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Some seriously good stuff here. Super long, read it during Sunday School. Below are some teaser quotes. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2015/06/is-mormonism-christian-long-but-everyone-interested-in-mormonism-should-read-this/ ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2015/06/is-mormonism-christian-long-but-everyone-interested-in-mormonism-should-read-this/ Quote:Mormonism, however, is a bit amorphous and is always evolving. Yesterday’s Mormonism is not necessarily today’s Mormonism or future Mormonism. And Mormonism in the local Ward (congregation) is not necessarily the same as Mormonism among Mormon scholars at Brigham Young University or in the local LDS/Mormon Institute
Quote:Still, for purposes of this essay, “Mormonism” is a shape-shifting tradition difficult to pin down. Even the top scholars of the LDS Church at Brigham Young University do not agree one hundred percent about it. There is a sense in which Mormonism is a conversation around a central core with fluid and flexible boundaries. The LDS Church, however, has greater boundaries determined by its present authoritative leaders.
Quote:I discerned from them, as well as from reading contemporary Mormon literature, that the top leaders of the LDS Church very much want their religion and church to be considered authentically Christian—the fourth “branch,” as it were, of Christianity: Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Mormon.
Quote:What is “Mormonism?” Is it what the Mormon scholar-theologians at BYU say it is or is it what the average, garden-variety Mormon lay person believes? Or is it what past presidents of the LDS Church said? Or is it what conservative Christian critics of Mormonism say it “really” is?
Quote:However, I am not sure in my own mind that Bob Millet’s understanding of Mormonism coincides perfectly with either the LDS leadership or the average “bishop” of a Mormon ward or “elder” of a Mormon “stake.” I know they don’t coincide with some of the pronouncements of past presidents of the LDS Church and past Mormon spokesmen.
A couple more goodies – Quote:Now don’t get me wrong; Robert Millet would want me to affirm that he is definitely Mormon. What I am suggesting is that there is a gradual but discernable shift taking place in the LDS Church and its Mormonism, or at least in the Mormonism being defined and re-defined by BYU scholars.
Quote:but I came away from those two weekend long encounters with the BYU Mormons convinced that some Mormons are Christian in the personal sense of being genuinely God-fearing, Bible-believing and Jesus-loving—even if they do not interpret and understand God, the Bible and Jesus correctly. But if they are Christians, in my judgment, it’s not because they are Mormons but because they have crossed over a line in their own personal spiritual and theological lives from polytheism to dynamic monotheism
Quote:I fear that this trend, trajectory, among BYU Mormons has not filtered down to the garden variety Mormons of local wards (congregations) or even to the missionaries.So, Mormons are Christian only if they aren’t really Mormon? (Confession: I have little time right now and didn’t read the whole thing. My question comes from the second-to-last quote in the last comment.)
The comments bring up the conflict you site, I find it the conundrum of the battle. I found his insights about how the levels of interpretation are so nuanced. The church itself would never announce this, but if his insights are correct, and there are 3 or 4 levels of nuance in our community I am intrigued as to where we will go from here. Will we become mainstream Christians? Or what? It is a very long read – chunks were easier.
I don’t have anything profound (yet, and probably never) to say on the topic – just that I really enjoy reading at Patheos and realclearreligion. Thanks for posting. Quote:Mormonism, however, is a bit amorphous and is always evolving. Yesterday’s Mormonism is not necessarily today’s Mormonism or future Mormonism. And Mormonism in the local Ward (congregation) is not necessarily the same as Mormonism among Mormon scholars at Brigham Young University or in the local LDS/Mormon Institute
That’s hardly a unique characteristic; I was raised Methodist, and there have been plenty of times I’ve visited Methodist churches within a few dozen miles of home and spent most of the service wondering if I was in the right building. There’s so much variation within the UMC that LDS services seem almost cookie cutter identical from one ward to the next by comparison.
If we are evolving as a church, it is back to the teachings of the Book of Mormon. We are focusing more on the atonement and the grace of Christ. 2nephi 10:24-25 and Moroni 10:32 are 2 examples. Another is 2 Nephi chapter 25. Before we focused on “after all we can do” in verse 23. And what is it that Nephi instructs us to “do”? Verse 29 says “believe in Christ…bow down before him and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul.” We’ve had these teachings since the Book of Mormon was published, but we have focused on other things such as good works.
We are all unprofitable servants. It is by the grace of Christ that we will be raised at the last day. The 2 most important commandments are to love God and love our neighbor. A good tree cannot produce evil fruit. We will produce good fruit when we keep the 2 most important commandments.
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If it is evolving, it tends to evolve the same way water slowly heats up. things change, but you barely notice them — particularly on issues the GA’s think will hurt the members’ faith. For example, I think it’s much easier to repudiate what an old, dead prophet said rather than what a recent, or living prophet said. Which is what they did with the priesthood disavowal. I see the church as reactive to societal trends, not leading them anymore, or moving with them — they tend to only change when there becomes a practical reason for it — such as threats of losing property, legal status or membership. Then, we see change…but as the essays are a case in point, it is done quietly, rather than on a sweeping scale if it’s controversial.
And often, only a small percentage of the the church even seems to know, or care about it….for me the priesthood disavowal essay rocked the foundation of what it means to “follow the prophet” as well as the extent to which a prophet will “never lead the church astray”….for others, like my wife, it was a non-event.
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