Until I started blogging about 1 1/2 years ago I hadn’t heard of a lot of the stuff that’s out there such as “Adam/God Theory” and “Blood Atonement” that many anti-Mormons spread. The accusation of “earning” one’s salvation was something new to me as well that I had never heard of.
Faith is an interesting thing because it makes up so much of what a person does and how he or she views the world. When that faith is openly attacked the natural instinct is to bristle up and throw back some more punches.
Most “anti-Mormon literature” as we like to call it, is in my opinion ridiculous and pulled from obscure quotes by various prophets and not at all what we teach today. It’s the equivalent of taking some quote from one of the Christian crusaders and using it against all Christians.
However, there are many other of our fellow Christians who are well-intended in their approach with Mormons and who sincerely want to help us. Yesterday I read a great post over at Clean Cut that summarized a speech given by Dr Craig Blomberg. (If you don’t remember who Dr Blomberg is, he co-wrote “How Wide the Divide?“, which is a book on Mormon vs. Evangelical doctrine written by a Mormon and an Evangelical). In his speech, Bloomberg speaks to a large body of Christians in a talk entitled “What would Jesus Say to a Mormon?” I’ll have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about reading it because most people point fingers at us and try to tell us why we’re wrong. Dr Bloomberg did, what I think Jesus would have all of us do. He showed a genuine love for the LDS people and acknowledged their Christian beliefs. To view a summary of the 10 points he feels Jesus would say to Mormons you can also visit this blog.
I feel that although Blomberg doesn’t believe everything Mormons do he does exactly what a good Christian should do in my opinion and he sees the good and the common ground and builds on that rather than attacking the differences. I also feel he did a great job in his top 10 list of pointing out things we as Mormons can definitely learn from, but he also showed other Christians that in many ways Mormons aren’t so far off from what they believe as well.
What do you think about Blomberg’s approach?
Also, how to you feel about his top 10 list? Do you feel it’s accurate?
For us as Mormons, how can we learn from this in our discussions with fellow Christians?
5-23-09
I just read another great post related to this topic that was written last fall. It shares Dr Blomberg’s feelings of how the Mormon/Evangelical divide is from his perspective 11 years after having written the book. Check out the site here.
Well, I think we should be very careful when entertaining conventional Christian theology.
The devil will tell 99 truths to slip in one lie.
Why bother?
I’m glad you listened to Craig Blomberg’s talk. I would not call describe it as anti-Mormon in any respect. I’d like to explain more of the background of this talk for readers who are not familiar. First of all, Southern Gables is an Evangelical church located in Colorado and Sound Living is the name of their audio sermon resource. In 2007, Sound Living ran a “What Would Jesus Say” series, with various speakers speaking on what Jesus would say to a Mormon, a Catholic, a New Ager, a Muslim, etc.
I think it is important to realize that Southern Gables could have picked anyone to speak for their Mormon segment. They chose Dr. Craig Blomberg, professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary. in 1997, Dr. Blomberg co-authored “How Wide the Divide: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation” with Stephen E. Robinson author of “Believing Christ.” I’m very pleased that Southern Gables invited Dr. Blomberg to participate in their series and pleased that Dr. Blomberg chose to accept their invitation. While Sound Living determined the title of the talk, I believe this is sincerely what Blomberg would say to his Mormon friends.
I hope Latter-day Saints can appreciate the immense benefit and contribution that came from this conversation and dialogue between Robinson and Blomberg. As a result, Dr. Blomberg is not only able to benefit Latter-day Saint audiences but more than that he is able to provide Evangelical audiences with a much more informed and accurate picture of Latter-day Saint worship and thought. This and many other events like it are the fruits of respectful and charitable dialogue between Latter-day Saints and Evangelicals.
i think that prof. blomberg’s comments were particularly positive, for which i am grateful.
i also enjoyed reading “how wide the divide.”
as for his list, i think that it was surprisingly good. i don’t particularly agree with two of his points concerning the priesthood of all believers and the trinity, but all in all i think he is a great man that tries to see beauty among what many would call ashes.
Ama,
I appreciate the olive branch that you put out on Christians have a lot of respect for the mormons, which include family values, a hard work ethic, and pious and devout lives.
What would Jesus do to someone he believes is contrary to his own word? Jesus showed this very thing in how he approached the Samaritans, who believed they were every bit as good as the Jews regarding doctrine (teaching) and practice (including worship). Jesus did not attack them, but neither did he let them believe they were teaching the truth. Jesus illustrated that the Samaritan could be even more loving and virtuous than the Jewish priests or levites (Parable of the Good Samaritan). And yet, he reminded the Samaritan woman that “you worship who you do not know,” and that salvation belongs to the Jew. At the same time, he was open to them forsaking their ways to follow only him, the descendent of David and the Son of God. God was merciful, but let the Word of God guide them to truth.
Jesus was also opposed to the Pharisees. Let’s consider his approach. He honored their works and commented that their words were good and solid. Yet, he soundly condemned them for hypocrisy and for placing heavy burdens on the lives of God’s peoples–more commands than he ever intended to give. He mentioned that they will go to the ends of the earth to make one convert, which often meant that the convert became twice the devil of the original.
So, we do have Scripture that tell of Jesus’ approach. As Jesus would say, “Let those who have ears, hear…”
Blessings in Christ,
Ezra
Hi Bruce,
Which conventional Christian theology are you referring to exactly in reference to Dr Blomberg’s talk?
Hi Aquinas,
I was mainly saying Dr Blomberg’s talk was “anti-Mormon” for effect to show people how one should approach others with opposing beliefs.
Thanks for your comments as well! As you can see from a couple other comments here there are LDS Christians and other Christians who aren’t too eager to embrace.