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Converting the Saints: A Study of Religious Rivalry in America, by Charles Randall Paul
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Review
"Converting the Saints tells of a time when the tables were turned on the Mormons. In the early twentieth century, after polygamy had been formally halted, and Utah was assimilating back into America, evangelical Protestants stepped up their efforts in Utah to win Mormon souls back to Christianity. Accustomed to proselytizing other Christians, the Saints now had Christians proselytizing them. Paul makes this encounter an illuminating case study in the clash of sincerely held religious convictions. How are we to treat those whom we believeare profoundly wrong and yet refuse to change? Although a Mormon-Protestant story set in Utah a century ago; it is also a contemporary story played out every day throughout the world and in every corner of the land. Paul offers a powerful diagnosis of the problem and, better yet, a compelling course of action for transforming harsh conflict to peaceful contestation."-- Richard L. Bushman, author of JosephSmith: Rough Stone Rolling
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From the Author
Q&A by the publisher with the authorQ: Give us some insight into your background, how you choseto write about this topic, and your involvement with religious diplomacy.A: I was raised in northern New Jersey where my high school of 400 kids consisted of three major cliques: Jewish, Roman Catholic and Mainline Protestant. There were four Mormons. I was surprised to find how solid and happy my friends' families were. How could they be so good without The Truth? In mid life I became interested in how religious and secular societies faced unresolvable conflicts over truth and authority and right values. It seemed God had set up the world for pluralistic contestation, and I tried to figure out why. These issues led me to develop interreligious diplomacy as a mode of interaction that included persuasive contestation between trustworthy advocates.Q: Tell us briefly about the three case studies in thisbook. Who are these individuals and how did they differ in their tactics from oneanother?A: In the early twentieth century after Utah had been accepted as a state, the major Protestant churches wanted to assure that Mormonism was not accepted as another Christian denomination. John Nutting, a freelance pastor, evangelical/preacher came to Utah with young college age missionaries to save souls that, after hearing his revival teaching or door-to-door witnessing, simply confessed the true Jesus and stopped attending the Mormon church. William Paden, a Presbyterian, educator/activist, helped set up 1-12 grade schools that taught LDS students "true" Christianity along with math and English. He also tried to discredit the LDS leadership, close down the Mormon Church, and educate its youth in the right way. Franklin Spaulding was an Episcopal Bishop intellectual/diplomat that aimed to educate LDS college students in the inconsistences of some of the Mormon Church claims. He hoped to convert the Saints in their pews--urging church leaders that he befriended to change just a few doctrines and join the mainline churches.Q: You state that ongoing debate between religious ideologyis at the heart of what it means to be a pluralistic society. Can you elaborateon this?A: Humans in societies live by stories that order their lives. Ideological or religious traditions provide the comprehensive order and hope for a better world. These religious stories can seriously challenge the veracity of their rival claimants to truth and authority--making for conflict. Contemporary social conflict theorists have focused almost exclusively on conflicting economic and security interests as the engines for conflict, neglecting the cultural driver that religious tradition provides. I am bringing into focus the potency of conflicting formational stories in any society.Q: Why isn't tolerance always the desired outcome? How cantwo opposing people or groups find meaningful ways of collaboration?A: Tolerance is a weak social virtue (devoid of trust orgood will) that collapses when economic and security crises lead societies to seek for scapegoats. We have found that ideological opponents who engage honestly by means of persuasion actually can come to trust and "enjoy" each other's bothersome presence. People engage in collaborative co-resistance in many forms--sports being the most obvious--legal, legislative, scientific and commercial realms also absorb non-violent conflict managing procedures. When religion is involved, there is no room for compromise solutions, so some form of sustaining the ideological contest in a mode of persuasion is needed. This is healthy intolerance because it allows critics and rivals to be authentic and to have conversations that matter.Q: For Latter-day Saints, contention is a particularly discomforting word. In your book, you say that you prefer the term"contestation." Can you explain what you mean?A: This is a key to understanding how the LDS can lead in the goal of peace-building in split families or societies. We rightly learn that Jesus and Joseph thought contention--a term based on a root offorcing, twisting, coercing others--was the devil's work. It includes anger and contempt and resentment and revenge. On the other hand, those who stand for something as witnesses need to elevate the term contestation that means to witness with, for or against something--the root being the testimony ofa witness. The design of heaven and Earth seems to include many intelligences with different experiences to which they can respectfully testify without fear or anger. They have different viewpoints and experiences that bring them to conflicting contestants; honestly speaking the truth they see. This is what the Holy Spirit prompts us to do. It is the opposite of contentiousness even though the conflict of interpretation and ultimate concern or story remains. Peaceful tension results from contestation--and that is enough for Zion to thrive. Oneness cannot be identical interpretation and understanding of everything that would make individual existence redundant. Q: We live in an age of intense ideological polarization. What are you hoping that readers will learn from the case-studies presented in this book?A: I want them to read the book in the broad context of the problem of pluralism that began, narratively speaking, when Eve was different than Adam. I trace the American system of managing religious conflict as a living aspect of society. As long as it remains in the persuasive mode, it allows free expression in the balancing of ideological drives for hegemony. America is based on a foundation of continually contested foundations. Our culture can thrive on pluralism, not because we follow laws of procedural conflict management, but because we have a deep belief in the value of a worthy rival in religion as well as any other aspect of life. The case studies I show will hopefully move a reader to understand how the desire for a trustworthy opponent is a precious thing that does not come naturally but is essential to the success of a pluralistic society.
