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Love Your Enemy Evangelical Opposition to Mormonism and Its Effect Upon Mormon Identity

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Love Your Enemy Evangelical Opposition to Mormonism and Its Effect Upon Mormon Identity Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2012-07-10 Love Your Enemy Evangelical Opposition to Mormonism and Its Effect upon Mormon Identity Derek J. Bowen Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History of Christianity Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Bowen, Derek J., "Love Your Enemy Evangelical Opposition to Mormonism and Its Effect upon Mormon Identity" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 3344. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3344 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. “Love Your Enemy” Evangelical Opposition to Mormonism and Its Effect upon Mormon Identity Derek J. Bowen A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Robert L. Millet, Chair Richard E. Bennett J. Spencer Fluhman Department of Religious Education Brigham Young University August 2012 Copyright © 2012 Derek Jensen Bowen All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT “Love Your Enemy” Evangelical Opposition to Mormonism and Its Effect upon Mormon Identity Derek J. Bowen Department of Religious Education, BYU Master of Arts Evangelical Protestant Christians have been one of the primary groups opposing Mormons since the beginnings of Mormonism in the 1820s. This thesis is an examination of the historical basis for Evangelical opposition to Mormonism and the impact of that opposition on Mormon identity. This study is divided into three chronological chapters representing the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries in America. Evangelical animosity towards Mormonism was grounded in the Christian heretical tradition begun in the second century AD. Because of this tradition, Evangelicals were inherently afraid of heresy for two main reasons: temporal treason and eternal damnation. Due to the heterodox claims of a new prophet and new scripture, Mormonism was quickly labeled as dangerous, not only to Christianity, but to America as a whole. This perceived danger only grew as Mormonism continued to differentiate itself further with the practices of polygamy, communalism, and theocracy. In the nineteenth century, Mormon assimilation of Evangelicalism primarily affected the social structures of marriage, economics, and politics. In the twentieth century, Mormon assimilation of Evangelical identity would focus more on the incorporation of Evangelical ideology and theology. As Fundamentalism and Neo-Evangelicalism protested Mormonism as a cult, Mormonism became more Fundamentalist and Evangelical by nature, especially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognized how such opposition negatively impacted American public perceptions. Such changes included the development of Mormon neo-orthodoxy with its emphasis on the sovereignty of God, the depravity of man, and salvation by grace. In the twenty-first century, a group of Mormon and Evangelical scholars engaged in the practice of interfaith dialogue developed by Liberal Protestants and Catholics. As part of their dialogue, Evangelicals retained the purposes of evangelism and apologetics thereby qualifying the dialogue as a new more subtle form of Evangelical opposition to Mormonism in the twenty first century. As Evangelicals continuously opposed Mormonism as a Christian heresy, such opposition effected changes within Mormonism, changes that have led to some degree of assimilation and even adoption of several elements of Evangelicalism. The most recent part of this assimilation process has been the development of Mormon progressive orthodoxy that emphasizes anti-sectarianism, anti-liberalism, and revised supernaturalism. Keywords: Protestant, Protestantism, Evangelical, Evangelicalism, Mormon, Mormonism, anti- Mormonism, heresy, heresiology, cult, countercult, fundamentalist, fundamentalism, interfaith dialogue, Mormon/Evangelical dialogue, Mormon neo-orthodoxy, Mormon progressive orthodoxy ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank Robert Millet, who accepted the request to be my committee chair, taught two of my graduate courses, spent countless office hours educating me on “Evangelicalism,” permitted me to observe the Mormon/Evangelical scholarly dialogue, and helped secure funding for my research. I am deeply appreciative for my two committee members, Richard Bennett and Spencer Fluhman, who both spent a great amount of time reading and editing my work, and whose suggestions helped shape the final product. Their balance of kindness and professionalism was an exemplary model I hope to emulate. I am grateful to Pastor Greg Johnson who graciously provided me with the most interview time of any participant in the dialogue. Although his contributions are not fully developed in this work, I do hope to repay his many hours of interview time in other future projects. I am also thankful to the many participants and non-participants in the Mormon/Evangelical scholarly dialogue that permitted me to interview them. I express gratitude to my mother, Kayla, who has always been my rock-solid example of faithfulness in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I also thank my in-laws, Wayne and Shauna Braunberger, for their countless sacrifices on the behalf of myself and my family. I would like to thank my wife, Trisha, who has sacrificed the most to permit me to earn this Masters Degree. I can only hope that this work and the work of my life make it all worth it. And to Faith, Skye, and Star—may my work inspire each of you to one day make your own dreams come true. Lastly, I thank my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. It is only by their grace that I am enabled to fully experience the plan of salvation as revealed through their servant, the Prophet Joseph Smith. Table of Contents PREFACE: A NOTE ON MORMONS AND EVANGELICALS...................................................................1 Who Is A Mormon?.................................................................................................................1 Who Is An Evangelical?..........................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION: CURRENT EVANGELICAL OPPOSITION TO MORMONISM ..............................................8 American Opposition to Mormonism ......................................................................................8 Evangelical Opposition to Mormonism .................................................................................12 Objective of Thesis................................................................................................................21 CHAPTER ONE: EVANGELICAL OPPOSITION TO MORMONISM IN NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA....................................................................................24 Introduction to the American Evangelical Heritage of Orthodoxy and Heresy .......................24 The First Mormon/Evangelical Conflicts...............................................................................31 The First Vision.................................................................................................................31 The First Evangelical attacks on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon...........................37 The First Mormon Responses ............................................................................................48 Other Nineteenth Century Mormon/Evangelical Conflicts.....................................................52 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................57 CHAPTER TWO: EVANGELICAL OPPOSITION TO MORMONISM IN TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICA .....................................................................................60 Introduction...........................................................................................................................60 The Modernist/Fundamentalist Division................................................................................60 The Modernist/Fundamentalist Influence on Mormonism......................................................68 Fundamentalist Countercultism .............................................................................................76 The Rise of Neo-Evangelicalism ...........................................................................................81 The Intensification of the Countercult Movement..................................................................87 The Neo-Evangelical Anti-Mormon Impact on Mormonism..................................................93 iv Conclusion ............................................................................................................................99 CHAPTER THREE: EVANGELICAL OPPOSITION TO MORMONISM IN TWENTY FIRST CENTURY AMERICA..............................................................................102 Introduction.........................................................................................................................102 History of Dialogue.............................................................................................................102 Forms of Dialogue...............................................................................................................116
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