Is Mormonism a cult?

By Jim West.

Viewed from the perspective of historic, orthodox Christianity, the answer is an irrefutable yes, it is.  But why is it so deemed?  Two reasons, primarily:

1- It devalues the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.  He is not, for Mormons, THE Unique Son of God- he is merely one of many sons and daughters of God.  For orthodox Christians, Jesus is the Son of God in a particular and profound way.  And while all those who have faith are the children of God, they are not 'in the same league' as Jesus.

And

2- It asserts a secondary revelation, absent from Scripture, claimed to be equal to Scripture (the so called 'Book of Mormon').  for orthodox Christians Scripture is 'complete' and secondary accretions are both unnecessary and unwarranted and therefore illegitimate.  Further, numerous claims in the book of Mormon contravene the teaching of Scripture.  That fact alone is sufficient reason to disregard its views.

Now, that said, it must also be said that there are certainly adherents of the Mormon faith who are authentic Christians.  But how can this be?  Simply put, there are Mormons as unfamiliar with the intricacies of Mormon doctrine as there are Baptists and Catholics and Methodists utterly bereft of any comprehension of the doctrinal views of their particular denominations.  We are not saved, however, by our doctrine- we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

So, yes, there are Mormons who are authentic Christians even though their particular faith perspective on the whole fails to measure up to Christian orthodoxy.  And there are Baptists and Catholics and even Methodists and Presbyterians and Anglicans and Episcopalians (!) in the fold of Christ as well.  Just as there are members of those denominations outside the faith because they don't truly trust Christ for salvation.

We should all give thanks to God that our purity of doctrinal comprehension isn't the basis for our salvation.  Were that the case, salvation would itself be lost because then it would depend on us (and on our views) and not on Christ, who died for us.