Cardinal Speaks to BYU on Religious Liberty

On February 23, 2010, Cardinal Francis E. George, Archbishop of Chicago, spoke to Brigham Young University on “Catholics and Latter-day Saints: Partners in the Defense of Religious Freedom.”

The event was held at the BYU Marriott Center, and reports estimate 12,000 in attendance.  Also in attendance were Elder M. Russell Ballard, Elder Quentin L. Cook, and Bishop John C. Wester of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Cardinal George explained:

“I’m personally grateful that after 180 years of living mostly apart from one another, Catholics and Latter-day Saints have begun to see one another as trustworthy partners in the defense of shared moral principles and in the promotion of the common good of our beloved country.”

The Divine Council at the SBL 2009 Annual Meeting

The Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) is currently holding its annual meeting in New Orleans. The meeting began November 21 and will run to November 24. Abstracts of the many sessions are available online.

Of particular note is F. Rachel Magdalene, University of Leipzig and Humboldt University Berlin, who is  presenting Retributive or Restorative Justice: Reading the Nature of God, Justice, and Humanity in the Book of Job on Monday (November 23):

The Pierian Spring: New Blog Project

I’d like to announce a new blog The Pierian Spring.  The blog is devoted to further discussion and discourse on Mormon scripture and thought and written primarily towards a Latter-day Saint readership.

Interfaith dialogue necessarily requires one to summarize, describe and otherwise explain one’s faith tradition in a way that others can appreciate and understand.  It goes without saying that in order to do this effectively, one must make a concerted effort to learn about the religious traditions of others and become aware of the themes, contours, the history and concerns that has shaped the faith of others.  In a sense, one must become religiously “bilingual.”  Thus, those involved in interfaith dialogue are continually learning about the faith of others but importantly, and concurrently, studying and reflecting on their own faith tradition, and as a result gain an important perspective concerning their own faith tradition.

Most Improbable Dialogue

Christianity Today, a magazine of evangelical conviction, has just published an article written by Richard N. Ostling (co-author of Mormon America) titled “Most Improbable Dialogue.” The article covers the efforts of Evangelicals and Latter-day Saints to engage in a series of dialogues and conferences over the years.

Ostling informs readers of the November 14, 2004 “Evening of Friendship” event at the Mormon Tabernacle where renowned Christian theologian Ravi Zacharias addressed a group of Mormons and Evangelicals.  It was also at this event that Fuller Theological Seminary president Richard Mouw shocked the Evangelical world by publicly apologizing to Mormons for the Evangelical distortion of Mormon beliefs.

How Should Evangelicals Approach Mormon Missionaries?

A triad of posts appeared this week: “How to Witness to Mormon Missionaries. Or, what to do when you have Mormon missionaries at your door” by Bridget Jack Meyers of ClobberBlog, “Witnessing to Mormon Missionaries” by Tim of LDS & Evangelical Conversations, and “Three Evangelical Perspectives on Witnessing to Mormon Missionaries” by Aaron Shafovaloff at Mormon Coffee. While these three authors do not represent a unified school of thought as to how to approach Mormon Missionaries as Evangelicals, each is a self-identified Evangelical Christian and offer his or her perspective in the matter.

Perhaps you are wondering what I think about these distinct posts from my perspective of interfaith dialogue and interreligious communication. If you are, you’ve come to the right place.  What follows are my observations, critiques and commentary.

Mormonism and the Cross: Looking at the History

Last year during a discussion about why Mormons do not wear the cross I made the following statement:

I think it is very important to look for historical explanations, rather than contemporary or popular explanations for why Mormons do not wear crosses or have crosses on their meeting houses. For that matter, it is important to draw a distinction between the cross as a doctrinal symbol, an architectural symbol and for personal adornment.

In regards to meetinghouses, Bushman observes that “During the course of his life, [Joseph] never built a standard meetinghouse, even in Nauvoo, where the Mormon population exceeded 10,000.” Rather, Joseph’s “architectural imagination focused on temples.” Bushman explains, “However culturally anomalous, the City of Zion occupied a central place in Joseph Smith’s design for world renewal. He conceived the world as a vast funnel with the city at the vortex and the temple at the center of the city.” I haven’t found any historical evidence that Joseph taught using crosses in architecture was somehow unfavorable or improper, but rather he was looking towards the tradition of ancient Israel for his inspiration and sought to create “a church of cities rather than a church of congregations.” (RSR, 216-222).

LDS-Evangelical Dialogue With A British Accent

Each week Christian Premier Radio in London broadcasts Unbelievable with Justin Brierley. Unbelievable brings together people from different belief systems, typically a Christian participant and a non-Christian participant, to discuss matters relevant to the Christian faith.

On February 28, 2009, Unbelievable made available on their online archives a show they did in 2006 with Baptist Pastor Greg Johnson of Standing Together and Dr. Robert Millet of Brigham Young University.

Listen online begins at audio marker 17:20-1:20:33.

Download the MP3 from the Unbelievable Podcast Archive.

Harvard undergraduate explains her Mormon faith

On September 23, 2008, five Harvard undergraduates were interviewed by journalist for the Washington Post, Sally Quinn, about their religious convictions (video). Students represented Islam, Mormonism, Judaism, Presbyterianism and Buddhism.   Before an audience of approximately 50 students, faculty and chaplains of diverse religions at Beren Hall at Harvard Hillel, these five students were asked to reveal their ‘spiritual biographies.’  The panel discussion was titled “Engaging Religious Difference: Personal Quests for Purpose” and was part of day long series of events on “Faith Live on the Harvard Campus: Personal Quest, Public Conversation, and Global Citizenship.”

Notably, Rachel Esplin (left in photo), an undergraduate studying East Asian Studies, and president of the Latter-day Saint Students Association, was asked to explain her background growing up in Idaho, and how coming to Harvard has impacted her religious views and convictions.  I was extremely impressed at her ability to articulate her beliefs to others in universal terms and yet in a passionate manner.