Book Review: A Different Jesus? By Robert Millet
June 6, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton
During
a meeting with some representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention
Robert Millet and his LDS colleagues were asked, “’Why don’t you people
just admit it: You worship a different Jesus!’ My LDS colleagues and I
spent the next half hour or so trying to convince them of our
acceptance of Jesus of Nazareth, as set forth in the New Testament.”
(xi-xii) This is the goal Dr. Millet has set forth for A Different
Jesus?
Robert
Millet begins by presenting the beginnings of Mormonism as an
introduction to their beliefs. On this foundation he then proceeds to
discuss LDS theologies revolving around Jesus Christ in relation to
(mostly Protestant) historical Christianity.
Chapter
1 tells briefly about Christ’s pre-existence and the plan of the
eternal gospel coming to bear. The second chapter looks at Jesus in
light of secular scholarship, namely the Jesus Seminar. In chapter 3
Dr. Millet discusses a list of differences among Christians, the LDS
claim to be the “one true church,” and what doctrines Mormonism holds
in addition to historical Christianity. In subsequent chapters he goes
on to explain the LDS beliefs about Jesus Christ and salvation, and at
the end has a chapter answering 21 of the most common questions he’s
been asked by non-Mormons.
In
his concluding chapter, Robert Millet tells a story about a question
asked of him by a theologian: “You are standing before the judgment bar
of the Almighty, and God turns to you and asks: ‘Robert Millet, what
right do you have to enter heaven? Why should I let you in?’… I would
say to God: ‘I claim the right to enter heaven because of my complete
trust and reliance upon the merits and mercy and grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ.’” (175-177) The question that first came to my mind is,
“Which Jesus?”
Well,
the LDS Jesus that Robert Millet presents does bear some similarity to
the Jesus that historical Christians believe in, but also has a number
of important differences. “Jesus was the firstborn spirit child of God
the Father and thus the recipient of the birthright of the royal
family. As such, and in that premortal realm, he was the Elder Brother
of all the spirit sons and daughters of the Father.” (20) We are those
spirit sons and daughters, literally. “We do not believe that God and
man are of a different species.” (117) They do believe in the Trinity,
“But they believe they are three distinct personages, three Beings,
three separate Gods.” (141)
These
important beliefs are at the foundation of the differences between the
Jesus of the LDS Church and the Jesus of historic Christianity.
Further, such doctrines about Jesus of Nazareth are, we Christians
believe, contradictory to the revelation of the Old and New Testaments.
Thus, despite Dr. Millet’s insistence otherwise, the LDS do believe in
a different Jesus.
On
one hand, I found some things to appreciate about this book. Robert
Millet emphasizes Jesus Christ more than he does Joseph Smith, which is
a move in the right direction. Dr. Millet has interacted with a wide
range of popular Protestant authors, which helps him paint a mostly
accurate picture of historic Christianity. However, on the other hand,
he manages to quote from every prominent open theist and just about all
of C.S. Lewis’ most controversial beliefs. He poses some great
questions throughout the book, but then occasionally fails to really
answer them. For example, after quoting from Matthew 16:16-18 he asks,
“Did the Lord not clearly state in this passage that Satan would not
prevail over the Christian church?” (52) Unfortunately no clear answer
is even offered.
While
Robert Millet affirms many things I would agree with, on the most
fundamental doctrines of who Jesus Christ is, I cannot. Unfortunately I
cannot agree with my Christian brother Richard Mouw, who states in his
afterword, “I think that an open-minded Christian reader of this book
will sense that Bob Millet is in fact trusting in the Jesus of the
Bible for his salvation.” (183) It appears that Dr. Millet is still
trusting in a different Jesus; a different God, than the ONE of the
Bible.
The
book is well written, which is a testimony to Dr. Millet’s prolific
writing career. While it would be easily understood by most lay people,
I’m afraid I can’t recommend it except to those who have a firm
understanding of the teachings of the Bible and a general understanding
of the LDS General Authorities who are interested in learning about
Mormon teachings. I am disappointed that a Christian publisher would
print this book, thereby making it accessible to unsuspecting readers
in Christian bookstores, as it is an outright defense of a Jesus
contrary to the Bible.
