Romney's Troubles With Conservative Christians
Mitt Romney did well in the Iowa straw poll -- taking around 32% of the votes in this political beauty pageant that Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and John McCain didn't compete in (they had their names on the ballot but didn't do anything to get people there). Polling second and third are the two leading "religious" candidates -- Rev. Gov. Mike Huckabee and Senator Sam Brownback. Neither has made much headway in the polls, but both are true blue religious conservatives.
Romney's change of position on issues like abortion and homosexuality have made him a target for conservatives, but his Mormonism remains the cross he must bear. It simply won't go away. Well at this Saturday's event a group of right wing Christians were busy passing out fliers that declared Romney unfit to rule. Indeed, Jesus wouldn't vote for one like him who is a member of a cult -- counterfeit Christian that he is. Jesus apparently won't vote for Giuliani, McCain, Gingerich, nor Fred Thompson either -- for they can't be trusted (check here for the report)
From this vantage point -- as a left of center Democrat -- it appears that the GOP candidates are liable to have difficulties with their rightward religious fringe. I would agree with Romney staffer Peter Flaherty, that there is no room here for religious bigotry. If a person's religious beliefs will impact their service as President then that should be explored. Huckabee's views on abortion, homosexuality, stem-cell research, and evolution are certainly rooted in his conservative Southern Baptist faith. Whether or not Romney's Mormon faith will influence his positions is less clear.
And let me say, while I don't find Mormon theology at all tenable or attractive, most every Mormon I've known has been a person of honor. I would have no problem voting for a Mormon or a Muslim or a Hindu if their positions on the issues I care about reflected my own.
Comments
• Baptism: .
Early Christian churches, practiced baptism of youth (not infants) by immersion by the father of the family. The local congregation had a lay ministry. An early Christian Church has been re-constructed at the Israel Museum, and the above can be verified. http://www.imj.org.il/eng/exhibitions/2000/christianity/ancientchurch/structure/index.html
The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continues baptism and a lay ministry as taught by Jesus’ Apostles. Early Christians were persecuted for keeping their practices sacred, and prohibiting non-Christians from witnessing them.
• The Trinity: .
A literal reading of the New Testament points to God and Jesus Christ , His Son , being separate , divine beings , united in purpose. . To whom was Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and Who was speaking to Him and his apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration?
The Nicene Creed”s definition of the Trinity was influenced by scribes translating the Greek manuscripts into Latin. The scribes embellished on a passage explaining the Trinity , which is the Catholic and Protestant belief that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The oldest versions of the epistle of 1 John, read: "There are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water and the blood and these three are one."
Scribes later added "the Father, the Word and the Spirit," and it remained in the epistle when it was translated into English for the King James Version, according to Dr. Bart Ehrman, Chairman of the Religion Department at UNC- Chapel Hill. He no longer believes in the Nicene Trinity. .
Scholars agree that Early Christians believed in an embodied God; it was neo-Platonist influences that later turned Him into a disembodied Spirit. Divinization, narrowing the space between God and humans, was also part of Early Christian belief. St. Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox) wrote, regarding theosis, "The Son of God became man, that we might become God. " . The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) views the Trinity as three separate divine beings , in accord with the earliest Greek New Testament manuscripts.
• The Deity of Jesus Christ
Mormons hold firmly to the deity of Christ. For members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS), Jesus is not only the Son of God but also God the Son. Evangelical pollster George Barna found in 2001 that while only 33 percent of American Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists (28 percent of Episcopalians) agreed that Jesus was “without sin”, 70 percent of Mormons believe Jesus was sinless. http://www.adherents.com/misc/BarnaPoll.html
• The Cross and Christ’s Atonement: .
The Cross became popular as a Christian symbol in the Fifth Century A.D. . Members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) believe the proper Christian symbol is Christ’s resurrection , not his crucifixion on the Cross. Many Mormon chapels feature paintings of the resurrected Christ or His Second Coming. Furthermore, members of the church believe the major part of Christ’s atonement occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane as Christ took upon him the sins of all mankind.
• Definition of “Christian”: .
But Mormons don’t term Catholics and Protestants “non-Christian”. They believe Christ’s atonement applies to all mankind. The dictionary definition of a Christian is “of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to a religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ”: All of the above denominations are followers of Christ, and consider him divine, and the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. They all worship the one and only true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and address Him in prayer as prescribed in The Lord’s Prayer.
It’s important to understand the difference between Reformation and Restoration when we consider who might be authentic Christians. . Early Christians had certain rituals which defined a Christian http://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/207/2070037.htm , which members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continue today. . If members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) embrace early Christian theology, they are likely more “Christian” than their detractors.
• The Need for a Restoration of the Christian Church:
The founder of the Baptist Church in America, Roger Williams, just prior to leaving the church he established, said this:
"There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking.” (Picturesque America, p. 502.)
Martin Luther had similar thoughts: "Nor can a Christian believer be forced beyond sacred Scriptures,...unless some new and proved revelation should be added; for we are forbidden by divine law to believe except what is proved either through the divine Scriptures or through Manifest revelation."
He also wrote: "I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual powers have been not only corrupted by sin, but absolutely destroyed; so that there is now nothing in them but a depraved reason and a will that is the enemy and opponent of God. I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among
those who should have preserved it."
The Lutheran, Baptist and Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) churches recognize an apostasy from early Christianity. The Lutheran and Baptist churches have attempted reform, but Mormonism (and Roger Williams, and perhaps Martin Luther) require inspired restoration, so as to re-establish an unbroken line of authority and apostolic succession.
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• Christ-Like Lives:
The 2005 National Study of Youth and Religion published by UNC-Chapel Hill found that Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) youth (ages 13 to 17) were more likely to exhibit these Christian characteristics than Evangelicals (the next most observant group):
Attend Religious Services weekly
Importance of Religious Faith in shaping daily life – extremely important
Believes in life after death
Believes in psychics or fortune-tellers
Has taught religious education classes
Has fasted or denied something as spiritual discipline
Sabbath Observance
Shared religious faith with someone not of their faith
Family talks about God, scriptures, prayer daily
Supportiveness of church for parent in trying to raise teen (very supportive)
Church congregation has done an excellent job in helping teens better understand their own sexuality and sexual morality
LDS Evangelical
71% 55%
52 28
76 62
0 5
42 28
68 22
67 40
72 56
50 19
65 26
84 35