Mormonism

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Rachel Esplin at Harvard

December 24, 2008 in Religion by Greg | 12 comments

Rachel Esplin is a junior from Blackfoot, Idaho working on a degree at Harvard in East Asian Studies. Thanks to aquinas at Summa Theologica, I came across this video of a panel discussion moderated by Washington Post reporter Sally Quinn. According to aquinas:

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, 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.

Rachel did an excellent job framing the religious questions that she has faced by coming to Harvard:  “What does religious diversity mean?  What does it mean to be in a secular environment?  What does it mean to come face to face with what I don’t know and what I have to learn?”  In Rachel’s case, coming to Harvard has actually strengthen her faith by working through these issues.  As she has learned about other faiths, her faith has been strengthened.1

The event was held at Beren Hall at Harvard Hillel which is,

. . . the catalyst for Jewish life at Harvard, serving the cultural, religious, educational, social, and political needs of all segments of the undergraduate and graduate Jewish student communities. We also welcome and encourage Harvard faculty, staff, and the general public to participate in Hillel’s events and activities.2

The remaining videos can be seen at Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Sources:

  1. aquinas. “Harvard Undergraduate Explains Her Mormon Faith“. 22 December 2008. Summa Theologica. 24 December 2008.↩
  2. “Welcome to Harvard Hillel“. Harvard University. 23 December 2008.↩

Claiming Christ

November 14, 2008 in Christianity by Greg | 1 comment

Claiming Christ: A Mormon-Evangelical Debate is a book written by Robert L. Millet1 and Gerald R. McDermott.2 The book follows up where Stephen E. Robinson and Craig L. Blomberg left off in How Wide the Divide?: A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation. Although I have not yet read Claiming Christ, aquinas at Summa Theologica appears to have written a masterful review at An LDS Perspective on Claiming Christ: A Mormon-Evangelical Debate. Here is an excerpt:

Claiming Christ by Millet and McDermott

Morehead’s Musings: This book presents an academic discussion of theological issues. But while such theological frameworks may appeal to Evangelicals who approach their faith and interactions with those of other faiths with this priority and framework in mind, it runs the risk of missing the mark in communicating meaningfully with Latter-day Saints. This is not to dismiss the importance of worldview and doctrine which are surely related to ethics and praxis, but what might be the (even assumed) frameworks that Latter-day Saints begin with, and how might Evangelicals begin from these starting points and then bridge the way to their concerns over theological discussion? 

Aquinas: This is a great question. We really need spend more time learning each others metaphors. I think McDermott “breaks” Latter-day Saint metaphors by projecting and imposing criteria and meaning from Evangelical metaphors. I’d like to offer three examples of this. First, McDermott makes the argument that the LDS Jesus doesn’t transcend the cosmos (Claming Christ, 75). The Latter-day Saint metaphor is that God creates by bringing order out of Chaos. Cosmos is order. Chaos is disorder, unformed the unorganized. God speaks to Chaos and it obeys. So, what McDermott really means is the LDS God doesn’t transcend Chaos because Chaos exists when God creates. However, this breaks the metaphor because the metaphor only works when Cosmos and Chaos are opposites. The metaphor doesn’t care or it doesn’t make an issue of Chaos pre-existing as a challenge to the absoluteness of God. The point is not who exists before: God or Chaos. The point is that it is God who is creating by speaking to the waters. The point in this metaphor is that God is God because of his creative powers. The Holy Ghost broods over the waters and brings forth heaven and earth from the primordial waters in Genesis. That is one example.

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  1. Robert L. Millet is Professor of Ancient Scripture and the Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding at Brigham Young University.↩
  2. Gerald R. McDermott is Professor of Religion at Roanoke College.↩

Mormonism

November 3, 2008 in Christianity by Greg | No comments

“Is Mormonism Christian?” is the title of an article written by Bruce D. Porter1 and Gerald R. McDermott in last month’s First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life.2 Elder Porter introduced this subject by writing:

Mormonism has been much in the news over the past year. The presidential campaign of Mitt Romney was the principal reason, though there were other causes as well: the growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to become the fourth-largest denomination in the United States, for instance, and the prominence of Harry Reid as Senate majority leader. The total number of news articles devoted to the church in the past year more than doubled the previous high, reached during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. For all this, there has been more smoke than light, particularly about the fundamental question of what Mormons actually believe.

The following is a podcast of Russell R. Reno’s3 interview of Elder Porter regarding the article “Is Mormonism Christian?”.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8610222787554092657

Sources:

  1. Elder Bruce D. Porter was called as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April 1995. In April 2003 he was called to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy.↩
  2. Porter, Bruce D. and Gerald R. McDermott. “Is Mormonism Christian?“. First Things. 3 November 2008.↩
  3. Russel R. Reno is Professor of Theology at Creighton University, a Catholic Jesuit university based in Omaha, Nebraska.↩