as told by Dr. Craig Blomberg in a sermon found here (paraphrased)
- 10. I admire your devotion to your families, to your wards and to giving generously to your church
- 9. I never intended anyone to believe in me and act in any way they please. You are right to reject that idea.
- 8. Please don’t judge me based on unkind things done by some who profess to know me.
- 7. I applaud your restored emphasis on Bible study. Please note when you read the Book of Mormon how often it says I am one God in three persons and how often it says that salvation comes by my grace alone.
- 6. It is tragic how often my churches have fought with one another, but no one who has ever rejected all of the existing churches and tried to restart my church has ever gotten it correct.
- 5. I liked what Joseph Smith was doing at the beginning a lot more than what he was doing at the end.
- 4. I never established any priesthood or ordinances that required you to be part of One True Church to receive them.
- 3. I LOVE your good deeds, but PLEASE don’t count on them to earn you anything. (Blomberg notes that in his discussions with LDS scholars everyone on both sides of the table agrees on this one).
- 2. On judgment day all that will really matter is that you have accepted me as Savior and Lord. . . and it has to be both.
- 1. I love you and really do want you to be part of my forever family.
What do you think? I think he hit all the major items I’d hope to hear from Jesus in regards to Mormonism (as if I could dictate what he would say).
My first impression on reading it? While it is interesting to hear this perspective, I don’t think that Dr. Blomberg ought to be putting words in Jesus’s mouth.
After all, if the LDS Church is what it claims to be, most of those statements are wrong.
And since Mormons believe that the LDS Church is what it claims to be, they just will say that those are incorrect statements.
Hey Tim, do you really think that Jesus cares if we understand the nature of the Trinity? Why does it matter if God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are one in body or one in purpose? I’ve just never understood why that’s such an important doctrine or distinguishing feature. (Of course, my understanding of it is that it’s not relevant for me–Jesus is God, and that’s all that matters. I don’t care how his body is made up, personally.)
Oh, my other thing about it was that it really left a bad taste in my mouth. It sounds really condescending.
I don’t think that Dr. Blomberg ought to be putting words in Jesus’s mouth.
Probably not anymore than Joseph Smith, Gordon Hinckley, the 60,000 missionaries “preaching his Gospel” or any of the rest of us who think we’ve figured out what Jesus’ teachings were all about.
As far as being condescending, I think if you listen to even 5 seconds of the sermon you would hear that Dr. Blomberg is being as kind and considerate as he can be. I think very few of these are actually critical of Mormonism.
I’ll answer your question on the importance of the Trinity in an upcoming post.
I don’t know. When I read the four Gospels, I get a very strong emphasis on Christian action.
I get very little abstract theology. You have to go to Paul for a lot of that.
I think it’s entirely possible that Christ wasn’t that concerned about theological belief. That was more the province of the Jewish intelligentsia of the time.
Actually, you know what I think Christ would say?
I think he’d lay into us for the sins of pride and idolatry. That we have set our hearts too much on the riches of this world. He would take us to task for our neglect of the poor. Then He would likely reprimand us for not being diligent in preparing the way for his second coming.
And when I’m talking idolatry, I’m not talking that silly stuff about worshiping a corporeal God, or whatever else. I’m talking about the following:
-Pet political causes or ideologies
-Professional sports fandom
-Obsession with business success
-The worship of academic degrees
-Overly concerned with possessions, such as a new sports car, a new gaming computer, or your new house in the suburbs
-The cult of American patriotism
-Pop idols
With all the concrete, urgent, and obvious objects of idolatry out there, it puzzles me that many evangelicals choose, when talking to me to focus on some loose notion of the trinity, that when pressed, they have to admit no one really understands anyway.
What a waste of religious fervor.
Incidentally, I think Christ would also extend His love and forgiveness to us, if we will have him. Something similar to His lament “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How oft would I have gathered you…”
Amen, Seth.
I posted my comments on Dr. Blomberg’s talk on my site. The talk really has to be listened to in order to be appreciated, there is a lot of things going on, and when one considers it in the history of Mormon and Evangelical dialogue, it is highly significant and much welcomed.
While Joseph Smith and some other prophets have used the first person when putting words in Jesus’s mouth, the missionaries don’t.
It is entirely possible that, had I heard the sermon rather than read an except, I would have come away with a much different impression of it.
