Jimmy Carter - Are Mormons Christians?

Are Mormons Christian? The Southern Baptist Convention in the summer of 1998 was in Salt Lake City, where they canvassed the state to try and turn those "nonChristians."But is their belief correct? Their main complaint is the difference in the Evangelical belief in the Trinity (Three beings in one substance), which belief dates to the 3rd century AD. --Meanwhile, Mormons believe in the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Ghost are individuals who are one in purpose), which dates even earlier and was taught by such great Christian leaders as Origen, Tertullian and Eusebius. Only with the Nicene Council and the excommunication/exile of opponents did Athanasius and the belief in the Trinity come to power.

So, Mormons are in good company, even though the belief differs somewhat from most Christian churches today. We believe in a loving God, and Christ as Savior and Redeemer of mankind. In my mind, that is what makes a person a Christian. Otherwise, we must get into other differences to determine who is 'more Christian' than another. Are the Southern Baptists and others ready to do this?

Recently Jimmy Carter commented on his church (the Southern Baptists) attack on Mormonism (see the following URLs for the full articles). Thanks to LDS Gems email list for the following:

JIMMY CARTER ON MORMONS

see: http://cnview.com/news_service/cnv_nov_1997.htm 
see: http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/mormonsadded.htm
(Originally, article was found at the following links, no longer active)
http://www.accessatlanta.com/news/1997/11/16/carter.html
http://www.desnews.com/newcit/pp1f0ysx.htm

Read the original article here:-
Former US President Jimmy Carter, a prominent Southern Baptist, recently told reporters that he not only considers Mormons to be Christian, but also believes his church is becoming too much like "Pharisees" in determining who is acceptable: "When questioned by the Deseret News about the SBC's characterization of Mormons as non-Christians, Carter said his church's leadership has become 'narrow in their definition of what is a proper Christian or certainly even a proper Baptist.'" Carter is also quoted as saying, "I think that the worst thing that we can do, among the worst things we can do, as believers in Christ, is to spend our time condemning others, who profess faith in Christ."-

So, here we have a very prominent member of the organization which disagrees with their radical viewpoint. I agree with him,that there are better things for all of us to spend our time doing: testifying of Christ, striving to help those who are lost in life, fight true wickedness (murder, rape, crimes, Satanism, etc.), and perhaps help President Carter build a few houses for the underprivileged along the way (I encourage you to look into Habitat for Humanity-a wonderful and very Christlike organization). I thank President Carter for his stance, which goes along with many Christian organizations' views- that Mormons are indeed Christian.