Bridging the Divide: The Continuing Conversation Between a Mormon and an Evangelical

By Robert L. Millet and Gregory C.V. Johnson

Inspired by the groundbreaking publication of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation, (InterVarsity, 1997) Robert L. Millet, a life long Mormon, former dean of religious education, and currently a Professor of Religious Education at Brigham Young University, and Gregory C.V. Johnson, a ordained Baptist pastor from Utah and a former Mormon, meet and begin their own conversation. Eventually they take their dialogues public, appearing in Mormon, Evangelical and academic venues. The first part of the book is a Q&A between the two authors; the second part is a Q&A with Mormon and Evangelical audiences. Throughout the work, the authors provide guiding principles of constructive conversation and promote the concept of "convicted civility."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976684365
• ISBN13: 9780976684367
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Monkfish Book Publishing
• Length: 185 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A step in the right direction

I shared this book with my mother after reading it. She is an Evangelical Christian and I am a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of 13 years. My mom and I both share a love and devotion to Jesus Christ and a desire to pattern our lives after His. We both love and revere the word of God. I just happen to have a testimony of something that she does not; namely, that God continues to speak through a Prophet in modern times as he did in ancient times. Our conceptions of Deity also differ. Hers is based on the conception hammered out at the Council of Nicaea convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. Mine is based on the experience of a humble, 14 year old boy who read James chapter 1:5 and was inspired to find a quiet place where he could kneel and appeal to God directly through prayer for an answer. Are there differences in the doctrines we accept? Absolutely. However, my mother and I have learned that while we may disagree about this doctrine or that, we can acknowledge the vital, central force for good that Jesus Christ has been and remains in our lives. For now we avoiding contentious discussions and focus instead on things that we both agree on, among them, that "ye shall know them by their fruits," not by their denominations. This book serves as a role model for effective interfaith dialogue and I commend its authors for their courage in addressing differences in such an honest, open, and respectful manner. On the road to greater Christian unity, it seems to me that Bridging the Divide is something that can only occur when both Evangelicals and Latter-day Saints take the proverbial "high road," as these two men have.

Time to wise up per Acts 5

"Bridging the Divide" is the latest entry in interfaith dialogues between a prominent BYU professor and a leading Evangelical pastor. Unlike "How Wide the Divide?" and "Claiming Christ," this book really does read like a friendly chat between two friends who agree to disagree about a few (extremely important) things. Though relatively slight (in both physical size and substantive content), it's a charming read and I recommend it. Part of the book is a Question and Answer session, typical of the kinds Drs. Millet and Johnson face when they appear in public forums together. Some of the questions asked by Evangelical participants are literally jaw-dropping in the ignorance they illustrate. For example, this gem is found on page 116: "After the crucifixion, the physical body of Jesus rose from his tomb. This did not happen with Joseph Smith. Doesn't this fact cast doubt on the LDS[] Church's claim of divinity for Smith?" That made me burst into laughter. It never ceases to amaze me what outrageous misrepresentations Protestant ministers and others have made about our Church through the years, lies that are clearly believed by huge swaths of our Christian neighbors. I suppose sectarian clerics have felt justified in bearing false witness against us - repeatedly - because they need at least to try and slow the mind-boggling growth of our Church. For their own sakes, they should instead read and obey the Bible they claim to love so much: " ... Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God" (Acts 5:38-39). As dramatic evidence of how effective Protestant persecution has been of the Church of Jesus Christ, Rev. Johnson concedes that the population of Utah was 2% Evangelical in the 19th century. Now, after more than a century of hate-filled screeds and truth-starved attacks by paid pastors and their minions, the population of Utah is ... 2% Evangelical. Apart from being reminded again, however, of what a super bright future the Church has once all these baseless falsehoods have been cleared away, I was struck again in the book by Evangelical complaints about the First Vision. In 1820, a prayerful teenager asked the Father and the Son which church to join, and he was instructed to "join none of them, for they were all wrong; ... that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt," and so forth (Joseph Smith - History 1:19). Time and again, Evangelicals and Fundamentalists have used these long-ago assertions of the boy Prophet to rationalize their present-day, aggressive, and deceitful denunciations of our Bible-believing, Bible-loving, Christ-centered religion as a Satanic cult, but their cries of outrage are disingenuous at best. All religions - and all religious leaders - have made similar foundational statements to explain why a new Christian denom