deseretnews.com | Evangelical preaches at Salt Lake Tabernacle: "With Evangelicals and Latter-day Saints sitting together in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for an 'Evening of Friendship,' internationally renowned Christian philosopher Ravi Zacharias told them Sunday night that Jesus Christ's unique claim upon humanity is that he embodied truth and sacrificed himself for a world that often does not recognize him.
But what many Utahns may remember most distinctly is the sermon that came before it.
Taking the pulpit to speak of the event's historic nature, Fuller Theological Seminary President Richard Mouw addressed a capacity crowd of several thousand, offering a stunningly candid apology to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and noting that 'friendship has not come easily between our communities.' He dubbed the evening 'historic' and apologized that Evangelicals 'have often misrepresented the faith and beliefs of the Latter-day Saints.'
'Let me state it clearly. We evangelicals have sinned against you,' he said, adding both camps have tended to marginalize and simplify the others' beliefs.
Historical animosity dating back to the founding of the LDS Church by Joseph Smith in 1830 has heightened in recent years between the two groups, particularly in the 1990s, when several high-profile evangelical leaders asserted that 'Mormons are not Christians.'
Mouw noted the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith's birthday next December and several scholarly events planned to celebrate during the coming year. 'I hope many in the evangelical community will take part in those events,' he said."
3 comments:
Glad you got back OK.
Wow. I'd like your input Ryan. Is it still not the case that Mormon theology is polytheistic, and that the "god" that is now worshiped by Mormons was supposedly at one time a man who occupied some world somewhere?
My impression has been that perhaps many Mormons are in fact Christians, but only because they are ignorant of the real theology of their church. Its hard for me to see how such a cozy pow wow is really possible.
Any comments?
Rich B
Rich,
I don't know what to think. Clearly classic Mormon theology is not Christian in the historic sense but you may be right about the average Mormon.
I can think of many reasons to oppose collaboration with the Mormon Church because of their theology. That does not mean that in the end, it is a bad move on a practical level. Dialogue is usually always a good thing and if this interaction produces more thought and dialogue about theology, then, good for everyone.
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