8 responses so far ↓

• 1 J // Sep 22, 2005 at 9:33 am

  Woohoo. He posts. His mind is on fire. Again.

  Glad you’re back

• 2 Holly // Sep 27, 2005 at 3:30 am

  Mormons probably do think that they “have enough of a foundation in modern scripture that the status of the New Testament is irrelevant,” and the same goes for the status of the Old Testament. After all, Joseph Smith had to “retranslate” the bible, as I well know, having recently visited the room in Kirtland, Ohio, where he did most of that retranslating…. But hey, that’s been done, so nothing else to worry about! Nothing to see here, folks, move it along!

  But perhaps the situation will change as GBH continues his efforts to emphasize Mormons’ similarities to mainstream Christianity so that they seem less weird and more Christian.

  It used to drive me nuts when I’d meet returned missionaries who had read the Book of Mormon ten or fifteen times but hadn’t read the Old or New Testament EVEN ONCE. Lucky enough to start my mission before old Ezra took over and insisted missionaries read pretty much nothing but the BOM, I devoted my scripture study time to reading the works of scripture we share with the rest of the Christian world. I made it once through every word of the Old Testament and read the New Testament a couple of times. It helped make my mission worth my time.

• 3 J // Oct 1, 2005 at 12:16 am

  I think Mormons want to concentrate on what makes them unique. Their restoration history is what sets them apart from all those other Xian churches. If they were to focus on Christ then they would be like everyone else. [Saying this rather sarcastically, of course.]

  But seriously, Mormon history is the church’s claim to fame. I think it’s in the best of interests of the institution as well as its members to focus on it’s uniqueness. Sadly enough, this means there is little emphasis on Christ in many meetings and in doctrinal study.

• 4 Mike Davis // Oct 2, 2005 at 3:39 pm

  I have still yet to meet a mormon since moving to so cal.

  – Mike
  http://www.meetoc.com/user/mikedavis

• 5 John // Oct 4, 2005 at 5:29 am

  I agree–there’s not enough to distinguish Mo’s in/with the New Testament (Jehovah’s Witnesses have their own unique version, and are very good at emphasizing the different parts, like Christ *not* getting nailed to a cross). I think the Church does want to be accepted as Christian, but the leaders are playing it both ways. Hinckley just asked the members to read the BoM by the end of the year (which our family’s participating in), and more Moroni-capped mini-temples keeping popping up all over the place (temples are the ultimate symbols of Mormon separateness).

  Personally, I love the New Testament, esp. the Gospels part. I don’t think I’ve ever read the OT all the way through (I have a tendency to treat the Hebrew Bible as a collection documents rather than as one modern volume, and generally read my favorite parts over and over again), and I’d be happy if I never read the BoM again.

• 6 John // Dec 11, 2005 at 10:44 pm

  Thanks, Phoenyx, but having been through the Sunday School (and Seminary) cycle four times now, I still say that Mormon historians, scholars, intellectuals struggle with issues of Church history. In the rest of Christendom, that struggle takes place over Christ, the gospels and the rest of the New Testament. As Latter-day Saints, we don’t go anywhere near there.

  I’m with you on the Gospels. I love reading them as well.

• 7 Josh // Dec 20, 2005 at 11:36 am

  “The study also revealed that barely half of all Protestant adults (54%) read the Bible during a typical week. Barna pointed out that Mormons are more likely to read the Bible during a week than are Protestants.”
  Interesting stat in light of the conversation
  http://www.adherents.com/misc/activity.html

• 8 John // Dec 24, 2005 at 5:54 pm

  I really should’ve provided more context for this post. The faith-challenging issues that Mormons (esp. intellectuals) focus on are those surrounding LDS Church history (e.g. polygamy, multiple versions of the First Vision, etc.). The comparable issues for mainstream Christian scholars center on historical and theological issues based in the New Testament.

  The observation is still an interesting one, though–thanks, Josh!

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