06AR11-04

Apologia Report 11:4

January 26, 2006

Subject: Books & Culture looks at The Rise of Mormonism

In this issue:

ISLAM - the Islamic law of apostasy and its punishment

JESUS SEMINAR - an academic examination of why "it has failed to convert a significant portion of scholars and Christian laity"

MORMONISM - Books & Culture cover story on Rodney Stark's claim it is the first new world religion since the birth of Islam

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ISLAM

Freedom of Religion: Apostasy and Islam, by Abdullah Saeed and Hassan Saeed [1] -- reviewer Roxanne D. Marcotte explains that the authors address "the Islamic law of apostasy and its punishment. A quote from Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws (in the appendix of this work) provides a taste of what is at stake: 'Whoever by words, either spoken or written or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed ... shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.' ...

"Abdullah Saeed authors the first part, which focusses [sic] on the laws of apostasy, as well as the third part, with a chapter on the need to rethink apostasy laws. Chapter 1 ... highlights the great diversity of legislations on apostasy that exist at present in Muslim countries. Chapter 2 provides the historical context to the debates, whose roots for the harsh punishment for apostasy are to be found in the 'intra-Islamic intolerance' of the premodern period, generated by the internal conflicts faced by the nascent Muslim community. ... Chapter 3 investigates the concept of apostasy and other related concepts - blasphemy, heresy, hypocrisy and unbelief. ... Chapter 4 surveys punishments for apostasy in Islamic Law. ... Chapter 5 focusses on the evidence against capital punishment for apostasy by referring to the message of religious tolerance found in the Qur'an, its afterlife punishment message and the lenient approach of the Prophet. Chapter 6 introduces a variety of positions of contemporary Muslim thinkers on apostasy. ... Chapter 7 discusses the potential for misuse of apostasy laws which can take a number of forms....

"Hassan Saeed writes the second part of the book. He focusses on Malaysia with an overview of the restrictions imposed on religious freedom." Marcotte's incomplete description leaves us unable to offer a more clear idea of the book's structure. Studies in Religion, 34:2 - 2005, pp291-292.

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JESUS SEMINAR

"When the Trumpet Call Is Unclear: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Speech That Launched the Jesus Seminar" by Mathew Cabot -- the abstract reads: "Since the Jesus Seminar has become almost iconic in religious media coverage, it merits academic scrutiny. This article focuses on the Seminar's inaugural address given by founder Robert Funk on March 21, 1985, at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. In that address, Funk set forth the Seminar's mission and method that has guided the association ever since. The main thesis of this article is that clues to the Seminar's successes and failures may be found in Funk's inaugural address, which may be uncovered through a 'text-in-context' analysis of the speech."

Cabot concludes his essay with these words: "While the Seminar has achieved enviable success in attracting the mainstream media, it has failed to convert a significant portion of scholars and Christian laity to its vision of the Bible and Jesus. As this article has attempted to demonstrate, one possible reason for this disconnect is the unclear mission articulated by Funk in his address." Journal of Communication and Religion, 28:2 - 2005, pp286-306.

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MORMONISM

"Saints Rising" by Gerald R. McDermott -- subtitled: "Is Mormonism the first new world religion since the birth of Islam?" McDermott's answer to the question is a lengthy and negative response to Rodney Stark's long campaign to the affirmative. Stark has recently upped the ante with his latest book, The Rise of Mormonism [2]. McDermott reports that in it Stark updates his earlier articles and includes new essays.

"In The Rise of Mormonism, [Stark] continues to assert that the growth of this new American religion is 'one of the great events in the history of religion,' and, no less boldly, 'the single most important case on the agenda of the social scientific study of religion.'" McDermott reviews the arguments used by Stark and responds point-by-point to the contrary.

The main bones of contention which come up are summarized: "Is it new?," "Is it a world religion?," and "Is it the first since Islam?" With regard to the first of these, McDermott opens by noting that "In 1984, Stark insisted that, while Mormons 'have retained cultural continuities with Christianity (just as Christianity retained continuities with Judaism and classical paganism)[,] ... the Mormons are a new religion.'

