Michael Card - Controversies

Controversies

• In 1996, Michael Card caused some concern within his primarily evangelical fan-base by co-releasing an album (Brother to Brother) as well as touring with musician John Michael Talbot. Some fans and critics felt betrayed by the collaboration since Card is known for lyrics that scrupulously adhere to Protestant theology whereas Talbot is a Roman Catholic.

• On November 14, 2004, Michael Card provided the music for a sermon by Ravi Zacharias at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. In coverage of the event, a Deseret Morning News reporter attributed the following statement to Card:

Still, Card said, he doesn't see Mormonism and evangelical Christianity as opposed to each other. They are more like the two ends of a long thread — part of the same thing.

Since the statement was not a direct quote, some have surmised that Card was misunderstood. The impact of this statement can be understood in the context that many Protestants deny that Mormons are Christians and consider the LDS church a cult. Card's response to his critics online did satisfy some, since it denied the quote and the LDS interviewer later admitted to re-wording Card's statement somewhat interpretively.

Jerry Johnson, the author of the article on Michael Card in Deseret News, later admitted:

The word Michael used was "continuum." He said he thought the tensions between the LDS Church and the Evangelicals was because the LDS Church was on one end of the "continuum" and Evangelicals on the other.