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TechnoratiToday, many people generally view Mormons as a people with strong family values and clean living, according to one pastor at McLean Bible Church. Some also believe they are just one of many Christian denominations.
But that view is the result of a multibillion dollar campaign over the last couple of decades by Mormons who have attempted to present themselves in such a way, according to Todd Phillips, teaching pastor at Frontline, the young adult ministry of McLean in Virginia.
Many Americans, including Christians, see Mormons as "just another branch of Christianity who talk about Jesus all the time and likely do a better job at adhering to family values than most Christian do in churches in America," Phillips told hundreds attending service and watching over the Internet on Sunday.
That perspective, however, is in stark contrast to just 50 years ago, when Mormons were seen as "conservative, countercultural religious zealots who didn't drink alcohol or coffee, or smoked cigarettes and lived in Utah with several wives," Phillips said.
"They were also marked by many as radical communalists and polygamists out to destroy even the concept of the traditional family."
They were perceived as a heretical Christian sect at best and a cult at worst, he noted.
As part of a seven-week sermon series, Phillips was attempting to answer the question of whether Mormonism and biblical Christianity are the same.
Over the last several weeks, Frontline has been tackling some of the most frequently asked religion questions from the pulpit in hopes of helping both Christians and non-Christians move closer to grasping truth.
"Destination Truth" is the current series being preached by Phillips and so far the series has touched on truth, tolerance, fairness (about Jesus being the only way), world religions and New Age spirituality – which is being promoted by such popular figures as Oprah Winfrey. Mormonism was the latest topic addressed.
"We're not here tonight to decide whether Mormons are nice people," Phillips clarified, noting that they are. "What we are trying to figure out here is if they adhere to true historic Christian faith."
After putting Mormonism – one of the fastest growing religions in the United States with nearly 6 million members – in historical context, the Frontline pastor cited Mormon doctrines and the Book of Mormon to illustrate that the religious sect does not align with historic Christianity. In fact, it preaches a false gospel, Phillips indicated.
Among the Mormon beliefs that are contrary to core Christian doctrines is the rejection of the validity and veracity of the Bible.
"Historic Christianity ... we believe that we have only one source for ultimate eternal truth and that is the holy Bible," Phillips stressed.
But Mormons "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly," according to an article of faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the official name for the Mormon church.
That statement indicates that the Bible is impossible to be correctly translated because it is corrupted by corrupt churches, Phillips noted.
Mormons believe that the proper translation of what God wants believers to know is found in another source – the Book of Mormon.
Mormonism also denies the deity of Christ and "completely negates the biblical view of salvation through Christ alone," Phillips said. Continue »
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