Customer Reviews

When Mormons Call

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I recently saw some Mormon missionaries in the neigoborhood. I wondered if they would be coming to my house in the future. I realized that I didn't really know that much about the Mormon religion. I wanted to be able to have an intelligent conversation with Mormons from a Catholic standpoint so I bought When Mormons Call. It didn't take too long to figure out why I didn't know too much about Mormonism. One of the things this book explains is that more contraversial Mormon beliefs are not discussed with those who don't agree to continue talking to Mormons on future dates.

It took just a little while to get used to the format of this book. There is a breif discussion about how Mormon missionaries work. Then it abruptly jumps into Mormon discussion topics and a Catholic response. The book is filled with alot of information in a no-nonsense style. Once I got the hang of the format, I broke out my high-lighter and had a hard time putting the book down. (I often stopped to say to my wife, "You're not going to believe what Mormons have to say about this topic!!") It presented many responses to Mormon topics and questions. It also gives some ideas about how to introduce your own topics and ask questions of the missionaries.

This book is a quick but memorable read. It did exactly what I hoped it would. It gave me information to be able to dialogue with Mormon missionaries and try to get them to think about Catholicism. It is not an in depth study of the Mormon religion but left me feeling like I understood the ideas behind the religion much better. I'll no longer feel like I can be caught off guard by Mormons.

Update: It happened on Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago. Two nice young men in white shirts knocking on the door. So how did I do? A lot of details from the book I couldn't remember but I did remember how the general direction of Mormon preaching. I was able to head off their questions about apostasy with my own questions of what the benchmark of orthodoxy is. They didn't know too much of how the early church worked. So I let them know about Petrine authority and apolostic succession. (Upon This Rock - Steve Ray helped) It took them about 20 minutes to figure out that I was Catholic. About 10 minutes later they were looking at their watches so I thanked them for their time and let them continue on. I felt good knowing that they, unlike many others had a chance to hear the truth. Later I prayed that the seeds of truth may grow.

Readers may or may not agree with Isaiah Bennett, depending on their religious predispositions; but he does know what he's talking about. This book presents an orderly cross-correlation of Catholic and Mormon beliefs. That's no small task, given the complexity of Catholic doctrine and the mutability of Mormon doctrines. This is a work that could only arise out of love or conviction, or maybe both.

A particular strength is its charitable appreciation of Mormonism. Too often, non-Mormon religious writers are overwhelmed by the surface normality and deep strangeness of its doctrine. This can lead them to judge it too harshly, as though no one could honestly believe such things; or to dismiss it with superficial ridicule, as though no one could sanely believe them.

What Bennett grasps is that a great many sane, sincere people not only believe Mormon doctrine, but find genuine spiritual value in it. That sympathy he brings to the task is the difference between being able to describe Mormonism, and being able to understand it.

Readers who belong to the major Protestant denominations may also find this book useful. There'll be far more overlap between the tenets of their own faith and Catholic doctrine than there is between either of them and Mormon beliefs; and the differences between their denomination and Catholicism are likely to be well-mapped. If you're trying to understand Mormonism within the terms of mainstream Christianity, it would be far easier to use this book and correct for its Catholicism than it would be to plunge into the thickets of Mormon religious belief on your own.

