EVANGELICAL & MORMON DIALOGUE #1
Wednesday Night The “Thinking Theologically About America: Evangelical and Mormon Perspectives in Dialogue” conference began at Fuller Theological Seminary this evening and I’m going to try and blog some of my reflections. See the schedule and list of participants.

First of all, though, I want to clarify that this is an academic dialogue and not a debate. The point is to try and learn about each other rather than to prove each other wrong.

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller, was the presenter this evening. His point was that both Evangelicals and Mormons apply the biblical image of a new Jerusalem to America – only in different ways.

Evangelicals tend to see America as whole as the chosen nation – heirs of Israel. This is uncious – but evident in the language that we use to describe ourselves (e.g. The song “America the Beautiful”). And it is not done with consistency as many Evangelicals see the modern nation of Israel as the heir of the covental promises to ancient Israel. The idea is somewhat fluid.

Mormons see America as the chosen nation, too. Except their notion is based on their perception that the Native Americans, here before the European settlers, were the lost tribes of Israel. Yet, their notion isn’t tied to the whole nation but to a specific place where the renewed saints are located -- earlier Missouri and later, Salt Lake City.

One of the Mormon respondents, Robert Millet from BYU, brought more clarity by pointing out that Mormonism sees two New Jerusalems – a political capital, which will be in the Middle East, and a spiritual capital, which will be in Missouri. Each stake is then seen as a branch of the new Zion.

Mouw pursued some discussion about how this plays out as both Mormonism and Evangelicalism spread beyond the borders of the U.S.

One of the lines of discussion Mouw followed was in the area of authority. While Evangelicals see themselves as people of the book (the Bible) and assume that Mormons see themselves as people of two books (the Bible and the Book of Mormon), there is an even more fundamental difference. Latter Day Saints see themselves as actually being adopted into Israel – including the restoration of the old authority patterns that were based on the priesthood and the prophets. Mormons see the canon as open and fluid, with authority resting on the prophets rather than the books themselves.

More tomorrow.