Tag Archives: Christianity Today

Christianity Today Admits Mistake In “Mitt’s Mormonism and the ‘Evangelical Vote’ ” Article

June 5, 2007 11:00 pm / 3 Comments /

*** If you are not familiar with the Christianity Today story and my involvement with it or are new to my blog, it might be best to drop down to the Saturday, June 02, 2007 entry and read up from there. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment. ***

Here is the latest on the CT controversy. It seems as if our voices have been heard and CT has admitted its mistake. A couple of hours after I sent my second e-mail to Madison Trammel, I received this response from her.

Keith,

Thanks for writing back. Your points are well-taken — indeed, upon further reflection, I agree with you that the article’s foray into Mormon doctrine was an unnecessary, and ultimately unhelpful, diversion from the article’s main point. Please check back at our website in the next week or so. I’m hoping we’ll be able to pull together a good response article that outlines Mormon-Christian theological differences.

Sincerely,
Madison

I don’t know about you, but I see this as a victory. I am encouraged that they are concerned about the issue and plan on making a distinction between Mormonism and Christianity in a future article. I eagerly await the piece and will pray that any confusion the original article produced will be cleared up. PRAISE THE LORD!

Posted in: Uncategorized / Tagged: ,

Christianity Today Responds To My E-mail

June 5, 2007 2:46 pm / 7 Comments /

I was pleasantly surprised to find an e-mail in my Mail Washer spam blocker yesterday from an Associate Editor of Christianity Today. Madison Trammel responded to my concerns about the CT article that misrepresents Mormonism. Here is her e-mail.

Hi Keith,

Thanks for your letter to CT. As you noted, the article you responded to was coauthored by a Christian and a Mormon, and it allows the Mormon author to represent his faith in his own words. We trust that our readers will look deeper to see if his self-characterization is correct or not. Also, the article is not about Mormonism, per se, but about Mitt Romney and whether or not a Mormon candidate would make a good president. This is a question many evangelicals may ask in the coming months, and we felt this article had helpful insights for them to consider.

You’re right, the article is not helpful in outlining Mormon doctrine. That was not its point. We’ve discussed outlining doctrinal differences between Protestant Christians and Mormons in another, future piece, so hopefully we can make those distinctions more clear later.

I hope you can understand where we’re coming from. Not every piece can accomplish every purpose. But I do thank you for sharing your concern. It’s a good reminder to be careful with our readers’ spiritual wellbeing and to make every effort to point them away from error — to clarify biblical teaching and not muddy it in any way, even inadvertently.

Sincerely,

Madison Trammel
Associate Editor, Christianity Today
www.christianitytoday.com/ct

This is good news! Our voices are being heard! Here is my response to Madison.

Madison,

Thanks for your response. I am glad to have a real e-mail address to respond to. Blasted 1,000 character limit… 😉

I have a few thoughts that I would like to share regarding your explanation of the Millet/McDermott article. I think it is a good idea to get Christians to think about Romney, Mormonism and whether or not Christians will or should vote for him. I think the discussion can be stimulating and beneficial for all. The matter that I take issue with is the decision to let a Mormon present his view of the supposed similarities of Christianity and Mormonism in a Christian magazine and go completely unchallenged. Here are my concerns;

First, listing Robert Millet as a professor of Ancient Christian Scriptures at BYU is problematic. His BYU profile doesn’t even list him that way. He is listed as a “Professor of Ancient Scripture” and not everyone knows that BYU is a Mormon-owned, not Christian-owned, University.

Second, allowing a Mormon to “represent his faith in his own words” without any clarification from the Christian author is inviting confusion to those who know little or nothing about Mormonism. If Millet’s statements are not challenged, it is taken as an endorsement of his beliefs. Besides, we really don’t know which parts of the article were written by the Christian and which parts were written by the Mormon. That being the case, how can your readers “look deeper to see if his [Millet’s] self-characterization is correct,” if they do not know which words were his? Are they Millet’s words, McDermott’s words, or both?

