the country I live in. I’ve never run into anyone in my day to day life who ever said anything negative about Mormons. I’m not shy about letting people know that I was raised LDS. Or maybe I just exist in a more tolerant bubble.

Growing up in the South I definitely wasn't totally taken aback by the result. Even if folks aren't outright hostile there was always a bit of an undertone of "they're not quite right" in conversations around them.

We talked about it on another thread but from that survey the other piece that stood out to me was how knowing an LDS person didn't improve the "balance of opinion" as it were. Yes there were less neutral responses but the pro/con ratio held in proportion, unlike every other group.

[I Have Questions]

Mormons are Christians.

Having kids running around the world saying it is the “one true church” earned an unfriendly reputation. It was deserved even if it was unfair.

How can something be deserved and also unfair?

[Whiskey]

Mormons are Christians.

Having kids running around the world saying it is the “one true church” earned an unfriendly reputation. It was deserved even if it was unfair.

How can something be deserved and also unfair?

Consequences can be earned but also be overwhelming. The FAFO line isn’t perfectly linear.

[Kishkumen]

In what manner is it absurd? Do Mormons believe that the gospel of Christ was removed from the earth after the death of the original apostles?

Isn't it true that Mormons refer to the 1800 years during which the gospel was absent from the earth as the great apostasy?

In essence, Mormons believe every church that claims to be Christian is an institution established by human beings. Am I mistaken?

They believe that the fullness of the gospel and the priesthood was taken from the earth, but that is neither here nor there. The question is not whether they view their own form of Christianity to be the best--most Christians do--the question is whether they are rightly recognized by others as being Christian at all.

[Hound of Heaven]

Mormons are Christians.

No.

Consider how Muslims view Christianity. From an Islamic perspective, founded on the doctrine of tahrif, which asserts that the original revelations provided to prophets such as Moses and Jesus were corrupted. Over time. This is precisely the reason why Mormonism asserts that Joseph was required to restore the true gospel of Christianity to the earth.

Similar to Mormonism, Islam asserts that the Bible was altered and required rectification through a prophet.

Similar to Mormonism, Islam asserts that the true gospel was altered due to human error and manipulation.

Both Mormons and Muslims believe that Christianity was true but later became lost or corrupted.

Mormonism and Islam both assert that Jesus was a genuine prophet, yet they believe his message has been altered.

They also hold the view that the Trinity is a theological mistake.

Neither religion views their profit merely as a teacher, they see their prophet as chosen vessel to restore the true covenant of God.

In Islam, the Koran represents the ultimate and complete revelation. The Bible is held in high regard, yet it is viewed as having been altered. Mormonism also believes that the Bible has been altered and corrupted.

Both Islam and Mormonism reject the notion that mainstream Christianity beliefs are enough to live with God.

Mormonism can truly be seen as an Abrahamic religion, but it's definitely not Christianity!

Prove me wrong!

[Physics Guy]

My use of the word "hijack" was partly facetious, but not entirely. If anybody does to Harry Potter what Joseph Smith did to Jesus, J.K. Rowling will sue their curelom. Nobody holds copyright on Christianity, but we speak of "hijacking" a brand or a movement if somebody tries to change its message significantly while keeping or copying its name and symbols. Smith certainly did that with the Christian movements he knew.

And indeed people have been hijacking Christianity since before the New Testament was written. The Gospels suggest that Jesus may have hijacked John the Baptist's movement; the Book of Acts makes it sound as though the first Apostles hijacked Jesus's movement to turn it into a millennialist commune; and Paul's epistles seem to hijack it all in still another direction. Church history is a series of hijackings, usually in the name of restoring the original version by undoing all the previous hijackings, and usually trying to set up an authority that will resist future hijackings. A successful hijacker gets called a reformer or a Church Father.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

[Hound of Heaven]

In what manner is it absurd? Do Mormons believe that the gospel of Christ was removed from the earth after the death of the original apostles?

Isn't it true that Mormons refer to the 1800 years during which the gospel was absent from the earth as the great apostasy?

In essence, Mormons believe every church that claims to be Christian is an institution established by human beings. Am I mistaken?

They believe that the fullness of the gospel and the priesthood was taken from the earth, but that is neither here nor there. The question is not whether they view their own form of Christianity to be the best--most Christians do--the question is whether they are rightly recognized by others as being Christian at all.

Mormonism didn't emerge as a branch of Christianity, it was a direct refutation of it. Did Joseph Smith teach that all existing churches were corrupt and under Satan's influence, Kishkumen? If he did, is that not a rejection of Christianity?

Here's a quote from Joseph Smith. Does this quote sound like Joseph Smith considered Christianity part of the everlasting gospel?

"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."

- Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 270