Are Latter-day Saints Christian? The Bible’s Own Tests, Applied

The testStart with the Bible’s definition

“Christian” is a Bible word. “The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). They got the name because they followed Christ, long before any creed existed. So the fair way to answer this question is to use the tests the New Testament itself gives.

John gives one: “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:2). Paul gives another: “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). Peter adds that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Latter-day Saints affirm every one of those without hesitation. I apply John’s test in detail in Are Latter-day Saints Just Like Muslims?.

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Book of MormonThe Book of Mormon is about Jesus Christ

The subtitle of the Book of Mormon is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” Nephi explained why he wrote at all:

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

2 Nephi 25:26

King Benjamin taught “there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:17). The climax of the whole book is the resurrected Christ appearing in the Americas, inviting the people to “thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet” (3 Nephi 11:14). That’s the same risen, wounded Jesus of John 20. I compare the two accounts in “A Different Jesus”?.

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His nameA church called by His name

When the Nephite disciples asked what to call the church, the Savior answered, “ye shall call the church in my name” and asked, “how be it my church save it be called in my name?” (3 Nephi 27:7–8). In 1838 the Lord gave the name: “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (D&C 115:4). That’s why members prefer that full name to nicknames.

Joseph Smith’s own testimony of Christ is one of the strongest in any scripture: “this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God” (D&C 76:22–23). The Pearl of Great Price takes faith in Christ all the way back to Adam, who was told to be baptized “in the name of mine Only Begotten Son … which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men” (Moses 6:52).

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Real differencesSo why do some say we aren’t Christian?

Because we do differ from most churches on a few big things, and we say so plainly:

• The Godhead. We believe the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings, one in purpose, rather than one substance as the Nicene Creed teaches (see The Trinity or a Literal Father and Son).
• The creeds. We don’t accept the fourth- and fifth-century creeds as binding, because they came from councils, not revelation (see Councils and Who Counts as Christian).
• Ongoing revelation. We believe God still calls prophets and has given more scripture, including the Book of Mormon.

Those are real differences. But notice that none of them is about whether we believe in Jesus Christ. They’re about whether we accept a later definition of Him. When someone says we aren’t Christian, he usually means we aren’t creedal Christians. That’s true, and so were Peter, Paul, and John.

Jesus gave His own warning about labels: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). The test He cared about was discipleship, not vocabulary.

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Check the premiseThe presuppositions baked into the question

Before this question can be answered fairly, the person asking has to justify a few assumptions packed inside it:

1. That the creeds define who is Christian. The word “Christian” appears in Acts 11:26, three centuries before Nicaea. Whoever uses the creeds as the test has to explain why a fourth-century council outranks the New Testament’s own tests (1 John 4:2; Romans 10:9).
2. That believing more scripture means believing in a different Jesus. The Jesus of 3 Nephi is born of Mary, crucified, risen with the wounds in His hands, and the only name for salvation. That’s the Jesus of the Gospels. Additional witnesses don’t change who He is.
3. That “Christian” means “agrees with my church.” Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants have disagreed sharply for centuries and still call each other Christians. The disagreement is real, but it doesn’t remove the name.

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FAQQuick answers

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Sources

• King James Bible: Matthew 7:21 · Acts 4:12 · Acts 11:26 · Romans 10:9 · 1 John 4:2
• Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 25:26 · Mosiah 3:17 · 3 Nephi 11:14 · 3 Nephi 27:7–8
• Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price: D&C 76:22–24 · D&C 115:4 · Moses 6:52 · Article of Faith 1

• Featured image and in-article graphic: original graphics by thebookofmormon.ai (painterly backgrounds; no photographs or likenesses of real people).