Third, the entire thrust of the article is worded in such a way as to say that Christians are wrong about what they believe Mormons really believe. Language like, “Evangelicals accuse Mormons…,” “They think Mormons teach…,” “evangelicals say Mormons reject key Christian doctrines…,” etc. implies that Mormons are the victims of misunderstanding. Where is the balance that explains why Evangelicals believe these things about Mormons? Could it possibly be that Mormons really do believe these things? The reader is left with no reason to believe that that could be the case.

Fourth, as I stated in my original e-mail, I realize that the article was not about Mormonism. I think it is a good idea for Evangelicals to be challenged to consider voting for Romney, but not at the expense of confusing them over the heretical nature of Mormonism. If the article was about voting for a Mormon, why was Millet allowed to state his view of our supposed doctrinal similarities while the Christian remains silent with the truth about our differences? If the article is not supposed to be about doctrine, why was Millet allowed to bring it up in the first place? The reason why I mentioned that the article was not helpful is because your readers were presented with only one side of the story.

Fifth, I am happy to hear that you are considering an article outlining the differences between Christianity and Mormonism. May I suggest that you start with the differing World view of the two religions? On our web site, we have posted an overview of Mormonism that comes directly from one of the official teaching manuals of the Mormon Church. http://www.evidenceministries.org/marriage.php
It is an excellent explanation of Mormonism and it comes straight from their own material. I have it posted with no commentary of my own. It is so clearly non-Christian that it doesn’t need any. This information can be reproduced under the “Fair Use” clause of the copyright code.

Sixth, I do understand where you are coming from and that you cannot accomplish every purpose with every article. That is an impossible task and should not even be attempted. Such is the case with this article. If the article would have stayed on course with its intended purpose, (challenging Christians to consider a Mormon president), I would not have raised my objection. The article strayed from its course when Millet was allowed to delve into doctrinal issues without accountability and then stated, “Mormon beliefs are not as un-evangelical as most evangelicals think.” At least I think those were Millet’s words. I sure hope they were not McDermott’s.

Speaking of whom, I also raised some of these objections, as well as others, to Gerald
McDermott in an e-mail to him. I have it posted on my blog if you are interested. http://www.evidenceministries.blogspot.com/ It is the Saturday, June 02, 2007 entry.

Madison, thank you for reading and considering all of this. It is a bit longer than I wanted, but I felt it important to voice some of the concerns that I could not clarify with a 1,000 character limit. I am encouraged that you appreciate my concerns and that CT will look to avoid such mistakes in the future. You are correct in that you need to be careful with your readers spiritual well-being. I am grateful for your desire to point them away from error and to clarify biblical teaching.

God Bless you with spiritual wisdom and may He guard you from compromise.

Loved and Forgiven,

Keith Walker
Evidence Ministries

I hope you are as encouraged as I am that they hear us. It remains to be seen if anything will be done about it, but at least they have recognized our concern. Please join me in prayer that the editors at Christianity Today are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and that they obey Him.

Posted in: Uncategorized / Tagged: ,

Christianity Today Misrepresents Mormonism

June 3, 2007 2:50 am / 5 Comments /

One of the blogs I check regularly is Mormon Coffee, the blog operated by the folks at Mormonism Research Ministry. I checked it on Friday and read a post about an article on Mitt Romney and Evangelical voters. In Sharon’s post she pointed out that the article misrepresented the differences between Mormonism and Christianity when it said, “Mormon beliefs are not as un-evangelical as most evangelicals think. ” I read through the rest of her post and decided to click on the USA Today article to see what else they had to say, only to be surprised that I had misread Sharon’s post. It was not the USA Today that made the mistake. I would have expected that magazine to say something like that. When I clicked on the link, I was taken to the Christianity Today website.

I learned that the article was co-authored by Robert Millet, a Mormon professor at BYU, and Gerald McDermott, a Christian professor of religion at Roanoke College. I decided to do a Google search on McDermott and see what I could find out about him. I was not happy to find out that he teaches a class on New Religions in America, which includes Mormonism. Before I found this out, I wanted to contact McDermott to inform him about some of the things that most Christians do not realize about Mormonism. But after I found out that he teaches on the subject of Mormonism, I had a new motivation for contacting him. Here is my e-mail to him.

