Modern Controversies | Episode 8 — Are Mormons Christians? A Careful Answer to a Serious Question

Mormonism uses Christian vocabulary — Jesus, grace, etc. But does it teach what Christianity has always meant by those words? This episode works through the major doctrinal differences carefully and respectfully — including how Mormonism differs from Catholicism and Orthodoxy, what the historical record shows about Mormon origins, and why a tradition claiming prophetic authority needs to answer hard questions about its own revisions. RECOMMENDED READING Some links below are Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. START HERE Richard J. Mouw, Talking with Mormons: https://amzn.to/4eHmu4g HISTORICAL & CRITICAL Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: https://amzn.to/4vA929B Francis J. Beckwith et al., The New Mormon Challenge: https://amzn.to/4f7Fp9K THEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND Porter & McDermott, "Is Mormonism Christian?" First Things (2008) — free at firstthings.com R. C. Sproul, Faith Alone: https://amzn.to/4uTZODP About This Content This video is produced by Labbe Media, LLC and represents the personal ministry and creative work of the host, undertaken independently. It does not represent the positions, endorsements, or official teaching of any church, denomination, employer, or ministry organization with which the host may be affiliated. Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Theological and historical content is offered for educational and devotional purposes. While care is taken to be accurate and faithful to historic Christian teaching, this content is not a substitute for the ministry of a local church, pastoral care, or formal theological education. No copyright infringement is intended with respect to any quoted or referenced works. Fair use is claimed for brief educational quotation of third-party material. © Labbe Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution of this content is prohibited. Historical and biographical claims in this episode reflect the host's understanding of the available documentary record. Primary and secondary sources are cited in the endnotes below. Viewers are encouraged to consult those sources and to engage critically with all claims made. SOURCES LDS PRIMARY SOURCES Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25:23; Mormon 9:32 Doctrine and Covenants 93:21; 130:22; 132; Official Declarations 1 & 2 Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:2–3 Gospel Topics Essays (free): churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays — "Race and the Priesthood" (2013); "Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah" (2014) JOSEPH SMITH PRIMARY SOURCES King Follett Sermon — Times and Seasons 5 (Aug. 15, 1844): 612–617 [four contemporaneous accounts; no version canonized] Stan Larson, "The King Follett Discourse: A Newly Amalgamated Text," BYU Studies 18:2 (1978) Lorenzo Snow aphorism — Eliza R. Snow Smith, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow (1884), 46 LDS SCHOLARSHIP Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (Knopf, 2005) — endnotes 22, 27 Philip L. Barlow, Mormons and the Bible (Oxford, 1991) — endnotes 15, 23 Terryl L. Givens, The Latter-day Saint Experience in America (Greenwood, 2004) — endnote 31 John L. Sorenson, Mormon's Codex (Deseret Book, 2013) — endnote 20 Neal A. Maxwell Institute, BYU: maxwellinstitute.byu.edu — endnotes 18, 20 Gordon A. Madsen, "Joseph Smith's 1826 Trial," BYU Studies 30:2 (1990) — endnote 21 HISTORICAL & CRITICAL Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History, 2nd ed. (Knopf, 1971) — endnote 27 Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe (Signature Books, 2004) — endnote 20 Will Bagley, Blood of the Prophets (Univ. of Oklahoma, 2002) — endnote 30 Wesley P. Walters, "Joseph Smith's Bainbridge Court Trials," Westminster Theological Journal 36:2 (1974) — endnote 21 Smithsonian Institution Statement on the Book of Mormon (SIL-76, 1996) — endnote 19 THEOLOGICAL Porter & McDermott, "Is Mormonism Christian?" First Things (2008) — endnotes 5, 8, 11, 31 Neuhaus, "A Continuing Survey," First Things (2000) — endnotes 2, 11, 16, 31 R. C. Sproul, Faith Alone (Baker, 1995) — endnote 3 Vladimir Lossky, Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (SVS Press, 1976) — endnote 4 Keith A. Mathison, The Shape of Sola Scriptura (Canon Press, 2001) — endnotes 2, 4, 17 Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Bookcraft, 1966) — endnote 12 [written 1958; never canonized] Anthony A. Hoekema, The Four Major Cults (Eerdmans, 1963) — endnotes 9, 10, 14 Catechism of the Catholic Church §§80–95 — endnote 17 Council of Trent, Decree on Justification (Session VI, 1547) — endnote 3 Journal of Discourses 3:247; 4:53–54 (1855–1886) — endnote 30 R. E. Turley Jr. et al., Massacre at Mountain Meadows (Oxford, 2008) — endnote 30