Product Description
Explores the founding of the Latter-Day Saints by Joseph Smith, their persecution, the migration west led by Brigham Young, the church's legacy, and its present role in society. ... Read more

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1936. A candid examination of his claims to have translated Ancient Egyptian writings, made in the Light of the best available knowledge of the present day. Smith claimed to have received an ancient book, composed of a number of metal leaves or plates, having the appearance of gold; inscribed with unfamiliar characters, and bound together by rings let into perforations along one edge. This book, as he has informed us, contained records of peoples living on the American continent many centuries before the coming of Columbus, written in a language, or in a style of writing, to which the name Reformed Egyptian was applied. Although he was unable to read, or decipher the inscriptions, he relates that he was directed to undertake the work of translation, upon the assurance that by the gift and power of God he would be enabled to understand their meaning. Therefore, he accepted the task; dictating word by word to a transcriber. ... Read more

Product Description
Major Mormon practices and beliefs are explained with thoroughly documented references to the original Mormon sources, and an extensive appendix discussing eh Mormon doctrine of salvation has been added. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Readable but defective
Overall, Floyd McElveen has written one of the few anti-Mormon ("A-M") books that even occasionally entertains.However, the book is defective on a number of levels.Let's take a look at a few of them

CONSISTENT LOGIC.Poor.Any book should be internally consistent, and a polemical and ostensibly factual work *must* be consistent with outside documents as well.Here are just a few of dozens of the book's logical lapses:

1. Floyd can't claim he confessed to believe in Jesus at age twelve (p 14), then turn around and claim that he wasn't saved (p 19) while still preaching that all you need to do to be saved is "call upon the name of the Lord" (pp 87, 164).So which is it?Either calling upon Jesus works or it doesn't.Once you start attaching strings to it, you've basically made the Mormons' case for them, since they argue -- appropriately IMHO -- that the string attached to *true* faith is works.

2.Floyd falls for the classic A-M logic error regarding the priesthood, stating "When Jesus died...the need for priests was done away with" and then on the *same page* stating "every Christian is now declared to be a priest" (p 99).He couldn't even let a page go by before contradicting himself.

3.Floyd also falls for the logic error of asserting that the Melchizedek priesthood held by Jesus is "untransferable" and once again on the same page contradicting himself by saying that Melchizedek also held the priesthood (p 97).Folks, if the Melchizedek priesthood is untransferable, that means either Jesus held the priesthood, or Melchizedek, but not both.This isn't rocket science.Also, note that Jesus was a priest after the "order" of Melchizedek.Ps. 110:4.Who ever heard of a priesthood "order" with only one person?The Aaronic priesthood was also an "order" (Heb. 7:11) and had at least tens of thousands of priests.

4.As a dog returns to its vomit, so does Floyd to his folly, proclaiming that there can be only twelve apostles but once again on the same page saying that all believers are apostles (p 123).Besides, should Judas Iscariot, whom Jesus called "a devil" (John 6:70), really be the foundation to the Celestial City like Floyd claims (p 123)?

5.There's no substitute for knowing your bible if you're writing a book heavily referencing it.Floyd says the bible gives no qualifications for apostle (p 124).I suggest Floyd pick up his bible, blow the dust off it, and turn to Acts 1:21-22.

6.Floyd states "the whole of 1 Corinthians 15 gives God's beautiful picture of...our own resurrection" (p 111) but then twists 1 Cor. 15:46 ("not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual") around like a pretzel to claim that the verse is comparing our pre-mortal vs. mortal state (p 86), rather than the contextually obvious comparison of our mortal state to our resurrected state.Floyd needs more than a course in logic.He needs a heavy-duty course in biblical exegesis.

7.Floyd also engages in subtler manipulation and contradiction.He claims that praying for confirmation of the truthfulness of the BoM is a "satanic trap" (p 131), since sincere people will feel psychologically pressured to believe the BoM or else worry they are not asking with a "sincere heart" in accordance with Moroni 10:4.Fair enough.But then he states "[t]rue Christians do get a deep and abiding peace beyond anything else they have ever known" when they understand Jesus has saved them (p 141).Is Floyd not engaging in the same psychological pressure he just criticized the Mormons for?Isn't he implying that if you *don't* have a deep peace beyond anything you've ever known, you're not a Christian?Floyd, which are you: scribe, Pharisee or hypocrite?

