Liberty University Students to Mitt: "You're Not Christian"

I actually don't think the students are wrong. Mormonism is not Christianity -- from the Christian perspective it's a form of heresy. People are going to dance around this stuff because religion is such a touchy matter. But it's not like those kids at Liberty U aren't without foundation here.

 

Jefferson and Adams weren't Christians either. I wonder if Liberty students would protest their appearances? Well aside from them being undead ...

 

So, is their focus so narrow that a person cannot be a legitimate commencement speaker unless they practice Christianity?

Of course the issue much bigger than a commencement address is that evangelicals will simply not support him. Sure, there will be plenty of anti-Obama evangelical votes but there will be NO positive support out there for Mittens in the Evangelical community.

 

a lot of people would say the stuff they practice at Liberty isn't very Christ-like either.

There are so many different versions of "christianity" is it hard to pick and choose which of them are and aren't "real christianity"?
Is it like drawing the outlines of the real Virginia on a state of Virginia map?

Would they have made the same cult reference if Santorum had been ahead and asked to speak? I personally see little to no difference between the different sects, but I think I've seen that evangelicals refer to the catholics as cultists - or is that what the catholics say about everyone else - I get so confused between the People's Front of Judea and the Judean People's Front

 

They're bigots, but they are principled and rational bigots.

 

Josh Bergmann is Christian, eh? Go figure.

 

Can someone remind me who it was that was talking about how all the evangelicals were going fall in behind Romney now?

 

President Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. is The Uniter. He just needs Ray Hudson as his hype man.

Fido: I got Snowflake the cat to speak at our convention...
Bowser: But Fido! She- she's a... a cat!
Fido: Yeah, but her fur's like yours and like mine- white. That Zeppelin may be a dog -he barks, buries bones, chases cars and licks his balls like the rest of us, but I'm just not sure... anyhow, his fur's black. Do I need to explain?
Bowser: No, Fido, I get it.

Falwell can at least rest assured that none of these... students... will vote for President Obama even if they don't vote for Romney.

Gotta love the "cult" epithet, like that matters. There are at least four communities of snake-handlin', tambourine-shakin' Mel Kiper lookalike contest winnin' Sunday rockabillies within 45 minutes of my house. Bet the Libertarians never called them a cult...

 

Exactly. Mormons aren't Christians.

To me, that doesn't mean they're inferior, any more than Jews or Muslims or Zoroastrians are inferior. They're not in the club. They're in another club, a fine club, just one I don't belong to.

Any person who understands the basic tenets of Christianity understands this in a second. Not sure what the rest of y'all are thinking.

 

Who needs college when you can just work at your dad's dealership...

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Dr. Jay to Liberty University Students: "You're not American"

 

I just want to add a few specifics on this, if you don't care, Dave. There are quite a few differences between Mormons and Christians. Mormons have 2 entire additional books that they use in addition to the Bible as Scripture. In addition, if the elders of the church say something, they consider that Scripture. Southern Baptists, for example, don't come close to considering anything the President of the SBC says as scripture, even though they may or may not agree with it.

Another main difference is that Mormons have a different view of Jesus than Christians. Mormons have a "works-based" salvation, where if you do certain things, such as being baptized in the temple, married in the temple, and avoid certain other things, then you in essence can go to heaven (it's much more complicated, but that's a thumbnail sketch).

Christians believe that salvation comes through faith in and a relationship with Jesus Christ, and as a result of that, you will do good things and gradually sin less. Our not sinning doesn't save us, but Jesus alone saves us, and, as a result, we sin less. The result of a legitimate relationship with Jesus will be shown by caring for the poor and needy (and do more so over time) and we will also do less things that Jesus said were wrong.

 

Agree that the Liberty University students are correct about whether LDS church is Christian. And to think that many people think Liberty U. doesn't teach its students anything.

 

Which then again begs fatbastard's question. Replace "elder" with "pope", and you can ask the question whether by your definition if Catholicism is a Christian religion. My point is, if you claim a belief in Christ and following HIS teachings as a way to salvation/enlightenment isn't that what a Christian is? What is the cutoff on what we do/do not consider a Christian?

 

That's a good question.

And that is why the Nicene creed was written in the 4th century, to answer that question.

By the way, the Nicene creed does not say anything about organizational details like the Pope.

 

No, you can't, because Catholics don't believe that what the Pope says becomes Scripture.

Mt. Mike hit probably THE biggest point. Mormons have a different view of how a person is saved, and a different view of baptism. That is SO at the core of Christian theology and practice.

 

Do the Pope's proclamations count as scripture? Anyway, that's a bit different because I think Mormons listen to their elders and Catholics couldn't be bothered doing what the Pope says.

Good question. I'd say one God, one Son of God, the Son was Jesus, the Son died for our sins, the Son was resurrected. Which I believe makes Mormons Christians by my definition.

Edit - I now see Dave's post. Eh, I'm not convinced. Seems like second-order issues. Catholics and Protestants used to believe that they were so different than only one of them could be Christians. Not so. Both Christians.

 

My guess is that there is little that can make Jesus chuckle more than Christians judging the Chritianess of other Christians. That's clearly what he was all about.

 

How can a religion that says that Christ is the only divine human who ever existed not be "Christian"?

I don't intend to argue theology. I understand that there are key differences and that conventional Christians might be horrified by what's in Mormonism. I'm just saying, in the grand scheme of things you guys have God + Christ the Son of God, those guys have God + Christ the Son of God. Come on now, that's mighty similar.

All that said, I get the Liberty kids. This isn't Christianity as they define the term. Fair enough.

 

In essence, you're right.

Regarding Catholic teaching in general, there are certain things about Catholicism that make me, as an evangelical, somewhat uncomfortable. The main thing, I think, is the elevation of the Virgin Mary to almost equal status with Jesus. Some areas or individual jurisdictions do this more than others. There are things I disagree with, such as confessional--where a parishioner confesses their sins to the Priest and then they do a deed, such as saying a certain number of Hail Mary's, etc. and then they're good. Evangelicals have a doctrine called "the priesthood of the believer" which in essence says because of Jesus' death, we don't need to go through another man (priest) to get to God, we are able to approach him directly due to Jesus' sacrifice.

Some people do think that Catholicism is borderline Christian at best. I think it depends on the situation. For instance, I have no doubt that Mother Theresa, who spent her life fulfilling the call of Christ, was a Christian. However, as we all know, there are actions by members of the church that don't line up with Christ's teachings and teachings of the church that most evangelicals don't view as accurate.

 

The more important questions are whether the reactions of the Liberty graduates were appropriate.

I bet Obama is delighted with this turn of events.