The Mormon Illusion: What the Bible Says About the Latter-Day Saints [Paperback]

Floyd McElveen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 1997

(Revised and expanded edition) This classic work on Mormonism has more than 135,000 copies in print.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Floyd C. McElveen is a graduate of Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He has served as a missionary evangelist, a church planter and pastor, and the national evangelist for the Conservative Baptist Home Mission Society.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Publications; Rev Exp edition (January 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825431921
• ISBN-13: 978-0825431920
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,027,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 'Twas okay, I guess, August 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mormon Illusion (Paperback)

When I was given this book by an ambitious Evangelical friend of mine, I eagerly dove right into it. Unfortunately, I was expecting something a little more original. McElveen doesn't come up with anything new, but rehashes things that have been refuted . . . nay, ANNIHILATED . . . numerous times before.

When writing anti-Mormon fiction, one must always come up with new ideas. Don't forget that, people. Improve your arguments! Don't advance on us Latter-day Saints like a horde of mindless zombies. Show at least a glimmer of creativity!

I do give this book three stars because I enjoyed following McElveen's extremely obvious polemical animosity toward the LDS faith throughout the book. His anecdotes of fictional bungling, stupid Mormons are also quite amusing.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Run of the Mill Religious ( ), June 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mormon Illusion: What the Bible Says About the Latter-Day Saints (Paperback)

Even by the low standards of anti-Mormon literature, this is a pretty pedestrian book. It makes no real effort to understand its subject, always seeking instead merely to score a point. It isn't original, and it doesn't deal with serious Mormon arguments. (And there ARE some, despite what certain smug anti-Mormons say.) Rather, it refutes straw men.

You'll only read relatively few books during your lifetime. There are thousands more worthwhile than this piece of dreary ( ).

24 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skilled rhetoric; horrible analysis, December 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mormon Illusion: What the Bible Says About the Latter-Day Saints (Paperback)

McElveen seems to think that if he hurls charges against Mormonism as fast as he can, and mixes them with a lot of snickering, sarcastic rhetoric, he can convince the reader of his point, which apparently is that Mormonism is not a form of Christianity. He only partially succeeds, chiefly because he ignores basic principles of logic and textual analysis. Maybe he has tightened up some of his analytical failings in the new edition, but this older edition has numerous flaws. Among them are:

(1) he implies the "burning in the bosom" is Satanically influenced, yet says that he experienced "sweet feelings" himself as a manifestation of truth (see also Luke 24:42);

(2) he never can decide whether we're saved through invocation of Christ's name, or by faith;

(3) the apostle Paul gave different accounts of his vision, just like Joseph Smith;

(4) the Lord is also called an angel (Ex. 3:1-3);

(5) if the B of M has been "corrected" why does he still claim it has bad grammar;

(6) Floyd uses anti-Mormon, rather than neutral sources throughout the book (Moody, Tanner, etc.);

(7) Christ's blood doesn't cleanse us from all sin--and Jesus Himself said so (Mat 12:32);

(8) paradise is not heaven (John 20:17, 1 Pet 3:18-19);

(9) Jesus is our Brother (Rev 3:14, Heb 8:29);

(10) man CAN see God (Ex 24:10), and if you argue otherwise, then you must honestly question the divine nature of Jesus, who was seen throughout His life;

(11) Jesus was conceived of God, not the Holy Spirit (John 5:18);

(12) Floyd says the priesthood has ended, yet also says all believers are priests;

(13) "called" and "consecrated" are not the same (Ex. 28:1, 4);

(14) besides Jesus, Melchezidick held the priesthood of Melchezidick, obviously;

(15) if genealogies are so bad, why is Jesus' given--twice (Mat 1; Luke 3);

(16) justification comes through DOING as well as believing (Rom 2:13);

(17) the thief on the cross did not go to Heaven (John 20:16-17);

(18) it's not the Mormons' job to prove three heavens from the Bible;

(19) we existed before we were born (Prov 8:27-31, Jer 1:5);

(20) you CAN fall from grace (Gal 6:7);

(21) a complete apostasy occurred (Amos 8:11-13);

(22) the primitive Christian church had more than 12 apostles (Act 1:24-26);

(23) Judas Iscariot could not be a foundation of the celestial city (Luke 22:3);

(24) the bible DOES give qualifications for apostle (Acts 1:22);

(25) an interpretation of any scripture before Revelations calling the bible complete is contradictory;

(26) no unity among Christian sects exists as Floyd would have us believe;

(27) request for revelation through prayer is a biblical principle (James 1:5);

(28) if all angelic visitations are from Satan, then John the Beloved was tricked by one too (Rev 1:1);

(29) Mormons don't claim that their works alone will get them into heaven;

(30) someone can be eternal and also created (Prov. 8:22-24);

(31) murder is not forgiven (Acts 2:34, 1John 3:15).

And this is just an abbreviated list.