For example, the geographical utopia Mormons once dreamed of, has for the most part subsided in favor of a spiritual kingdom. A perusal of the Church’s history shows its interests to lie more in moral living with a penchant for political accommodation when and where necessary. Recently, for example, in a politically correct move, Mormon leaders have condemned the Church’s practice of proxy baptism (a living person baptized on behalf of the deceased) for holocaust victims in response to Jewish outrage. He says, Brodie, a Mormon, “…frankly admitted lack of belief in Joseph Smith’s divine calling, describing him as a brilliant improviser, a man with a life overrun by his own stories who came to believe in his fictions.” For this, Brodie has since been excommunicated from the Church.īe that as it may, Bowman says Smith’s theology, other than human deification and the promise of eternal life, is presently not a grave concern of the LDS hierarchy. While Bowman makes no judgment on Smith’s character or the revelations he claims to have received, he relays a telling assessment of him from biographer Fawn Brodie. In The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith, he traces the history of the religion from Joseph Smith’s (1805-44) first encounter with the angel Moroni (1823) to the present. Matthew Bowman, holds a doctorate in Religious History from Georgetown University. Mormons do, however, emphasize that salvation comes through Christ’s atoning sacrifice but lack a theology of grace which enables human sanctification. These documents, among other truths, define the nature of God, the Hypostatic Union (the Divine and human natures in the one person of Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit as being consubstantial with the Father and the Son. Their beliefs regarding the Godhead do not cohere with the Creeds of Nicea (325 A.D.) or Calcedon (451 A.D.).
LDS believes that they are the restoration of the Christian Church which early on went astray from the principles taught by Christ to his Apostles. As a practicing Mormon─ or the Church’s preferred name, “Church of Latter Day Saints” (LDS), Romney’s faith has shaped who he is and how he will approach the nation’s problems.įrom a traditional Christian perspective Mormonism is not orthodox. With Mitt Romney the presumptive Republican nominee for President it is important to know something about his religion.
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