Of all the questions that are posed to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this one is the most frequently asked. Somewhere along the way a rumor was started that we worship Joseph Smith as our God, and that we do not worship Jesus Christ. I would like to start off the Gospel Questions series by answering this concern.
We worship, love and adore the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts. We know He is our Redeemer, our Savior, the Son of God. He is central to every meeting, every ordinance, and every activity that takes place. We pray to Him, we sing praises to Him, we teach His gospel and strive to become more like Him in every way. We believe in Christ.
We love and admire Joseph Smith. We appreciate everything he did for the fledgling church. We feel his influence today and are grateful for it. Tears spring to our eyes when his name is mentioned. But he is not Deity. He is not our God. He was a righteous man, an influential leader, and the prophet of the Restoration. But we do not worship him.
You will notice that the full name of our church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Near the beginning of the organization of the church, some enemies of the early Saints coined the nickname “Mormons,” after The Book of Mormon. The appellation stuck, and so for years we’ve also been known as the Mormons, or in some cases, Mormonites. Some have felt that given the fact that the name of Christ did not appear in the name of the church, we did not worship Him. However, His name is certainly found in the official name of the Church.
Others have expressed their concern that since we do not perceive Christ in the same way as most other Christian religions, we are not Christians. I will go into those differing beliefs in another blog. For now, I will say that even though certain key points in ideology differ, we worship Christ with the same devotion as the other Christian religions. We know that it is only through Him that we may enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and we know that it is by His atoning blood that all things are possible.
Yes, Mormons are Christians. As we have encouraged the press and even our own members to turn from referring to us and ourselves as Mormons and instead, to use the full and proper name of our church, we affirm the fact that Christ is the focus of our faith. There is none other.
Related Blogs:
General Conference: Mom, Are We Christians?
Introduction to the Gospel Questions Series