Is Mormonism a branch of Christianity or is it a distinct religion?
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March 29, 2024, 09:49:05 AM
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  Is Mormonism a branch of Christianity or is it a distinct religion?
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Branch of Christianity
 
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Distinct religion
 
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Author Topic: Is Mormonism a branch of Christianity or is it a distinct religion?  (Read 1338 times)
RINO Tom
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« Reply #25 on: January 04, 2022, 01:55:23 PM »

If Mormons aren't Protestants, then how are other Restorationist traditions Protestant?  or even Methodists?  The history of Methodism is distinct from attempts to "reform" Catholicism, after all

My not-so-intellectual understanding of the distinction (as has been addressed already) is that it is more about from which denominations you descend rather than your particular beliefs.  All Protestant denominations descend from Luther "protesting" the Catholic Church without any inherent desire to leave and/or deny the institution as at least legitimate in theory.  Each new Protestant faith is building upon further critiques of the Catholic Church, and while they are all now separate denominations (obviously), I think they can all clearly trace their lineages up the family tree.  That is why even some of the drastically different Pentecostal churches (i.e., handling snakes and stuff) are considered Protestant without any arguments by most people.  I might be ignorant, but from what tradition does Mormonism claim to descend?  To add an entirely new prophet is hardly a small critique of an existing faith.

So are Mormons unique among Restorationists only in that what they believe about continuous revelation is just a *bit* too far gone?  That seems a very tenuous place to try to erect some kind of litmus test

Restorationism does not consider itself a "descendent" of any type of doctrinal Protestantism - the Churches of Christ, Disciples, Adventists, Christadelphians, Pentecostals and Mormons are alike in seeing themselves as a restored apostolic church, not some incremental reform of Catholicism.  There is not a clear denominational lineage from which you can trace the Restoration movement back to Luther or the other  Protestant reformers:  this is the pioneer religion of the American frontier.

I am not familiar with each branch, but don't Adventists trace their lineage to Baptists?  Also, in most "family trees" I have seen Pentecostals descend from Methodists, a clearly Protestant branch.  You don't think Mormons having an entirely different holy book based on a prophet that no other branch recognizes sets them apart somewhat?  I mean, (a minority of, from what I understand) Pentecostal services might seem strange to a Lutheran or Episcopalian, but their beliefs on Scripture are surely MUCH closer to those branches than Mormons.
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Blue3
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« Reply #26 on: January 05, 2022, 04:10:36 AM »

I would argue it is a distinct religion as they have a scriptural canon which is entirely unique to their church. Unlike simply the Bible (both Old & New Testaments) which is the sole scripture used by all Christian churches, Mormonism includes the Book of Mormon and other texts by Joseph Smith which are common to their religion but not to any other, while also using the Christian Bible. This is similar to how Christians use both the Jewish Scripture and their own New Testament which is unique to their religion. There are also many distinctive theological beliefs of the Mormons that are at odds with Christian teaching. For what it is worth Mormons do not accept non-Mormon baptism nor do non-Mormons accept Mormon baptism. This puts Mormonism and Christianity farther apart than just Catholic and Protestant churches are.

No denomination accepts other denominational baptisms, including Orthodox to Catholic or Protestant. The entire point of each Christian denomination is that they have the truth, and they alone.

This is not true. The Catholic Church accepts baptisms in any denomination that it feels has a sound Trinitarian theology, and many Protestant denominations barely even impose that condition.

I was going to say this too. Lots of Christian denominations accept baptisms from other denominations.
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Del Tachi
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« Reply #27 on: January 05, 2022, 10:49:13 AM »

I would argue it is a distinct religion as they have a scriptural canon which is entirely unique to their church. Unlike simply the Bible (both Old & New Testaments) which is the sole scripture used by all Christian churches, Mormonism includes the Book of Mormon and other texts by Joseph Smith which are common to their religion but not to any other, while also using the Christian Bible. This is similar to how Christians use both the Jewish Scripture and their own New Testament which is unique to their religion. There are also many distinctive theological beliefs of the Mormons that are at odds with Christian teaching. For what it is worth Mormons do not accept non-Mormon baptism nor do non-Mormons accept Mormon baptism. This puts Mormonism and Christianity farther apart than just Catholic and Protestant churches are.

No denomination accepts other denominational baptisms, including Orthodox to Catholic or Protestant. The entire point of each Christian denomination is that they have the truth, and they alone.

This is not true. The Catholic Church accepts baptisms in any denomination that it feels has a sound Trinitarian theology, and many Protestant denominations barely even impose that condition.

I was going to say this too. Lots of Christian denominations accept baptisms from other denominations.

In fact, Mormons are outliers within Restorationism for not recognizing other denominations' baptisms
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