According to some people whose IQs are less than 70, I am guilty of referencing "randomers" in my books (see I have a New Fan! (and one who thinks a leading Evangelical Protestant Apologist is a Randomer on the Internet)). As an example of an Evangelical critic of doing this, consider the following:
In my research, a friend
recommended Friar Father Stephen Soot of St. Anne Orthodox Church (Corvalis,
Oregon) to review this section on Orthodox theology and LDS deification. Friar
Soot commented, “I read the article on deification you sent me and it is mostly
on track. The author rightly explains that there is a huge difference between
the Mormon teaching of a man becoming a God of his own planet (like Jesus is
the God of Earth) and the Orthodox understanding of theosis, or becoming
‘partakers of the divine nature’ (2 Peter 1:4” (e-mail, April 3, 2006). Of
course, Friar Stephen only confirms that Mormon scholarship is twisting
Orthodox theology to interpret Palamas’ theology to be inclusive or similar to
LDS deification. (Matthew A. Paulson, Breaking the Mormon Code: A Critique of
Mormon Scholarship Regarding Classical Christian Theology and the Book of
Mormon [Livermore, Calif.: WingSpan Press, 2006], 65)
It is my contention that
“Comparing LDS Beliefs” was the beginning of whitewashing LDS theology to get
Mormonism under the umbrella of Christianity. There are others who agree. John
Hatch stated, “After reading the reviews myself, it appears to me, and is my
opinion, that FARMS is interested in making Mormonism’s past appear as normal
as possible to readers by attacking history books that discuss complex or
difficult aspects of the church’s past.” (Ibid., 31 n. 102)
