The Candidate Who Would Be God

By Joe Slobig, CP Guest Contributor Tuesday, February 28, 2012

In a recent CNN interview, Franklin Graham was asked, "Is Mitt Romney a Christian?" Graham responded simply, "Mitt Romney is a Mormon."

Mitt Romney: potential GOP candidate for president, brilliant entrepreneur, loving family-man, and devout Mormon ... Or should I say Christian? Yes, the elephant is still in the room, but effective Mormon marketing, coupled with a theologically tolerant electorate, has caused this particular pachyderm to blend in with the rest of the furniture.

Claiming Christian affiliation has always been a safe harbor for political candidates, and why not? For most Americans, the first thing that comes to mind when the term "Christian" is used is the gentle, loving man of Nazareth. And even though contemporary America's moral compass is spinning like a ceiling fan, being a Christian is still considered a plus in any politicians resume.

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So is Mormonism, Christian? In his 1820 vision, Joseph Smith claimed God told him all Christian denominations were an abomination and he should join none of them, thus the Mormon religion was soon born and its scriptures and doctrines established through Smith's prophetic revelations.

The Mormon church holds its original prophet in great esteem. In fact, 2nd president and prophet of the Mormon Church, Brigham Young, said; "No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial Kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith." (JOD, v 7, p. 289)

That being said, is Mitt Romney a Christian? I guess you'd have to know where the term "Christian" originated and what it represented. The expression "Christian" was first used in the Bible (Acts 11:26) approximately 30 years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The term simply represented one who was a follower or disciple of Christ. If we stop there then perhaps Mitt Romney is a Christian. But here's the rub. Unlike now, early Christians did not have easy access to a Bible. And like the "telephone game" where a story becomes more and more corrupted with each successive telling, some early "Christian Believers" were also unwittingly receiving and passing on a God, Christ, and Gospel that did not match up with their biblical counterparts.

Christian church leaders in the early fourth century, alarmed at the increasing proliferation of non-biblical heresies, cults and sects, gathered together in "Bithynia" (present-day Turkey) at the Council of Nicaea to "settle the confusion." One of the fruits of the Council of Nicaea was the compilation the Nicene Creed. Grounded solely in original first century New Testament Scripture, the Nicene Creed was intended to be a concise Scriptural compendium, espousing only the essential core beliefs of orthodox Biblical Christianity.

The Nicene Creed is accepted as the de-facto fundamental Christian profession of faith emphasizing, as does the Bible (e.g. Psalm 43:10), that there is only one God. The Mormon church soundly rejects the Nicene Creed. Instead Mormonism teaches there is a pantheon of God's.

Prophet and 12th President of the Mormon church, Spencer Kimball, said this on October 22nd 1976, "Each one of you has it within the realm of his possibility to develop a kingdom over which you will preside as its King and God. You will need to develop yourself and grow in ability and power and worthiness, to govern such a world with all of its people." Prophet and 5th president of the Mormon Church, Lorenzo Snow, is acknowledged as authoring the following couplet, "As man is God once was; As God is man may be."

Devout Mormon's have been taught, and believe, there are many inhabited planets governed by gods who were once men. To bring Snow's couplet into a sharper more contextual focus one might say: "As Mitt is God once was; As God is Mitt may be." Again, is Mitt Romney a Christian, or is he a Mormon, or is he both? That is for you the reader to research and decide.