Mr. Bennet's book is short and accessable for the average lay reader. It does a good job of outlining the differences between Catholic Christianity (and any orthodox Christian believers) and Mormonism. The book is most definitely polemical and appears to be aimed at converting the Mormon missionaries who show up at your door. I think the author is a bit over-optimistic if he thinks much of an impact will be made on 19 year old Mormon missionaries, the entire point of them going out on missions is so they have an intense Mormon experience at an early age which will influence them the rest of their lives and keep them in the fold. Not much unlike the experience young men who enter the Marine Corps at age 18 or 19 have. Once a Marine always a Marine. Once a Mormon missionary, always a Mormon. If these young missionaries do win converts it is only a bonus. Let us be realistic, only a rather naive and ill-educated 40 year old will be converted by a couple of high school graduates who are essentially biblically illiterate and completely ignorant of the history of Christianity (knowing only the LDS rhetoric which portrays God as an insincere trickster) to a polytheistic religion which teaches that dark skin is a sign of serious sin in a previous existance. The real conversion work is done by older, better educated and more mature members of the LDS. However the author must be granted credit for suggesting that an effort be made to convert the Mormon missionaries. One never knows what effect testimony to the Gospel will have with unbelievers (unbelief in the sense that LDS and other branches of Mormonism have essentially created a new kind of a God with very different characteristics from the God worshiped by Christians and Jews). Where one sows another will reap.
The critics of this book seem to miss the point. Of course Mr. Bennet has beliefs different from their beliefs. But ad hominem attacks do not address the merits of this book. In particular the criticism of Janice Parker is dead wrong. Bennet may be polemical and you may disagree with his theology, but he is 100% accurate with historical and theological data. This work is far from a thorough criticism of Mormonism. Read Bennet's later book, "Inside Mormonism" for a more exhaustive treatment of the differences between Mormonism and Catholic Christianity. Yes Bennet wants to sell books to traditional Catholic readers (there are many millions of them in the United States and that is an attractive market), but he does not fabricate history or theology. In order to be sucessful with traditional Catholic readers Bennet has to be very careful with the facts. The population he is aiming at is very well educated, more so than the average American. Honesty is the best policy with this potential market and Bennet is very careful to be 100% honest in his presentation of facts. Those who differ with Bennet's theology should be honest that this is their point of contention. Critics like Moi from SLC who make false statements that the Catholic Church changes its doctrines do not help their position. One would be hard pressed to name a religion that changes as often as Mormonism. If the critics do not like Bennet's book because Bennet's theology differs from their theology they should just be honest about that. They should simply state that they do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, they do not beleive the historical record, they do not believe the archeological record, rather they believe the living Prophet of the LDS Church and the past revelations of that Church not contradicted by their living Prophet. Once these differences are fairly aired then an intelligent debate on Bennet's book is possible.
My conclusion is that this book is a worthwile read. I would however qualify my endorsement by saying that Fr. William Taylor's book, "Tale of Two Cities: Mormonism vs. Catholicism" would be a better selection for someone turned off by polemics who wants a short introduction to the topic. Fr. Taylor has certainly had a more stable faith history than Mr. Bennet. Fr. Taylor, a native of the intermountain west, bends over backwards to be fair to Mormons, some of whom are his cousins.

I have a friend who was born and raised a nominal Catholic and converted to Mormonism. I wanted to learn more about his beliefs, both from Mormon sources and Catholic sources. I went straight to the Book of Mormon and several standard Mormon works, but I also consulted Bennett's book and found it to be an invaluable tool. Bennett was a Catholic priest who converted to Mormonism; for two years he was an active evangelist for the Latter Day Saints, but eventually he reconverted to Catholicism and has been lecturing and writing about Mormonism ever since. This is a short and accessible book, easily read in a couple of sittings, but it offers excellent advice on how to stay with and counter the Mormon agenda when you're visited by missionaries or get into discussions with Mormon friends. It has helped me to talk to my Mormon friend "in his own language," so to speak, though I don't use it as a primary source with him since Bennett would be dismissed as an anti-Mormon (just as I wouldn't want my friend to rely solely on books written by an axe-grinding anti-Catholic). Bennett's book is not a blind, emotional attack on Mormons -- he fills these pages with specific references to and quotes from Mormon sources, and then comments on them from his Catholic perspective, using Scripture and the Catechism. His approach is clear-headed, rational, and logical. Most of the arguments that my Mormon friend has brought up with me are found in Bennett's book, right down to the words and phrases I've heard from him, and that alone is the best proof that Bennett knows what he's talking about.

Mr. Bennett lost a lot when he converted to Mormanism. I find it doubtful that he did that to line his pockets. I saw this first hand in my own church when one of our Deacons converted to the morman faith and ended up coming back. In both cases, Bennett's and the man I knew, they both said they got to a certain point with the Mormans and they could not continue. The Deacon I knew lost his standing in the Church and also lost touch with his own family. I will bet something similar happened to Mr. Bennett.

I definitely liked this book, but it was not as detailed as I had hoped. I guess you would find that in Bennett's other book. Overall, I would recommend it. Definitely useful if Mormon missionaries come to your door. My boyfriend is unfortunately leaving on a Mormon mission in 6 days. We always argue about religion. This book definitely helped me to bring up some useful points although he just dismissed them.

This book approches LDS based on how missionaries present the organization and how to combat their arguments. If you are a mainstream Christian and want to see the simple arguments that undermine the LDS rationale, this book is for you. It has an edge, no doubt, so it may not be for all.

I've had many encounters with the LDS, and this book is a good place to start if they are coming to your door because 1) it is very short and readable and 2) the book is divided into topics based on the order of the material that the LDS are trained to present. In other words, an LDS missionary is (usually) supposed to talk about certain topics on the first meeting, certain topics on your second meeting, etc. and the book tells you which topics to expect on which days and counter-points. Since the author is a former LDS member himself, he knows how the missionaries are told to present their case. The author gives counter arguments to many of the LDS claims as well as advice for counter-evangelization. Although it isn't deeply thorough, it is a good place to start to familiarize yourself with what to expect when the LDS come to your door so that you can have a defense ready.

