I love this extended coverage of our church because of the two LDS presidential candidates. I hope it’s helping clear up any misconceptions YOU might have. As always, feel free to ask questions here, or on my Formspring page.
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Welcome
I'm a mid-twenties SAHM/part-time photographer currently living in Chicago. My husband is from Poland, my son was born in April of 2010, and I'm LDS. I write frequently about parenting, adventures in the kitchen, my faith, and photography. I post daily because I love checking my inbox for new comments, so please take a moment to say hello! You can also find me over at Jenna Cole, my photography site. If you like to smile and laugh then I would love to take your picture!
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July 3rd, 2011 on 10:00 am
Good videos – - though I do wish in the second video the guest would have made two things a little more clear: we use BOTH the Bible and Book of Mormon. We read from and preach from the Bible and it’s not a “less important” book to us.
Also, we very much do worship Jesus Christ and believe He is the Savior of the World, the means of our salvation. We love and revere our prophets, but we worship and pray to God the Father in Jesus Christ’s name.
Good videos!
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Stephanie C Reply:
July 3rd, 2011 at 10:19 pm
I’m glad you said this.. growing up in Evangelical churches for most of my life.. I ALWAYS heard that Mormons don’t see Jesus as the Savior or the Son of God.
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Katy Reply:
July 3rd, 2011 at 10:53 pm
I understand if people have a hard time accepting certain aspects of what we believe, but the whole “Mormons aren’t Christians” thing really bugs us! (or me at least, maybe I shouldn’t speak for all of us!)
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July 3rd, 2011 on 2:48 pm
Do all Mormons believe that Jesus is married? I have heard that some believe that he was married when he was here on earth, and according the theology, it makes sense that he would be married in heaven. But is this a doctrine given by the Prophet or a General Authority?
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Jenna Reply:
July 3rd, 2011 at 9:27 pm
No, it’s not official doctrine. I think it is logical to assume that since we believe God is married, and that we will all be married if we reach a Celestial state, that yes, Jesus is married as well. We don’t know anything more about it than that though.
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July 3rd, 2011 on 3:42 pm
I am impressed to hear someone discuss the church in such a non-biased way. AWESOME.
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July 3rd, 2011 on 7:00 pm
I wouldn’t vote for someone just because he’s Mormon…but because his name is Mitt. ;p
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Katy Reply:
July 3rd, 2011 at 7:45 pm
Nor would I (though my friend jokes that she wants to vote for him just because he looks so presidential!) It’s great that he’s a Mormon like me and all, but if I didn’t agree with this politics or how he would run the country, I wouldn’t vote for him. I hope others feel like I do and only vote for him (or the other Mormon candidate) if they truly like them best!
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July 3rd, 2011 on 11:17 pm
The second clip kept separating Mormonism and Christianity. Does that bother you, Jenna? I found it surprising because I know you have spoken a lot about Mormons being Christians.
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Jenna Reply:
July 4th, 2011 at 12:39 am
To me it almost felt like she *personally* doesn’t believe Mormons are Christians, but from a scholarly standpoint they shouldn’t be separated. It’s a common argument that I admit I don’t really understand.
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Tyelperion Reply:
July 4th, 2011 at 4:13 am
I agree that it’s a common viewpoint, but I think I can give some gloss as to where it comes from. There are some Christian denominations that feel very strongly that if you are not part of their particular denomination and worship in exactly the way they do, you can’t possibly be Christian. I’ve come up against this mostly when people have claimed that Catholics aren’t Christian. The arguments include that: a Christian couldn’t possibly pray to anyone but Jesus (thus praying to the Virgin Mary, saints etc make you non-Christian), a Christian doesn’t believe in transubstantiation/take communion, a Christian must be baptized in a certain way, etc etc. Mormonism is susceptible to the same types of arguments: a Christian must not believe in the truth of other scriptures beyond what’s in the canonical Bible, a Christian doesn’t believe Christ could be married, a Christian can’t believe that anyone is in the priesthood except an ordained minister who is a full-time professional minister, etc.
My (professional academic theologian) husband says that there are only a few tenets that academics agree you need to believe in to call yourself a Christian (mostly summed up in the Nicene Creed, but not all) – and beyond that, any additional beliefs and practices are just doctrinal or sectarian or “Christian cultural” differences. Therefore, though a Mormon and a Catholic and an Evangelical may have different ideas on praying to the Virgin Mary, taking communion, or drinking alcohol, they are all Christians if they believe that:
- Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament
- He is the son of God
- He was sent to earth to save us from our sins
- He was crucified and resurrected after three days, and ascended to Heaven
- There is one God, who has three elements: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Pretty much everything else is a “cultural” difference between different varieties of Christian – but these fundamental beliefs should, in a perfect world, allow Christians everywhere to recognize each other as brothers and sisters sharing the same faith and respect the other differences as cultural rather than fundamental aspects of their Christian faith.
I’m not LDS myself (I don’t think I’d even be able to describe myself honestly as Christian) but it is obvious to me that Mormonism shares the beliefs outlined above and is therefore a type of Christianity.
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Tyelperion Reply:
July 4th, 2011 at 4:14 am
Gosh that was long, and probably totally obvious to everyone on this thread – sorry!
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Jenna Reply:
July 4th, 2011 at 10:29 am
I thought this was a really interesting comment!
Sometimes I think we even over-complicate the matter. I say anyone who believes Jesus is the Christ, the Savior, the Son of God who atoned for our sins and was risen, is a Christian.
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Korey Reply:
July 5th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
I think that is a helpful comment, Tyelperion, and that’s the way I view it as well. I think most doctrines want to emphasize that there is “no other path,” so calling Mormons “non-Christian” could be part of that.
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