Anti-Mormon Evangelical Protestant: "Mormonism" can be Considered "Christian" in the Broadest Sense of the Term

Many (typically Evangelical) critics of the LDS Church denies that “Mormonism” can be “Christian” in any sense at all. This, sadly, was the tact taken by a scholar such as Craig L. Blomberg in his essay in The New Mormon Challenge (see the section, “Is Mormonism Christian?” in Kevin L. Barney, A More Responsible Critique). Interestingly, one Evangelical Protestant anti-Mormon author, in a recent book, agreed that “Mormonism” can correctly be understood to be “Christian” in a broad sense, if not the “narrow” sense (i.e., one who accepts the [Latin/Creedal formulations of the] Trinity and other “fundamentals” of “mainstream” Christianity).  Under the heading, “Defining Mormonism and Christianity,” he writes:

[Groups claiming to be “Christian” but are not Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant] can be called “Christian” in a broader sense than the way it is being used here [i.e., groups accepting “Traditional Christianity”]. Both broader and narrower uses of these terms are legitimate; what is important is that we be clear about our intended meaning . . . In the broadest sense of the term Christianity, Mormonism is a type of Christianity. That is, the LDS Church and its offshoots originated historically from within a broadly Christian context as a religious movement that views Jesus Christ as their central figure. ON the other hand, in the somewhat narrower sense used in this book, Mormonism is not a type of Christianity because it does not accept some of the important, distinctive Christian beliefs that the three major streams of Christianity—Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism—all share. (Robert M. Bowman Jr., Jesus’ Resurrection and Joseph’s Visions: Examining the Foundations of Christianity and Mormonism [Tampa, Fla.: DeWard Publishing Company, 2020], 11, 13, comments in square brackets added for clarification)