Dr Paul Allen

An example of Allāh written in simple Arabic calligraphy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A rose is a rose is a rose. This dictum reinforces the adage that a rose by any other name is still a rose. The idea is that the essence of the rose is not conditioned by what name is attached to it. It is its res, not its nomina, that determines what it is. In different languages, the same flower is known by different names, but it is still the same flower. When we apply this idea to theology things get a bit more complicated. Indeed the rose adage has been transferred indiscriminately to religion in order to create a theological concept. The concept is: “God by any other name is still God.” Now certainly, it is true that the immutable essence of God is not changed by the alteration of His name. In English, we may say “God,” in German “Gott,” in Greek “Theos,” yet all these names or words are used to point to the same Deity. Beyond this, however, things get murky. It is a quantum leap to go from

English: Painting by an unknown painter, circa 1842. The original is owned by the Community of Christ archives. It is on display at the Community of Christ headquarters in Independence Missouri, where its provenance is explained. The painting was originally in the possession of Joseph Smith III (died 1914), who is recorded as commenting on the painting. The c. 1842 date is given by the Community of Christ, the painting's owner. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Mormons are the only true Christians . At least, that’s the official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Shortly after Jesus’ original disciples had passed from the earth, the Christian church lost the Gospel . According to the Mormon scriptures , God restored the true Gospel to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith , and he established the LDS church ( Pearl of Great Price , Joseph Smith—History , 1:1-75), “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” ( Doctrine & Coven

Cover of The Kingdom of the Cults A few months ago Franklin Graham found himself in all sort of evangelical hot water when he removed a page from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association ’s website that had labeled Mormonism as a cult. The timing of the removal—a few weeks before the presidential election and a few minutes after Billy Graham gave his presidential imprimatur to Romney—made any nuanced reasoning behind the Graham’s move impossible. They compounded their problems when their defense of the action was “God has not called us to call other people names”—a defense which is about as thoughtful and persuasive as saying “Mormons really are nice people after all.” As Dan Phillips over at Pyromanics pointed out, how can you possibly argue with someone when they say that God has not called them to do what you think they should be doing? Doesn’t that mean you are arguing with God? Who, exactly, do you think you are? But there remains an obvious question that bears explori

Image via Wikipedia Our guest on this week’s edition of The Connected Kingdom podcast is  ex-Mormon and now Christian author Latayne Scott. She answers questions like these ones: How did you become a Mormon? How were you converted to  Christ ? Is Mormonism a cult? Can a Christian vote for Mitt Romney ? What are the changes in and challenges to Mormonism? How should we evangelize Mormons ? Should we invite them into our homes? Through Zondervan , Latayne has just published a new and updated edition of   The Mormon Mirage . You can also catch up with her at her blog  Latayne.com . Related articles CK2:21 - Mormons & Mormonism (challies.com) The Mormon Mirage: A Book Review (boundlessblog.wordpress.com) Vast Majority Of Americans Have No Problem Voting For A Mormon (outsidethebeltway.com) CNN Poll: Mormon candidate not a problem for most Americans (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com) Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll: Mormonism is a cult (seattletimes.nwsource.com) More

Image via Wikipedia Mormonism is back in the news. And with two Mormon presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney (the front runner for the Republican nomination), there’s a good chance we will be hearing much more about Mormonism for the next twelve months. Denny Burk has a very helpful piece on whether Mormonism is a cult , and Albert Mohler has written a thoughtful article on “Mormonism, Democracy, and the Urgent Need for Evangelical Thinking.” I won’t repeat their arguments, except to reiterate Mohler’s reminder that voting for a president should include examining the candidate’s religious beliefs, but should include other considerations as well. Presidential elections are important. But believing the truth is even more important. With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to provide a brief overview of Mormon history and theology. I won’t try to debunk Mormonism or prove Christianity. But I hope this quick survey will show that the two are not the same. Cover v

Image by paparutzi via Flickr Predictably, Mormonism is in the news again. The presence of two members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints among contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination ensured that it was only a matter of time before Evangelicals, along with other Americans, began to talk openly about what this means for the nation, the church, and the stewardship of political responsibility in the voting booth. There are numerous ways to frame these questions wrongly. Our responsibility as evangelical Christians is to think seriously and biblically about these issues. The first temptation is to reduce all of these issues to one question. We must address the question of Mormonism as a worldview and judge it by the Bible and historic Christian doctrine . But this doe Image by paparutzi via Flickr s not automatically determine the second question — asking how Mormon identity should inform our political decisions. Nevertheless, for evangelical Chri