Not Christian / a cult

They say

You’re not Christian — you fail the creeds.

The New Testament never baptizes anyone into Nicea. The first disciples were called Christians at Antioch. John’s test is ‘Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.’ We pray in His name, take the sacrament of His body and blood, and preach Him crucified and risen. That is the Bible’s test. The creeds are a later exam.

• Acts 11:26

  KJV · The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

  NRSVUE · It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’

• 1 John 4:2

  KJV · Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.

  NRSVUE · Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

• Gospel Topics Essays

  Are Mormons Christian?

  “Latter-day Saints are Christians by the New Testament’s own tests: we worship Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.”

• Gal1:8 library

  Are Latter-day Saints Christian?

They say

Galatians 1:8 — another gospel, accursed.

Paul is cursing a gospel that removes the cross, not people who add more witnesses of the same Christ. Galatians is about being saved in Jesus. It is not a ban on later scripture. We preach that same Christ. See the full Gal1:8 page for the verse-by-verse.

• Galatians 1:8

  KJV · But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

  NRSVUE · But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!

• Gal1:8 library

  Galatians 1:8 — another gospel?

• FAIR

  Mormonism and Christianity

They say

Your extra book proves you’re a cult.

Read the spine. 2 Nephi 25:26 will not stop talking of Christ. A cult manual does not sound like that. The Book of Mormon is another witness of the same Jesus, not a replacement gospel.

• 2 Nephi 25:26

  And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

• Preach My Gospel

  Lesson 1 — The Restoration

They say

Cults have secret founders and a different god.

Article of Faith 1 is public. D&C 76 is public: ‘this is the testimony… That he lives!’ A church with a published canon, public finances, and Jesus in every sacrament meeting is not a compound. ‘Cult’ is a scare-word. Use the Church’s own essay.

• Articles of Faith 1:1

  We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

• Doctrine and Covenants 76:22–24

  And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

• Gospel Topics Essays

  Are Mormons Christian?

  “Latter-day Saints are Christians by the New Testament’s own tests: we worship Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.”

They say

Scholars and pastors all agree you’re not Christian.

They mean: you will not say the Nicene sentences. True. The Church essay and FAIR both draw the line: Christian by New Testament tests; not ‘orthodox’ by post-biblical creeds. Those are different questions. Do not let them fuse them.

• Gospel Topics Essays

  Are Mormons Christian?

  “Latter-day Saints are Christians by the New Testament’s own tests: we worship Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.”

• FAIR

  Mormonism and Christianity