Any evangelical who thinks we have no common ground with folks who disagree with us has not been paying attention to the news for the past two weeks. One obvious thing that we have in common with everyone else is that we--even our most trusted leaders--are just as likely to mess up in our moral lives as the next person.

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In a powerful address given at a luncheon gathering after this year's National Prayer Breakfast, King Abdullah II of Jordan condemned religious extremism of all sorts and called for Muslims, Christians, and Jews of good will to work together for peaceful coexistence. That is the kind of Muslim thought that all of us should be supporting and encouraging.

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I have often been critical of specific policies of the Israeli government, but I am not an anti-Semite. So yes, there is no necessary connection between the two.

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I was once on a panel with an imam, a rabbi, a Buddhist monk and a Hindu teacher. (No, this is not the start of a joke!)

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The history of relations between evangelicals and Mormons is largely characterized by hostile charges and counter-charges. This has begun to change, as our two communities have begun to see each other as potential partners in addressing some of the key moral issues in our society. But dialogue about the very real issues that divide us in understanding our eternal destiny is still a difficult matter.

A few years ago, in remarks that I made in a brief address at the Mormon Tabernacle, I called for a more honest exchange of ideas between evangelicals and Mormons. I apologized to Mormons, as an evangelical, for the ways in which we have often presented a distorted view of Mormon teachings--our differences are real enough, I said, without our making things worse by bearing false witness against our Mormon neighbors. The fact that my remarks elicited many angry responses on the evangelical side is evidence that Mormons have some significant obstacles they must face if they want to be accepted into the mainstream. At the same time, though, friendly dialogue is quietly taking place on a few fronts.

Martin Marty once wrote that people who have strong convictions are often not very civil, and people who are civil often do not have strong convictions. What we need, he said, is convicted civility. This is certainly true for relations between evangelicals and Mormons. Our belief systems are very different on some matters that are of fundamental significance. We need to talk together--yes, and argue passionately with each other. But it is important to find ways of doing so that will also allow us to work together for the common good.

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I am less surprised by the Pope's declaration than I am by the shocked responses of many Protestant leaders. The Pope has not said anything that was not there all along. What is good about his recent statement is that it keeps with the changes formulated by Vatican II. While we Protestants are not examples of Christ's "fullest" desires for his church, at least the Catholics let us into the ballpark these days, if only as somewhat defective participants.

Ecumenical relations will not flourish apart from an honest statement of what each church body believes. Pope Benedict has now reminded us that there is no easy path to unity. The most helpful response that we non-Catholics can offer is to make it clear where we in turn disagree with his declaration. So let me state my basic contention. While I love my Catholic friends and have learned much from them, I firmly believe that Catholicism holds to specific teachings--about churchly authority, about Mary, about the sacraments--that are seriously mistaken. From my Protestant evangelical perspective, the Pope has his work cut out for him if he is to bring his church up to speed as a full--to say nothing of "the fullest"--expression of what Christ desires for his church. But my saying that would not surprise Pope Benedict. This means that we are still at the point where we have been for a long time: much in common, but also much to argue about.

“Synagogue 3000” is movement that has emerged within Judaism that is exploring new forms of worship and new ways to connect with Jewish spiritual traditions. As self-described “Generation Xers,” these younger Jews have begun to engage in dialogue with their evangelical counterparts in the so-called “Emergent/Emerging Church” movement. In a recent essay co-authored by Rabbi Shawn Landres and evangelical scholar Ryan Bolger, they reported that their dialogue is “organized around faith practices (Torah/Jesus), worship, and social justice, rather than traditional Christian-Jewish interreligious dialogue themes of memory (Holocaust), politics (Israel), and reconciliation (anti-Semitism).” In pursuing this agenda, they are eager to explore what they can learn from each other about creating “an authentic connection to their traditions and to God.”

This agenda may very well signal an important shift in a sense of Jewish identity, at least for a portion of the younger Jewish generation in America. For better or for worse, the horrible experiences of the twentieth century are becoming the data of history rather than matters of direct memory. While this may lead to increased assimilation for many Jews, it will motivate others to retrieve those spiritual practices and modes of worship that will allow new generations to seek out the ancient “paths of righteousness.”