 |
We talk of Christ, we rejoice
in Christ, we preach of Christ. |
 |
2 Nephi 25:26 |
For ecumenical purposes, the question "Are Mormons Christian?" is a complicated
one. But there is no question that Jesus Christ stands at the heart of
LDS faith. Mormonism began as a kind of Christian primitivism—an
attempt to turn back the clock on centuries of schism to recover the purity
of Christ's teachings and recreate the Christian communities described
in the New Testament. Soon the movement developed in directions that carried
it to the edges of historical Christianity. Still, Christ has remained
central to the Saints' everyday spirituality.
 |
Then in a moment
to my view |
 |
| the stranger started
from disguise. |
| The tokens in his
hands I knew: |
| the Savior stood
before mine eyes. |
| "A
Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" (Hymns 29) |
For Latter-day Saints, Christ is teacher, exemplar, and mediator. Christ's
voice speaks to us in the revelations of Joseph Smith. In Christ's name
we pray and perform gospel ordinances. Christ is the wellspring of grace,
the channel through which divine love flows into our lives. In baptism,
we have committed ourselves to Christian discipleship, to lives spent
in loving service of others. Through Christ-like words and deeds, we make
light shine in darkness and bring healing to a broken world.
