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I'm looking for concrete theological beliefs and practices on where they differ. Christians say that Mormons aren't Christian and yet Mormons call themselves Christian. So it can be quite hard to tell for a everyday person who is who and what is what.

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Welcome to the forum, Josh. This question may be too broad to be answered. There are differences between the two on the nature of God, salvation, the afterlife, recognized scriptures, etc. If you can narrow the focus a bit, you may get a better answer. – Narnian Dec 20 '12 at 19:45
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In addition to what Narnian pointed out, there are a lot of questions on this topic that have already been asked and answered. Have a look at the "lds" tag to see what our community has already covered, and if you find that you have a question on a subject that hasn't been asked yet, feel free to ask that. – Mason Wheeler♦ Dec 20 '12 at 19:50
Why do you focus your question on evangelical Christianity? – Drew Dec 20 '12 at 20:14
Just traditional Christianity is what I mean. I honestly don't know enough on how to ask the question properly. Also, Mason, I tried to find something similar, but could not. – Josh Dec 20 '12 at 20:59
Josh, Check this question out. Soteriology is one of the starkest differences between the two, along with the theology of God. Also, you probably wont find an answer to the question of if Mormons are Christians or not because the FAQ here states "any group that identifies themselves as Christian are to be considered on-topic and allowed to label themselves Christian." – tmolloy8 Dec 21 '12 at 0:24

2 Answers

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The "Evangelical" movement spreads across an incredibly wide range of beliefs, so it will be hard to nail this down, but a few things come to mind that ought to have broad acceptance and make at least some form of answer possible. For convenience in the rest of this answer, please treat the word "Evangelical" merely as broadly representing "Most Evangelicals".

  • Mormons believe that men can become Gods, or become like God. Evangelicals do not, and believe that God is the singular, unique, and supreme being.
  • Mormons see Jesus as a separate entity from God the Father. Evangelicals view God the Father and Jesus as parts of the same entity. It's hard to understate how important this point is, especially in light of the first point: the Mormon view withholds from Jesus some part of God's place as the unique divinity.
  • Mormons believe that around 600B.C. a prophet lead a group of Jews out of Jerusalem to the New World (America), where for a time they flourished. Evangelicals do not.
  • Mormons believe that a prophet to that group created a certain set a gold tablets, which Joseph Smith later translated. Evangelicals believe these tablets are utter bunk.
  • Mormons believe that Jesus incarnate visited the North American Continent. Evangelicals do not.
  • Mormons believe in the writings and teachings of Joseph Smith, that they are related directly or almost directly from God. Evangelicals believe Joseph Smith to be somewhere in between a deliberate con-artist, charlatan, and mentally insane, and point to serious concerns over the credibility of Joseph Smith's claim to 8 witnesses.
  • Mormons believe the Apostle John is still alive. Evangelicals (with some exception) do not.
  • Yes, Mormons have allowed and supported polygamy. Evangelicals, at this time, do not, but there are places in the world and times in history where this does not hold.
  • Mormons believe in something called Pre-mortal Life, that Evangelicals do not.
  • Mormons practice Baptism for the Dead. Evangelicals do not.
  • Mormons practice a ritual known as "Endowments", that Evangelicals do not.
  • Mormons believe that all men will come to glory, but that non-believers will come to less glory than practicing Christians... but there is no hell. Evangelicals believe in eternal punishment for non-believers and all those who oppose the teachings of the Bible.

The root question here, though, is whether or not Mormons are themselves even Christian. To understand this, you need to look at it from both sides. In a broad sense, one is a Christian when one acknowledges the person of Christ as their creator and Lord. Everything else — all the denomitions, splits, and arguments — is just details.

With that in mind, the Non-mormon Christian perspective is that Mormons have been lead astray, and have allowed the teachings of Joseph Smith and his successors to supersede and in many cases replace those of Christ... and so they no longer follow Christ supremely, but (perhaps unwittingly) follow Joseph Smith instead. Moreover, since Mormons refuse to grant Jesus full unity with God the Father, but hold him separate from God the Father, it is offensive to mainline Christians to watch Mormons hold up the teachings of Joseph Smith to the level of Christ, yet still use the name of Christ to describe themselves.

The Mormon perspective is that Joseph Smith's teachings are Christ's teachings, that Joseph Smith was merely His mouthpiece. They hold both the Old and New Testaments to be scripture (just not all scripture), and so to be considered "not Christian" is offensive to Mormons, because they still believe that Christ died for their sins, just as "regluar" Christians do.

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Your second bullet point is incorrect. Mormons hold a different view of the Godhead than the Trinitarian concept that Evangelicals believe, but in no way do they deny the divinity of Jesus. – Mason Wheeler♦ Dec 20 '12 at 21:29
@MasonWheeler if that's my only error in Mormon doctrine, I'll be very pleased with this. Corrected. – Joel Coehoorn Dec 20 '12 at 21:35
From my understanding they in no way hold up Joseph Smith to the Level of Christ. Also, Regardless of what some other answers here say, The only references I have found on their site point to Apostle John returning in a resurrected form, not having never died. I think it's worth noting that mormons do not currently practice polygamy anywhere, since some evangelicals did. (you might disagree about them being evangicals but some still do in Maine I think) I would also add that Mormons believe just about everyone is going to go to heaven, and evangelicals do not. – MaskedPlant Dec 20 '12 at 22:09
@MaskedPlant I don't think I claim mormons hold Joseph Smith on the same level as Christ, especially in light of the 2nd half of the first sentence of the last paragraph. – Joel Coehoorn Dec 20 '12 at 22:29
Makes sense, I was mostly referring to the last sentence of the second to last paragraph. So you're not saying that mormons hold him up next to Christ, you are saying mainline Christians watch mormons hold up Joseph Smith to the level of Christ. – MaskedPlant Dec 20 '12 at 22:46
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up vote 5 down vote

Simply put Evangelicals differ over at least three primary things:

1. The Nature of Jesus

Evangelicals believe Jesus to be God - of one being with Father, God from God, Light from true God. Mormons do not. Mormons believe Jesus to be divine, but a separate person from the Father.

2. The nature of the "Bible"

Evangelicals consider the canon to be closed. Mormons have their own scriptures composed well after the period.

3. The nature of soteriology

Evangelicals, by and large, believe salvation to be solely the gift of God. We believe that all who are saved entire into eternal relationship with God. Mormons believe that people are rewarded according to the nature of the covenant they believed.

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Point 1 is incorrect. Mormons hold a different view of the Godhead than the Trinitarian concept that Evangelicals believe, but in no way do they deny the divinity of Jesus. – Mason Wheeler♦ Dec 20 '12 at 21:28
Revised. Agreed that the wording was poor. – Affable Geek Dec 20 '12 at 21:39
Can you add to the first point that evangelicals believe there is one and only one God, that Jesus cannot be both divine and separate from the Father, because that would make more than one God. Not one God for this world, but one God, period. And the Spirit is also of that one God. – thursdaysgeek Dec 27 '12 at 4:07

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