Why Christians don't consider Mormons to be 'Christians'.

Why most Christians do not believe Mormons are Christians.

Before I start this note, I want to inform any of my Mormon friends that this is not meant as an attack against you or your beliefs. I am simply trying to state the facts. I Do Not want you to get angry and bitter towards me as you read this. I just want you to peacefully consider what I have to say. You may not agree with it, but at least you will start to understand why you are often not accepted in 'Christian' circles.
I have spend half my life living in different locations in Utah. I love Mormons, and I would like to think I understand them pretty well. One thing about Mormons is they have what a man I knew called a 'persecution complex'. (Many Christians have this to, it's not something unique to the Mormon faith.)
The persecution complex is basically this. When a group of people is so used to people attacking their faith, they perceive any outside source talking about their faith as an attack. Again, I am not trying to do that. So if you are Mormon and reading this, please put your fists down. 'I ain't here ta fight ya,' just to help you understand some of the differences between our religions.

If you are Christian, I want you to know that I do not want you quoting me later, in an attempt to attack a Mormon. Such an attitude would be bad, and I don't want my words to be used as a weapon for you. However, if you wish to quote me in a peaceful talk or debate, feel free to do so.

With that said... Let me answer a question so many of my Mormon friends ask me.
"Why don't you Christians consider us to be Christians too?"

I want you to fully understand me, and I have no mastery of the English Language, so this will take me a bit of time to say. Please be patient with me.

'Why' you ask? To be frank, your beliefs do not match the definition of a Christian.
Now wait a minute! I can guess what you are going to say next. ("But we believe in Christ too!") Don't worry, I will try to address that later. But first, please allow me to quote C.S. Lewis, a well known Christian author as he talks about definitions.

" Far deeper objections may be felt-and have been expressed- against my use of the word Christian to mean one who accepts the common doctrines of Christianity. People ask: "Who are you, to lay down who is, and who is not a Christian?" or "May not many a man who cannot believe these doctrines be far more truly a Christian, far closer to the spirit of Christ, than some who do?" Now this objection is in one sense very right, very charitable, very spiritual, very sensitive. It has every amiable quality except that of being useful. We simply cannot, without disaster, use language as these objectors want us to use it. I will try to make this clear by the history of another, and very much less important, word.

The word gentleman originally meant something recognisable; one who had a coat of arms and some landed property. When you called someone "a gentleman" you were not paying him a compliment, but merely stating a fact. If you said he was not "a gentleman" you were not insulting him, but giving information. There was no contradiction in saying that John was a liar and a gentleman; any more than there now is in saying that James is a fool and an M.A. But then there came people who said-so rightly, charitably, spiritually, sensitively, so anything but usefully-"Ah, but surely the important thing about a gentleman is not the coat of arms and the land, but the behaviour? Surely he is the true gentleman who behaves as a gentleman
should? Surely in that sense Edward is far more truly a gentleman than John?"

They meant well. To be honourable and courteous and brave is of course a far better thing than to have a coat of arms. But it is not the same thing. Worse still, it is not a thing everyone will agree about. To call a man "a gentleman" in this new, refined sense, becomes, in fact, not a way of giving information about him, but a way of praising him: to deny that he is "a gentleman" becomes simply a way of insulting him. When a word ceases to be a term of description and becomes merely a term of praise, it no longer tells you facts about the object: it only tells you about the speaker's attitude to that object. (A "nice" meal only means a meal the speaker likes.)

A gentleman, once it has been spiritualised and refined out of its old coarse, objective sense, means hardly more than a man whom the speaker likes. As a result, gentleman is now a useless word. We had lots of terms of approval already, so it was not needed for that use; on the other hand if anyone (say, in a historical work) wants to use it in its old sense, he cannot do so without explanations. It has been spoiled for that purpose.

Now if once we allow people to start spiritualising and refining, or as they might say "deepening," the sense of the word Christian, it too will speedily become a useless word."

So lets use Lewis' definition of a Christian. That means a Christian would be a person who accepts and believes the common doctrines of Christianity.

