c. 1998 Religion News Service
UNDATED _ Two of the nation’s most aggressively evangelistic faith groups are gearing up for what could be a monumental case of tit-for-tat.
Southern Baptists are heading to Utah, a place they view as a new mission field. Mormons, long the majority in that part of the country, hope the Baptists’ visit will provide an opportunity to dispel what they view as a caricature of their church crafted in part by Baptists.
One thing’s for sure: A theological culture clash is about to unfold in Salt Lake City when the Southern Baptist Convention meets there for the first time June 9-11.”Baptists, I don’t think, will apologize for going to Salt Lake City and evangelizing,”said Phil Roberts, the director of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board’s interfaith witness division.”Maybe we’re just in some way, shape or form returning the favor of the Mormons knocking on our door six days out of the week,”added Roberts, referring to Mormon missionaries who go door to door.
Stephen Robinson, an expert on Judeo-Christian scripture at Mormon-operated Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, agreed.”Most of the Latter-day Saints that I know have been involved either themselves or sending their children on missions in other parts of the world and feel that turnabout is fair play,”said Robinson.”If we’ve been sending missionaries to their parts of the world, it’s only fair that they should come to ours. I personally welcome them.” While the Southern Baptists are gearing up for a Utah media blitz with television spots, offers of videos about Jesus and the distribution of evangelistic newspapers, leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints _ as the Mormon Church is officially called _ is reminding its members to treat the visiting Baptists civilly.
Mormon officials say they have no plans for counter-evangelistic efforts.”One of our articles of faith is that we claim the privilege of worshipping God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and we allow all others the same privilege,”said Mormon Church spokesman Don LeFevre.”So the last thing the church would want to do is be confrontive or contentious.” About 12,000 delegates and guests to the annual meeting of Southern Baptists are heading to a region that includes only 153 of the denomination’s more than 40,000 churches.
Through an effort dubbed”Crossover Salt Lake City,”about 2,500 Baptists are set to arrive early or stay after the convention to introduce Mormons and non-Mormons alike to Baptist beliefs through block parties and door-to-door and one-on-one evangelism.
The events will cost the 15.9 million-member Southern Baptist Convention about $500,000, a fivefold increase over previous”Crossover”events that is likely to become the standard as the denomination increases its evangelistic efforts in this country and abroad. Since 1989, Southern Baptists have held the”Crossover”initiative in cities where they gather for their annual meeting.
This year’s”Crossover”has been preceded by an intense educational campaign designed by Roberts to prevent Baptists from being intimidated by a lack of knowledge about the 10 million-member Mormon Church.
For example,”The Mormon Puzzle,”a Baptist-produced video that features Baptists and Mormons explaining their distinctive beliefs, was sent to all of the denomination’s churches and has been distributed through its bookstores. In addition, the denomination’s six seminaries are working together to train more than 100 seminarians about the Mormon faith in the week prior to the convention.”When you share the gospel with Mormons … you have a very specialized task because Mormonism uses Christian terminology but they redefine everything,”said Roberts, author of the recently released”Mormonism Unmasked”(Broadman & Holman).”So you have to learn a whole new definition for terms when you talk to Mormon people.” Robinson counters that Southern Baptists’ definition of Christianity is so limited that it excludes not only Mormons, but also others who consider themselves Christians.”It all boils down to whether you define Christian as someone who believes in Jesus Christ or whether you define Christian as someone who … passes a certain doctrinal test set up by an individual denomination,”he said.”My feeling is that the average person in the street would have a definition of being Christian that more approximated the Mormon definition than the Baptist.” Southern Baptists and Mormons agree on most social issues. Both vehemently oppose abortion and pornography, for example. But theology is another matter.
Southern Baptists rely solely on the Bible as their volume of Scripture, but Mormons believe that both the Bible and the Book of Mormon _ a translation by church founder Joseph Smith of gold tablets he said an angel revealed to him _ are the word of God. They also consider two other books _ including writings and revelations of Smith _ as additional scripture.
Mormons believe the dead are able to enter God’s kingdom when they are baptized by proxy. They also believe that all people have the potential to become gods. Southern Baptists consider those beliefs unbiblical.”We don’t believe the gospel that Mormonism proclaims,”said Roberts.”Mormons want to be fully Mormon and … Christian. We’ll give them one of the two. Guess which one?” Robinson, of Brigham Young, compares the two faith groups to light bulbs with different wattages.”I don’t think that the Baptists are in the dark,”he said.”I think they don’t know as much about God as has been revealed and I would like to reveal the rest of it to them.” (OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)
The Southern Baptists, with a total of 9,000 domestic and foreign missionaries, admit to admiring the Mormon’s contingent of 58,000 missionaries, most of whom are young men.”Mormons have created a missionary culture … where they basically expect their kids to go and we’ve created a culture where the exceptions are the kids that go,”Roberts said.”I think somehow or another we have to turn that around.” In an effort to do just that, he said about 800 high school and college students will participate in Southern Baptist evangelistic activities around the time of the convention.
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As the Baptists train their flock, Mormon Church leaders say they are prepared to be good hosts.
Speaking at his church’s annual General Conference in April, Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley offered some advice to his”saints,”as Mormons refer to themselves.”We acknowledge without hesitation that there are differences between us,”he said.”I hope we do not argue over this matter. There is no reason to debate it. … We must not become disagreeable as we talk of doctrinal differences. There is no place for acrimony.” But observers of the two movements say clashes between the two groups _ whether theological or verbal _ are inevitable.”I predict that each side will start out their comments in a lovey-dovey way,”said Anson Shupe, a sociology professor at Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Ind.”Then they’ll pull off the gloves.” Baptists will probably accuse the Mormons of being a”cult”and Mormons could respond that Baptists’ words are”just hate talk,”Shupe said.
His predictions have, in part, already come to pass.
The presidents of both denominations have engaged in verbal sparing, prefacing their remarks with pleasantries about being entitled to their opinions.”We don’t go around running down any other church,”Hinckley told a gathering of 12,000 Mormons at an Atlanta gathering in mid-May.
Countered SBC President Tom Elliff:”The teaching of Mormonism clearly states their belief that theirs is the only true church and that all others, including Baptists, are apostate.” (OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)
Shupe said Baptists will have to work harder than Mormons to avoid the appearance of being belligerent.”The Baptists are much more likely to see this as a challenge,”he said.”Mormons have a garrison mentality, where it’s them against the world and it’s been that way for the last century.” Baptists are likely to try at least one diplomatic approach to counter their theological opponents.
Roberts, who is coordinating”Crossover Salt Lake City,”has drafted a resolution on the”finality of Christian truth”to be considered by the denomination’s resolutions committee.”The Gospel is once and for all finished and settled,”said Roberts.”We don’t need a new revelation. We don’t accept other versions and interpretations of who Jesus is apart from the Bible.” Roberts said he has not written the resolution in a manner that singles out Mormons, but rather applies it to”all revisionist views”of the Bible.”If the shoe fits, then folks can wear it,”he said.
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Whether the words are formal or informal, kind or unkind, come late June, when the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is history, little may have changed.”I don’t think either side is amenable to real dialogue. They want to convert the other side,”said Shupe, the sociologist.”You’re not going to end up with a bunch of ex-Baptists joining the Mormon Church or vice versa.”
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