Baptists, Mormons, Islam, Franklin Graham, and Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney (Gage Skidmore, 2011)

A major Baptist leader is somewhat comparing LDS beliefs beliefs to Islam:

SBC’s Richard Land: Romney Not a Christian, Compares Mormonism to Islam

Dr. Richard Land, a leading figure in the influential Southern Baptist Convention, tells Newsmax.TV he does not consider Mitt Romney and other Mormons to be Christians — and likens Mormonism to Islam…

Land declares: “No. Mormonism is not an orthodox, Trinitarian, Christian faith. They do not believe the same thing about God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit that we believe.

“Perhaps the best way to describe Mormonism, perhaps the most charitable way to describe Mormonism, is that it’s a fourth Abrahamic religion, with Joseph Smith playing the role that Muhammad plays in Islam and the Book of Mormon playing the role that the Quran plays in Islam. It’s based upon the Christian faith and the Jewish faith but it goes beyond them and it contradicts them.

“Islam is not a Christian faith. Mormonism is not a Christian faith,” he said with emphasis.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, expressed a similar view about Romney and his Mormon faith in a recent interview with MSNBC.

Asked whether Romney was a Christian, Graham said no.

Now it is true that Islam accepts the Quran and the LDS the Book of Mormon as inspired and faithful Christians do not do so (for more on the canon, see The Old Testament Canon and The New Testament Canon – From the Bible Itself). Franklin Graham recently also commented against President Obama’s faith being truly Christian (see Franklin Graham on Obama’s ‘Christianity’).

And while I do not consider that either Mitt Romney nor Barack Obama are faithful Christians, I also do not consider that Richard Land or Franklin Graham are either.

Of course, Dr. Land should be aware that the idea of trinitarianism was not part of the Christian faith, but something that did not get formally adopted until the late fourth century (381 A.D.). Yet, he is insisting on that as a type of litmus test of Christianity. Well, by doing so, all the original apostles and their faithful followers are also eliminated from Dr. Land’s definition of Christian as they simply were not trinitarian.

And while I do not intend to endorse any USA presidential candidate (see Should a Christian Vote?), I do not believe that Mitt Romney being a Mormon should be a disqualifying factor any more than Barack Obama’s religion should be.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

COGwriter Position on Other Churches and Religions What is the fate of those who do not know Christ? What about those who profess Christ outside the Church of God?
Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants How the Living Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
Some Dissimilarities Between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Living Church of God The Living Church of God is not related to the Mormons and this article explains some differences and a couple of similarities.
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes? Should Christians be Nazarenes today? What were the practices of the Nazarenes.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible? Did you know that Catholic scholars really do not believe that several of the claimed “apostolic sees” of the Orthodox have apostolic succession–despite the fact that the current pontiff himself seems to wish to ignore this view? Is there actually a true church that has ties to any of the apostles that is not part of the Catholic or Orthodox churches? Read this article if you truly are interested in the truth on this matter!
Early Church History: Who Were the Two Major Groups Professed Christ in the Second and Third Centuries? Did you know that many in the second and third centuries felt that there were two major, and separate, professing Christian groups in the second century, but that those in the majority churches tend to now blend the groups together and claim “saints” from both? “Saints” that condemn some of their current beliefs. Who are the two groups?
What Was the Original Apostles’ Creed? What is the Nicene Creed? Did the original apostles write a creed? When was the first creed written? Are the creeds commonly used by the Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholics original?
Do You Practice Mithraism? Many practices and doctrines that mainstream so-called Christian groups have are the same or similar to those of the sun-god Mithras. Do you follow Mithraism combined with the Bible or original Christianity?
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning Is binitarianism the correct position? What about unitarianism or trinitarianism?
Is The Father God? What is the view of the Bible? What was the view of the early church?
Jesus is God, But Was Made Man Was Jesus fully human and fully God or what?
Virgin Birth: Does the Bible Teach It? What does the Bible teach? What is claimed in The Da Vinci Code?
Did Early Christians Think the Holy Spirit Was A Separate Person in a Trinity? Or did they have a different view?
What is the Holy Spirit? An article by Rod Reynolds that was published in the Living Church News.
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it?
Binitarianism: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning This is a shorter article than the Binitarian View article, but has a little more information on binitarianism.