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Commonalities
Appeared: 12/27/2009
Commonalities: A Positive Look at Latter-day Saints from a Bahá'í Perspective. Serge van Neck. George Ronald, 2009.
The Mormons have been in the news a lot lately, and not in a very flattering light. Serge van Neck's book, then, comes as a welcome antidote. Mr. van Neck, whose wife is Mormon and who thus has close personal experience of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has set out to write a book exploring the common ground between the Bahá'í Faith and its contemporary. In this he has succeeded admirably.
In his preface, the author states that he hoped to write a book which, although geared to Bahá'ís, would also be accessible to Mormons. The result is the most balanced and comprehensive book on the interrelation of the Bahá'í Faith with another religion that this reviewer has read. The careful selection and presentation of copious quotations from the Bahá'í Writings, Mormon scriptures, and authoritative works of both religions allows them to be read in a mutually supporting fashion, effortlessly illustrating similarity (or dissimilarity) of thought and purpose in the two systems of belief. One short chapter deals with Bahá'í themes that have no exact LDS parallel, and another examines social aspects of Mormon culture with an eye toward the Bahá'í community as its grows and changes (for example, the author discusses the way in which the LDS Church carries out its program of home visits, a study of which might be valuable to Bahá'ís in our effort to implement and coordinate the same sort of thing). Four appendices explore special topics: the history of polygamy in the LDS Church, its perceived racism, its tolerance of other religions, and a couple of apocryphal tales that have gained credence in some Bahá'í circles.
While most Americans know something about Joseph Smith and the birth of the religion, the subsequent persecutions of the Mormons and their flight west to Utah, they know very little else. The geographical isolation of many of the faith's members, combined with a low-profile existence brought about by severe persecution, means that to many Americans the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remains at best a curiosity and at worst notorious. Almost half of Commonalities, then, is devoted to a clear, thorough presentation of the history of the LDS church, its doctrine, and its organization. What might be characterized as the more exotic, hence more easily misunderstood, tenets of the faith receive ample treatment. For example, in a section headed "The eternal nuclear family", the author writes:
Latter-day Saints believe that the nuclear family, made up of father, mother, and children, will be reunited in the afterlife and continue to exist as before. This includes marital relations between husband and wife, which are believed to result in additional spirit children. Mormon doctrine teaches that these spirit children must then wait to be born into a physical world, over which their parents will have full dominion. This is why Mormons say that we are literally children of God: every soul born on earth is believed to have started out as a spirit child of our "Heavenly Parents," who were themselves exalted from another world.
In contrast to a purely spiritual union, which Mormons consider to be somewhat vague and intangible, the prospect of a marriage that continues to exist in heaven exactly as it does on earth is touted as one of the greatest blessings of the Church.
Unfamiliar doctrinal concepts such as these are covered in multiple chapters of the book: discussion of eternal marriage will appear again in the discussions of exaltation, the nature of God, the rite of "sealing" a married couple, and so forth, so that the reader can easily see how a particular piece of doctrine fits within the framework of the whole.
The author also takes pains to describe "living the life" as it is understood by Mormons, covering religious practices and rites of worship, LDS attitudes toward health and physical well-being (including the well-known avoidance of caffeine), the importance of the family, and various ways in which the community works together to offer support to its members. In a breathtaking passage, Mr. van Neck tells of a moment of interreligious understanding of which one would be hard-pressed to find a more stirring example:
...When my wife expressed her desire to pay a regular tithe so that she might be permitted to visit the temple, we decided to consult the ward bishop. Since Sharla did not receive a paycheck, we sought the bishop's guidance on what constituted a proper tithe when the primary breadwinner of the family was not a member of the Church. I explained that the Bahá'í Faith has an institution comparable to the tithe, and if one of the spouses is not a Bahá'í the payments may be based on half of the family's assets. Was there a similar provision in the LDS Church?
I must admit that I was not quite prepared for the bishop's answer. He replied that the tithe is how we show our obedience to the Lord, and that the act of paying the tithe is more important than where we send it, since it's all essentially going to the same place. Therefore, as long as I paid the full amount of Huqúq'u'lláh according to the conditions set by the Bahá'í Faith, he would consider that as satisfying the requirement for my wife's temple worthiness. Needless to say, this show of respect for my Faith left me deeply moved.
Some readers may be put off by the book's length (including the appendices, 382 pages), but the skill of the writer keeps the work from bogging down. Reappearance of doctrinal concepts serves to refresh memory rather than become redundant. While not exhaustive, the book is comprehensive, and well worth the time of anyone who would like to know more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints beyond the headlines and Donny Osmond, or who has Mormon neighbors, or is simply interested in this uniquely American religion. Highly recommended.
Email Kathleen Kettler Lehman about "Commonalities"
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