WOW! David that was an amazingly thoughtful and insightful reply. I have a much deeper understanding of the Mormon Faith and I appreciate you taking the time to address my questions. I think they should append your statement to the front cover of the Book as your explanation makes me sorry that I did not read beyond the introduction. The forward of the Book of Mormon was rather confusing to me and left me with many questions.

Thanks again for your reply.
God Bless You.

I’ll give you my take on your questions as a practicing Mormon–

How do Mormons consider themselves Christian? Mormons consider themselves Christian in terms of their theology, their faith, and their worship being centered in Jesus Christ, the same historical person everyone else is referring to when they talk about Jesus. I think they also see themselves as Christian in terms of trying to follow the teachings and example of Jesus in how they live their lives, so a Mormon would think of themselves as doing ‘Christian acts of kindness’ when they are doing service, humanitarian work, or otherwise being a good neighbor. When some people say Mormons “are not Christians” it is because many regard Mormon theology to stray too far from mainstream Christianity, particularly not subscribing to the doctrine of the Trinity and closed canon of the Bible. The Mormon understanding of Jesus Christ is built, not just on the Bible but on the Book of Mormon and additional revelations that started with Joseph Smith. Some feel that that understanding is too different, even blasphemous, in order to be considered Christian as in the established circle of Christianity. Some academics are starting to label the Mormons as a 4th Judeo-Christian religion (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). Mormons are perfectly fine not being associated with mainstream Christianity but when people say they are “not Christian” all sorts of false assumptions and misunderstandings prevail.

Question two–I think you understand it better than most. Mormons and Joseph himself very much viewed him as a prophet/messenger of the God of Abraham to the House of Israel. Mormons would put Joseph Smith side by side with Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Peter and see all of them as revealers/sanctioned leaders for the people of God. Anyone who has read the Book of Mormon or spent any time reading the writings of Joseph Smith should very easily be able to see Jesus is always the center of attention. So, no worship of Joseph Smith or creed comparable to the Muslims that he was the greatest and last prophet. There is definitely a heightened admiration for Joseph Smith among the Mormons, they love to study his life and anything that has to do with him, I think comparable to the status Moses maintained among the Jews even as other prophets followed him. There is also added excitement just for the fact that his claims are so extraordinary and so recent that we really do have a lot of documentation about his life and his personal writings, so much so that it takes a decent amount of effort to sort through it and all the various interpretations of his life.

So, as a Mormon, do I view Joseph Smith as God or somehow replacing or even standing next to God and Christ–absolutely not. Do I see him as a prophet equal to the prophets of the Old and New Testament?—yes. Do I see him as a particularly special prophet–yes, both because of the sheer volume of the revelations that came through him and their recency. The recency includes a feeling that Joseph Smith is the main prophet of this era of history in which I happen to be roaming the earth.

Those were some long answers to short questions. Side note, I think it would be difficult to find an organization that has been more successful than the Gideons at distributing and making available the gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ during the last 100 years an act for which I’m sure God smiles upon them.

Best wishes to you friend.