How Wide the Divide?: A Mormon & An Evangelical in Conversation

Mormons and Evangelicals don't often get along very well. They often set about trying to convert one another, considering the faith the other holds as defective in some critical way. Unfortunately, much of what they say about one another simply isn't true. False stereotypes on both sides prevent genuine communication. Having discovered this sad state of affairs, Craig Blomberg, a committed Evangelical scholar, and Stephen Robinson, a committed Mormon scholar, set out to listen to one another and to ferret out the agreements and disagreements between them. In the conversation that develops, you will read what each believes about key theological issues- (1) the nature and bounds of Scripture, (2) the nature of God and Deification, (3) the person of Christ and the Trinity, and (4) the essentials of salvation-and see how they interact with one another. What they agree on may surprise you. In the end, however, you can judge for yourself just how wide the divide between them is. 228 pages, softcover from Intervarsity Press.

In their candid new book, Denver Seminary professor Blomberg and Brigham Young University professor Robinson pull no punches in their respective analysis of each other's faith traditions, but they also manage to find common ground between Evangelical Christianity and Mormonism. Taking a cooperative rather than a proselytizing tone, the authors "hope that with this book we will begin to tell the truth about each other, the issue of who is ultimately right and wrong being set aside for the moment." In four chapters, Blomberg and Robinson discuss Evangelicalism's and Mormonism's respective views of "Scripture," "God and Deification," "Christ and the Trinity" and "Salvation," attending especially to the definition of terms and concepts, such as the role of prophets in religions, that have often been misunderstood by the two sides. In each chapter, the authors write separately and then provide a joint conclusion. Although the direction and the conclusions of these authors' conversations is not always clear, this book constructively explores the theological differences between Evangelicals and Mormons and is the beginning of what can be a fruitful discussion. (Apr.)

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Reviewed by Mark Castell (San Diego, CA), June 23, 2009

Some of the reviews above are but a few examples of how our own biases and history influence judgment. It is a stated fact that there ARE differences between Evangelical Christianity and Mormon theology. The book explores, in stead, where the two overlap and/or points of communality rather than dwell on the irreconcilable differences. It also addresses a number of issues and positions in both traditions. It is not intended to be THE compendium in Mormon criticism and Evangelical doctrine. To the extent possible, "How wide... does a very good job to dispel some of the myths and folklore that exist about Mormon theology. It is a very well articulated expose about basic beliefs from both ends. It is a very civil exchange and whoever is interested in more details can go find them. It is a good first step and I hope it will not be the last in exploring these issues.

Reviewed by Robert Decell (College station), September 11, 2008

How modern Christianity defines the nature of God is the heart of the debate. Mormons do not believe the definition arrived at in 325 AD is justifiable. Most non LDS scholars agree that this definition was influenced by Greek philosophy in the early second century. This influence was allowed in order to win support and establish the church on a sure foundation. The language and ideas in the creed in comparison to Greek philosophic ideas about God are strikingly similar.

Most if not all Christians believe the bible is a compilation of revelations given to man by prophets or apostles. The problem LDS have with the 325 AD council is that revelation played no role in the formulation of the Nicene definition. Surely Christians would agree that something as important as knowing and worshiping the true God would need to come by revelation and not by years of contending and debating. This issue is key since man can only be saved by knowing and worshiping the true God. The idea that teaching for doctrine the opinion and ideas of man as long as Christ is mentioned is evidence of worshiping false deities. The various lucrative protestant religions in existence are a consequence. Also the radical liberal movement that Christians despise finds its roots in the anything goes Christian ideology.

Reviewed by Rick (Utah), July 18, 2008

I actually liked this book. From the onset the goal of the book is stated to NOT be any attempt to convert anyone to/from one side or the other. It is simply a review and comparison of certain topics as believed and followed by each side. It is trying to show similarities and contrasts between both views of Christianity. It doesn’t go into every theological subject or difference between the two, but it does present and review some of the major more miss-understood ones. It gives a basic understanding of each side’s view of doctrine and scripture. There isn’t too much of the, “He’s wrong and I’m write, because…,” but there is a minor amount. This is actually a good thing. There are hundreds of other books written using this approach. This book simply tries to examine where some of these topics sync together and differ. It is left to the reader to accept one view or another. The main goal of this book is to help both Evangelicals and the LDS to use common terms in the same manner when talking to each other. In common discussion, both sides may often use a same term, but often with different interpretations and meanings. If this book does nothing else than help each of us to learn the other’s terminology for future discussions, then this book succeeds in its goal. Its not perfect at this attempt, but does go a long way to meeting this goal. While reading this book, I was personally surprised by how differently each side used very common terms and words. It helped me to understand where and how so much confusion occurs regularly by each side. If everyone realized such differences existed, I believe that better theological discussions would take place. This book definitely helps one to understand that these miss-understandings go on and on.

