Mormons Are Christians

Contradictions - Con and I agree that there are translation/copyist errors, but there are some that do have significance to doctrine, even to the character of God. As an example, can God be seen?Exodus 24:10 - "and they saw the God of Israel ; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself."John 1:18 - "No one has seen God at any time ; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him" Naturally, the Bible in its original form was probably perfect(I don't know if any individual writers made typos or not), but since there are errors, the view of the Bible being infallible needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Current discrepancies and errors have varying effects on doctrine, with larger effects such as the example I provided here.Trinity - When considering whether or not someone is a follower of Christ, it is important to always make the distinction between scripture and dogma. One doesn't have to agree with any other group on any topic to be Christian. One only has to agree with the Bible.There is only one God. However, there is a problem in the understanding of this issue. The Bible refers to three different beings, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet it calls each of them God. We know that they are separate beings, as Christ is the Son of God[1](and nobody can be their own Son). The Father's voice was heard at Christ's baptism[2], and the Father couldn't speak from a different location unless He were in a different location.Seeing as there is a seemingly discrepancy in having three beings, and only one God, it has been left up to interpretation to determine what is meant by this. Mormons believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct personages, yet together they make up the 'Godhead', or God[3]. Mormons further believe that the Hebrew 'Elohim' is indicitave of this, as the ending -im indicates plurality[4].While this view contradicts traditional Christian dogma, it does not contradict the Bible. Mormons, like other Christians, believe in only one God. They simply have a different way of resolving the perceived conflict of '3 yet 1'. The idea isn't as conflicting with traditional Christian dogma as it first appears, as Con himself said "three persons who exist as one God", as that would be an apt description of the Mormon belief as well.Con ends his argument about the Trinity with an appeal to popular belief, and an appeal to tradition. Because the majority of Christians have accepted the concept of Trinity since 325AD, doesn't mean it is a requirement to be Christian. In this instance, Con is using the Nicene Creed as an extra-biblical requirement to be a Christian. It would be similar to Mormons saying Christians must believe in the Book of Mormon, but they don't do that.Book of Mormon - Con's argument about letters indicating you have won money are irrelevant. I have already shown one example of a Biblical error that relates to the nature of God - can God be seen?Con then argues to the lack of evidence for the Gold plates. As having the original manuscript is being presented as a requirement for scripture to be true, I ask Con to provide original manuscripts for all books of the Bible.Con also argues to other evidences, and I assert that lack of evidence doesn't suffice as evidence to the contrary. Before we discovered x-rays, there was no evidence that a type of light existed that we couldn't see. Before we discovered anything, there was lack of evidence for that thing.In addition, there are actually evidences to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. There were many claims made by Joseph Smith(through the text of the Book of Mormon) that were ridiculous notions, but have since been shown to be true.One example is the practice of inscribing important information on metal plates, and even the practice of binding those plates into metallic books. In 1820, the idea was ridiculous, and Mormons were persecuted for that belief. However, in the last 100 years, we have discovered many examples of religious metallic plates and books[5].Conclusion - When the distinction between scripture and dogma is made, it is clear that Mormons are Christians. They believe the Bible to be the word of God, they believe Jesus to be the Son of God, and they strive to follow his teachings.[6][1]http://www.biblestudytools.com...[2]http://www.biblestudytools.com...[3]http://www.lds.org...[4]http://www.biblestudytools.com...[5]http://www.templestudy.com...[6]http://www.lds.org...