EDITING.Better than the 1980 edition, but still poor.He gives a mea culpa for being fooled by Dee Jay Nelson in this edition (p 56), which is good.But other poor editing abounds.He tells us that Marvin Cowan is "a Baptist missionary to the Mormons he loves and for whom his heart aches" on page 104, then ten pages later tells us that Marvin Cowan "serves as a missionary to the Mormons."Telling us once would have been enough. The verse stating "for I am God, and not man" is Hosea 11:9, not Hosea 1:9 (p 92).Likewise, there is no Rev. 1:46 (p 211).These are not confidence builders in Floyd's book!

AS APOLOGY.Not good.The book has virtually no rebuttal for some of Mormonism's strongest scriptures, such as John 17:20-23, Luke 2:52 and Mat. 3:16-17 (re the Godhead), Mat. 27:9 and Zech 11:12 (re errancy of the bible), Acts 2:38 (re baptism), Rev. 3:14 (re Jesus as elder brother), Rev. 3:21 (re becoming gods).The books "Mormons Answered Verse By Verse" and "Reasoning from the Scriptures With Mormons" at least take a stab at responding to several Mormon-friendly scriptures.Floyd makes little such attempt.

AS HISTORICAL RECORD.Poor.To bolster his case, Floyd throws the kitchen sink at the Mormons, using scriptures, pamphlets, newspaper articles and even affidavits.A lot of these sources are of suspect quality and/or are rehashes of other A-M literature.In fact, there is not a single primary source referenced in this book, other than Floyd's febrile conversations with various Mormons, and occasional chats with other A-Ms.

AS A POLEMIC.Good.The book has its sneering and sarcasm down cold.When Floyd has a supposed LDS member saying he belongs to "the Latter-day Saints Church" (p 14), you know what you're in for.You can't say you weren't warned.His mock sympathy for Mormons ("We sympathize with their heartbreak over what the following facts will reveal") (p 28) is truly hilarious for someone with a twisted sense of humor like me.

IN SUMMARY.Overall, this book does a lot of the low-level dirty work of A-M literature, hurling everything it can at Mormons, like Alma 7:10 (p 37), angels of light (pp 32, 133), inhabitants on the moon (p 37), Adam-God (p 77), false prophets (p 187), "god of this world" (p 176), etc.But I suppose someone has to do the dirty work, and that's Floyd's shtick.For the interested reader however, I think in terms of consistency and intellectual heft, "Reasoning from the Scriptures With Mormons," although itself flawed, is a better value.

A Must Know!!
Do you still not understand why this book receive so much attack? It's because it shakes the foundation of the Mormons. Read this book and you will know what they called they "refuted most of the content of this book" are really excuses, that's not "refuted" at all.

The Mormons "always" have excuses when they found out their prophets and church before made many serious mistakes. That's why they change their doctrine and teaching over and over again.

If a prophet's prophecies doesn't come true, we know he's a false prophet, and if the church's teaching and doctrine contradict with it's own teaching and doctrine years before, we know they have changed many things in order to hide those fatal teachings from by Brigham Young and the church before.

The Mormons is a church which looks ok, people are nice, but the corrupted teaching will lead people straight into hell.

In fact, many LDS people got out of the Mormonism after people discuss the content of this book with them.

Brothers and sisters, I beg you to find out why before it's too late!

A dime a dozen
I have been through many, many "anti-Mormon" books since I started studyingMormonism. While this book gives a general synopsis of Mormonism, evenI (an "anti-Mormon" protestant) could refutethis book. While20 years agowhen this book was written, these argumentswere solid, the crew atFARMS (huge Mormon apologist organization) hasalready refuted much (if not all) of the content in this book.

Iamsure he knows and has studiedmuch concerning Mormonism, but the world ofMormonism has changed over the past 20 years. While many Mormons will givethis a 1 star and condemn it to hell, and many evangelists will praise Godfor this book, I give it 2 stars. After reading through so many of thesetypesof books, I have become quite selective about which book is good andwhich is not.For a solid read on Mormonism, pick up Letters to a MormonElder by James White or any Bill McKeever literature.

Run of the Mill Religious ( )
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 whatcertain smug anti-Mormons say.)Rather, it refutes straw men.

You'llonly read relatively few books during your lifetime.There are thousandsmore worthwhile than this piece of dreary ( ).

