Category: Reviews of LDS Media
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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”)…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Book Review: Blacks and the Mormon Priesthood: Setting the Record Straight
By Marcus H. Martins, Ph.D. Note: The month of June 2015 marks the 38th anniversary of Spencer W. Kimball and the members of the First Presidency deciding to allow those with black skin to begin receiving the priesthood. Let’s take a look at a book written with the intention of “setting the record straight.” For a…
-
Book Review: The Plan of Salvation: Understanding our Divine Origin and Destiny
By Matthew B. Brown Covenant Communications 2007 Reviewed by Eric Johnson The topic of the plan of salvation is a favorite with LDS missionaries all over the world. Where did we come from? Why are we here? And where are we going? Which Mormon missionary hasn’t asked these questions over and over again on a…
-
Does Mormonism Really offer a "Gift of Grace"? A review of Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk on Easter Sunday 2015
For a 5-part Viewpoint on Mormonism podcast series reviewing this talk, go to “Utctdorf’s Gift of Grace (Is Mormonism coming Biblical Christianity’s Way?)” Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 In what may be the most quoted sermon at a General Conference in recent years, “The Gift of Grace” as delivered by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, the second…
-
Book Review: Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Written by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard The “Mountain Meadows Massacre,” as it has been called, has intrigued historians and laypeople alike for more than a century and a half. The story involves a group of southern emigrants to California on September 11th, 1857 (the original “September 11th”) who,…
-
The Virtue of Joseph Smith
Speaking at the general conference last October, Mormon Apostle Neil L. Andersen gave a talk simply titled “Joseph Smith.” Toward the end of his message, Andersen said, “I give you my witness that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. He chose a holy man, a righteous man, to lead the Restoration of the…
-
Book Review: Nauvoo Polygamy
Nauvoo Polygamy: “…But We Called It Celestial Marriage” By George D. Smith Polygamy (or plural marriage as it is also called) was a major issue for the LDS Church in 2014, as three different Gospel Topic essays on this topic were published. For many Latter-day Saints, the information disseminated by the church—including the fact that Joseph Smith…
-
Book Review: Mormon Polygamy: A History (2nd Edition)
Mormon Polygamy: A History (2nd Edition) By Richard S. Van Wagoner Reviewed by Eric Johnson
-
Mormonism’s President and the Role of the Angry Mob
In April 2014, at the Mormon Church’s General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson spoke of love being the essence of the gospel. Explaining that Jesus Christ is our great example of love, President Monson said, “The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. At the end the angry mob took His…
-
Book Review: Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record
Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record By H. Michael Marquardt & Wesley Walters Reviewed by Eric Johnson
-
Noah Essay from LDS.org
Noah Beginning in December 2013, the LDS Church began publishing a series of essays meant to explain hard teachings (for a list of other articles and podcasts from MRM, go here). The entire article on Noah is underlined here, with my commentary throughout.
You must be logged in to post a comment.