I walk to Temple Square from my house. It’s a quick walk, only about 10 minutes if I hustle. It’s all downhill going, so the walk home is always a good workout.
Walking through the big iron gates, I admire the architecture, read the infographics in the Visitor’s Center, and chat with the missionaries while Rowan smiles and flirts from his stroller, always with his trusty Hot Wheels car in-hand. I like hearing their story – where they’re from, why they wanted to be a missionary, how they’re enjoying Salt Lake City.
The Temple missionaries, usually young women or an elderly couple, always ask me if I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I always politely answer “No, I’m not,” and explain “But, I am a believer in Christ, and I am a part of a local church here.” This usually incites some good conversation.
During one of my trips to the Temple, I was offered a copy of their Scriptures, as “a gift from The Church,” the young man said. I thanked him, brought the book home and began to thumb through the pages while Rowan snacked on an apple. I remember a conversation I had with my dear friend Allison. She was asked by some missionaries in her neighborhood to read the entire Book of Mormon. After thinking about that concept at length over the course of the last few weeks, I thought “That’s actually a pretty good idea.”
See, here in Utah, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes up over 60% of the population. Yes. Over half of the entire state is considered Mormon. Which, if you know anything about Utah, that probably doesn’t surprise you.
But, as I’ve been living here in Salt Lake City, a short walk from one of the Saints’ most sacred sites, I realized that I know very little about my LDS friends’ beliefs. Everything I’ve learned about the Mormon faith has been through others, primarily people who were never Mormon, or who used to be Mormon and are no longer. Which isn’t bad, per se. The people I’ve learned from are extremely smart, analytical, knowledgable, and I trust them.
But.
But, there’s something that I think we’ve lost in our culture of immediacy. We’ve lost a sense of discovery, hard work and independent thought when it comes to learning about other faiths. We take to our computers and scan Wikipedia for a few bullet points. We ask our friends. We maybe read a book or two, but even that is rare these days.
Aside from my friends who used to be members of the LDS church, I’m not sure I know anyone else who has willingly read The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price (these are the three primary scriptures in the LDS faith) in their entirety.
Some of the reason is time, and I get that. We all have limited spare time to research and learn on our own.
If we’re honest, some of the reason is fear, too.
As a mainline, protestant, evangelical Christian, I’ve been taught to keep other faiths at arms-length. Never let it too close, and for heaven’s sake, PLEASE don’t read their Scriptures. Right? Don’t get me wrong, I think at some level, it’s healthy to not engage emotionally and it’s healthy to know where I am in the steadiness of my faith. I should always be evaluating that and making smart decisions.
But, at what point will I decide to grow a pair & be intellectually honest? How can I engage a thoughtful, genuine conversation about the LDS faith WITH people OF that faith, without even knowing what their Scriptures say? Without ever touching the pages and reading the words for myself, how can I talk about it with any kind of integrity? It’s too easy to slip into hearsay and assumptions. And frankly, I’m tired of assuming. I’m tired of not being self-informed. I’m tired of putting my foot in my mouth & looking like an ass… it’s awkward, uncomfortable and I’d rather do the work towards a fuller understanding. I feel like I owe it to my LDS friends, neighbors and colleagues to sit and read for a while.
So, over the course of the next year, I’ll be reading the Scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I’m grateful to have people I trust on both sides of the Mormon faith… those who were once LDS and are no longer, and those who are currently LDS and active in their faith community. I know I can go to them with hard questions and get honest answers. I know they’ll dig in with me and help me understand. I know they’ll keep me upright, and they’ll honor both my desire to learn, and my desire to stay true to Christ as I’ve come to know Him through the Bible.
I might post more about this as the year progresses, I might not. But, I wanted to be open about what I’m pursuing & why, in hopes that it might spark a conversation about what it means to really learn about other beliefs while staying true to our own.
what a good way to truly understand the community you are in. praying for discernment for you as you read!
Thank you for praying, Erika!!
My favorite class I took in college was my Religion course. I’ve always believed it to be important to KNOW why other faiths believe the way they do. But it can be scary… especially if you’re not solid in your own understanding. I tried reading the Koran years ago, and have always wanted to read the Book of Mormon. I hope you blog updates… but I understand if you choose not to.
I was a Religion major in my undergrad work, and was prepared for a lot of years in graduate work in the subject. But then, we moved to Portland instead.
