Welcome to my second installment of my theology class. If you haven't read the first one, please go back and read it, or at least the first couple of paragraphs before moving on.
Today's wanderings are about Mormonism, and what it is. It's very strange, but a lot of people seem to think it's a cult and that it's not Christian. They are wrong on both counts, but it's funny to watch them delude themselves for no apparent reason. What do people gain by attacking a religion they don't belong to or understand?
I've read a bunch of the anti-Mormon books. They make for interesting reading if you know anything at all about Mormonism, as they are so obviously wrong and poorly argued that you wonder what editor let them by. I seem to recall one guy who argued that Mormonism was a cult, but every single critera he used to "prove" his point was also true of both early Christianity and the current Catholic Church. His definition was so broad it fit his own religion, and he didn't seem to notice.
However, that's off the track. I'd rather not waste time making fun of those guys, but it is important, I think, to mention that I've read many of those books. I'm familiar with their arguments, and rejected them in my own personal quest for The Truth.
Mormons are Christians. They believe that the only way to Heaven is through belief in Jesus Christ. That is the definition of Christian. If you want to create some more narrow definition of Christian, you are perfectly welcome to, but you will only make yourself look stupid by doing so. Christians are people who believe that salvation comes through Jesus Christ. Therefore, Mormons are Christians.
Mormons do not consider themselves Protestant. They did not arise out of the Protestant movement, but instead are a restoration of the church as Jesus Christ meant it to be. Yeah, that's in some ways the very definition of what a Protestant is, but Mormons believe that their religion is the true restoration, as prophecied in several bits of scripture.
The name "Mormon" comes from an extra bit of scripture that the Church has. The Bible is the first and most important scripture to the Church, but a second scripture called "The Book of Mormon" (after an ancient editor) is used as another testament of Jesus Christ. Originally the name Mormon was a derisive insult, but in true American fashion the Church members shrugged and took the name for themselves.
The Book of Mormon is an interesting piece of history. According to the book itself, it was written by a series of authors, starting with Nephi, who lived in Jerusalem with his family. Nephi's father started having visions of Jerusalem's destruction in the near future (this was about 600 BC) and took his family out into the wilderness, and eventually over to the Americas. Various descendants wrote in the book, which was written on metal plates to preserve the words for a long time, until a small compilation of the best bits (gathered by Mormon and his son) were buried in a hill far North of the troubles of the time.
In 1823, after reading a verse of the Bible, an ignorant farm boy prayed to God to know which church he should join, and got a rather unexpected answer in the form of a divine visitation. Eventually, he got possession of the long buried plates, and translated them with some divine help. The result became The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
Now regardless of what you think about the previous two paragraphs, remember that an international church has arisen from the belief that it is true, and that I, personally, believe it. But then, if a person can believe that God or his son was born of a virgin some 2000 years ago, believing that his true church was restored through the faith of an ignorant farmboy some 180 years ago shouldn't be that much of a stretch.
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