Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent critical overview of the LDS religion, September 8, 2006
Mormonism Research Ministry associate Lane Thuett has teamed with Edmond Gross to put together a well-documented 500+-page book on the subject of Mormonism. The authors have pitched a winner as they utilize a great number of authoritative sources to show that Mormonism is truly much different than historical Christianity.
The book is fully documented, with more than a hundred pages of footnotes included in the back. (It would have been nice if these notes had been incorporated as footnotes, but that's not the way most publishers work.) Broken down into 13 chapters, the book deals with such issues as the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the Godhead, priesthood, and salvation. Utilizing more than a thousand quotations--honestly, I didn't count, but there were at least this many and probably many more--the authors use boldface type to highlight certain parts of each quote. This feature helps attract the reader's eye to the most important element of the longer quotes, which the authors usually provided with the surrounding context.
I can imagine many readers who are not familiar with Mormonism scratching their heads when they see what this religion really is all about, which is much different than the sanitized public relations image presented by Salt Lake City. While the authors do quote Christians such as Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Bill McKeever, and other experts of the LDS religion, their main source is the Mormon leaders themselves. A Mormon could question the authority that these leaders really had. But how can anyone argue with the idea that these men are supposedly representing the restored church and that all other churches have nobody to lead them in this authority? If these LDS leaders weren't qualified to teach true doctrine, then why should they be trusted in anything? Those who would try to minimize the history or doctrines that emanate from the LDS Church are barking up the wrong tree. The information provided here should really bother "every Mormon (and Non-Mormon)" alike.
One of the most enjoyable parts in this book, at least for me, was Lane's 9-page testimony given in Appendix A, complete with 16 pages of notes that include interesting tidbits. Lane was raised LDS and found Christ only after spending three months investigating the church to see if the Christian critics were wrong. His conclusion: "The LDS leaders were the ones lying to me; it was the `anti-Mormon' writers who had actually been telling the truth." (p. 373) Lane has paid a cost for leaving his original faith, but he says that he proudly "witnesses to their members about their doctrines. I know the position that Mormons are in, having been there myself; and I understand the kind of spiritual struggles they labor under. My heart aches for them to know the truth." (p. 376) Those who serve in Christian ministries aimed at groups like Mormons oftentimes have their motives judged as hateful when, in actuality, it is quite the opposite.
As it can be seen, I think quite highly of this new and important work. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who wants to better understand the LDS religion.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very thought provoking, April 26, 2008
This book, page after page of it, present information that really needs to be addressed with careful consideration by believing Mormons and those considering becoming Mormons. It's tone is not at all condescending or derogatory (which is one reason I bought it). It's just a continuing list of facts that present significant challenges to numerous foundational Mormon claims and current Mormon doctrine, especially as it relates to past Mormon doctrine.
One small example is that there are significant doctrinal and grammatical differences between the 1830 Book of Mormon (written by Joseph Smith only 180 years ago) and today's. The doctrinal changes are the ones that concern me. Many are shown. Please consider that.
A basic Mormon teaching for the reason they exist is that the Christian bible has not been translated correctly and contains many errors. Yet, when it is compared to the Dead Sea Scrolls written more than two thousand years ago, there is no difference, save for the spelling of one word- light. Which holy book has not been translated correctly, the one with no changes over the course of 2000 years, or the one with significant shifts in doctrine over the course of 180 years?
I only ask that to get you to think about the Mormon claims to exclusive revelation of the truth. What does it mean for your faith?
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