I totally understand the scary feeling… I guess I’m just starting to question that fear. Where does it come from? Why should I be afraid? You know?
I commend you. I had several friends in high school who were Mormon. I was raised and am a Non-denominational Christian. I was fascinated by their beliefs. My senior year, one of them gave me The Book of Mormon. I never read all the way through it, but I feel like I should. I have copies of and have read the Torah, the Qur’an, and the Apocrypha. But what’s keeping me from The Book of Mormon?
I don’t want to over-spiritualize, but maybe you’re just not meant to read it right now? You know? There might be a good reason behind it. Don’t brush that off.
Thanks for your encouragement, DB.
I loved this post. I think my only problem with reading other faith texts personally is my lack of reading of my own faith texts. I have read the Bible through 1-2 times in my life. I know some of it well, but much of my knowledge comes second hand.
I have read a great deal of the Quran, but at this point, I find myself in need of more reading about my current place, then going on to understand others…make sense?
Matthew, I think that’s totally legit. And wise. If I was at a point where I realized I felt too unstable in my own faith, I definitely wouldn’t venture into learning about another one. That’s good self-awareness there, and probably the prompting of the Spirit in telling you to hold off.
Proud of you.
Love you. xo
Great undertaking. I applaud your openness and efforts. I am LDS, and would be happy to ever answer any questions you may come across. We as LDS do use the Holy Bible in our studies as well, so we actually have 4 different scriptural works that we refer to. The Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, & Pearl of Great Price are additional scriptures that we use along with the King James version of the Holy Bible.
Thanks, Andrea. I’ve actually read the Bible cover to cover as well, and read it in pieces daily… so I’ll be using that particular Christian Scripture to help me discern what I read in the three LDS Scriptures. Thanks for commenting & your encouragement!
I think the fear is sometimes a kind of protection (e.g., for people like the commenter above who feels he needs a better foundation in his own faith), but I think as faith matures we *should* be able to shed that fear, or to interrogate it as you’re doing now. I love it. And I think what you’re doing is wisdom. How can you meet people where they are on a daily, personal level if you don’t know where they are?
Also, I appreciate that you wrote this thoughtful, gentle post and then dropped “grow a pair” right in the middle. You’re my kind of girl.
xx
I completely agree. I mentioned that to Matthew when he replied. I do think the Holy Spirit works in that way as a protection mechanism, and we shouldn’t ignore that or shrug it off. There is such a thing as healthy fear, to be sure! I was just writing about me, specifically. After evaluating the fear I had, I found it to be unfounded. So, I’m gonna push through and learn.
I like that I’m your kinda girl.
xo
My aunt was married to a man who was Muslim. The marriage was never a good one, but he was in and out of our lives for almost twenty years. He wanted little to do with our large family full of Christians, but he did seem to like me – probably because I’m a clone of my aunt.
One day when I was a young teen and they were separated yet again, I found my aunt’s copy of the Koran on a shelf beside her Amish fiction. I was horrified, convinced she had decided to “convert” and that we’d “lost” her. Why would she even want to read such a thing?
He died when I was 19, and I regret now that though I had tried – we all had – to “tell him about Jesus” and convert him to our ways, never once did I try to understand his.
I love you. So much. xo
I live just north of you in the Boise area. We have a large population of Mormons in our community as well. I grew up with some of my best friends being LDS and went on several mission trips to the Salt Lake area in high school to work in struggling Christian churches. I’m thankful for a youth pastor who encouraged me to get to know the beliefs of the Mormon church. I don’t know that it’s wise to live in a community where there are so many and not understand what they believe. How else can I share what I believe in a context they’ll understand? I’ve been able to have some good conversations with several of my Mormon friends over the years about the fundamental differences in our beliefs. I’m thankful for that.
I would also encourage you to get a copy of their Bible. It’s different from ours as in many, many things have been changed to match up with the rest of their teachings.
Right now, I’m building a relationship with 2 women from the Jehovah’s Witness church in our area. They’ve stopped by several times and are always so sweet. I’m enjoying getting to know them and why they believe what they believe.
Good call on getting the LDS version of the Bible… but some say it’s just King James? Will have to look into that.
