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belief/pagan.html
| Pagan: | A follower of a religion which believes in or worships more than one god. |
As Mormons, we clearly believe in more than one god, for example: Jesus, Heavenly Father, Holy Ghost, Heavenly Mother . In fact we even believe that we ourselves may become gods. We believe that the earth was created by a group of gods. Some of us even believe that Father in Heaven is one God among many, and that he had a Father before him.
So Mormons definitely believe in more than one god, which means...
Mormons are Pagans
Having established that Mormons are pagan, because they believe in, (but don't worship), more than one God, the question becomes can Pagans (Mormons) be Christian?
From the Pagan perspective:
There is obviously no problem, because Pagans accept the notion that there are many gods. Mainstream Pagans might worship a variety of Gods, the Mormons only worship God the Father. But there is no problem at all with Pagans worshiping or believing in Christ as a deity.
From the mainstream Christian perspective:
There is only one God in existence, and that this God has always existed, and never changed, and that he is the only god that has ever, or will ever exist. This God manifests himself as Father, or Christ, or Holy Ghost depending on his whim of the moment.
I found no New Testament passages stating that following Christ was incompatible with believing in, (but not worshipping), other gods.
In conclusion, I find it perfectly acceptable for pagans, (Mormons included) to also be Christian. [But then, what other conclusion would you expect from a Mormon Pagan?]
Considering the animosity of the Christians toward pagans over the years, (it is estimated that 9 million pagans were killed by Christians during the dark ages), is it any wonder that the Christians would be alarmed by the rapid growth and development of a pagan religion that synthesizes elements of Christianity and Paganism into a single theology? And is it any wonder that the Mormon's would downplay the pagan-inity of their faith?
gary_casler@nexus.roch.edu wrote:
A history of religion instructor once told us when we were discussing Buddhism that when Christianity move into a new area it generally destroys the local religion(s), whereas Buddhism will move into an area and absorb the local religion(s). He went on to say that Buddhism could absorb Christianity without damaging Christianity. Buddhism is also interesting because it is a NON-theistic religion. You can be a theist, atheist, or agnostic and still be a Buddhist. Buddhism, or at least how I understand it, says that you can find salvation (nirvana) whether you believe in a god (or gods) or not.
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