Related posts:
- ETS 5- James Beverley on Ravi Zacharias, Robert Millet, and the New Dialogue
- Book Review: Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R.C. Sproul
- Book Review: They Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball
- Book Review: Reinventing Jesus
- Mormon beliefs are not as un-evangelical as most evangelicals think
- Book Review: Running Against the Wind by Brian Flynn
Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Mormonism, Religion (General), Roger's Posts
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June 7th, 2005 at 12:02 pm
Roger, I appreciate your thoughtful words, restraint and respectful tone.
If I were interested in better understanding Mormon Theology and what they do and do not share in common with us, would this book be helpful? I am not familiar with the tone of the book. Could it be received as part of a dialogue, or is the tone more an apologetic for Mormon theology over and against our Christian doctrine?
I agree with you that the substance of our Christology has an impact on a profession of trust in the efficacios work of Jesus on our behalf. The differences you describe do appear to remain substancial. If Dr. Mouw were willing to comment again on this concern, I would greatly appreciate it. I understand he is busy. Perhaps if you email him, he might be willing to make one more brief response.
June 7th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
The problem is that if you take what Dr. Millet says here to the average Mormon you're not going to get very far. The way the LDS Church is structured is that they get their official doctrine from the General Authorities. So even if what Dr. Millet says accurately reflects contemporary Mormonism (and it pretty much does), a Mormon could simply dismiss it as not being from the Church (I've had this done with a copy of the original Book of Mormon- they dismissed it because it didn't have the Church's name on the binding).
Even Dr. Millet is careful with how he poses it. “This book is a private endeavor and is thus without imprimatur or authorization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or Brigham Young University.” (xiii) “I cannot, however, assure the reader that every Latter-day Saint in the world would answer questions or explain principles in exactly the same way I do.” (166)
The overall tone is more of dialogue, though it gets more apologetic in the final chapter where he answers questions. It's not so much that “our Jesus is better,” it's more like “we worship the Jesus of the Bible and are therefore Christians.”
So, can I recommend it for understanding Mormonism? Yes and no. Yes- it will help you to some degree understand how generally an intellectually inclined Mormon views their religion. No-there's some stuff not in there, and I'm not sure the average Mormon who isn't intellectually inclined thinks of things the same way. I think the best way to learn about Mormonism from their perspective is to go to http://www.lds.org and read away. Dig in especially to the archives of their publications like Ensign and their conference reports.
The thought's crossed my mind to email Dr. Mouw, but I haven't gotten to it.
July 14th, 2005 at 8:32 pm
“I am disappointed that a Christian publisher would print this book, thereby making it accessible to unsuspecting readers in Christian bookstores, as it is an outright defense of a Jesus contrary to the Bible.”
The particular publisher, William B. Eerdmans, is known for publishing books for critical thinkers. In this case, they felt that there was so much DISTORTION in the Mormon books written by Evangelicals that it was high time we “heard it from the horses mouth.” As a 20+ year veteran of the Christian Book world, I heartily agree. What we need are more of these books, so that we might understand our _______ neighbor (fill in the blank.) Sadly, too many books just perpetuate our ignorance.
rob schl
July 14th, 2005 at 10:06 pm
I must respectfully disagree, Mr. Schl
August 11th, 2006 at 9:22 am
” I’m afraid I can’t recommend it accept to those who have a firm understanding ”
Not to whine about your thoughtless comments, but your less than “accept”ing review is shallow and meaningless “except” to those having an ax to grind because 1) they can't see the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3), 2) they've never read the Book of Mormon (so how could they possibly know) 3) nor Professor Millet's book (so un-enlightened).
August 11th, 2006 at 9:55 am
So if I read the Book of Mormon, I'll no longer make typos? Apparently that didn't work for me…