Mormonism is not a Christian religion

As we refute the claims brought up by con, we will begin with a definitions clash. My opponent has defined Christian as anyone who acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah. But do not even the demons do such? Do not demons also believe in this oral tradition that Paul writes of in 1 Corinthians 15:3, and tremble? Thus, we cannot accept such a definition. Instead, I will define "Christian" as a disciple of Christ, one who follows Him and His teaching (Acts 11:26). In addition, Con mentioned that false brothers were still part of the Christian community. This I will not deny. But note that in the U.S. we have illegal emigrants, who may be a part of a community. But this does not make them Americans. In the same way, simply going to Church does not make you a Christian. However, all this is of minor importance since the issue at hand is whether the Mormon Church is a Christian religion, or in other words, is the Mormon Church a part of the Church of Christ? Thus, this has everything to do with doctrine and beliefs, for we are not speaking of individuals, but of the group as a whole. Is the group a Christians group? And the only answer to this is to see whether it fits with Christian doctrine. Now that this definitions clash is out of the way, we can proceed to the arguments that flow from my first contention. Now Con"s arguments flow from a misunderstanding. The main issue that I wished to address was not their written Scriptures, but rather their accepting the words of a man over the words of God. Now we come to the argument that flows from my second contention. The problem with believing there to be numerous gods is that Christians and Mormons do not worship the same God. Christians worship the one triune God, while Mormons worship many gods, each in one person. This is idolatry. In addition, each of these "gods" are finite, created beings, not the infinite, uncreated God of the Scriptures. They worship false gods, and thus, they cannot be followers of Christ, for they do not even acknowledge Him as He is! By worshiping false gods, they fail as Christians by their own standards. For Donald Q. Cannon, associate dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University states, "To acquire faith unto salvation one needs a correct idea of God"s character, perfections, and attributes." It is not simply that they have added some superfluous beliefs. They do not worship God, they worship some false god. They do not acknowledge Christ, but rather, some other "Christ". For the most part, we will ignore the arguments brought up against my third contention since this would result in a Calvinist/Arminianist debate, which is not the purpose of this debate. However, I would like to point out that without an acknowledgement of one"s utter sinfulness, how can one acknowledge his need for a savior? As Arthur W. Pink once said, "Just as the sinner's despair of any hope from himself is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion, so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace." Let us now move down the flow to my final contention. There are two major points I would like to bring up against my opponents arguments. First, the evidence that I presented clearly spoke of the salvation that Christians hold to. For example, Theodore Burton writes that he must work to overcome his sin. But in this, the victory is won, not by our works, but through the blood of Christ. Our sin was nailed to the tree. He bore them in His body. In addition, according to 2 Nephilim 25:23, salvation by grace comes after salvation by our works. According to this, we do as much as we can to earn our salvation and hope for God to make up the rest. Second, as to the general and special salvations that the Mormons believe in, the general salvation is, even according to Joseph Smith, no salvation at all. According to John 17:3, a verse quoted both by Mormons and Christians, "this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." In the telestial and terrestrial kingdoms, there is no such knowledge of God, and therefore no eternal life. Thus, this argument that the general salvation of Mormon doctrine is the same as the Christian"s salvation by grace alone falls. The Mormon Church simply cannot fall into the category of a Christian religion. Its teachings are not of Christ, and it does not even follow the true Christ or the true God. They have turned aside to a false gospel. Of just such a Church does Paul write when he says, "if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9). Clearly, the Mormon Church is not a Christian religion.