Mr. McDermott,

I read your Christianity Today article co-authored with Robert Millet. I must say that I was very disappointed. I realize that the thrust of the article was more about Evangelicals voting for Romney than it was about the differences between Mormonism and Christianity, but there are some very dangerous omissions in your article. To mention that “Most evangelicals would also be surprised to learn that the Book of Mormon contains passages that teach salvation by the merits and grace of Christ,” yet not explain that the grace comes only after our best efforts is irresponsible and misleading to the readers who do not know what Mormonism teaches.

At first reading, I assumed that you didn’t know much about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and thought that I would write to you to inform you about some things that most Christians do not realize regarding Mormon theology. But after reading your profile on the Roankoe.edu web site, I was shocked to see that you teach courses on New Religions in America, which include Mormonism. Since this is the case, the motivation for writing this e-mail has now moved from information to rebuke.

I do not understand how a Christian who teaches on Mormonism can say, “Mormon beliefs are not as un-evangelical as most evangelicals think.” I have been a missionary to the Mormon people for more than 11 years and the biggest problem we face in our ministry is to overcome the misconception that statements like yours convey. Not only is Mormonism entirely “un-evangelical,” it is wholly un-Christian. Yes, Mormons hold to the deity of Christ… if you redefine deity as a species. Yes, the Book of Mormon speaks of “salvation by the merits and grace of Christ,” but it also states, “for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2nd Nephi 25:23). Let us also not forget that Mormon Prophet/President
Spencer W. Kimball taught, “One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by
Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation. (Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 206) By pointing to Book of Mormon passages that seem to support Christianity, yet neglect to balance your article with the truth about Mormon doctrine is reckless and negligent.

I can only pray that you consider revising your article to reflect a more accurate
portrayal of Mormon doctrine. I am concerned that many unsuspecting Christians will read it and come to the erroneous conclusion that Mormonism is another valid Christian denomination. By saying that “there is still doctrinal distance between Mormons and evangelicals,” but refraining from explaining that those doctrinal differences are salvific by nature is to stumble those who do not know better. As a Christian pastor and professor of religion, you should know better. I look forward to your upcoming book, Claiming Christ: A Mormon-Evangelical Debate and can only hope that you will learn from this mistake in your future projects regarding Mormonism.

I will be praying for God to bless you with abundant wisdom and protection from deception.

Sincerely,
Keith Walker
Evidence Ministries

Not only did I contact Mr. McDermott, I also wrote an e-mail to the editor of Christianity Today and left an online comment for the article. Those two responses are presented below respectively.

Letter To The Editor

The article titled, “Mitt’s Mormonism and the Evangelical Vote” is a dangerous article and needs to be edited or removed from the web. It is coauthored by a Christian and a Mormon and completely misrepresents Mormon doctrine. It has been worded to minimize the differences between Christianity and Mormonism and will mislead the unsuspecting into possibly thinking that Mormonism is a legitimate Christian denomination. I have been a missionary toMormons for more than 11 years and the biggest problem we face is getting people to understand that Mormonism is not Christian. This article contains serious omissions and is too ambiguous to be helpful. I pray that you take your responsibility in the body of Christ seriously enough to correct this grievous error. I would appreciate a response to my e-mail. Thank you and God bless you for His glory.

Keith Walker
Evidence Ministries

Online Comment

This article is not helpful at all. The BoM does contain passages that mention
grace, but the article doesn’t disclose that Mormons couple that “grace” with
their own works. 2 Nephi 25:23 says “for we know that it is by grace that we are
saved, after all we can do.” Former Mormon Prophet/President Spencer W. Kimball
once stated, “One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in
Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation.” (Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 206)

Where is the balance in this article? What is the point of reporting that Mormons believe in grace, yet fail to mention that the “grace” is added only after the best we can do? It is obvious that Millet doesn’t want those distinctions made, but what about McDermott? I am grieved that Christianity Today has published a piece that does not reflect the Christianity of yesterday. The Apostle Paul says of grace, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” (Romans 11:6)

At this point, I’ve done what I can in an attempt to rectify this error and I ask that you help me. Prayerfully consider leaving a comment to the article, writing the editor of Christianity Today and sending an e-mail the Mr. McDermott. There is no gaurantee that our voices will be heard, but you can count on them not being heard if we don’t speak up.

Posted in: Uncategorized / Tagged: , , ,