Who says we’re not Christian?

This web site says we are.  In fact, they have named M* among the top 100 blogs for Christian moms.  So next time somebody claimed Mormons are not Christians, you can just point them to this list.

But more seriously, this is a pretty interesting list of web sites.  Take some time to read some of the blogs listed there if you haven’t before.

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About Geoff B.

Geoff B graduated from Stanford University (class of 1985) and worked in journalism for several years until about 1992, when he took up his second career in telecommunications sales. He has held many callings in the Church, but his favorite calling is father and husband. Geoff is active in martial arts and loves hiking and skiing. Geoff has five children and lives in Colorado.

14 thoughts on “Who says we’re not Christian?

  1. I think when people label Mormons as being not Christian, what they really mean to say is that we’re our own brand of Christian… much in the same way that FLDS are their own brand of Mormon. This I get. Similarly, if we ever make the mistake of calling the FLDS un-Mormon then we shouldn’t be surprised to be called un-Christian for the same reason.

  2. I’ve actually had a lengthy discussion about this once or twice, including with a Baptist minister. It general boils down the Nicene creed and our rejection of it that makes us not Christian. When I had the discussion with the baptist minister (a friend of mine) one of his parishoner’s was there (another friend of mine). The minister insisted we are not Christians because we don’t believe in the Nicene Creed. The parishoner felt that we qualified as Christians because we believe that Christ is our personal savior and through Him is the only way back to God.

    So, it’s kinda academic in my experience. I did enjoy pointing out that the Nicene Creed was written hundreds of years after Christ’s death.

  3. BTW I agree with both Doug D. and Jason T – There are many faiths under the big tent of Mormonism i.e. LDS, FLDS, CofC, Strangites etc..

  4. JAB, good to see you back. My condolences about your extreme loss.

    All:

    Given the bad example that many self-professed Christians have shown over the last two millenia up to and including the present day, we should not be afraid to be placed under a different category than what is commonly known by others as Christianity.

    In the eyes of many Muslims, atheists, agnostics, Jews, Hindus, and Sikhs who I know, it would be good to be un-associated with the rest of Christendom.

    When they think of Christians, they think of the ancient crusades, the progroms, the forced conversion of Jews, the Spanish Inquisition, the monks who accompanied the conquistadors and forced the American Indians to embrace Christianity at the point of the sword, the selling of indulgences, modern anti-semitism here in the US in very recent history, sexual abuse by clergy, the soap-opera-like shenanigans of so many televangelists, and all the modern-day hypocrites who worship on Sunday and sin the rest of the week.

    We should actively disassociate ourselves with that kind of “Christianity.”

    With the bad name that so many Christians have given Christianity, I can’t blame many people for being atheist or agnostic.

    As Gandhi said: I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

  5. JAB: If I may make a suggestion. I learned a lot of the philosophy of loss and suffering by reading “The Enchiridion” by the stoic philosopher Epictetus. There are at least two public-domain English translations available on the net.

    There was just something about loss and suffering that the gospel didn’t quite explain for me. Something didn’t quite click, and my own personal wounds went unhealed for a long time. Though Epictetus was not a Christian believer, there is much overlap between stoicism (the philosophy, not the common definition) and Christianity. Epictetus was able to fill in the gaps for me, and make things click.

  6. Thank you Bookslinger. I found it on line and read some of it. I will go back to it tomorrow. Thank you. I read this quote a few months ago and tucked it away. It is similar to what I read of Epictetus:

    “As Beruriah, the great wife of Rabbi Meir, consoled her husband, upon the death of their two sons, with words to this effect, “A soul is comparable to an object which was given to us – to each individual, to his or her parents and loved ones, to guard and watch over for a limited time. When the time comes for the object to be returned to its rightful owner, should we not be willing to return it? With regard to our sons, let us therefore consider the matter as ‘The L-rd gave, and the L-rd took back, may the Name of the L-rd be Blessed!’ ”

    When I first read the quote before my own sad circumstances, I thought to myself, “Wow if I suffer such loss I will be a brave as Beruriah. In reality, I sadly fall way short of the wisdom of Beruriah Meir”.

  7. There were 11 of the Founding Fathers who were non-Trinitarian Christians. http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/01/richard_price.php
    Washington, Adams, Madison, Jefferson, and Franklin were among them. They had the foresight to found our country on Christian principles. Isn’t a denomination which bases its theology on First Century Christianity (rather than Fourth Century man-made Creeds) Christian?

  8. That would certainly be my contention R Biddulph, but not what I’ve found from other people often times.

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