Category: Book Reviews
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Book Review: In Their Own Words: A Collection of Mormon Quotations
I imagine that many people think that Bill McKeever (the founder of Mormonism Research Ministry) and I have photographic memories when we provide many quotations on our Viewpoint on Mormonism podcast at what may seem to be the drop of a hat. While Bill certainly has an incredible memory, we must admit that the vast majority…
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Book Review: Was Joseph Smith an Abusive Husband? A Review of Mormon Enigma
Was Joseph Smith an Abusive Husband? A review of Mormon Enigma By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the Sept-Oct 2009 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Book Review: Claiming Christ: A Mormon-Evangelical Debate
While I don’t agree with everything McDermott writes, what makes the book worth reading is his articulate, thoughtful theology combined with a cordial attitude.
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Review of Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple
In 2002, the LDS Church produced a booklet titled Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple. It was written for those who are preparing to go through one of the dozens of Mormons temples located around the world (141 at the time of this writing). What is the LDS leadership telling its people about temples? Does…
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Book Review: The Book of Mormon: A Biography
The Book of Mormon: A BiographyAuthored by Paul C. Gutjahr Reviewed by Eric Johnson
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Review, The Gospel of Jesus Christ
A 24-page pamphlet titled “The Gospel of Jesus Christ” was produced by the Mormon Church in 2008. It describes the LDS gospel by using words such as salvation, grace, mercy, and baptism. What exactly does Mormonism mean by these terms? We will take a look at the entire pamphlet (the words of which are underlined)…
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Book Review: Jesus Christ, Message to All Nations
Say the name “Warren Jeffs” out loud in a public place in Utah and you will get raised eyebrows. Latter-day Saints are very sensitive about having their religion tied to polygamous groups, which many ignorant bystanders have done over the years. Today, Jeffs—who is serving a life sentence behind federal prison bars in Texas—remains the…
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Book Review: Talking with Mormons: An Invitation to Evangelicals
Richard Mouw is the outgoing president of Fuller Theological Seminary. He is a keyevangelical figure in the realm of interfaith dialogue and has spent the better part of the last decade engaged in discussions with Latter-day Saint scholars and some LDS church officials. His role has afforded him some high profile encounters typified by his role…
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Book Review: The Shack
Reviewed by Eric JohnsonVery similar to the Harry Potter phenomenon, The Shack (written by William Young) has taken the book publishing world by storm. First printed at Kinkos and handed out to Young’s friends and relatives, The Shack has been located at the top of the publishing charts for years.
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Mormonism: The Not Even Once Club
An interesting movement is afoot in the Mormon world. Wendy Nelson, wife of Mormon apostle Russell M. Nelson, has written a children’s book on the topic of covenant-keeping. This sounds like a good fit for Mormon kids, but LDS adults are petitioning for The Not Even Once Club to be removed from the shelves of…
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Review, For the Strength of Youth
For the Strength of Youth is a small 44-page booklet approved by the LDS First Presidency and meant for the young people in the LDS Church covering a variety of issues. According to Sevety Stanley G. Ellis in the last General Conferece, “Along with the scriptures, some great sources for finding the Lord’s way are True to…
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Review, The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a booklet given away by missionaries to prospective converts. According to LDS teaching, the priesthood in ancient Christendom was made void soon after the death of the apostles. The “Great Apostasy” corrupted Christianity until it was restored by Joseph Smith in the 19th century. Let’s look at this pamphlet,…
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Review, The Plan of Salvation
The Plan of Salvation booklet was produced in 2008 and is apparently used by Mormon missionaries to explain the three questions that potential converts commonly ask: Where did I come from? What is my purpose in life? And where am I going? This 24-page booklet (measuring 5×7 inches) 8 pages of pictures, taking up one-third of…
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Book Review: Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
Emma Smith (1804-1879) may not be as well-known as her husband, Joseph Smith, Jr. but understanding this woman is important for anyone who desires a more complete picture to the Mormon story. In this 1994 book, two female historical researchers—Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippets Avery—tackled the life of the first wife to the founder of the Mormon religion. This…
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Book Review: Mormons: An Open Book. What You Really Want to Know
The author of Mormons An Open Book did not put his name on the cover or title page of the book, choosing instead to identify himself merely as “a Mormon.” The author identifies himself in his “Author’s Note” as Anthony Sweat, “a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, …a Latter-day Saint religious…
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Mormonism’s Gospel of Jesus Christ An Open Book?
In the 2012 book Mormons An Open Book, Written by a Mormon, What You Really Want to Know, author Anthony Sweat gets right to the point: “The gospel of Jesus Christ is this: “1. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, “2. Repentance, “3. Baptism by immersion by one holding the proper priesthood authority, “4. Reception…
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Salvation and Grace
In The Plan of Salvation LDS author Matthew B. Brown provides his audience with an appendix “designed to direct the reader to information on the LDS view of salvation and grace.” Included (among other things) are four pages of helpful quotations from prominent LDS leaders. Here are some excerpts from Mr. Brown’s Appendix III. “Grace…
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Book Review: Shaken Faith Syndrome
Reviewed by Eric Johnson Michael R. Ash, a Mormon apologist who runs the website www.MormonFortress.com, has written a book he hopes will pacify those Latter-day Saints who are thinking about exiting the Mormon Church. He claims on the book’s back cover that “an increasing number of Latter-day Saints are encountering anti-Mormon material….Some arguments have caused…
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Classic Mormonism
I’ve been reading The Plan of Salvation: Understanding Our Divine Origin and Destiny by Matthew B. Brown (Covenant Communications, 2007). I’m not finished reading it yet, but the opening section, “Where Did I Come From,” favorably impresses me. Identified on the book jacket as a “respected gospel scholar,” Mr. Brown has written ten non-fiction books,…
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Book Review: Gethsemane
Reviewed by Aaron Shafovaloff According to BYU professor Andrew Skinner, the centerpiece of Heavenly Father’s plan was a “singular moment in a specific time and place on this earth in a garden called Gethsemane… The events that occurred in Gethsemane were part of the atonement of Jesus Christ—not preparatory to it, nor secondary to it,…