And Seth, I agree. I think that if Christ were to come down on Mormons, it would definitely include the stuff you said, with a big emphasis on pride (I think it’s really easy to become prideful when you’re a part of the one true church, and you have the truth and are living it while others aren’t), and charity.
I’m looking forward to your post about the other stuff though!
Other stuff?
My first impression of the list (I didn’t listen to the sermon) was like katyjane’s: a bad taste.
But I gave it some more thought and I appreciate what Blomberg is doing here, given that his audience is Evangelicals and not Mormons. The overall tone seems to be “Fellow Christians, let’s think about how Christ would act toward Mormons and then consider whether we are acting similarly.” (i.e. When dealing with someone from another church, there may be a difference between acting like a Christian and acting like an Evangelical or Mormon.)
I also found it interesting that Blomberg’s #3 and #9 are essentially rebuttals against the uninformed (i.e. no Evangelical who really thinks about his religion believes that he can do whatever he wants as long as he believes in Jesus; likewise, no Mormon who really thinks about his religion believes that he can earn his way to heaven).
Sorry–the other stuff was directed at Tim.
Tim, I agree with you. Dr. Blomberg is very kind in his Top 10 listing. I just finished listening to it and will be listening to it again to get a better picture of Dr. Blomberg’s impressions. I don’t think he is being condescending, though I certainly would disagree with a few of his points.
Overall, I think it’s great. He even brings up a couple of points that the evangelical community could use.
I’m glad you found the sermon helpful and I’m grateful for the benefit of the doubt those who didn’t listen to it to hear my tone of voice gave to the written distillation of the key points.
It’s probably worth explaining that I was invited by the church at which I spoke to address this topic. It was the church’s decision to do an extended series of sermons, with several guest speakers along with the senior pastor, on “What Would Jesus Say to ____________?” I did feel a little awkward playing that role, but I understood the rationale: if we can ask “What Would Jesus Do?” in all kinds of situations, why not ask this question as well? So I happily complied.
The live response was interesting–most people found it a breath of fresh air compared to the better known combative, denunciatory approach, but a few people insisted that’s exactly what Jesus (or the apostles) would have done. Yet I researched and wrote an article published 5 years ago in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society that surveyed all the harsh rhetoric found anywhere in the New Testament and observed that it was uniformly used to address corrupt, overly legalistic or sinful “insiders” to the church, whereas Jesus and the apostles bent over backwards to woo “outsiders” graciously, even while calling them to repentance. It’s sad to see how often we have exactly inverted that approach!
Thanks again for the blog!
Thanks for the response Mr. Blomberg. I appreciate your efforts at interfaith dialogue. Mormons have been spoiled by having to debate only the lunatic fringe of evangelical thought for too long. This harsh debate has benefited neither religion. It’s nice to see more serious Christian thinkers entering the fray.
Wow, Seth, I would heartily agree with everything you say in comment 5. I would still say that what Joseph Smith and subsequent “prophets” have added to the scriptures is a complete apocryphal sham born of “pride and idolatry”, but what you say here impresses me greatly
And my agreement is in respect to us Evangelicals, not Mormons in particular.
Actually, I think Jesus would say something more along the lines of : “I have never, in recent history, seen such a large congregation of people falsifying such a wonderful, loving message nor have I seen widespread religious persecution with such a vastly condescending undertone. Furthermore; I intended my church to be a place of love and worship, not a corporate, money hungry fraternity full of thoughtless, blind sheep.”
Who are you referring to Donald? Christian mega-churches?
I can’t figure it out either, but I say if the shoe fits, wear it.
I think Jesus would say exactly what He already said in the bible, Love God, Love others, and be kind to EVERYONE.
[...] However, there are many other of our fellow Christians who are well-intended in their approach with Mormons and who sincerely want to help us. Yesterday I read a great post over at Clean Cut that summarized a speech given by Dr Craig Bloomberg. (If you don’t remember who Dr Bloomberg is, he co-wrote “How Wide the Divide?“, which is a book on Mormon vs. Evangelical doctrine written by a Mormon and an Evangelical). In his speech, Bloomberg speaks to a large body of Christians in a talk entitled “What would Jesus Say to a Mormon?” I’ll have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about reading it because most people point fingers at us and try to tell us why we’re wrong. Dr Bloomberg did, what I think Jesus would have all of us do. He showed a genuine love for the LDS people and acknowledged their Christian beliefs. To view a summary of the 10 points he feels Jesus would say to Mormons you can also visit this blog. [...]