Mormonism - a Christian Denomination?
Mormonism - a Christian Denomination?
We recently watched a Pureflix film called "The Measure of a Man". Something in the film tipped me off to the fact that the film was produced by Mormons. We researched it, and found out that it WAS. Another film "Christmas Angel" we watched around Christmas was also produced by Mormons. It was very sneaky, because everything in it appeared to be a Christian film, but they crossed their arms during a family prayer in the film, which I knew was a trademark of the LDS (not that there is something wrong with this, but I knew it was unique to them). If you want to know of more Mormon films, check this site out:http://www.ldsfilm.com
I asked my friend (an ex-mormon) about whether Purefilx Entertainment was Mormon or not. Here is what he said:
Hey Brian its J****, I am not sure if Pure Flix Entertainment is owned by Mormons. On Wikipedia it says they are christian based, regardless of that it may still be owned by Mormons. Sometimes Mormons will use the word christian because the word Mormon has a bad rep with the Christian community. If they are Mormon they probably don't want to advertise it because if they did many Christians might not watch their films. Another thing that might lead me to believe they are Mormon owned is the fact that it says they are based out of Arizona, which is a highly Mormon populated state. A positive thing if they are Mormon, you can guarantee that the movies will be wholesome and for the most part biblical correct without any Mormon doctrine mixed in... Publicly, Mormons in the recent years have been going away from Mormon doctrine to only teaching pure biblical doctrine. I think they have made this movement due to the fact that the Mormon doctrine was not appealing to the Christian public. In fact, they are so strictly Biblical based that you probably would not be able to tell the difference in doctrine between a Christian and a Mormon film.
Hey J****,
Thanks for the follow-up. These are also things I thought about. The main difference I sense (and this goes for some "Christian" movies which aren't Mormon at all) between some movies and the pure doctrine of Christ is the spirit behind it. Sometimes they seem to say the right words and the characters make the right decisions, but their lives are more about correcting outward behavior without a transformation of the spirit and heart by the Holy Spirit. In other words, preaching a message of "good works" which make you a better person, instead of repentance and faith, which lead to salvation. This last movie, "The Measure of a Man" rubbed me the wrong way (even before I knew it was Mormon). Maybe it was the poor acting or the way the main character was over-dramatized to be an ideal human being by his daughter (who also wrote and helped produce the film). It seemed too religious -- not the way I would want my life remembered. That said, it did portray wholesome values, but again, it seemed to be a works-based style of living, instead of relying upon the power of the Holy Spirit and Christ's righteousness in us.
The reason I am writing this is because I was alarmed that those who have distinguished themselves as Christian in the public arena are increasingly joining hands with Mormons, “because they have the same values”. I have seen many Christians who mistakenly believe that the Mormon group is just another Christian denomination. I also wanted to mention the things which I think are of important, notable difference between true Christianity and Mormonism, without going too much into the specific doctrine of the Mormon group which is very quite different. There are many tools on this subject which point out the errors of Mormon doctrine. However, these are the two main things which will help naïve people from being tricked:
1. Differences in the Meanings of Religious Words:
Mormons use many of the same words and language as Christians (especially in recent days to try to be more "appealing" to Christians) like “Salvation”, “Grace”, “Jesus”, “God”, “Satan”, etc., but with different meanings. They are NOT just another Christian denomination. The main difference is, that the meanings of their words are directly attached to the LDS organization. For instance:
Mormons only accept "salvation" and "the way to heaven" as it pertains to their group. In other words, if you got "saved" and "believed in Jesus" outside of their organization, it doesn't count in their mind. If you got baptized outside of the LDS group, it doesn't count for them. Pastoral authority or church leadership authority in any other denomination does not count in their ranks and is not recognized by them. Your church membership doesn't mean anything to them. If you have a relationship with God, but aren't part of the LDS, your relationship with God is less-than-par, and probably isn't legit. This is why they are considered a “sect”, and not a Christian denomination.
They use the same language, but they do hold some very contrary ideas about Jesus. They STILL believe God was once a man who ascended into godhood, that Jesus was the brother of Satan, among other things that are laid out in their doctrine.
2. God's Grace vs. Human Nature
This is the biggest difference between religion and true Christianity. Maybe surprisingly, you may find some of this behavior within traditionally Christian denominations. There is a heavy emphasis upon outward conformity to the expectations of the Mormon Church, and more of a concern with the outward appearance than the true nature of the heart. Dressing nicely for church, being a "good citizen", and following the rules are very important to them. Since this amounts to more of a striving "to be good", it is based upon human effort and not the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit working from within to truly change someone's heart to actually BE good. The outward looks good; the heart is still unchanged. True transformation comes through a complete dependance upon the Holy Spirit to change who we are, recognizing that we cannot be good without Him. In addition, it is not outward deeds that make us good (ie. attending church, tithing, being nice to our neighbor, witnessing, etc.), but rather our TRUST in His UNDESERVED grace and the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins that makes us good (Eph.2:8,9). Even sanctification (the process of becoming more holy) is not based upon works, but upon grace and faith. This trust in His Spirit automatically produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (love, joy, peace, patience, etc.). These fruit are not conjured up by us forcing ourselves to be more and more loving, have more and more joy, etc., but rather it is automatic when we trust. In contract, a person who tries to be good by their own human nature find they never CAN be good enough. They are always afraid they are not good enough. They are always trying to be better. They never feel accepted by God. They always feel sinful and struggle to feel forgiven. They are motivated by guilt and fear, instead of love and acceptance. Often what happens is they know they never can be good enough, so they just pretend to be good. They want others to think they are good, but inwardly they know they are still the same person they have always been.