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Product details
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books, Incorporated (July 30, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1589587561
ISBN-13: 978-1589587564
Product Dimensions:
6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.3 out of 5 stars
16 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#809,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Could not have been better done
Kudos to Randall Paul for a well-researched, cited and written study of the early efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to share the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
I struggle with assigning stars to a review. Just based on reading this book I would give it four stars. I would add one star for the author being able to use the word “fissiparous†in a sentence. I would take away two stars for the polemical nature of the book.The author calls for a “cultivated respect†between rivals. What I found was a defense of things Mormon and what is something that seems to be common among the Saints, a misrepresentation of things Protestant by painting them with a Calvinistic brush that was too wide. My personal observation is that Protestants are indeed moving towards a greater acceptance of Mormons; while Mormons are still entrenched in their exceptionalism, being the only true and living Church. In a sacrament talk a few weeks ago, I said “The LDS church is a true and living branch of the tree of Christianity.†I didn’t get run off, neither did the presiding elder halt the meeting. Perhaps that is progress towards the author’s goal.I wish the author would have challenged this Mormon exceptionalism a bit more, but since he most likely agrees with it, I don’t see how he or we will ever get to “cultivated respect.†Perhaps when we (Mormons and non-Mormons) can get to the point where we know each other well enough, we will respect each other enough to stop needing to convert each other. I am already there.This book doesn’t get us there. . . that is what I was hoping I was going to read. My disappointment or misconception of what a book will conclude shouldn’t lessen the number of stars I put in its constellation.The author says the rebellion in Utah was a “supposed rebellion,†however the dislocations were “forced.†He acknowledges that because of Mormons’ theological positions and their “very offensive stance†. . . “serious trouble was inevitable.†Yet the conclusion is what it always is in a polemic piece, the dislocation was “forced†by the non-Mormon. It was the “Saint’s exclusive religious claims and social tribalism†that caused the Christians to “mob them out.†Fine, then encourage change; why blame the victim of tribalism? Nothing in the book encourages the Saints to rethink their core assumption they are God’s favorites. When Protestants are offended it is their inability “to stomach†the above. Huh?One of the author’s conclusions is that “coercion-free conversion is the only peaceful strategic aim for rivals engaging in contests of the hearts and minds of humanity. . . “ I disagree. I think the only peaceful strategy is disengagement from the contest. I know hundreds of Mormons through MHA, the Church History Department and our ward. We worship together every Sunday. I've prayed in front of General Authorities. I fully accept Mormons as my Christian brothers, maybe my slightly eccentric brothers, but I have no, zero need to convert them. Methinks that is a cultivated and ultimate respect! I enjoyed the book and yes, Protestants can be a fissiparous group on an inter-basis; while Mormons are an equally fissiparous group on an intra-basis!
Charles Randall Paul uses the historical perspective of Protestant missionary efforts to Utah Mormons in the early 20th century as a means of promoting a new dialogue between competing religious and ideological beliefs. Paul rejects coercion in favor of what he calls “persuasive contestation,†where understanding is the goal rather than conversion. He’s persuaded me. He provides an intriguing look into how we can turn the tumultuous cacophony of partisanship into constructive engagement and promote peace in our increasingly diverse American democracy.
Once upon a time, little 18-year-old evangelical me was sitting in an LDS Institute class when the teacher wrote the word "apostacy" on the board, so I corrected him that it's spelled "apostasy." One of my Mormon classmates joked that I knew that because I was an apostate Christian. I smiled and corrected him that it's because it has the same suffix as "heresy."Whether one is a member of heretical Mormonism, apostate Christianity, or some other "Gentile" collective, *Converting the Saints* contains a message that our increasingly polarized nation needs to hear: namely, that "persuasive contestation over religion, ideology, or founding principles is normal in our secular state; and that contestation is even healthy for free citizens to flourish within a diverse society." This message is set against the backdrop of the irenic missionary efforts of three early 20th century Protestant missionaries to Utah and the Mormon response to them---and by "irenic" I mean there were no Hahn's Mills or Mountain Meadows Massacres, not that they never had harsh words for one another. Their desire to persuade others without resorting to violence is presented as an example to us all, and this is where the book is most admirable.Also admirable is the book's presentation of the three Protestant missionaries in question, their lives, their missions, and their differing perspectives on outreach to the Saints. Franklin Spencer Spalding is particularly intriguing, and also deeply tragic in that he was the shortest lived. It turns out that Craig Blomberg, Richard Mouw, Greg Johnson, and those of us who have called for respectful engagement with Mormonism as opposed to counter-cult tactics were not starting something new, but perhaps (ironically) restoring something that was lost.The book has its downsides. Paul has an unfortunate tendency to tell, not show, to overly summarize broad topics where some well-synthesized examples would go much further in making his point. There are far more secondary sources discussed than there are primary sources, and I'm not certain that three Protestant missionaries over a period of ~20 years is really enough for a "study." We are also repeatedly told that the Protestant missionaries had little success with the book's title, yet the book never focuses in on successful conversions---and there must have been at least a few. I would expect a book about "converting the saints" to feature, well, some converted saints.Overall, this is a commendable book. Hug an apostate / heretic today!
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