You are both right. About 30 years the LDS Church released a version of the King James Bible with footnotes that cross reference to its other books of scripture. So the text is King James, but the footnotes, Bible dictionary, topical guide, etc. are Mormon. They have placed all of their scripture online at http://lds.org/scriptures/?lang=eng.
So glad you are doing this Nish. Inspires me to pick up the Quran I have on my shelf and have only thumbed through a few times. While I didn’t get the “Never let it too close, and for heaven’s sake, PLEASE don’t read their Scriptures” message that you received, I would confess I have been lazy. I grew up around a large muslim population and while I “love” them, I always want to hold the posture of not being afraid to learn more. Fear can easily breed a desire to be ignorant. And vice versa.
“Fear can easily breed a desire to be ignorant.” Truthbomb.
Hey Nish, this seems like a great idea. God will keep the truth clear and give you even more reason to walk close with Him and love the people in your community.
Thank you for that encouragement, Dan!
*applause* reading through doctrinal books by the Witnesses for similar reasons. Loving people and taking no time to understand their faith and heart makes no sense.
Oh, tell me more about what you’re reading!
That just makes my heart happy! I live in a corner of Chicago smack dab in the middle of a very Muslim population and one of the largest concentrations of Orthodox Jews in the country. Being familiar first hand with their sacred Scriptures makes it so much easier to have real conversations.
That must be a VERY interesting place to live, in the middle of those two communities!!
I have always been very interested in the Mormom faith, and have read several books on it, but have never read their scriptures. I grew up being told (and believing) what you mentioned above….that I should not read the scriptures of other faiths. Why should I? It wasn’t the faith I was a part of. As I’ve grown older, I have felt a shift in my thinking, but it seems so hard at times to let go of the things we’ve been taught our whole lives. I commend you for pushing past your fears & reading these teachings. I hope you do post more on this subject.
Thanks, Alison. I’m not sure that I’ll post more. Maybe, if the time is right and I find something worthwhile to say. But, I won’t force it.
It is totally hard to let go of our past beliefs & fears. I’m with you on that!
I am struck by your wisdom in taking this on. How can we authentically engage with others if we’re not willing to understand where they’re coming from? Blessings to you, Nish, as you read. May it draw you closer to God and bear fruit with the LDS believers you encounter.
Thank you, Leigh!
You go girl! I hope you keep us updated on your thoughts and such!
Thanks, Kendi!
I wonder if part of the reason people are afraid of reading and learning about other religions is the fear of change. The fear that they will realize maybe these things really are the word of God.
I am so proud of you and fully expect lots of discussion with you!! xoxo
What a neat, challenging thing to do! I think there is a lot of fear for various reasons (What if this brings up questions I don’t have answers for? What will people say if they know I’m doing this? What if it does shake my faith?) and then there is the time factor. Again, such an awesome commitment for the new year!
One question: when you say you are a “mainline, protestant, evangelical Christian” what does that mean? I got you on the protestant, but I was just having a conversation with someone the other day about the difference between mainline denominations and evangelical ones. Of course, you may be using the term evangelical in the literal sense. As a United Methodist in the deep South my denomination is technically a mainline one, but in practice our church has a very evangelical feel to it. Just curious about what the terminology meant to you.
Love this Nish. I have a book of Mormon but have only skimmed it. I know I would appreciate someone reading the Bible to understand my faith better.
same goes with the Koran. I’ve got one on my shelf to read now.
Bravo, Nish! This is one of the very many reasons I love to call you friend. (And I’ve been through the three scriptures of the LDS in near-entirety … I admit to skimming more of the BoM than the careful time I took with PoGP and DaC. So maybe we can have a little reading group chat sometime. One quasi-Red Door to another.)
My hubs had to read the Quran for work, and it has only helped him in personal {as well as professional} conversations and experiences. Now I need to follow both of your examples!
Good on ya, Nish!
I had a wonderful World Religions professor who told our class that until we truly understand a religion’s draw to people, that thing that speaks to us and makes us understand why someone would follow it, we don’t understand another religion. I’m now encouraged again to go continue to seek that out. I work with Navajo students and many of their native beliefs (traditional and modern) confuse me, mostly because I have spent little time trying to understand them. Thank you for encouraging me in this way.
Just happened on your blog via SimpleMom. I found a blog a while back that consists of conversations between evangelicals and mormons: http://ldstalk.wordpress.com/ Pretty interesting stuff. Happy reading!