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Catholic and Mormon: A Theological Conversation
What could Roman Catholicism and Mormonism possibly have to learn from each other? On the surface, they seem to diverge on nearly every point, from their liturgical forms to their understanding of history. With its ancient roots, Catholicism is a continuous tradition, committed to the conservation of the creeds, while Mormonism teaches that the landscape of Christian history is riddled with errors and apostasy and in need of radical revision and spiritual healing. Additionally, successful proselyting efforts by Mormons in formerly Catholic strongholds have increased opportunities for misunderstanding, polemic, and prejudice between the two faiths. However, as demonstrated in this unique and spirited dialogue between two theologians, one a convert to Catholicism and the other a convert to Mormonism, these two traditions are much closer to each other than many assume, including in their treatment of central doctrines such as authority, grace, Jesus, Mary, and revelation.
Both Catholicism and Mormonism have ambitiously universal views of the Christian faith, and readers will be surprised by how close Catholics and Mormons are on a number of topics and how these traditions, probed to their depths, shed light on each other in fascinating and unexpected ways. Catholic and Mormon is an invitation to the reader to engage in a discussion that makes understanding the goal, and marks a beginning for a dialogue that will become increasingly important in the years to come.
Both Catholicism and Mormonism have ambitiously universal views of the Christian faith, and readers will be surprised by how close Catholics and Mormons are on a number of topics and how these traditions, probed to their depths, shed light on each other in fascinating and unexpected ways. Catholic and Mormon is an invitation to the reader to engage in a discussion that makes understanding the goal, and marks a beginning for a dialogue that will become increasingly important in the years to come.
230 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2015
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104 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 9, 2025
I really enjoy books like this where theological conversations can happen with emphasis on increased understanding of our differences (and what we can learn from each other) as well as shared similarities. If others know of similar books, please send them my way!
October 10, 2020
I would recommend every Catholic and Mormon member of their faith to read this book (and would almost say plead that they do) because of how much I learned about my own faith, change in perspective, and understanding about how to respectfully discuss different and similar opinions. Both of these religions are unique and provide such goodness to the world, and it opened my eyes to have so much respect for Catholic beliefs and understandings. God guides this church too, and all who seek to come unto Christ.
April 21, 2019
Absolutely fantastic. Dr.'s Gaskill and Webb show wonderful appreciation for one anothers' faith. This book is a great resource, both, for either faith in wanting to understand the other. But, also, for anyone honest dialogue.
November 29, 2019
As someone getting a PhD in theology at the Catholic University of America who is yet also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (more colloquially known as "Mormons") I may be uniquely suited to review this book. And I must be honest . . . I don't know that I really enjoyed it. I think this stems from two issues I have with it.
First, I don't think that Stephen Webb is a mainstream Catholic. There are several points at which he says "I really wish we Catholics did X or looked more closely at Y" when I know darn well that they will probably never do so. He's not really that orthodox, to my understanding of Catholicism. Now, maybe my time at CUA has given me a more rigid view of orthodoxy than most Catholics would be comfortable with, but if the book is "A Catholic and a Mormon in Conversation" as opposed to "Catholicism and Mormonism in conversation" (and I'd say the current title is ambiguous about which it's trying to be—probably a bit of both, which also has its own weaknesses) then Webb's generous orthodoxy makes more sense. If it's the latter, then I'd say his orthodoxy is so generous it's not as orthodox. I had no similar complaints about Alonzo Gaskill.
Second, I think I don't like the editor of this book. While an informal discussion is precisely the kind of tone you want for such a book, I find the actual tone too informal for my tastes. For one, there are way way way too many exclamation points. When you have several appearing on a single page, I think you've gone too far into the "informal" realm, and for a book by two academics published by Oxford University Press, that made it less interesting to me.
Still, the obvious book to compare it to is "How Wide the Divide: A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation" and I'd say I thought this book slightly less than that one. I'd have to go re-read it to really dig into why I feel this way, but there you have it. Any inter-religious dialogue is worthwhile, though, so I appreciate the authors of this book and their attempts to stay in dialogue with each other.
First, I don't think that Stephen Webb is a mainstream Catholic. There are several points at which he says "I really wish we Catholics did X or looked more closely at Y" when I know darn well that they will probably never do so. He's not really that orthodox, to my understanding of Catholicism. Now, maybe my time at CUA has given me a more rigid view of orthodoxy than most Catholics would be comfortable with, but if the book is "A Catholic and a Mormon in Conversation" as opposed to "Catholicism and Mormonism in conversation" (and I'd say the current title is ambiguous about which it's trying to be—probably a bit of both, which also has its own weaknesses) then Webb's generous orthodoxy makes more sense. If it's the latter, then I'd say his orthodoxy is so generous it's not as orthodox. I had no similar complaints about Alonzo Gaskill.