"Mormons themselves disagree on this, as do Christian scholars engaged in dialogue with Mormons. ...

"Nevertheless, among both Mormon and non-Mormon scholars, many would agree that while Mormonism retains significant and central features of mainstream Christian thought and practice, it nevertheless diverges in ways sufficient to merit its characterization as a 'new religious tradition.' Jan Shipps, who 'has come to know the Saints better than any previous outside observer,' has famously argued that Mormonism is a departure from the existing Christian tradition as much as early Christianity was a departure from Judaism. ... Philip Barlow's recent study of LDS use of the Bible [3] reinforces Shipps' contention. Like Shipps, he believes Mormonism departs from sola scriptura: the new tradition puts limits on biblical authority and rejects the Bible as a sufficient religious guide."

McDermott adds that "For Eric Eliason [4], these are 'doctrinal differences serious enough to make Mormonism ultimately irreconcilable with traditional Christianity.'"

All confidence that McDermott knows his stuff evaporates after he writes that evangelicals "need to know that Mormon scriptures assert that salvation is not earned by human effort but that Christ took our sins, we take his righteousness, and we are saved by grace through faith." McDermott cites the widely disputed book How Wide the Divide [5] to support this statement.

Back on track, McDermott continues: "Stark elides important distinctions when he claims in The Rise of Mormonism that the Christian convert to Mormonism 'retains his or her entire Christian culture and simply adds to it.'"

In his discussion, "Is it a World Religion?," McDermott cites Douglas Davies' argument [6] that Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, and Hinduism are "mostly ethnic and endogamous" rendering them more "great religions of the world but not world religions."

When McDermott asks, "Is It the First Since Islam?," he begins: "If we use the number of adherents as our primary measure of what we agree to call a world religion, it is impossible to say that the Church of Latter-day Saints is the first new world faith since the birth of Islam. Since the 7th century, a number of other new faiths have arisen of comparable or larger size. Each was sufficiently different from its parent religion to merit its moniker as a new tradition. ...

"If Mormons qualify as a new tradition because of their changes to the dominant religious story, Jehovah's Witnesses also deserve the label. In terms of numbers, Witnesses are doing even better."

Nearing his conclusion, McDermott notes that a further problem for the qualification of Mormonism is "a low retention rate outside the United States." Another issue is that, "ironically, one of Mormonism's strengths is now a weakness: its lack of a formal theology. Without a clearly identified set of core beliefs, it is harder for Mormonism to compete in areas with religions that have clear doctrine - mainstream Christianity and Islam, for example."

McDermott concludes, in part, that "Mormonism is indeed a new religious tradition, with significant differences from mainstream Christianity. But it is not the first major faith to have arisen since Islam, and it has not grown faster than any other new American religion." A substantial cover feature. Books & Culture, Jan/Feb '06, pp9-11, 42-46.

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Sources, Monographs:

1 - Freedom of Religion: Apostasy and Islam, by Abdullah Saeed and Hassan Saeed (Ashgate, 2004, hardcover, 227 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/075463082X/apologiareport>

2 - The Rise of Mormonism, by Rodney Stark (Columbia Univ Prs, 2005, hardcover, 192 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/023113634X/apologiareport>

3 - Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion, by Philip Barlow (Oxford Univ Prs, 1997, paperback, 296 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195109716/apologiareport>

4 - Mormons and Mormonism: An Introduction to an American World Religion, Eric Eliason, ed. (Univ Illinois Prs, 2001, paperback, 250 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0252069129/apologiareport>

5 - How Wide the Divide: A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation Craig Blomberg, Stephen Robinson (IVP, 1997, paperback, 228 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0830819916/apologiareport>

6 - The Mormon Culture of Salvation: Force, Grace and Glory, by Douglas Davies (Ashgate, 2000, paperback, 293 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0754613305/apologiareport>

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