Christianity & Mormonism Compared

 It seems that some people on the internet who reject Christianity as a heretical movement that sprung from Judaism think it’s clever to analogize between Christianity & Mormonism as if these are equivalent.      

No, it most certainly is not equivalent —-and here’s why: 

Christianity	Mormonism
Begins as a reform movement within 2nd Temple Judaism	Begins as a Restorationist movement alongside Christianity
Epistemic Basis	Epistemic Basis
OT & NT correctly exegeted, exposited, understood, & applied	The Book of Mormon & other similar texts (Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) & the OT & NT thusly reinterpreted / deliberately misinterpreted
Theology Proper	Theology Proper
Monotheistic Trintarianism	Polytheistic Polytheism
Ad Fontes!	Ad Fontes!
Hebrew, Aramaic, Koine Greek (Real Languages);	Ad Fontes! “Reformed Egyptian” ( a fictional language);
Bible/Scripture Translations	Bible/Scripture Translations
Multiple translations are good for getting to the correct meaning of the text.	Heavy Dose of KJVOnlyism
Soteriology	Soteriology
“Lay Down your (rooted( Works Righteousness & I will (judicially) save you from your sins, & over time will deliver you from their power & presence;  Theosis	Works Righteousness that runs through prescribed temple/tabernacle rites; Apotheosis
Race	Race
All People are created equal	Heavy dose of White Hegemony
Homosexuality	Homosexuality
When correctly understood, only cultic homosexuality is expressly forbidden	Same as tradition bound view: All homosexuality is expressly forbidden
Women	Women
Women soteriologically coequal.	Women:  On pain if not reaching the Celestial Kingdom, women  depend on men &, in a state of singleness to eventually marry a male in the afterlife if she wants to reach the Celestial Kingdom
Women as Presbyters / Deacons	Women as Presbyters / Deacons
Some denominations Egalitarian, others: Complementarian expressed as Male Hegemony	Male Hegemony
Marriage	Marriage
Not Essential, Common Law & Formal Marriage are both acceptable	Essential, Temple Marriage is de facto requirement.
Fideism or Faith?	Fideism or Faith?
Faith!	Fideism!

Note: The above table is not intended to be comprehensive. 

Tested by way of the Bible correctly exegeted, exposited, understood, & applied, Mormonism & Christianity have nothing in common.     

As a matter of Historical Theology & Ecclesiastical Tradition, Christianity & Mormonism share, at best, a few superficial similarities.    

Epistemologically, over time, there were multiple views on the role of Scripture relative to Faith & Practice that were tested & retained over time, & as a result of majoritarian hegemony in the Western Rite (Roman Catholic) churches in particular, what we know as Sola Scriptura was suppressed to the point of persecution.    The same was true with respect to ideas related to Soteriology. 

The Reformation is called a reform movement because it represented a divergence from Roman Catholicism’s majoritarian Epistemology & their Soteriology.    Nevertheless, Protestantism & Catholicism recognize a sufficient set of agreed upon ideas about Who & What God is & the role of Yeshua (Jesus Christ) as the Redeemer-Mediator.    Orthodoxy is more similar to Catholicism but is nevertheless part of the same set of major theological, ecclesiastical, philosophical, & ethical traditions that legitimately trace their roots back to the rise of the Way in the 1st Century AD/CE which was itself a reform movement that grew within & out of Second Temple Judaism.  

Mormonism claims to be a species of Christianity & from time to time its apologists have asserted that they should be recognized as such.    However, in truth that’s what Steve Hays used to call the Propaganda.     The reality is that Mormonism presents itself as a restorationist movement that (at best) shares only superficial similarities with Christianity — similarities which fall apart under closer examination.    In reality, Mormonism has virtually nothing in common with Christianity as a matter of both Historical & Exegetical Theology & has far more in common with any number of pagan cults in the Ancient World & Antiquity than it does anything else. 

The data shows that the analogy fails to obtain at too many key points of comparison.    Ergo, it is ill thought & spurious.