Are Mormons Christians?

Because Jesus Christ is a central figure in their theology, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider themselves Christians. While it is true that the church has recently placed more emphasis on their Christian-ness than it once did, from the time the church was organized in 1830 onward, church members have always regarded themselves as Christians. Their name, "Latter-day Saints" references the fact that members of the "primitive" church in New Testament times were called Saints. Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the church, has said, "We are Christians in a very real sense and that is coming to be more and more widely recognized. Once upon a time people everywhere said we are not Christians. They have come to recognize that we are, and that we have a very vital and dynamic religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ." To clarify the Christian themes at the center of their faith, the church added the subtitle "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" to the Book of Mormon in 1981.

There are Christians -- particularly among the modern evangelical and fundamentalist communities -- who argue that Mormons are not Christians. They base this contention on the fact that the Mormon conception of God -- summarized by LDS President Lorenzo Snow, who said, "As man is God once was, and as God is man may become" -- differs from traditional Christian ideas. They also point to the Mormons' avoidance of the cross as a religious symbol (Mormons believe it is a symbol of Christ's death, and they prefer to focus on his life, his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, and his resurrection); their belief in the fallibility of the Bible (because of its human translation); their acceptance of continuing revelation (which gives Mormonism an open canon); and their rejection of the Nicene Creed, a list of common Christian beliefs originally authored in 325 AD and subscribed to by most denominations.

Animosity between fundamentalist Christians and Mormons peaked in the 1990s, when the Southern Baptist Convention held an annual meeting in Salt Lake City, partly in hopes of converting Mormons to Protestant Christianity. More recently, some high-profile fundamentalist Christians have gone on record apologizing for past discord and accepting Mormonism as a branch of Christianity, but some tension remains.

by PBS