Ok. So what are those? Ha. Like I am going to write all those down. I doubt I would even be able to. If you want to view what is accepted as those doctrines, you should read the The Westminster Confession Of Faith.

http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/westminster_conf_of_faith.html

Lets just look at a few major doctrinal things that Christians believe in.

The trinity.
Christians believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. So do Mormons. But this is the part that separates them.
-Mormons believe the three individuals are totally separate.
-Christians believe the three are one. Three persons, one God.The three together make up God, and individually they are God. Now this is very hard to explain. Literally hundreds of thousands of books have been written on this subject. God is infinitely complex, and this just goes to show it. If you have questions on the trinity, ask me.

Another doctrine Christians believe in is that there are no other Gods but one. God, the one and only.
Now you might be thinking this conflicts with the Trinity, but it does not. As previously stated, the trinity is three persons in one. Together they make up God. Yes, hard to understand. Christians believe outside the Godhead (3-in1) there is no other God.
The Mormon belief is that (if you are good, and follow God) you can become a God. (however, they do not believe you can become God the Father, there is only one God the Father.)
Obviously the beliefs are different.

Saved by Grace.
Now this is a tricky topic for me to address. Both Christians and Mormons will tell you that you are saved by grace. And both mean it, but they have different definitions of this 'saved by grace' thing.

-The Christian 'saved by grace' is basically defined this way. If you have been saved (i.e. repented and placed your trust in Christ) from the wrath of God, you have been saved not by your own merit, worth, or anything you have done. That is, nothing you have done or could do could possibly have saved you. You are saved by the grace of Christ alone.

-The Mormon 'saved by grace' is much more complex. I will describe it in a way that was explained to me by a Mormon friend and a member of the Quarm of the 70.
What they said to me was this, "Salvation is a gift by the grace of God, let me phrase it this way. You are saved by Grace, and by works. But this is not a contradiction. For this analogy, lets say salvation was like crossing a bridge. You cross that bridge, you are saved. Now stepping on the start of this bridge is only by the Grace of God. Gods grace lets you get started. Now on this bridge are some gates you must pass through. These gates are works. They please God, and after passing these gates, you can now enter heaven."
Am I understandable to you? (If I am not, then I apologize, as previously stated, I am not a master of words) Basically it is this. Gods gracious enough to let you work toward heaven.
This is also really is a very complex and interesting belief. However you can probably see how it differs with the Christian belief in 'no works at all can save you'.

These are just three of the many differences between the two beliefs. (Note: I am not saying in here who is right or wrong. I am just stating what the typical beliefs are, and how they differ.)

So we see that they are different. Let me summarize what I have stated thus far. Why can't Mormons be called Christians? Because they do not match the definition of a Christian.
There are many similarities, its true. But just because a man casts a shadow, and a tree casts a shadow, that does not make a man a tree. Even if the man has apples in his armpits, he is still a man. He does not have bark, he has no roots, and he does not grow leaves. These are some of the things that define a tree. The differences between the two are what makes one a man, and one a tree. In the same way, the differences between the doctrines of Christians and the doctrines of Mormons are what make them what they are.

Are you following me here? Or have I lost you at this point?
I am sorry if I have lost you. I do have trouble turning thoughts into coherent sentences.

Let me lastly point out one last thing. If we get rid of all the doctrines, and simply say a Christian is someone who believes in Christ, then this still poses a problem.

That problem is this, the two religions do not believe in the same Christ. What? Yeah, I said that. Now before you go for my throat, let me explain. (again, I am not trying to attack, but if I sound like I am to you, I apologize.)

Say a man said he believed in Joseph Smith, and you said you believed in Joseph Smith.
This man then tells you that the Joseph Smith he believes in did not die in Carthage Illinois. Rather his Joseph Smith sailed to India and converted to the Hindu belief. And then the man tells you that he follows that Joseph Smiths Hindu beliefs.
Now would you say that man believes in the same Joseph Smith as you?
No. That Joseph Smith went places, said things, and did things you don't believe he did. They are two different people.

In the same way the Christ the Mormons believe in, went places, said things, did things, and over all was an entirely different 'person' than the Christ Christians believe in.
The two are trusting in entirely different Christs for their salvation.