If one were to rank the issues about which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is most sensitive, near the very top of the list would be the persistant accusation that Mormons are somehow not Christians. This is literally the first question in the FAQ section at www.mormon.org.
In responding to this charge over many decades, the church has sought to emphasize its Christian identity. Besides numerous discourses on the subject, the Church has projected a Christian image through the use of visual and material culture. For the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Queens, New York, the Church acquired and displayed its now iconic reproduction of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s “Christus” statue, which appears on numerous websites and publications. In 1996, the Church changed its logo to feature the words “Jesus Christ” more than twice the size of the other words in the name. The image was meant to communicate the centrality of Jesus Christ to the faith. Church leaders continue to offer impassioned sermons on the topic in recent years.
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