We realize that what we say will not be welcomed by all, especially by some in the counter-cult movement.
Some may criticize us for giving the Mormons too much credit and for being too harsh on our fellow evangelicals.
However, much like testifying against a loved one in court, we cannot hide the facts of the matter. In this battle
the Mormons are fighting valiantly. And the evangelicals? It appears that we may be losing the battle and not
knowing it. But this is a battle we cannot afford to lose. It is our deep hope that this paper will, in some small way,
serve to awaken members of the evangelical community to the important task at hand.
... The first is that there are, contrary to popular evangelical perceptions, legitimate Mormon scholars. We use
the term scholar in its formal sense of "intellectual, erudite; skilled in intellectual investigation; trained in ancient
languages." .... It is a point of fact that the Latter-day Saints are not an anti-intellectual group like Jehovah's
Witnesses. Mormons, in distinction to groups like JWs, produce work that has more than the mere appearance of
scholarship.
The second conclusion we have come to is that Mormon scholars and apologists (not all apologists are
scholars) have, with varying degrees of success, answered most of the usual evangelical criticisms. Often these
answers adequately diffuse particular (minor) criticisms. When the criticism has not been diffused the issue has
usually been made much more complex.
A third conclusion we have come to is that currently there are, as far as we are aware, no books from an
evangelical perspective that responsibily interact with contemporary LDS scholarly and apologetic writings....
*** The evangelical world needs to wake up and respond to contemporary Mormon scholarship. If not, we will
lose the battle without ever knowing it. Our suggestions are as follows: First, evangelicals need to overcome
inaccurate presuppositions about Mormonism. Second, evangelical counter-cultists need to refer LDS
scholarship that is beyond their ability to rebut, to qualified persons. Third, evangelical academicians need to
make Mormonism, or some aspects of it, an area of professional interest. Fourth, evangelical publishers need to
cease publishing works that are uninformed, misleading or otherwise inadequate. Fifth, scholars in the
evangelical community ought to collaborate in several books addressing the issues raised in this paper. Related
to this, professional journals should encoruage articles on these same topics. Finally, might we suggest that
members of organizations such as the Evangelical Theological Society consider forming Mormonism Study
Groups. (Mormon Apologetic, Scholarship and Evangelical Neglect: Losing the Battle and Not Knowing It?, Carl
Mosser and Paul Owen, 1997 Evangelical Theological Society Far West Annual Meeting, April 25, 1997 --
unpublished but quoted here)