How are Christians different from Mormons?

Answer 1

Mormons say that they too are Christians. Their faith differs in some aspects from other Christian sects. They consult a book of an American prophet in addition to The Bible. They typically avoid coffee and tea and alcohol. They formerly permitted marriages with more than one wife, but this has been disallowed for over one hundred years. They take special pride in educational values and family life, and they tend to stay married longer than people of other religious persuasions. Here is another Christian view. A Christian is a person who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ. A Christian believes that God loved us so much, that He sent His one and only son to earth, born to a virgin, to live here among us. Jesus is the son of God yet Jesus is God. Some Christians believe in the Holy Trinity, that is God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one [but not ALL Christians believe this]. Jesus was whipped, tortured, and hung to die on a cross. He took the punishment for our sins upon himself. Three days later he rose from the dead. He has gone on to heaven to live with God the father. We believe that Jesus died for our sins and if we confess that we are sinners and believe in him we will have eternal life in heaven with him when our earthly body dies. ...I can tell you what Jesus has done in my life. Christians do not have to perform any rituals or meet any quotas or follow any person here on earth to get to heaven. ...If I am wrong then I have lost nothing. If you are wrong then you have lost everything.

Answer 2

That depends entirely on your definition of "Christian". In general members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ("Mormons" or LDS) are defined by academicians as Christian on the basis of professing a belief in Jesus Christ and seeking to live according to the teachings of Jesus.

--- Some individuals and groups have declared the LDS as non-Christian because they are neither Catholic nor Protestant and thus fall outside the mainstream.

--- Some individuals and groups have declared the LDS as non-Christian because they do not subscribe to the idea of the three-in-one trinity (which seems to have its first documentation in the Nicene Creed that emerged out of the debates and discussions of the First Ecumenical Council in 325 A.D.) In particular, they believe the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost to be three distinct entities, the Father and the Son each having a physical body of flesh and bone and the Holy Ghost being a personage of spirit, and the three of them being unified and one in purpose but always physically separate. This contrasts with the creeds of most Christian denominations that describes the Trinity as three manifestations of the same essence.

--- Some individuals and groups have declared the LDS as non-Christian because they believe the Bible to be the word of God only insofar as it is translated correctly. They also accept the Book of Mormon to be scripture from God and believe that revelation continues through living prophets. This puts them at odds with most of the Christian world who consider the Bible - in whichever version or translation they have approved - to be the only scriptures and that there were no prophets or need for prophets after the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus during his mortal ministry.

--- Some individuals and groups have declared the LDS as non-Christian because they believe that people are saved by grace - only after doing all that they can do. Their belief is thus that no one could be saved without grace, but grace is claimed only after a person, in the judgement of the Father, has repented of their sins and then done all that they could do to improve themselves and help others and generally live a Christ-like life to the best of their ability (continuing to repent when they fall short and gaining forgiveness through grace). They believe that faith is manifest by good works and that where the works do not match up with the professed faith, the faith really doesn't qualify as faith. This puts them at odds with a large fraction of the Christian denominations who declare that salvation is a gift that requires only confessing Christ and accepting him as your savior and that good works are a result of being saved but not required once one is saved.