Franklin S. Spalding, the Episcopal Bishop of Utah from 1905 to 1914, and B.H. Roberts often went toe-to-toe on various theological and scriptural issues, such as the Book of Abraham. When Spalding passed away, B.H. Roberts, alongside other figures, spoke at his memorial service held November 1, 1914. The Salt Lake Tribune offered the following summary of his comments about his long-time theological rival:
The first speaker was Brigham H. Roberts, of
the Mormon church, whose association with Bishop Spaulding was that of opponent
in the several important controversies over Mormonism carried on through the
local press in recent years. He said Bishop Spalding was his most honorable
opponent. In his death all Utah, Mormon and Episcopalian, all manner of men, in
fact, had suffered a real loss, he said, for Bishop Spalding had dedicated his
life and his energies to the betterment of mankind, irrespective of their
condition or beliefs. His religion, the speaker said, knew no petty limitations
born of creed of class.
Bishop Spalding was intellectually honest,
Mr. Roberts said, a quality as big and precious as it is rare. He was tolerant
of the views of others, always a student of the problems of life, a worker, a
reformer, a leader and an idealist whose idealism, though as high as the stars,
nevertheless had a direct and personal connection with the everyday affairs of
life. "His death has left us with broken harmonies," he concluded. ("Glowing Tributes
Paid to Bishop Spalding's Memory," Salt Lake Tribune 90, no. 19
[November 2, 1914], 12; cf. "Spalding Funeral
Held," Salt Lake Telegram 13, no. 207 [September 28, 1914], 14
and "Loving
Tribute is Paid to Spalding," Salt Lake Telegram 13, no. 237
[November 2, 1914], 5)
Such demonstrates the respect Roberts had for Spalding and his
belief that Spalding had intellectual honesty, even if he was dead wrong on
many central issues.
When I came across Roberts’ comments today, I was hard-pressed to
think of any critic of the Church I would eulogize in like-manner (John Turner
and John Christopher Thomas come to mind, but I would hardly label them ‘critics’
in the sense of a Brent Metcalfe of Dan Vogel). And those who truly are anti-Mormons?
Forget about it! Almost to a man, they would be eulogized as “I hope God will
be merciful to them but he was an unregenerate and unrepentant liar” (cf. Rev 21:8) or "his arguments were so low IQ, I thought his youngest daughter was his co-author."
