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."
