Mormonism is not a Christian religion

We"ll begin with the definitions-clash that has been brought up. I believe that this is possibly the most important issue in this round, so we will spend a significant portion of this rebuttal on this clash. The first definition clash that has been brought up is over the word "Christian. " What is a Christian? My opponent defined a Christian as one who acclaims Christ as the Messiah. As we will see later, this definition still rejects Mormons as Christians. However, when we look at the literal translation of "Christian" from the Greek, we see that it actually means "Christ Follower," hence my definition of Christian. Thus, a Christian is one who not only acclaims Christ as Messiah, but also follows Him. As to Con"s further definition that he provided, I did respond to this, saying that even demons believe in this oral tradition: that Christ died, that He was buried, that He rose again on the third day, and that He appeared to His disciples alive. There are men too who have accepted the truth of these statements and yet lived a life of total rebellion to Christ. Thus, this cannot be used as a positive criterion for a Christian. The final point that we will make in this definitions clash is over the definition of Christian doctrine. Pro seems to think that this means any and every belief that a Christian holds concerning the faith. But this is not what these words mean. I use the word doctrine in the same way that Paul does in 1 Timothy 4:16, when he says, "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. " The Christian doctrine that is spoken of here is those doctrines that are beyond dispute and clearly proclaimed in the Scriptures. Paul makes it clear that one"s doctrine is crucial to a Christian Church. As for those differences in doctrine that occur between denominations of the Protestants, these are minor doctrines that receive little focus in the Scriptures. From this lack of focus, we can deduce that these doctrines are of lesser importance. Those doctrines that are crucial, we can discern easily from the Scriptures. In my constructive, I took four of these and demonstrated that the Mormon Church has abandoned the truth on each of these doctrines and therefore cannot be a Church that follows Christ. The Mormon Scriptures The first of these doctrines was on the authority on which all doctrine is based. As we saw in my constructive, the Mormons base their teachings on the authority of their living prophets. Even their written Scriptures are tested to the spoken Scriptures of their leaders. Thus, if their president were to claim that the only way to be saved was to drink milk at each meal, this would suddenly be the truth. We see that their authority is faulty and therefore their doctrines are changeable. Beliefs about God We also saw that the Mormons worship a false God. They worship many "gods" not the triune God of Scripture. In addition, when they speak of "gods," we saw that they are speaking of a finite, created being, not the infinite God of the Scriptures. Now, my opponent has claimed that claiming that the Mormons are worshiping a false God for this reason is unreasonable because the Jews and early Christians did not believe in the Trinity. Now, first, I would disagree that the early Church did not believe in the Trinity. Also, I would remind Con of Paul"s words at the Areopagus, where he says, " Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. " Here, Paul is speaking of the Athenians" belief in many gods. Thus, we see that God overlooked ignorance in the past, but now no longer does so, for He has revealed Himself as the triune God. The Mormons have not this excuse of ignorance. Con also claimed that some Christians today do not understand the doctrine of the Trinity. I don"t fully understand either. But I still believe it. In addition, we must point out that the Jews and early Christians never held that God was finite or created as the Mormons do. Now why does this have such importance on whether the Mormons are a Christian Church? It is because they worship a false Christ. They are given the means to know Him, and yet they reject this and invent for themselves a false Christ and follow him. They are not followers of Christ, neither do they acclaim Christ, and are therefore not Christians. As for the quote I brought up from Donald Cannon, that was from the LDS website* and therefore does represent their official stance. A False Gospel In this point I will also respond to the arguments concerning the sinfulness of man, for I will reiterate that the Mormons consider themselves good enough to earn God"s favor. Here, we are faced with another definitions clash. My opponent is claiming that salvation in the Mormon vocabulary has two meanings, and when they claim that salvation is by works, they are speaking of the rewards after our resurrection. However, this is not the case. This can be seen in a passage from the official LDS website, which states, "Immortality is to live forever as a resurrected being. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, everyone will receive this gift. Eternal life, or exaltation, is to live in God's presence and to continue as families (see D&C 131:1"4). Like immortality, this gift is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. However, to inherit eternal life requires our "obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Articles of Faith 1:3). "** The distinction here is between immortality and eternal life. The Bible teaches that all men are immortal beings. It is eternal life that is the result of the Atonement of Christ. Mormons, on the other hand, teach that immortality is the result of the Atonement while eternal life is the result of the our works as well as the Atonement. This is what I attempted to show in my last rebuttal, though there seemed to be some confusion on this point. I hope that this has now been removed. The Mormons have turned aside to a false gospel, and are, as Paul claims, "accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9). Voting Issues Now we will examine 3 voting issues, or the 3 main reasons for you to vote Pro. Voting Issue 1: A False Christ We have seen over the course of this debate round that the Mormons hold to a false Christ, and therefore, by both Pro"s and Con"s definitions of Christian, the Mormon Church cannot be a Christian Church. Voting Issue 2: A False Gospel Over the course of this debate, the fact that the true gospel must be held in order for a Church to be considered of Christ has not been denied by Con. Yet, we have also seen that the Mormon Church does not hold to a true gospel. Therefore, the Mormon Church cannot be a Christian religion Voting Issue 3: The Importance of Doctrine I have striven throughout this debate to demonstrate the importance of doctrine in this debate. While this has constantly been denied by Con, I have quoted numerous Scriptures and authorities, demonstrating the significance of doctrine. It is as the Apostle John wrote in 2 John 1:9, "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. " We can see very clearly, that the Mormon Church does not have God, for they do not abide in the doctrine of Christ. * The Restoration of Major Mormon Doctrines ** Eternal Life Thank you very much philochristos for debating. It has been a pleasure debating with you.