Winning Them SoftlyEvangelicals try to reach Mormons with respect—and hard
science.By John W.
Kennedy | posted
01/16/2004
After years of ineffective and often acrimonious
evangelism by various preachers and groups, a new coalition of evangelical
clergy in Utah is attempting to treat Latter-day Saints (LDS) with
respect.
Many orthodox Christians have denounced LDS theology
throughout the church's history. Not surprisingly, leaders of the 11.7
million-member Salt Lake City–based church have expressed both resentment
and distrust.
At the LDS semiannual general conference in October,
adherents of the Utah chapter of World Wide Street Preachers Fellowship
stomped on underclothes that LDS members consider holy. They also
pretended to blow their noses and wipe their bottoms with the
garments.
Three dozen evangelical leaders condemned the
actions.
"You don't take what is sacred to another faith and
denigrate it," said Greg C.V. Johnson, who leads Standing Together, a Salt
Lake City ministry to Mormons. "It doesn't take courage to treat a person
you disagree with in a disdaining fashion."
Johnson said he has been trying to build trust with LDS
leaders for nearly three years. James Ayers, pastor of Valley Assembly of
God, and 22 other evangelical leaders gathered at a press conference to
denounce the street preachers.
"You don't build any bridges with actions like that,"
Ayers said. "Our purpose is to let the community know that these people
don't represent all Christians in the city. We believe people need to be
treated with dignity."
Mormon-evangelical dialogue isn't new, but until now it
has been limited in scope. Johnson has engaged in high-level talks with
Mormon leaders, and he has received two letters of gratitude from LDS
apostles for denouncing the tactics of the street preachers.
Civil discourse
He believes
that evangelicals have a greater potential for influence if they refrain
from criticism, and that civil discourse is an essential prelude to a
breakthrough.
Johnson left the LDS 22 years ago, as a teenager, and now
attends an Evangelical Free church. He is in the midst of a 14-city
lecture tour with Brigham Young University professor Robert L. Millet.
Johnson and Millet engage in a respectful conversation about their points
of difference. Sometimes LDS and evangelical groups on college campuses
sponsor the events jointly.
The street preachers criticized Standing Together members
for failing to tell Mormons they are going to hell. But Ayers said
Christians are instructed to love those outside the faith, not rebuke
them. Ayers is disturbed that the street preachers seemed to be consumed
with anger toward Mormons. Ayers said a number of nominal Mormons have
started to attend evangelical churches recently in search of spiritual
meaning.
At a press conference a year ago, Ayers and a smaller
group of evangelicals denounced street preachers who screamed through
bullhorns and disrupted wedding pictures being shot near the LDS temple in
downtown Salt Lake City.
A DNA revolution
On another
front, a different group of evangelicals believes recent DNA evidence
questioning the accuracy of Mormon history provides an open door to
evangelism.
The Book of Mormon describes
how Israelites emigrated to the Americas 2,600 years ago, with the
now-extinct Lamanites and Nephites becoming the ancestors of American
Indians. But anthropologists say there is no match of Jewish DNA with that
of American Indians. An inaccurate Book of
Mormon creates questions about the foundations of Mormon
teaching.
Hope Christian Fellowship in Brigham City has produced
DNA vs. the Book of Mormon, a well-reasoned,
articulate, and irenic 50-minute presentation of this argument. The small,
independent community church spent $50,000 on the project, and is selling
it on videotape and DVD. Pastor Joel Kramer and Scott Johnson produced the
presentation. Kramer spent a year interviewing eight scientists—including
Mormon scholar Thomas W. Murphy—and two former Mormons who left the church
because of the DNA evidence.
The church sent a free video to 7,500 households,
consisting mostly of Mormons. The church also sells the video for $3
through its website.
Kramer told CT he has heard
reports from about 300 people who have left Mormonism because of evidence
presented on the program, released last April. Unknown persons have
vandalized one of his vehicles, sent him hostile letters, and left burned
tapes at the church's door.
'No Israelite
influence'
One former Mormon scientist is 43-year-old Simon
Southerton, who served as a bishop in Canberra, Australia. His book, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon
Church (Signature Books) will be published in March.
"The DNA evidence backs up decades of archaeological,
linguistic, cultural, and anthropological research that indicates there is
no Israelite influence in the Americas before Columbus arrived,"
Southerton told CT. "The only conclusion I
could reach from this research was that The Book of
Mormon does not contain a true history."Winning Them Softly
Evangelicals try to reach Mormons with respect—and hard
science.
