Mormonism and Christianity

I found an interesting essay by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus at First Things from several years ago on the question "Is Mormonism Christian?"

As usual, Neuhaus sets the right tone:

We are obliged to respect human dignity across the board, and to affirm common discernments of the truth wherever we find them. Where we disagree we should try to put the best possible construction on the position of the other, while never trimming the truth. That will become more important as Mormons become more of a presence, both in this country and the world.

He then explores the history and structure of Mormonism, and the predictions and prospects for its growth worldwide, before grappling with the question itself:

The question as asked by Mormons is turned around: are non–Mormons who claim to be Christians in fact so? The emphatic and repeated answer of the Mormon scriptures and the official teaching of the LDS is that [Catholics and Protestants] are not. We are members of "the great and abominable church" that was built by frauds and impostors after the death of the first apostles. The true church and true Christianity simply went out of existence, except for its American Indian interlude, until it was rediscovered and reestablished by Joseph Smith in upstate New York, and its claims will be vindicated when Jesus returns, sooner rather than later, at a prophetically specified intersection in Jackson County, Missouri.

Nauhaus is not being snarky; Mormons believe that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, and that Jesus will return there. (I'll have you know I was born in Jackson County... hmmmm...)

And here we come to the serious disagreement over the nature of God and man:

Mormonism claims that God is an exalted man, not different in kind as Creator is different in kind from creature. The Mormon claim is, "What God was, we are. What God is, we will become." Related to this is the teaching that the world was not created ex nihilo but organized into its present form, and that the trespass in the Garden of Eden, far from being the source of original sin, was a step toward becoming what God is. Further, Mormonism teaches that there is a plurality of gods. Mormons dislike the term "polytheism," preferring "henotheism," meaning that there is a head God who is worshiped as supreme. If Christian doctrine is summarized in, for instance, the Apostles’ Creed as understood by historic Christianity, official LDS teaching adds to the creed, deviates from it, or starkly opposes it almost article by article.... Christians in dialogue with Islam understand it to be an interreligious, not an ecumenical, dialogue. Ecumenical dialogue is dialogue between Christians. Dialogue with Mormons who represent official LDS teaching is interreligious dialogue.

With Mitt Romney filing his presidential exploratory papers today, we'll be hearing more about his Mormon faith, and Neuhaus's piece provides interesting background.

But when it comes to politics, I'm not too concerned that Romney is a member of the LDS.

What I am still concerned about is his very recent conversion on abortion and gay marriage. See this post for some links on this.