|
by
Doug Ward |
OXFORD, OHIO-In the late 1990s, Brent and Lisa moved into our
neighborhood. My wife Sherry quickly became friends with Lisa, with whom she
had several things in common. Both were mothers of children of similar ages,
and both were members of tight-knit religious communities with traditional
moral values. We belonged to the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), a small
Adventist denomination; while Brent and Lisa were Mormons, members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
Brent
and Lisa were the first Mormons with whom we had had much personal contact, and
this was quite a learning experience for us. The WCG, which had previously been
very exclusive and insular, was at that time moving into the mainstream of
evangelical Christianity. We were trying to figure out our own religious
identity, and learning more about other religious communities was part of that
process. We found out that we had some important beliefs in common with Brent
and Lisa, and also some key differences.1
|
A
Larger Discussion |
At the time I was vaguely aware that our relationship with Brent
and Lisa was a sort of microcosm of a larger discussion going on between
conservative American Protestants and Mormons. One book that we borrowed from
the public library during that period was How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and
an Evangelical in Conversation by Craig L. Blomberg and Stephen E. Robinson
(InterVarsity Press, 1997).
More
recently, I learned more about the dynamics of that larger discussion from a
stimulating lecture given by Miami University professor John-Charles Duffy on
April 3, 2017. The lecture was entitled, "Cautious Pluralists: Making
Sense of Interfaith Dialogue between Evangelicals and Mormons."
Duffy,
who comes from an LDS background and is a coauthor of Mormonism: the Basics
(Routledge, 2017), began his lecture by describing an interfaith event held at
the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 14, 2004. Billed as
"An Evening of Friendship," this event was attended by some seven
thousand people, with audience and speakers representing both the evangelical
and LDS communities.
A
short introductory address was given by evangelical leader Richard J. Mouw of
Fuller Seminary. Mouw apologized to the LDS community on behalf of evangelical
Christianity, saying that evangelicals often have tended to bear false witness
by misrepresenting Mormon beliefs. Speakers included LDS scholar Robert Millet
and Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias. Zacharias spoke on "Jesus Christ:
The Way, the Truth, and the Life", emphasizing common ground, and received
a standing ovation. Biola University apologetics professor Craig Hazen gave an
irenic, inclusive closing prayer, asking for wisdom for all in attendance.
|
Agendas
in Tension |
At this remarkable gathering, each side was reaching out sincerely
toward the other with friendly intentions, but neither was abandoning its
convictions. There was much going on between the lines, with various agendas at
work. Duffy explained that the evangelicals involved hoped to promote an LDS
move toward orthodox Christianity. WCG (now called Grace Communion
International) had made such a move in the 1990s, and evangelicals hoped that
Mormons might follow suit. In fact, WCG Pastor General Joseph Tkach, Jr., gave
the opening prayer at "An Evening of Friendship."
The
LDS church, on the other hand, hoped for better public relations. They wanted
to be seen as Christians and recognized as part of the Christian community.
Outside
of this gathering, of course, both sides would continue to enunciate their core
beliefs. Mormons would continue to see their church as the locus of the true, restored
Christian faith. Christian apologists would continue to bring out the errors
they saw in Mormonism. Zacharias has been an editor of Walter Martin's Kingdom
of the Cults, which includes a lengthy chapter on LDS beliefs. Hazen, who
has written extensive critiques of Mormonism, later characterized this belief
system as "a tremendous achievement of the devil."
Duffy
emphasized that there is nothing unusual about the behind-the-scene tensions in
the Evangelical-Mormon dialogue. Interfaith dialogue in general, he said, is
much more like "high diplomacy" than like "a relaxed reunion of
friends." People involved in this kind of dialogue typically are
attempting to strike a fine balance, reaching out to the other side in love
while not abandoning core beliefs-in contrast to "liberals", who are
willing to sacrifice convictions in order to get along. Duffy observed that
Americans usually try to position themselves as "centrists" and avoid
being “liberals.”
Although
everyone tries to find a "sweet spot" in the center, people do not always
agree on what that looks like. For example, the goal of the evangelicals at
"An Evening of Friendship" was to be "loving but
convicted." Mouw aimed toward "convicted civility" and
"speaking the truth in love" (based on Eph 4:15). However, he
received severe criticism after the gathering for his apology to Mormons. Some
felt that he had neglected to speak the truth and had instead sold out to the
enemy. Hazen received similar criticism for his prayer, which mentioned LDS
founder Joseph Smith without condemning Smith's errors.
I
appreciated Duffy's description of the evangelical-LDS dialogue and his
discussion of the dynamics of general interfaith dialogue. In the particular
case of conservative Protestants and Mormons, it seems to me that the core beliefs
of both faiths require them to pursue dialogue. Both believe that we should
love our neighbors as ourselves, and we cannot do that without getting to know
our neighbors. Both believe that part of loving our neighbors is to try to
persuade our neighbors to join us, and we cannot evangelize effectively to
people if we are not in a genuine relationship with them. Despite the pitfalls
and tensions involved in such dialogue, it is a valuable and worthwhile effort
for all concerned.
1Sherry
wrote about this in an
editorial called "Love is Enough" in Issue 5 of Grace &
Knowledge, where she expresses the view that on a practical level, the
common ground matters more than the differences.
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