By John W.
Kennedy | posted
01/16/2004
After years of ineffective and often acrimonious
evangelism by various preachers and groups, a new coalition of evangelical
clergy in Utah is attempting to treat Latter-day Saints (LDS) with
respect.
Many orthodox Christians have denounced LDS theology
throughout the church's history. Not surprisingly, leaders of the 11.7
million-member Salt Lake City–based church have expressed both resentment
and distrust.
At the LDS semiannual general conference in October,
adherents of the Utah chapter of World Wide Street Preachers Fellowship
stomped on underclothes that LDS members consider holy. They also
pretended to blow their noses and wipe their bottoms with the
garments.
Three dozen evangelical leaders condemned the
actions.
"You don't take what is sacred to another faith and
denigrate it," said Greg C.V. Johnson, who leads Standing Together, a Salt
Lake City ministry to Mormons. "It doesn't take courage to treat a person
you disagree with in a disdaining fashion."
Johnson said he has been trying to build trust with LDS
leaders for nearly three years. James Ayers, pastor of Valley Assembly of
God, and 22 other evangelical leaders gathered at a press conference to
denounce the street preachers.
"You don't build any bridges with actions like that,"
Ayers said. "Our purpose is to let the community know that these people
don't represent all Christians in the city. We believe people need to be
treated with dignity."
Mormon-evangelical dialogue isn't new, but until now it
has been limited in scope. Johnson has engaged in high-level talks with
Mormon leaders, and he has received two letters of gratitude from LDS
apostles for denouncing the tactics of the street preachers.
Civil discourse
He believes
that evangelicals have a greater potential for influence if they refrain
from criticism, and that civil discourse is an essential prelude to a
breakthrough.
Johnson left the LDS 22 years ago, as a teenager, and now
attends an Evangelical Free church. He is in the midst of a 14-city
lecture tour with Brigham Young University professor Robert L. Millet.
Johnson and Millet engage in a respectful conversation about their points
of difference. Sometimes LDS and evangelical groups on college campuses
sponsor the events jointly.
The street preachers criticized Standing Together members
for failing to tell Mormons they are going to hell. But Ayers said
Christians are instructed to love those outside the faith, not rebuke
them. Ayers is disturbed that the street preachers seemed to be consumed
with anger toward Mormons. Ayers said a number of nominal Mormons have
started to attend evangelical churches recently in search of spiritual
meaning.
At a press conference a year ago, Ayers and a smaller
group of evangelicals denounced street preachers who screamed through
bullhorns and disrupted wedding pictures being shot near the LDS temple in
downtown Salt Lake City.
A DNA revolution
On another
front, a different group of evangelicals believes recent DNA evidence
questioning the accuracy of Mormon history provides an open door to
evangelism.
The Book of Mormon describes
how Israelites emigrated to the Americas 2,600 years ago, with the
now-extinct Lamanites and Nephites becoming the ancestors of American
Indians. But anthropologists say there is no match of Jewish DNA with that
of American Indians. An inaccurate Book of
Mormon creates questions about the foundations of Mormon
teaching.
Hope Christian Fellowship in Brigham City has produced
DNA vs. the Book of Mormon, a well-reasoned,
articulate, and irenic 50-minute presentation of this argument. The small,
independent community church spent $50,000 on the project, and is selling
it on videotape and DVD. Pastor Joel Kramer and Scott Johnson produced the
presentation. Kramer spent a year interviewing eight scientists—including
Mormon scholar Thomas W. Murphy—and two former Mormons who left the church
because of the DNA evidence.
The church sent a free video to 7,500 households,
consisting mostly of Mormons. The church also sells the video for $3
through its website.
Kramer told CT he has heard
reports from about 300 people who have left Mormonism because of evidence
presented on the program, released last April. Unknown persons have
vandalized one of his vehicles, sent him hostile letters, and left burned
tapes at the church's door.
'No Israelite
influence'
One former Mormon scientist is 43-year-old Simon
Southerton, who served as a bishop in Canberra, Australia. His book, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon
Church (Signature Books) will be published in March.
"The DNA evidence backs up decades of archaeological,
linguistic, cultural, and anthropological research that indicates there is
no Israelite influence in the Americas before Columbus arrived,"
Southerton told CT. "The only conclusion I
could reach from this research was that The Book of
Mormon does not contain a true history."
