Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-04-11
"MoRMoNIsN" AND CHRIsTEN
DOM.

A week ago the Deseret News an
swered some questions as to the rela-
ton of the Mormon church to the So
called Christian church, showing that
while the former had no connection
with either Of the religious organiza-
tons, Catholic or Protestant which To-
gether make UP the heterogeneous mass
composing the latter tits Itself the true
Christian Church set up anew by Christ
Himself. lie established 1t In the nine
teenth century, It Is His Church, he Is
with II by the presence and power OF
the Holy Ghost, and He ministers
through his servants whom He has APP
pointed. 1t belongs to no other organ
izatlon,'
A gentleman residing In THIS city
writes to us. asking some further
questions suggested by reading our
brief editorial and states trst that he
does not understand from our answer
what Mormonlsm is or can be- He
goes on 10 present the following state
ments and queries;
"The Latter-day Saints, as we know,
are not the founders OF Christianity
which Is a religion two thousand years
old. Christians no matter what sect
believe In the Savior Jesus Christ Pc
cause they depend upon the New Iesta'
-,ent. that tells OF His holy and divine
,rlgln, and OF His resurrection TO De
~ only truth.
Nov, then. how In the world can
The Mormons call themselves Chris
tians at all II they do not belong TO
either the Catholic or Protestant
churches2
nj the other churches are to be
denied, what would the gospel, the
origin Of all Christian organizations
yours included be, II not an insignlh-
cant book Of no value?
"You said in your next article-abont
DR. Elllott--that the Latter-day saints
do not claim the Prophet joseph smith
10 be superior TO Jesus now. II so II be,
why do you believe the Prophets revel.
ations to be truer than the only ana
unique gospel Of Christ Himself. which
Is the original and only claim to His
existence, divinity and religion?
Having read a good many OF your
articles Of great wisdom and logic, |
feel certain that you viii answer my
earnest and unmalcious questions
frankly
We reply, first, the very short article
to which he refers was not Intended to
show what Mormonlsm Is or can be-"
that could not be done IN the few lines
In which we merely replied directly to
some direct inquiries, Our friend can
learn what "Mormonism" IL from books
and pamphlets and dscourses devoted
to the subject. It would take more
space than can be spared in these col
umns to enter fully into that prolific
subject.
/ Next, as TO his statement that Chris
,tianity Is a religion two thousand years
old. That is true in a certain sense, The
history Of the divine origin and Of the
death and resurrection Of the Savior
Jesus Christ, with an account Of some
Of His teachings Is to be found in the
New Testament, but that was not the
subject Of the questions which we an
swered The different sects composing
what is denominated the christian
church are not any Of them two thou
sand years old. They sprang up at Diff
ferent dates and under a variety Of cir
cumstances, and their origin can be
traced TO human sources.
While they may all depend upon the
New Testament for their views and no.
tons concerning Christianity, they
must not be COMPOUNDED with the
Church which was established
by the Savior and His Apos-
ties, even II they each entertain
come portion Of the doctrines that
Christ enanciated The very fact OF
their essential differences in principle.
~ ordinances, in organization and in
almost every respect. pr0claims that
they are not and cannot be the one
body OF Christ with zone Lord. one
faith, one baptism and one spirit"
Our friend has mixed mp the real
Christianity Of the New Testament
with the conflicting, clashng, human
organizations mlsnamed the Christian
church.
He asks, How IN the world can the
'Mormons' cal themselves Christians
ut all. II they DO not belong to either
he Catholic or Protestant churches"
The answer Is, they are certainly Chris
tlans Il faith in Jesus Christ as the SON
OF God and the Savior OF mankind
obedience to His commands. strict ad-
horcnoe TO His teachings and accept
ance Of His relevations TO them In the
present age as wei ee those Of the FIRST
century OF the Christian err, can c...
Ftilute them Christians They do as,
however, claim any part or lot IN the
vaiious inoongruous societies and secte
trat take TO themselves that title.
The Gospel as taught by Christ and
III Apostles is one hing. modern so.
called Cbristondom IS another and
different thing. The book which con-
ta'ns the Gospel remains true and
therefore all-important no matter how
much the different religious denomiua-
tons have departed from IT, This ought
to be clear enough for our c5ucspon-
dent TO understand. even Il. as he
suites. he was mot born In q Chris
tar home" il is matter OF simple
Common sense.
IN answer to bis next question. W.
have TO say that the Iatter-day Saint
Co NOT claim that the revelations, ~