'President Romney'? Massachusetts' governor could be first Mormon in Oval Office

If Romney ran and were in the lead or gaining ground, a desperate candidate, or more likely a political action committee, might bring up the church's pre-1978 exclusion of blacks from the priesthood or the continuing exclusion of women. Or there might be an attack on Mormon doctrine—to the effect that Romney is a member of a cult. The evangelical leaders I spoke with said that such an attack wouldn't work, as it would be seen as way over the line of what's politically acceptable. It's interesting to imagine who might rise to Romney's defense, and it's not inconceivable that Harry Reid — the Senate minority leader and a Mormon (one of just four Democrats among the 16 Mormons in the Senate and the House) — would protest, especially if

his party or its allies were the ones lobbing the grenades.

It's conceivable, too, that some evangelicals might speak out. In recent years a small group of evangelical theologians and Mormon scholars of religion, including Robert Millet, have been meeting to discuss doctrinal issues. The conversations have been civil. Friendships have developed. Differences have been refined, though of course critical ones remain. "The biggest," says Millet, concerns "the necessity for more than a reformation, the necessity for a restoration of divine authority through modern-day prophets."

The recent book "How Wide the Divide?" reflects the kind of dialogue under way: A professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, Stephen Robinson, and a professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, Craig Blomberg, wrote separately on the same four topics — Scripture, God & Deification, Christ & the Trinity, and Salvation — and then elaborated on points of agreement and disagreement. The book's subtitle is, "A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation."

In November the Latter-day Saints opened the Mormon Tabernacle to the evangelical apologist Ravi Zacharias, who gave a sermon attended by both evangelicals and Mormons. Zacharias observed key differences between churches in the line of historic Christianity and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but also said they shared a reverence for Christ as Savior.

Especially notable were remarks at the same event by Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, which bills itself as the world's largest multidenominational seminary. Mouw issued an apology to Mormons, saying, "We evangelicals have sinned against you" by "seriously misrepresent(ing) the beliefs and practices of members of (your) faith."

Some evangelicals are critical of Mouw for presuming to speak for all evangelicals and, more generally, of Mouw and other evangelicals for their continuing dialogue with Mormon scholars. As one evangelical critic told me, "It's everything a Mormon could dream of to make Mormons theologically legitimate." The conversations continue, with one scheduled for November at Fuller.