Christianity Is Not Based on Christ?

After the encouraging letter to the editor, I also wrote an email in reply to a website I saw that said that "Mormons are often mistaken as Christians." My email went like this:

Hello, I really like your website. It is very informative and what a great cause! I just noticed one thing that I thought needed a bit of changing. In the section about Mormonism, it says that Mormons are often mistaken for Christians. Mormons are Christians. Even their name shows it: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Christian" means "of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ," or "a person who believes in Jesus Christ; a person who exemplified in his or her life the teachings of Christ." The Mormon Church bases every doctrine on the teachings of Christ and the people try to exemplify Christ. I hope you can change the comment. Thanks for listening!

Here's the reply I got:

Thank you for your email and your interest in Generous Giving. It is always a joy to hear from our readers and especially to be encouraged by them. The distinction on our Web site between Mormonism and Christianity is not based on the name “Christ” or “Christian” but on their substance and meaning. Since Mormons look outside the Bible to define these words, they fall outside historical Christianity. Thanks again for your interest and encouragement. May God bless you as you study the grace of giving!

I don't think I need to tell you that this answer was very dissatisfying. Every prophet in the Bible looked outside the Bible! That's what prophets are for. They intrepret old scriptures and receive living revelation. We know they're prophets because we, as children of God, are also entitled to receive answers from Him. Why do people disbelieve that the Lord cared about others besides those in Jerusalem? In fact, He probably was sick of those guys but knew they were the only ones who would carry out the awful crucifixion.

"We don't base Christianity on Christ. We base it on what we think it means historically." Lame-o!