Mormonism: Taking a Red Pen to the Nicene Creed

Posted by Eric F. Langborgh on 24 May 2007 at 09:30 am

I’ve run into many Mormons — some on bikes! — who claim that they are Christians. I do not doubt that they believe so, even though they also believe they must witness to other “christians.” But they are wrong, and in a few more words I have told them so and why that it is so. In short, it comes down to the content of our respective beliefs and — because they will often affirm the same terms — the definitions of the terminology we use.

The bounds of orthodoxy — the summary of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic faith — is wrapped up most succinctly in the Nicene Creed. I am delighted to have found that the author of the This Side of Glory blog has gone to the trouble of showing what a Latter-Day Saint would have to do to the Nicene Creed in order to honestly affirm it. The result is quite humorous, but very true. (Hat tip to Jamey Bennett at Wittenberg Hall and ReformedCatholicism.com).

The plain font is the original; strikethroughs are deletes from the original; and the bold red are inserts that accurately represent how the Mormon faith differs in essentials from the Christian faith. The numbers are footnotes to the sources, cited in the original post at the This Side of Glory blog.

We believe in ~~one God,~~ the main God of a number of Gods(1), who acquired His place as Supreme Being over a long period of time by living a righteous life(2), the Father Almighty, ~~Maker~~ one of the Makers (3) of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible (and Who is married, by the way) (4);

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, ~~the Son of God,~~ one of the spirit children of God (Lucifer being another), (5) the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; ~~of one essence with the Father~~ (6) by whom all things were made: Who won God’s favor by agreeing with God’s plan of salvation when Lucifer disagreed,(7) and who was called Jehovah in the Old Testament(8).

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate ~~of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,~~ of a physical relationship between God the Father and Mary, (9) and was made man, and was married at the wedding in Cana (10);

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;

And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;

And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father in the celestial kingdom, the highest of the three kingdoms of heaven;(11) And He and Joseph Smith (12) shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets;

And we believe ~~in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.~~ in the Mormon Church, which restores Christianity to the form it had in the time of the apostles.(13)

We acknowledge one Baptism – for both living and dead – (14) for the remission of sins as long as that baptism is conducted by the Mormon Church (15)

We look for the Resurrection of the dead which will be presided over by Joseph Smith,(16)

And the Life of the world to come. And Joseph Smith. (17) Amen.