Category: Rebuttals and Rejoinders
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I Love Mormons: A New Way to Share Christ with Latter-day Saints
I Love Mormons: A New Way to Share Christ with Latter‐day Saints (Baker Books, 2005) By David L. Rowe Reviewed by Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson November 2006 David L. Rowe, a professor at Salt Lake Theological Seminary and a Utah resident since 1975, has pooled his ministry experiences into a “how to” manual for Christians who…
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Review of Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Gordon B. Hinckley
During 2017 LDS members studied Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Gordon B. Hinckley. What follows is a chapter-by-chapter evangelical review. The manual Chapter reviews For a 5-part Viewpoint on Mormonism podcast that originally aired January 9-13, 2017, click Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5. To see reviews of each chapter of other…
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Book Review: Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess
By Richard S. Van Wagoner (Signature Books, 2007) Reviewed by Eric Johnson For years Sidney Rigdon was the right-hand man to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion. Much of what the Mormon religion is about is directly connected with Rigdon, a former Disciples of Christ minister. While most Mormons are probably not familiar with this…
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Review of “Our Father, Our Mentor” from June 2016 Ensign
By Michael Rabus The June 2016 issue of the Ensign magazine, which is the official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, contained a short article by the Second Counselor in the First Presidency; President Dieter F. Uchtdorf titled “Our Father, Our Mentor. It made sense that the June issue would contain…
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The “Blueprint of Christ’s Church”? A Seventy’s Rehash of “17 Points”
On January 12, 2014, Tad Callister of the Presidency of the Seventy presented a devotional for young adults at LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University. The title of his talk was “What is the Blueprint of Christ’s Church?” It is found on the official LDS website, giving this talk a even greater level of credence. (Note: In…
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Could Mormonism be a Counterfeit from Satan?
By Michael Rabus For a Viewpoint on Mormonism broadcast on this topic that aired on May 23, 2016, click here. The April 2016 issue of the Ensign magazine featured an article titled “Recognizing Satan’s Counterfeits” by Dennis C. Gaunt in which the Book of Mormon was offered as the foundation of detecting spiritual counterfeits. When…
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Murky Waters Spin Around the New LDS Push for Transparency
In recent years the LDS Church has been working to change its image of being an organization that tightly controls and artfully spins historical issues to its best advantage. In what has been called a “push for transparency,” the Mormon Church has published several essays online that reveal some of Mormonism’s sordid history, framed in…
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Book Review: From Baptist Preacher to Mormon Teacher
From Baptist Preacher to Mormon Teacher Springville: Cedar Fort (2015) By Wain Myers Former Christians who end up joining Mormonism are cherished in many Mormon circles. For those who once served as Christian leaders or pastors, this is doubly true. Intentional headhunting of Christian leaders by Latter-day Saints has been in vogue for many years.…
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The New and Everlasting Covenant: A Review
Link to the December 2015 article by Seventy Marcus B. Nash: The New and Everlasting Covenant Listen to an 8-part podcast series that aired January 18-27, 2016: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Note: This article—repeated word-for-word here—was written by Seventy Marcus B. Nash and printed in the December 2015 Ensign magazine…
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The Great and Abominable Church
In the March 2015 edition of Ensign magazine, Mormon Apostle Dallin Oaks discusses the topics of atheism, moral relativism, secular humanism and the “great and abominable church.” The article, titled, “Stand as Witnesses of God,” was a devotional address he gave in February of 2014. On page 30 he likens atheism to the teachings of…
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Review: “Understanding the Handbook” (2015)
The LDS Church has received a firestorm of criticism for adding a new section to its Handbook 1 (16.13) that prohibits children living in homes with homosexual parents from being able to participate in naming/blessing rites or baptism at the age of 8. For more on that and to better understand my comments found in…
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Is it Possible for Families to be Together Forever?
Editor’s Note: The following was originally printed in the September/October 2015 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here. Check out a two-part Viewpoint on Mormonism series airing August 24-25, 2020. Part 1 Part 2 The First Presidency message published in the June 2015 Ensign and written by Henry B. Eyring (“Families Can Be Together Forever”)…
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Praise to the Man: Joseph Smith
The September issue of the Ensign magazine includes an article celebrating the 30th “birthday” of the LDS hymnbook, Hymns (74-75). Even though the Ensign clearly states “there are no plans at this time for a new edition,” rumors are circulating to the contrary. Why the Mormon community would think a new edition is in the…
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Book Review: Talking Doctrine: Mormons and Evangelicals in Conversation
Review of Talking Doctrine: Mormons & Evangelicals In Conversation (IVP Academic, 2015, edited by Richard J. Mouw and Robert L. Millet) Listen to a 5-day Viewpoint on Mormonism podcast series airing in the late summer 2015: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 39, number 2 (2016). The…
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Response to the First Presidency on the Charge of Hatred
The following is a real letter written by Bill McKeever to the First Presidency of the LDS Church. April 4, 2007 The First Presidency The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 50 East North Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84150-0002 Dear Sirs, As a Christian living in the Salt Lake Valley, I wish to…
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Mormonism 201 (Church and Leadership): Response to Michael W. Fordham
To visit the list of rejoinders, go here. Response to Michael W. FordhamRejoinder by Mike Thomas In order to make this review easier to read, all original quotes from the Mormonism 201 rebuttal are boldfaced and italicized to separate these from the rest of the rejoinder. I cannot launch into a reply to Michael Fordham’s revue…
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Mormonism 201 (Joseph Smith): Response to Lance Starr and Samuel Katich
To visit the list of rejoinders, go here. Response to Lance Starr and Samuel KatichReviewed by Mike Thomas Some of the chapters in Mormonism 101 have elicited more than one response. I suppose this is what is called a backhanded compliment. It must be an encouragement to the authors to have drawn that much attention, albeit from critics.…
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Mormonism 201 (The Temple): Response to Benjamin McGuire
To visit the list of rejoinders, go here. Response to Benjamin McGuireReviewed by Lane A. Thuet Editor’s Note: Bible verses quoted are from the New International Version; the author’s exact words are in bold and italics; and comments in squared brackets [ ] are the authors’ clarifications – unless otherwise stated. Generally, bold-facing in the quotes…
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Mormonism 201 (The Word of Wisdom): Response to Lance Starr
To visit the list of rejoinders, go here. Response to Lance Starr Reviewed by Eric Johnson If the reader so far has come to expect that Mormonism 201 is marked with numerous logical fallacies, including unwarranted ad hominem attacks and circular reasoning, then he or she will not be disappointed in chapter 14 that was written by Lance…
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Mormonism 201 (Communion and Baptism): Response to Michael Hickenbotham
To visit the list of rejoinders, go here. Response to Michael HickenbothamRejoinder by Tim Martin In order to make this review easier to read, all original quotes from the Mormonism 201 rebuttal are boldfaced and italicized to separate these from the rest of the rejoinder. Chapter 13 of Mormonism 101 begins with a quote from LDS apostle Orson…
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