Two Religions That Claim to be Christian

Bear Lake Stake Tabernacle, a meeting house of the LDS

Can a religion claim to be “Christian” if it changes biblical truths about Christ and God?

One of the things I find interesting about Christian history is how quickly Scripture can be corrupted. The early church, for example, had to fight off gnosticism, which, among other false ideas, taught that salvation was gained through the acquisition of divine “knowledge.”

Today, we find Christian churches practicing some pretty strange stuff — dancing with poisonous snakes during church services, for example — which members say publicly displays their faith in a Bible verse they interpret to guarantee God’s protection. Though participants are often bitten, this doesn’t dissuade them. Neither, apparently, does death. When bites prove fatal, church members view the loss to be “God’s will.”

When the Bible is not just misinterpreted, as in the case above, but intentionally reinterpreted to create new doctrine, we move into the realm of false religion. Two groups that we can soundly place in that category — the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) — cling to the claim that they are “Christian.” Read More