Reviewed by Brian (Dayton, OH), January 27, 2003

This book will never be accused of ending the debate between Mormons and Evangelicals. As a previous review stated, both Blomberg and Robinson take a middle ground approach. As an Evangelical, I would guess that Blomberg's stance is probably more mainstream for an Evangelical than Robinson's stance is for a Mormon. In other words, Robinson's middle ground may represent a small minority viewpoint (but hopefully a growing one) within Mormonism. This book definitely avoids certain topics that would probably be very prominent in any conversation between a Mormon and Evangelical. For instance, issues of Scriptual validity and Biblical canon get an entire chapter. However, the issue of whether Joseph Smith, the author (or translator) of most Mormon extra-Biblical scripture, is a credible prophet is totally ignored in my opinion. Consequently, Blomberg (the Evangelical scholar) gives Robinson a "free pass" so to speak. It seems like one should not ignore the nature of Joseph Smith's life and education simply because the scripture he produced happens to meet the Mormon church's criteria for canonized scripture. Also, the book completely ignores the structure and nature of the modern Mormon church. That topic was probably beyond the scope of this book, but it would probably illuminate significantly more of the differences between Mormons and Evangelicals than this book did with its strictly Scripture-God-Christ-Salvation doctrinal approach. I have heard the book "Mormon America: The Power and the Promise" published by HarperSanFrancisco and written by Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling (both Protestants) does an excellent job with the whole picture of Mormonism. Having said all of that, "How Wide the Divide" does a respectable job at covering the similarities and differences between Mormons and Evangelicals within the limited scope it set out to do. I would recommend it, but I would emphasize it is not a complete answer to the question the title asks.

Reviewed by Matt Foster (Indianapolis, Indiana), June 13, 2002

This book marks a pivotal and welcome shift in evangelical examinations of Mormonism (a precursor to the more recent "The New Mormon Challenge"), because it breaks from the usual Martin/Ankerberg/Hunt attack approach that permeates nearly every other Mormon-related book sold by CBD. I disagree with the harsh review by Roy from Georgia (though his "keep off" warning to un-"grounded" readers may have merit, as it would for any book discussing the nature of the Trinity, the challenges of "openness" theology, or other, similarly difficult issues). Instead, "Divide" offers a very useful, meaningful and frank, yet digestible and gracious give-and-take between gifted thinkers on some (though admittedly not all) of the critical differences between consensus evangelical views and those of at least some Mormons. Georgia Roy is correct in calling Robinson "skilled" in using evangelical terminology, but I suspect that this facial compliment is actually an accusation that Robinson is lying about what Mormons believe -- which Robinson repeatedly and emphatically denies and Blomberg rejects, but that readers from the Martin/Ankerberg/Hunt school may feel constrained to presume for any Mormon who states his case in writing. In fact, Robinson provides a more-than-capable counterpart to Blomberg, and (in my humble opinion as a Bible-believing lawyer) actually gets the better of him on some points --which demonstrates (only) that we evangelicals must do better with our apologetic as we (I hope) continue down this new, non-polemical path. A final thought: if our view of the gospel is true, will it not withstand ANY attack or examination -- even (or particularly) when launched by persons we perceive to be tricksters and deceivers? The answer should be plain.

Reviewed by Roy (Thomson, GA), February 05, 2002

This book is shocking to anyone who reads and studies Mormonism. This landmark book was published by Intervarsity Press, an evangelical press, although the book clearly is not evangelical in its approach. The book deals with the evangelical doctrines and the differences that exist between Christianity and Mormonism. By reading this book, you would assume that there is not much difference between the two faiths nevertheless, for those who study Mormon theology and its standard works, a great chasm exists. The book explores various doctrinal positions from the doctrine of God to the doctrine of Scripture. In every case, the two authors seek the "middle" ground. I remind you that Stephen Robinson, the LDS theologian, is quite skilled in his understanding of evangelical language and avoids any words that might bring controversy such as the common teaching from Mormonism on the plurality of Gods and the doctrine of eternal progression within Mormonism. I would recommend you avoid this book unless you are a grounded Christian (1 Timothy 4:16; 1 Peter 3:15).

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