Second, I think I don't like the editor of this book. While an informal discussion is precisely the kind of tone you want for such a book, I find the actual tone too informal for my tastes. For one, there are way way way too many exclamation points. When you have several appearing on a single page, I think you've gone too far into the "informal" realm, and for a book by two academics published by Oxford University Press, that made it less interesting to me.
Still, the obvious book to compare it to is "How Wide the Divide: A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation" and I'd say I thought this book slightly less than that one. I'd have to go re-read it to really dig into why I feel this way, but there you have it. Any inter-religious dialogue is worthwhile, though, so I appreciate the authors of this book and their attempts to stay in dialogue with each other.
March 17, 2018
I thought this was fascinating. I had a superficial understanding of Mormon doctine, and I thought it was strange, to say the least. This book helps me understand it, and it's not that strange, after all. It's like Joseph Smith discovered the basic ideas of Catholicism and created his own version.
October 28, 2020
I read this book as an assignment for school and we were supposed to analyze the quality of the inter-faith dialogue and I have mixed feelings about that. They speak of each other's religions with great respect no question but something about it didn't feel balanced. It seemed like only Stephen was posing questions about Mormonism while also analyzing mormonism and then Alonzo would respond more about mormonism. When Stephen wasn't talking about mormonism, he talked about Protestants. Like a lot. So much so that I felt like they should have had someone who actually believed in the protestant faith to also be part of the conversation because it wasnt always in a good light. I did learn more about catholicism, don't get me wrong, but it didn't feel balanced at all. Also it bugged me that Stephen would make blanket statements about religions all the time and I don't trust his generalizations.
That said, there were some beautiful lines but there was a lot that bugged me.
Now I have to go write a paper about how great the book was....sigh
That said, there were some beautiful lines but there was a lot that bugged me.
Now I have to go write a paper about how great the book was....sigh
December 30, 2024
This was a good book, though I didn’t learn much due to having read much about Catholicism and my being LDS and always reading LDS theology. I’d recommend it for people that want to learn more about LDS / Catholicism, where they intersect and diverge, and so on. I would especially recommend it for people who may not be as familiar with either, or both, traditions.
Webb seems to be a somewhat unorthodox Catholic in the sense that he is rather theologically open, so I wonder how a more orthodox Catholic’s responses would have differed throughout this dialogue.
I only deducted stars because I lost interest in the dialogue format and forced myself to finish it. The information, however, is good with plentiful citations.
Webb seems to be a somewhat unorthodox Catholic in the sense that he is rather theologically open, so I wonder how a more orthodox Catholic’s responses would have differed throughout this dialogue.
I only deducted stars because I lost interest in the dialogue format and forced myself to finish it. The information, however, is good with plentiful citations.
February 10, 2022
I quite enjoyed reading this. The presentation is conversational and, as conversations do, sometimes veers a bit from the main topics into subtopics. But the discussion is always interesting. Webb and Gaskill are both very informed and, interestingly enough, both converts to their respective religions. It’s interesting to see what insights come up about each of the religions when they rub up against each other in this way. They get into some pretty technical theological topics, which I liked, but they do it without too much jargon, so even the technical topics are accessible, with sufficient effort.
February 22, 2022
I took Brother Gaskill’s World Religion class at BYU and read this book for extra credit. I loved his class so much and I’m so glad I took it.
March 25, 2023
I enjoyed it and learned some good things
August 3, 2025
Protestants out here catching strays
September 8, 2015
Opened my eyes to the Beauty of Catholicism and Mormonism:
I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Webb recently at a conference and purchase his book before it even hit the shelves. Before reading this book, I had this weird feeling about the Catholics ingrained into my head by my grandmother. I thought it was some odd religion with weird doctrines and an even weirder past. I have attended Catholic mass before and was proven wrong. This opened up my mind to the idea of Catholicism. I would be willing to say, hands down, that this book has opened my eyes to the truth of both Catholicism and Mormonism. I can see the beauty of these two different, and even at times, contradictory religions meshed together in the beauty of Christ and His atonement. This "Theological Conversation" was simply beautiful.
