Reply to "Mormons are indeed Christians" letter to National Post

 (This is the original text of my letter which was shortened and published in the National Post on January 5, 2012)
Mormons are very good people who live exemplory lives reflecting Christian
values but they are not really Christians in the original meaning of the
word. Christians, to quote from the Anglican Baptism questions "put their
whole trust in Jesus Christ as their lord and saviour." They depend on
grace, the forgiveness of sins and eternal spiritual life through repentance
and faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and regular
participation in communion with other Christians. In contrast the Book of
Mormon and the resulting new religion has established a path to salvation
which is more based on works and personal morality - i.e. self-salvation;
and does not respect the spiritual equality of women. Christianity is based
on the 66 books of the Bible which include over 3,000 years of verifiable
prophecies, historic events and settlements. The Book of Mormon was a
revelation to one individual whose occupation according to the US Census was
"treasure hunter", was claimed to have been translated from 'Ancient
Egyptian' which is a language unknown to Egyptian linguistic scholars and
describes ancient civilizations with large cities that have not been
detected in spite of modern satelite imagery and ground probing radar. The
bottom line - or perhaps the top line is that sadly their churches are under
what looks more like a phallic symbol than a cross.

Rev. John Gishler, M.Div., Calgary