I have putting off a review of the 15th volume in The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley since reading it before starting the Mormons and Catholics blog for a number of reasons. The first is that I wanted to set the tone for this site by not diving directly into a books or criticisms that would put Catholics on the defensive. After reading some discussions on ZLMB, Catholic Answers, and FAIR I have come to realize there are good Catholic responses to challenges made in regards to apostolic succession. When I read some Catholic debates with Protestants over issues of authority, I generally find more affinity with the Catholic arguments. I would hope that Catholics could come to likewise appreciate the Mormon arguments presented in Mormon/Protestant debates. Protestant ones rely on, as I see it, promoting a “priesthood of all believers” at the expense of having a lineage traceable to the apostles and essentially refusing to recognize Mormon or Catholic priesthoods as legitimate primarily based on criticisms derived from scriptural interpretations. So perhaps in exploring ideas that Nibley introduces might reveal more common ground between Mormons and Catholics and hence not be so divisive.

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To day I would like to report on this biography of a man who has my vote to qualify as a “Doctor of the Church” if a Mormon equivalent of the Catholic designation were to exist. A Consecrated Life was written by son-in-law Boyd Peterson (see a FARMS review of ACL here) and is a delightful saga covering 95 years of Mormon history through the eyes of an absent-minded professor. In my opinion, Peterson has written the best biography of a 20th century Mormon figure, although Sherie Dew’s and Gregory Prince’s coverage of Presidents Hinckley and McKay, respectively, deserve honorable mention. Dr. Hugh Nibley was the foremost Mormon intellectual, yet paradoxically always stressed the superiority of revelation over reasoning. I was saddened by his departure from this life last year as was Dr. Louis Midgley in his glowing tribute A Mighty Kauri Has Fallen.

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A few weeks ago there were a couple of discussions [1,2] on FAIR’s message  boards. I wish to capture a few quotations by Catholic David Waltz that present his opinion that  Mormons can be considered Christians, albeit heretical, from a Catholic perspective. As a hat tip to previous discussion, Brad Haas has argued from another Catholic perspective (perhaps the majority opinion), that Mormonism fails to meet traditional expectations of Christianity while witholding judgment on individual Mormons and other self-professed Christians. M&C has looked into the relevancy of the recent decision to not accept Mormon baptisms in a couple of entries [3,4].

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[ed. note: Benjamin McGuire is an impressive Mormon scholar with expertise in Biblical and literary interpretation. He has written several articles for FAIR, a couple which I will point out here because of their tangential relevance to this topic. In The Bible he outlines historical Mormon views and usage of the Bible. In Reconsidering Psalms 82:6 : Judges or Gods? A Proposal McGuire explains deification in both New and Old Testament contexts. Recently he was asked question about how Christians and more especially Mormons deal with the seemingly strict monotheistic overtones of Isaiah 43:10 and has agreed to let me publish it here, which I do with minimal editting.]

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Antonio asks:

About the father of God

I wanna know about the doctrine of the LDS church that tells God was a man like us and had a father. And about we becoming gods. I think this part of the doctrine goes against Isaiah 43:10. I am asking this because my girlfriend is Mormon and I love her. But if don’t become Mormon she will break with me. I want to believe but some parts contradicts the Holy Bible and I’m having some difficulty on it.

I will be very grateful if you answer my question.

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