I loved, especially, the bit about historical past. And I would have to agree with the Catholic Stephen that we often like to paint our ancestors as these stupid folks in order to make us feel so much better about our "progression". He explains that we should look into the past in an effort to see what we can do better. It has a very optimistic ring to it that greatly resembles Mormonism. But, as Gaskill explains, Mormons have a history beyond Mormon history, which was a very interesting topic of discussion. He explains how ALL history leads up to our lives and how all history can build upon our future.
Another topic of interest was its discussion on symbolism. Symbols, such as Christ on the Cross (for Catholics) and the Temple (for Mormonism), carried such sacred meaning in rituals. Rituals can seem odd to outsiders. For instance, I am not a football fan. Never have been. And probably never will be. When I cross a bar, see men dressed in Yellow, green, sometimes painted faces with no shirts and have cheeseheads, I look at that and say, "how impractical". But to those participating in the ritual (or in this case, the culture) totally understand what's being done. Often I can look at traditions, like Catholics and Mormons, and say, "How impractical". But now I can see and appreciate the beauty of these two religions without necessarily adopting them or believing them.
I will never again look into the Catholic or Mormon religion again with the same perspective that I had before reading this book. In other words, it's highly recommended.
I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Webb recently at a conference and purchase his book before it even hit the shelves. Before reading this book, I had this weird feeling about the Catholics ingrained into my head by my grandmother. I thought it was some odd religion with weird doctrines and an even weirder past. I have attended Catholic mass before and was proven wrong. This opened up my mind to the idea of Catholicism. I would be willing to say, hands down, that this book has opened my eyes to the truth of both Catholicism and Mormonism. I can see the beauty of these two different, and even at times, contradictory religions meshed together in the beauty of Christ and His atonement. This "Theological Conversation" was simply beautiful.
I loved, especially, the bit about historical past. And I would have to agree with the Catholic Stephen that we often like to paint our ancestors as these stupid folks in order to make us feel so much better about our "progression". He explains that we should look into the past in an effort to see what we can do better. It has a very optimistic ring to it that greatly resembles Mormonism. But, as Gaskill explains, Mormons have a history beyond Mormon history, which was a very interesting topic of discussion. He explains how ALL history leads up to our lives and how all history can build upon our future.
Another topic of interest was its discussion on symbolism. Symbols, such as Christ on the Cross (for Catholics) and the Temple (for Mormonism), carried such sacred meaning in rituals. Rituals can seem odd to outsiders. For instance, I am not a football fan. Never have been. And probably never will be. When I cross a bar, see men dressed in Yellow, green, sometimes painted faces with no shirts and have cheeseheads, I look at that and say, "how impractical". But to those participating in the ritual (or in this case, the culture) totally understand what's being done. Often I can look at traditions, like Catholics and Mormons, and say, "How impractical". But now I can see and appreciate the beauty of these two religions without necessarily adopting them or believing them.
I will never again look into the Catholic or Mormon religion again with the same perspective that I had before reading this book. In other words, it's highly recommended.
November 30, 2015
An excellent read for those who are interested in where the LDS Church is on the tree of Christianity. It's rather surprising to see the multiple parallels with Catholicism. While the results are different, both religious traditions share things such as high ritual, need for divine authority, a central leader who meets God and Man in the middle. Both are also open to Church doctrine found outside of the Bible. In many ways the two Churches reject many of the claims of the Reformation. I highly recommend it.
October 7, 2016
My professor co-authored this book, and I read it for extra credit. I'm glad I did! The approach of this book is wonderful. I left with a deeper understanding of both religions (I am a Mormon) and a greater connection to Catholicism. I love theological conversation, both in finding similarities between religions to build unity, and in learning from our differences. There's so much to learn about one another, and I think every Mormon, Catholic, or anyone interested, should consider reading this book.
February 16, 2016
I found this to be a very informative book on the similarities between the doctrines of the LDS and Catholic faith. It appears that most "differences" which I've heard others make about our faiths are just differences in semantics. When differences are evident, each author clearly presents their position, and considers the others viewpoint with an open mind. I didn't find this to be a "fast read" book -- it requires thoughtful attention.
December 26, 2016
Fascinating deep scholarly comparison of Catholic and Mormon theologies, emphasizing their similarities by two professors of religion, one born an evangelist that converted to Catholicism and one Greek Orthodox that converted to Mormonism. A deep, but enlightening read.
October 20, 2016
I learned a lot about Catholics and how they view Mormons. Fantastic book if you (like me) enjoying rambling philosophy and comparative religion.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews