Submitted by Charles Snedecor, Apr 7, 2007 00:59

The Mormon Church (properly known as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" - "LDS") presents a huge problem for many, many people and it has little to do with either poligamy or Negros holding the priesthood in the church.  Both of those practices have lots of Biblical precidence as has been brought out by other posters to this format. 

There are other differences between the Latter-day Saints' understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how traditional Christian churches understand the same subject.  While the differences in points of doctrine are many, there are also many points of doctrine where they do agree.  As an example, the method of Baptism...  Latter-day Saints belive in Baptism by full immersion... so do Baptists.  Catholics and Presbyterians do not.  But, Baptists commonly call the Latter-day  Saints un-Christian or non-Christian because of differences in doctrine but don't call Catholics non-Christian although they have at least as many, if not more, differences in doctrine.  Latter-day Saints believe literally that Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary, that He performed many miracles and taught His Gospel - teachings that angered the Priests of the day to the extent that they plotted as to how they could kill Him.  They believe that Christ was crucified and literelly arose from the dead three days later, appeared to many, then ascended into Heaven. They believe that He was and is the great Jehovah of the Old Testiment.  Now, if those beliefs are not Christian, what are they?  There are many modern "Christian Churches who are doubting the factual, literal occurance of those events who criticize the Latter-day Saints as non-Christian because the LDS do not believe the same as they do.

So, why all the problems?  Why do I call the LDS Church a stumbling block?  May I submit to you that it is in how the LDS Church says it came into being and what the implications of those beginnings are.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states that the orginal church set up by Christ while He was on the earth was lost or 'withdrawn' because persecution and killing of the Prophets and Apoltles.  Without prophet(s) and Apostles to guide the believers, differences of opinion in interpretation of doctrine  caused the large number of sects of Christianity we see today.  The LDS Church claims to be the restoration of the original Church by divine command to a modern-day prophet - complete with the authority and doctrine, Apostles, spiritual gifts, etc. found in the organization set up by Christ.  THIS is the stumbling block.  To give the LDS Church any recognition, any legitimacy at all forces one to accept, to some extent, the story of how it came into being and, by necessary collerary, admit that God does exist, Jesus Christ does exist, and that, if those two things are true and that they directed the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The LDS Church presents the problem that, if it's legitimate, then what it teaches must be true and that all other teachings and all other churches are wrong.  THAT IS ONE MAJOR STUMBLING BLOCK and is the real reason for the open persecution of the LDS Church.

Incidently, there are now nearly 13 million people around the world including 5.7 millioin people in the United Sates who have investigated the LDS Church's claims for themselves and determined that the claims are true and are now members of that church.

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