One bit of personal advice that the book helped me to come up with is to buy a good KJV study bible. The LDS only use the KJV and when they want to read the bible along with you, you should use the same translation as they do so that there is no question of translation. Furthermore, the fact that you have a study bible means that many passages will be explained in a Christian understanding in the footnotes. This is especially helpful when the LDS try to show you where their more esoteric doctrines are taught in the bible by taking you to some of the less-well known passages in the old testament that you may not be farmiliar with. This way, you can quickly read the footnote to gain an idea about what the passage is really saying so you'll have an alternate interpretation when they try and tell you that Jeremiah 1:5 teaches that our souls existed before we were conceived or that 1 Cor 15:29 teaches baptism for the dead.

Isaiah Bennett is a former Catholic priest who converted to Mormonism and later returned to the Catholic faith. He is also the author of Inside Mormonism.

He writes in the first chapter of this 1999 book, "In section 2, twenty-five of the major themes presented in the missionary discussions are analyzed. I provide you with the standard Mormon teaching, together with a Christian (and specifically, Catholic) response. In many cases, you will also learn of related doctrines and practices the missionaries withhold from you in their official presentation. (For example, the idea that God the Father and Mary engaged in physical, sexual intercourse to produce the mortal Jesus Christ.)" (Pg. 18)

Here are some other quotations from the book:

"The Mormon church doesn't tell you that the eight (BOM witnesses) were not present at the same time to 'see' the plates. Only one asserted that he 'handled' the plates, and then only 'by a supernatural power' (HC 3:307). William, another Smith brother, stated that whatever any of these witnesses may have 'hefted' was wrapped in a sack." (Pg. 47)
"(S)ince Mormons accept the principle of individual private revelation concerning whether a book is of God, it is fair to ask them to apply their own principle. Ask the Mormon to read 'The Catechism of the Catholic Church.' Offer to guide him in its reading. See how far you get." (Pg. 53)
"But ask the missionaries... 'Well, suppose that I live a faithful Mormon life, but my spouse is less devoted. Suppose, too, that of our six children, two live righteously, two are only casual Latter-day Saints, and two completely abandon the church. Will we still be together?'... they'll have to tell you, 'No, sorry. That won't work." (Pg. 66-67)
"Also, be prepared for 'love bombing.' The members will welcome you warmly and urge you to return again and again. They'll sweet-talk you into attending other meetings later in the day or the week. And they'll coax you to be baptized. They can do this with a certain confidence, since most of their public gatherings are bland, supportive sessions devoid of the deeper, more surprising Mormon teachings." (Pg. 100)
"If the Catholic Church removed from the Bible all the 'plain and precious parts' you maintain it did, why didn't it take out ... the only biblical reference to what you term 'baptism for the dead'?" (Pg. 123)
"...such eternal sealings may be canceled. Some divorced Mormons, having rid themselves of their earthly spouse, don't fancy the prospect of having him or her back for all eternity." (Pg. 130)

Former Mormon/Catholic revert Isaiah Bennett has inside knowledge of the Latter-Day Saint faith. For a time,he was a Catholic priest, but struggled with celibacy and entered the LDS Church,where he married. However, the deeper he got into the Mormon faith, the less he liked. Finally, he returned to the Catholic Church.

"When Mormons Call" is a result of his experiences. It's outlined to fit Mormon missionaries' pre-packaged discussions. There are relevant questions from Mormon church leaders. It's a useful book, confronting Mormon beliefs (such as pre-existence,polygamy) head-on.

However, this book has its weaknesses. It lacks depth. If one wants to REALLY know Mormon beliefs&practices, Richard Ostling's "Mormon America" is superior. There is a dismissive attitude towards Mormon beliefs, taking cheap potshots at their belief in eternal marriage,claiming it shows their lack of faith,and mocking their concept of Heavenly Father engaging in conjugal activity with the Virgin Mary as "blasphemous absurdity" (proving the Mormon belief that Christians are prudes) The polemical afterword condemns Mormons as Devil-worshippers. Not exactly something that would convert a Mormon, or make Catholicism more attractive to a doubting Mormon.

"When Mormons Call" is a helpful introduction;it does give good responses to the basic Mormon missionary discussions. Still, it serves as a launching pad and a point of departure.