Christ and False Christs

by Sharon

Yesterday the Southeast Missourian News ran an online article titled "Growing up Mormon." Author Melissa Sirrine is a student at Brigham Young University but visits relatives in southeast Missouri each summer. Her article seems to be written for the purpose of informing her non-Mormon audience about the tenets of Mormonism, and specifically that Mormons believe in Christ.

Noting that when in Missouri "I… find myself surrounded by those who don't know a whole lot about what I believe," Ms. Sirrine writes about her faith in Christ, the LDS health code known as the Word of Wisdom, the fact that Mormons do not practice polygamy, and her gratitude for membership in the LDS Church.

Ms. Sirrine concludes:

I am grateful for the chance I have had to live in Southeast Missouri each summer. The area is dotted with churches filled with good Christian people who worship the same Savior who cares even when the littlest sparrow falls to the earth. I'm thankful for my faith. I've loved every minute of growing up Mormon.

Can you guess which part of Ms. Sirrine's conclusion caught my attention? I'm confused (though not surprised) that she identified the LDS Savior and the Jesus worshiped in non-LDS churches as the same Being.

Many people don't understand the concept of "another Jesus"; they say there is only one. And yes, it's true that there is only one true Christ; but Jesus Himself warned about others:

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive… (Matthew 24:24)

I don't know much about the Jesus Ms. Sirrine worships; all she tells her readers is that He answers prayer and cares about things even as insignificant as sparrows. But it's reasonable to make the assumption that she worships the Christ promoted by her LDS Church. And this Christ is not the same as the Christ non-Mormons worship.

Late LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie taught:

…virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ… (Mormon Doctrine, "False Christs," page 269)

Consider these additional statements from LDS authorities:

• It is true that many of the Christian churches worship a different Jesus Christ than is worshipped by the Mormons or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Seventy Bernard P. Brockbank,Ensign, May 1977, page 26)
  
  
• [There are those outside the LDS Church who say Latter-day Saints] do not believe in the traditional Christ. No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. (President Gordon B. Hinckley, Church News, 20 June 1998, page 7)
  
  
• As a Church, we have critics, many of them. They say we do not believe in the traditional Christ of Christianity. There is some substance to what they say. (President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 2002, page 90)

Certainly, the question could be raised (and should be raised) asking which--the LDS Christ or the "traditional" Christ of Christianity--is the true Christ (if either one). But Ms. Sirrine's public assertion that they are both the same is really unfortunate. Her intended purpose in writing for the Southeast Missourian News was to inform people about her religion. Instead, she has misinformed them on one of the most important and foundational doctrines of Mormonism.

We've seen that if any newspaper prints a statement suggesting polygamy is in any way connected to the LDS Church, it receives letters from Mormons explaining the error of that report. Do you think any Mormon will contact the Southeast Missourian News to set the record straight on the LDS doctrine of Christ?