I forhold til Erik Dalgas indlæg omkring Presbyterianernes brochure, skrev
jeg til dem omkring deres holdning om at bruge deres brochure til at
promovere at SDH er ikke-kristne. Her er et officielt svar fra
Presbyterianerne, min oprindelige email er i bunden. Jeg vil bringe den uden
yderligere kommentarer:
Dear Mr. Schjodt:
You have asked about the position of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
concerning the Latter-day Saints. The material you have read at
<
http://www.pcusa.org/wmd/eir/mormon.htm> is a summary of a decision of the
General Assembly of our church, which is our highest body. In a very real
sense, our General Assembly action simply says what it says, that is, that
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not a part of the
"apostolic tradition" of the church (which we might word in the same say you
have done, saying that it "differs from historical Christianity").
Moving beyond this statement requires an interpretation as to whether those
outside the apostolic tradition/historical Christianity may be defined as
Christians or not. We are aware that Latter-day Saints define themselves as
being Christian. We are also aware that we are not part of the same
religious community - we know that there is not mutual acceptance of each
others' baptisms; we recognize differences in our understandings that are
rather profound (i.e., concerning God, revelation, life after death); we
feel free to invite others to become part of our community, including
Latter-day Saints, and know that you feel this same freedom. We have also
said that we will treat Latter-day Saints in the same ways we treat others
outside of our community, according to standards we use for "interfaith
relationships." These standards call us to be open, honest, trustful, and
respectful of others.
I might add that we have explicitly said that we are ready to engage in
mutual activities with Latter-day Saints for the well-being of the places
where we live-be this local, national, or international. We have yet to test
our willingness to follow our own affirmation at a national level; there are
local communities, I know, where Presbyterians and Latter-day Saints are
jointly involved in activities for the common good.
We have no official interpretation of our action concerning the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, beyond the statement itself. We do not
endorse anyone else's interpretation of our General Assembly's statements in
any official way.
I trust this is helpful to you. This comes with our greetings to you.
Sincerely,
Margaret O. Thomas
Coordinator for Interfaith Relations
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
IN ANSWER TO THE FOLLOWING COMMUNICATION
Hi
I'm a Latter Day Saint from Denmark and have read your article on:
http://www.pcusa.org/wmd/eir/mormon.htm
My question is not regarding the article, but on the intended and
recommended usage of the article. I'm asking that question because an
evangelical Christian (not Presbyterian) in Denmark, is using your article
to promote his own opinions about LDS not being Christian in a Christian
newsgroup on the Internet.
My understanding from your article, is that Presbyterians define that LDS
differs from historical Christianity, an argument which I can't disagree
with. But your article does not in my opinion define that LDS are not
Christian. Could you please answer this question and state your view on this
matter. If you could answer whether Presbyterians consider LDS Christian,
and if it's correct to use the mentioned article to promote that LDS are not
Christian.
Kind regards
Kenn L. Schjodt
--
Med venlig hilsen
Kenn L. Schjødt
Dansk side om Jesu Kristi Kirke af SDH:
http://www.kristus.dk
Kirkens officielle hjemmeside:
http://www.lds.org