A Response To “Mormonism Obsessed with Christ”

I am writing today in response to an article “Mormonism Obsessed with Christ” published in the Feb 2012 edition of First Things. (online here)

I must first say that Stephen H. Webb is remarkably respectful, especially considering he is discussing a faith not his own. I further applaud him for taking the time to read the Book of Mormon before passing judgment on it. He represents well both First Things and Wabash College, where he teaches. If his classes are at all like this article he deserves to be emulated by many teachers. I have found errors with several beliefs he mentions, and would also like to respond generally to several points he makes.

Prof. Webb claims that “Mormonism is more than Christianity, of course—most obviously by adding the Book of Mormon to the Bible—and that makes it much less than Christianity as well.” I would claim that it is neither more nor less but exactly Christianity, pure and complete. Even a non-believer should recognize that belief in Jesus Christ is the sole defining characteristic of being a Christian. Prof. Webb is correct however, if one substitutes “traditional Christianity” or “creedal Christianity” in his statement, which is probably closer to what he meant.

“Yet it [The Book of Mormon] is dull precisely because it is all about Jesus.” Prof. Webb claims. I personally would say that anything about Jesus is not dull, it is divine. I cannot argue too much however as he at least got the main point of the Book of Mormon: Jesus is the Christ.

The above points are minor, and may be more related to my faith and his doubt than any other point, but the next point seems seriously in error. “They [Mormons] also deny the virgin birth.” This is emphatically not true. The passage from Isaiah, “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son” is accepted as scripture by all active members of the church. President Benson gave a great talk “Five Marks of the Divinity of Jesus Christ” published in the December 1980 Ensign where he talks about the birth of Christ. More recently at the December 2011 First Presidency Christmas Devotional Pres Eyring quoted Isaiah again. I have heard some idle speculation as to the exact mechanics of Christ's birth but these are fringe ideas and don't reflect the general thought. LDS people in general tend to be an intellectual bunch, and often think and speculate. They even sometimes write their speculations in books and sell them. This does not make them doctrine, or even generally accepted. Ask “the Mormon on the street” if he believes in the virgin birth of Jesus and you will probably get a “yes.”

Some of Prof. Webb's discussion about LDS beliefs regarding matter and spirit are not how I understand them, but this is an area of little official doctrine and some speculation. His comments probably represent one viewpoint, but it is not a majority viewpoint, and he fails to mention that.

The last, and probably the pickiest, point is Prof. Webb's claim that “Even heaven is merely another kind of galaxy, far away but not radically different from planet earth. [in Mormon belief]” This is wrong. Heaven is a broad concept in LDS doctrine, and most members rarely use the word, preferring to use one of the more specific words such as “Celestial Kingdom.” The Celestial Kingdom is Earth, just glorified and perfected. He may be speaking instead of Kolob, which is a planet, somewhere, that is close to the throne of God, but is not the location of the throne (see Facsimile 2 in the book of Abraham). Almost anything else you hear about Kolob is speculation, and pretty rare speculation at that.

I would like to commend Prof. Webb for accurately describing Mormon metaphysics (I would say doctrine) as “Christian metaphysics minus Origen and Augustine—in other words, Christianity divorced from Plato.” Plato's philosophy was and is foreign to Christianity, and this is probably the second nicest thing Prof. Webb says about the LDS faith. The nicest thing he says is “Mormonism is obsessed with Christ, and everything that it teaches is meant to awaken, encourage, and expand faith in him.” That is the nicest thing anyone has said in a long time.

I want to end with a challenge for Prof. Webb. Look back to the copy of the Book of Mormon on your shelf, turn to the last few pages, read the promise of Moroni, and they pray to God asking if the book is true.