Dave's Mormon Inquiry

The Possibility of Joseph Smith

Here's a second post [see Part 1] on Joseph Smith, Jr.: Reappraisals After Two Centuries (OUP, 2009). I didn't find the second and third sections quite as strong as the first section, although I liked Richard Bushman's essay "Joseph Smith and the Creation of the Sacred." But I'll talk a bit about Richard J. Mouw's essay "The Possiblity of Joseph Smith: Some Evangelical Probings." Some of what Mouw has to say rubs me the wrong way, but at the same time I'm grateful that this Evangelical theologian continues to make sincere attempts to engage with Mormonism.

Nope, Not a Cult

John Mark Reynolds posted "On America, land of cults," leading off with this provocative statement: "An American cult is what happens when radical individualism meets religion and philosophy." I was expecting the usual treatment when he got around to the Mormons, but was pleasantly surprised to read the following later in the post.

A Minister Speaks to Mormonism, Faith, and Logic

A Disciples of Christ minister with an LDS girlfriend posting at an LDS group blog: "Faith and Logic: Finding and Navigating an Individual Balance." The short summary: personal religious experience is good, but so is clear thinking; temper your sense of certainty with open discussion and listening.

Mormon Scripture

This is the long overdue second post on Craig Blomberg and Stephen Robinson's How Wide the Divide: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation. [See the first post.] This post talks about the Mormon view of scripture, with reference to the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, volumes of scripture that, along with the Bible, are part of the LDS canon.

The Mormon Trinity

This is the first of several posts on Blomberg and Robinson's How Wide the Divide: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation. The format of the book is its biggest strength -- each chapter contains a joint conclusion in which the authors summarize the exchange, with an emphasis on restating the many points of belief that both share (despite the often confusing use of different terminology by Mormons and Evangelicals). That seems like a nice way to approach an interfaith exchange and accounts, I believe, for the success and continuing relevance of the book.

Three Rules of Religious Understanding

Krister Stendahl died earlier this year (hat tip: Lehi's Library). He was a Swedish scholar and theologian, and also served for a period as the Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm. In LDS circles, he is fondly remembered as the author of three rules of religious understanding, which he propounded during public debate critical of a planned LDS temple in Sweden. They are good rules to follow in any religious or interfaith conversation. Here are Stendahl's three rules.

• When you are trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies.
• Don't compare your best to their worst.
• Leave room for "holy envy." (By this Stendahl meant that you should be willing to recognize elements in the other religious tradition or faith that you admire and wish could, in some way, be reflected in your own religious tradition or faith.)

Originally posted with comments at Beliefnet.

Reading About the Divide

At Clean Cut, a short post praising How Wide the Divide?, the first and still, I think, the best Mormon-Evangelical interfaith dialogue book. Says Clean Cut, "I think it should be an absolute required read for any Evangelical and for every Latter-day Saint."

Response to the McDermott-Porter Dialogue

At the Summa Theologica blog, a long commentary on the recent interfaith dialogue exchange between Gerald R. McDermott (a professor of religion) and Bruce D. Porter (an LDS General Authority), recently published at First Things under the predictable title "Is Mormonism Christian?" [The First Things post was discussed last month in a Times & Seasons post.]

Ph.D. versus Sci-Fi

Beliefnet is hosting an online debate of sorts on the topic (and I'm sure you've never seen this one before) "Are Mormons Christian?" Albert Mohler, who holds a Ph.D. (in systematic and historical theology) and is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, titles his post "Mormonism Is Not Christianity." Orson Scott Card, an award-winning science fiction writer and an active Latter-day Saint, replies with "Who Gets to Define 'Christian'?" I'll take one paragraph to talk about Mohler, one paragraph to talk about Card, and one paragraph to talk about the mixed bag of comments to Card's post.