We recently watched a Pureflix film called "The Measure of a Man". Something in the film tipped me off to the fact that the film was produced by Mormons. We researched it, and found out that it WAS. Another film "Christmas Angel" we watched around Christmas was also produced by Mormons. It was very sneaky, because everything in it appeared to be a Christian film, but they crossed their arms during a family prayer in the film, which I knew was a trademark of the LDS (not that there is something wrong with this, but I knew it was unique to them). If you want to know of more Mormon films, check this site out:http://www.ldsfilm.com
I asked my friend (an ex-mormon) about whether Purefilx Entertainment was Mormon or not. Here is what he said:
Hey Brian its J****, I am not sure if Pure Flix Entertainment is owned by Mormons. On Wikipedia it says they are christian based, regardless of that it may still be owned by Mormons. Sometimes Mormons will use the word christian because the word Mormon has a bad rep with the Christian community. If they are Mormon they probably don't want to advertise it because if they did many Christians might not watch their films. Another thing that might lead me to believe they are Mormon owned is the fact that it says they are based out of Arizona, which is a highly Mormon populated state. A positive thing if they are Mormon, you can guarantee that the movies will be wholesome and for the most part biblical correct without any Mormon doctrine mixed in... Publicly, Mormons in the recent years have been going away from Mormon doctrine to only teaching pure biblical doctrine. I think they have made this movement due to the fact that the Mormon doctrine was not appealing to the Christian public. In fact, they are so strictly Biblical based that you probably would not be able to tell the difference in doctrine between a Christian and a Mormon film.
Hey J****,
Thanks for the follow-up. These are also things I thought about. The main difference I sense (and this goes for some "Christian" movies which aren't Mormon at all) between some movies and the pure doctrine of Christ is the spirit behind it. Sometimes they seem to say the right words and the characters make the right decisions, but their lives are more about correcting outward behavior without a transformation of the spirit and heart by the Holy Spirit. In other words, preaching a message of "good works" which make you a better person, instead of repentance and faith, which lead to salvation. This last movie, "The Measure of a Man" rubbed me the wrong way (even before I knew it was Mormon). Maybe it was the poor acting or the way the main character was over-dramatized to be an ideal human being by his daughter (who also wrote and helped produce the film). It seemed too religious -- not the way I would want my life remembered. That said, it did portray wholesome values, but again, it seemed to be a works-based style of living, instead of relying upon the power of the Holy Spirit and Christ's righteousness in us.
The reason I am writing this is because I was alarmed that those who have distinguished themselves as Christian in the public arena are increasingly joining hands with Mormons, “because they have the same values”. I have seen many Christians who mistakenly believe that the Mormon group is just another Christian denomination. I also wanted to mention the things which I think are of important, notable difference between true Christianity and Mormonism, without going too much into the specific doctrine of the Mormon group which is very quite different. There are many tools on this subject which point out the errors of Mormon doctrine. However, these are the two main things which will help naïve people from being tricked:
1. Differences in the Meanings of Religious Words:
Mormons use many of the same words and language as Christians (especially in recent days to try to be more "appealing" to Christians) like “Salvation”, “Grace”, “Jesus”, “God”, “Satan”, etc., but with different meanings. They are NOT just another Christian denomination. The main difference is, that the meanings of their words are directly attached to the LDS organization. For instance:
Mormons only accept "salvation" and "the way to heaven" as it pertains to their group. In other words, if you got "saved" and "believed in Jesus" outside of their organization, it doesn't count in their mind. If you got baptized outside of the LDS group, it doesn't count for them. Pastoral authority or church leadership authority in any other denomination does not count in their ranks and is not recognized by them. Your church membership doesn't mean anything to them. If you have a relationship with God, but aren't part of the LDS, your relationship with God is less-than-par, and probably isn't legit. This is why they are considered a “sect”, and not a Christian denomination.
They use the same language, but they do hold some very contrary ideas about Jesus. They STILL believe God was once a man who ascended into godhood, that Jesus was the brother of Satan, among other things that are laid out in their doctrine.
2. God's Grace vs. Human Nature
This is the biggest difference between religion and true Christianity. Maybe surprisingly, you may find some of this behavior within traditionally Christian denominations. There is a heavy emphasis upon outward conformity to the expectations of the Mormon Church, and more of a concern with the outward appearance than the true nature of the heart. Dressing nicely for church, being a "good citizen", and following the rules are very important to them. Since this amounts to more of a striving "to be good", it is based upon human effort and not the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit working from within to truly change someone's heart to actually BE good. The outward looks good; the heart is still unchanged. True transformation comes through a complete dependance upon the Holy Spirit to change who we are, recognizing that we cannot be good without Him. In addition, it is not outward deeds that make us good (ie. attending church, tithing, being nice to our neighbor, witnessing, etc.), but rather our TRUST in His UNDESERVED grace and the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins that makes us good (Eph.2:8,9). Even sanctification (the process of becoming more holy) is not based upon works, but upon grace and faith. This trust in His Spirit automatically produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (love, joy, peace, patience, etc.). These fruit are not conjured up by us forcing ourselves to be more and more loving, have more and more joy, etc., but rather it is automatic when we trust. In contract, a person who tries to be good by their own human nature find they never CAN be good enough. They are always afraid they are not good enough. They are always trying to be better. They never feel accepted by God. They always feel sinful and struggle to feel forgiven. They are motivated by guilt and fear, instead of love and acceptance. Often what happens is they know they never can be good enough, so they just pretend to be good. They want others to think they are good, but inwardly they know they are still the same person they have always been.
Comments
Post a Comment