As America prepares for the 2012 presidential elections, it is of note that the Republican hopeful is a Mormon.
Does that matter? Should the rest of the world be concerned if a Mormon occupied the White House? Comparisons are made with John F. Kennedy, who was a Roman Catholic. That was not a barrier to high office for JFK, therefore membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) should pose no barrier to Mitt Romney. So the argument goes.
Not orthodox Christian
Of course, Romney may be a fine man. The LDS church has always affirmed family values and, personally, I have found Mormons amiable and honest. Atheists hold high office in the UK, so we can hardly claim that personal faith is required for political leadership. In fact, many evangelicals in America are happy to endorse the essential moral values of Romney in spite of his allegiance to Mormonism. But this news story is promoting an important confusion. The confusion is seen in the comparison made between Romney and Kennedy. Mormonism and Roman Catholicism share the fact that they are not evangelical. But that is about the limit of the comparison. Mormonism is not orthodox Christian by any stretch of the definition.
Origins
Founded in the 1820s, the Mormon Church is associated especially with the curious writing of Joseph Smith. Hailed as a prophet, and producing the Book of Mormon, apparently from hidden ancient texts, this work bears more than a passing resemblance to the King James Version Bible (several chapters of Isaiah are repeated verbatim) and the Apocrypha.
The Mormon Church is not Trinitarian, rejecting the orthodox belief in one God who is three persons. It holds the eternal existence of souls, from eternity past into the future. One such eternal person is God, and his residence is a planet called Kolob. God is a perfected spirit — something good Mormons hope they also may one day become. Marion G. Romney, a relative of Mitt Romney and ‘apostle’ of the LDS church, wrote: ‘God is a perfected, saved soul, enjoying eternal life’. Mormonism teaches that marriage is an eternal state. This originally included an affirmation of polygamy or multiple partners, but, by the 20th century, most Mormons had dropped this practice.
Vocabulary
Of course, it is easy to caricature and ridicule beliefs. The media do this to evangelicals all the time. We should not ridicule anyone’s faith. But nor should we confuse a relatively recent American religious movement with orthodox, historic Christianity. Mormonism is no more a Christian religion than are the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Such groups could not have come to exist without the backdrop of biblical Christianity. They use biblical vocabulary. They can speak of creation, Christ, grace, atonement and salvation. But, in their new theological setting, these words take on quite different meaning.
If Romney were elected, then we should pray that he serves America well and that the rest of the world benefits from his values. However, the rhetorical confusion should be resisted. If we count Mormonism as just one more form of Christianity, then we empty Christianity of its content.
If you are interested in researching the facts about the cults further, then I strongly recommend the website of the Reachout Trust (www.reachouttrust.org). We fail to defend the faith if we don’t distinguish it from common counterfeits. Does it matter whether the President is a Christian? Possibly not. Does it matter whether Mormonism is Christian? Absolutely. The truth of the gospel is at stake.
Chris Sinkinson is pastor of Alderholt Chapel & lectures in Apologetics at Moorlands College, Christchurch.
