Let Us Reason Together is a Festschrift honoring the work of Robert L. Millet, a renowned scholar and former dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University. The volume covers a variety of disciplines and subjects, representative of the breadth of Millet’s corpus, which comprises over sixty publications on a variety of topics. Let Us Reason Together is likewise broad in its coverage, though its title and articles particularly highlight one of Millet’s most notable accomplishments: his work reaching out to members of Christian traditions outside his own LDS faith. This is noticeable in the fact that some of the articles in the book were written by adherents of other faiths, including Cory B. Willson and Richard J. Mauw. Millet’s interfaith work is also highlighted by the strong thread of comparative Christianity found throughout the articles.

The book is divided into three sections, each emphasizing a main theme in Millet’s writings: doctrine, scriptures, and Christianity. The essays in the section on doctrine delve into deep doctrine for a brief moment but never stray too far from discussions of core LDS beliefs. The section on scriptures analyzes a range of topics, from a single scriptural word to a collection of scriptures. The last section comprises mostly essays on comparative Christianity.

Among its contents, Let Us Reason Together features an analysis from Shon D. Hopkin of grace in relation to the degrees of heavenly glory (329–56) as well as fine observations from Daniel K Judd on Martin Luther's history (311–28). Mauw’s essay diplomatically discusses differing theological views on the nature of God (231–38), and a deep consideration of the LDS concept of intelligences is offered by Camille Fronk Olson (4–9). An article by Dennis L. Okholm considers how to define Christianity, troubles the traditional models of defining a religion as Christian, and suggests a new way of determining whether or not a sect is part of Christianity (357–70). Other offerings in the book include an essay from Richard E. Bennett on the importance of historicity in religion (81–94) and an analysis from John W. Welch of one of Jesus’s lesser-studied parables (97–116). The volume also features works from a number of other contributors, including Brian D. Birch, Craig L. Blomberg, Richard O. Cowan, Larry E. Dahl, Megan Hansen, J. B. Haws, Paul Y. Hoskisson, Kerry Muhlestein, Lloyd D. Newell, Dana M. Pike, Andrew C. Skinner, Stephen O. Smoot, and Brent L. Top.

Let Us Reason Together is particularly useful for Christians desiring to understand LDS beliefs and for Latter-day Saints who want to improve their ability to converse with other Christians. With its comparative analyses, interfaith explanations, kind critiques, diverse viewpoints, and questions, this collection of articles not only honors Millet’s legacy, but also contributes to discussions on a variety of religious, doctrinal, and interfaith topics. Its messages invite readers to join the conversation as fellow Christians, rather than as members of competing theological camps.

Austin A. Tracy

BYU Studies Publications