The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christian, since it believes in the divinity of Christ. However, the Mormon Church was founded as a restoration of God’s mission on Earth. This identity naturally condemns all other religions as based on misguided interpretations. Certain inherent differences in faith, practice and world view delineate the Mormon Christians from all other Christian faiths. Historical turmoil between Mormons and other Christians has further widened the gap between the two groups. “Besides history, another obstacle to mutual understanding is terminology—our respective theological vocabularies” (Robinson 13). Similar words carrying different meanings create difficulty in communicating faiths. These difficulties in understanding lead to unnecessary criticism and condemnation from both sides. As Robinson argues, more often than not, confrontations between the faiths stem from a criticism of what is said, while what is meant by both sides of the argument is the same.
The teachings of Mormonism do indeed differ from those of other Christian religions, but this holds true for any distinct religious group. I believe that the day-to-day practices of the faith and the moral code promoted by the faith, however, would be perfectly acceptable in any Evangelical community. As time passed, mainstream Christians began to try to understand Mormonism in a more thorough manner. I believe that Richard Mouw’s apology represents the marked change in Christian solidarity toward Mormons. As “Evangelicals and Mormons have worked together on important matters of public morality” (Mouw 1), the two faiths could come to realize the many things that they had in common and stop fighting over theological differences. I agree with Mouw’s argument that Mormons and other Christians have a lot to offer each other, and that the ever-increasing communication between the two groups will benefit all parties involved.
Despite all of these moves toward unification, Mormons are still viewed as separate from other Catholics. Jan Shipps points out that Christians need to point to someone as other and that the Latter Day Saints serve this purpose (Shipps 348). There exists a common notion of Mormons as a separate religion: Christian but also not Christian. I believe that this stems from the development of the Mormon faith in a time when Christian faiths were firmly established in America. Mormons are still seen as very different followers of Christ by the overall Christian faith. As Shipps points out, Mormons are the ideal target because of inherent differences in the faith, and they are singled out among Christian as the other.
In all, the Mormon faith has continually grown more and more public and, as a result, the mystery surrounding the Church of Latter Day Saints has dissipated. The progress has been slow, but Mormons have begun to be acknowledged as mutual members of the Christian family. As the twenty-first century progresses, I hope and believe that the Mormon faith will continued to gain acceptance among other Christian faiths.
Do you agree that the similarities between Mormonism and other Christian faiths outweigh the differences, and that these differences could be overcome by closer communication between the faiths?
What do you think increased Mormon interaction with other Christian faiths would lead to?
Do you have any personal stories of Latter Day Saints that prove or disprove any of the points made in the reading?
What do you think about the demarcation of the Mormon Church as the other Christian religion?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I strongly believe that increased Mormon interaction with other Christian faiths would lead to a blending of the ideals and beliefs of the religions. Neither Mormonism nor other Christian faiths would remain untouched from increased communication and contact. The faiths would lose their specific identities and roles within Christianity. In relation to the Latter-day Saints, the other Christian faiths would no longer “[read] them out of Christianity” (Shipps 349). Likewise, in relation to the other Christian faiths, including Evangelicalism, the Mormons would discontinue to perceive them as “mean-spirited and dishonest” (Robertson and Blomberg 11). Certainly this process of assimilation would take only a small amount of time, particularly if the interactions among the various Christian faiths and Mormonism occurred frequently and regularly. Indeed, Mormons and other Christians already share so many characteristics, including “similar values, lifestyles, and political preferences” (Shipps 353).
ReplyDeletePerhaps the reason that the Mormons continue to be seen as the other Christians is that the Saints fear this process of assimilation and thus make some effort to be unique. The Mormons have always been and continue to be separated from mainstream America. As demonstrated by the use of Kitsch, the Saints are part of mainstream society: they adhere to the many of the same cultural norms, ideals, and beliefs as the rest of the United States. Yet, the Saints also remain distant from the general population. If there were to join the other mainstream Christian religions, they would lose their status as “members of a chosen lineage, a peculiar people” (Shipps 345). They would no longer be special from the other Christians, a concept that would be incredibly devastating to their belief system, which claims that Mormons and only Mormons are God’s chosen people. Accordingly, in order to maintain their separate identity, the Saints continue to fight Evangelicals and other Christian sects on terminology and on other features of the interpretation of Christianity
Although I agree with Lauren’s statement that “[n]either Mormonism nor other Christian faiths would remain untouched from increased communication and contact,” I differ in believing that the lines of definition would blur between the different belief systems. I come from a town that houses various Christian sects, and even though there is constant and profitable contact within the groups, they remain distinct faiths. For instance, all Christian adolescents in my town are members of Church Youth Group. They share the same religious resources, experiences and missions but do not attend the same church. It is only their ideologies and church sacraments that differ; basically, the members perform the same actions, just with different underlying beliefs and motives. Additionally, I know that each individual is very possessive of his or her own faith: those who are Catholic are proud of being Catholic, those who are Methodist are proud of being Methodist, etc. Each and every member would tell you that Youth Groups changes him/her for the better, but he/she would never be willing to lose hold of what he/she believes in. Those beliefs are an inherent part of my friends, and, in seeing that, I don’t think that even if Evangelicals and Saints were best buddies would they give up the distinct markers of their faiths.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the differences amongst the differing sects of Christianity and Mormonism are on the most significant founding of Christianity. A majority of Christian faiths do not believe that prophets continued to exist in modern day and ages and the main focus of these other sects of Christianity are on Jesus Christ as opposed to the prophets of Mormonism. The major part of Mormon beliefs and faith that contradict Christianity is that Mormons believe that humans have the potential to become Gods on other planets of they reach a certain goal in their salvation. Other sects of Christianity believe otherwise and that one main aspect of Mormonism is enough to make the religions conflict and view themselves as very different faiths. In my opinion there are a lot of similarities between Mormonism and those similarities outweigh the differences numerically and in quantity but as far as meaning and interpretation of religious beliefs and values the differences outweigh the similarities to the point where the differing faiths could not overcome the differences. They may be able to accept the differing beliefs that they possess but they will never be able to get over the differences through communication. This goes for all religions outside of Christianity. Typically in society, members of differing faiths will be able to accept that they have different religious beliefs but they will never be able to get over the differences and view each other as equals.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Michael’s claim that the mystery regarding the Mormon religion has “dissipated.” I think that the general public is more confused that ever regarding the religion and its practices. Through my research on the FLDS and the Lost Boys for my research paper, I have discovered that most Americans confuse the fundamentalist and extreme FLDS sect with the Latter Day Saints. I believe that this is in part because of the federal raid on the Yearning For Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas. The media did not really distinguish between those fundamentalists living on the compound and Latter Day Saints so many Americans believed that polygamy continued to be practiced by Latter Day Saints. Furthermore, the religion was even further tainted once FLDS leader Warren Jeffs was convicted as accomplice to rape. I think that the confusion regarding FLDS and LDS has lead to even more mystery and, in many cases, unfair prejudice.
ReplyDelete