This book has merit despite its shortcomings.
This is an example of the very abundant badly written literature on religion that mostof us seekers have to endure. The need to get the message across seems to justify any kind of crimes against order andscholarly rigour. Mixing sourceslike newspaperaccounts and scriptureswith no sense of hierarchy made this reading quite unpleasant. In anycase, the doctrines here presented are clear enough to make sense despitethe confusion in presenting them. I think the book fills avery necessaryniche since mormons seem very reluctant to talk "theology" andseem to rely very heavily in pure feeling in all matters religious where-they say- the "thinking" has been already done. Mr.McElveen does some thinking here (some feelings get mixed in there too) andexposes many of the obvious conflicts between the Book of Mormon and theBible some of which were apparent to me before and some of which weren't soclear. I've read other books actually published by the mormon churchand -regardless of the lavishpresentation and the good grammar- they havetotally failed to bring any sense into the business of the golden tabletsand the church's doctrine or they have avoided the hard questionsalltogether. This book doesn't do that at least. In conclusion, thisbooks merits spring from the merits of the doctrine presented, not from theauthor's ability to expose (preach?) it.But I guess that was theintention in the first place. As for the merits of the doctrine ,this is not the subject of an unbiased (s that possible?)book review.You'll have to read it yourself if interested. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Exceptional Christain Response to Confusing LDS Doctrine
I highly recommend this little book for Christians who are confused by many of the claims that LDS missionaries, friends and family members make about their church.

Kaiser is a Lutheran Christian, so his emphasis stays true to "salvation by grace alone."Even though LDS doctrine uses the word "grace" and the missionaries will say that they to believe that we are saved by grace, as you study their doctrine more, you realize that what they mean by grace is far different from what biblical Christianity teaches.

Kaiser cuts through the confusion and lays out historic, biblical Christianity over and against LDS doctrine.There is a difference as even LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley stated in an address on June 4, 1998, "The traditional Christ of whom they (Christians) speak is not the Christ of whom I speak."

Thank you, Dr. Kaiser for this wonderful, helpful little book.

The person who wrote the above review is a sell out
What's scary about the Mormon church is that they use religion to control people under the guise of Christianity.Flat out scary, actually.They have core beliefs where young, intelligent girls forego careers to make sure that their husbands and they go together to heaven.Control.Second, look at lds.com: no mention of their belief that they become gods--that is also interesting.
It is clear that they connect having kids to getting to heaven as well.This is religion building post multiple marriages.Lds'ers are so clouded and brainwashed you cannot even have an intelligent discussion with them.During the time of Joseph Smith, there were mulitple relgious zealots who tried to take advangtage of religious fervor.Mormons explain away that they were martyred in new york and the mid-west.The bottomline is that they are misled.

Why not have smith's beliefs online(lds.com)?Why use the Bible as primary marketing tool, and then focus on Book of Mormon?Why separate men from women in Bible study?Why ostrasize sinners from the church?Don't sinners need God?Why no cross on the church?Why can only members enter the temple?Why did I have a friend who dated a mormon girl have a bishop drive by her house daily to check on her, and then insist that he couldnt eat the food in the fridge?Check out GodMakers and get educated--a wolf in sheep's clothing.Hence, good book.

I responded!
When I read this book, it taught me many things that I could say to the Mormons.Several days later a missionary came to my door and he taught me the discussions.I used the responses that this book told me to and Irealized that every response the missionary had was a better one.Becauseof this and because I felt the Holy Spirit, I knew that what the Mormonsaid is true.Now I am a member of the Church and I am so much happiernow.I get along with my family and friends and I love Jesus Christ morethan I ever did before. ... Read more

Product Description
Organized in a simple and easy-to-read format, this book aims to answer dozens of common questions concerning the people, practices, history, and culture of the Mormon faith. Are Mormons Christians? What is the Book of Mormon? How does Mormonism contrast with the world's other religions? What exactly do today's Mormons believe?

The book offers readers of all backgrounds an accessible and informative Q&A session that covers all facets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Although sometimes misunderstood, Mormonism is the fastest growing religion in the world. Johanson's clear and concise volume shows us the ideas, beliefs, and rites behind this faith.
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Customer Reviews (8)

It's Elementary, W.F. Walker Johanson
"What is Mormonism?" was made in preparation for the Salt Lake City Olympics,as people streamed into Utah to watch the Winter Games. It reads more like a pamphlet than a book. It's as if a bunch of tracts were bundled together.

Johanson's apologetics can be summed up as "The Mormon Church is great because people don't cuss, tell dirty jokes, drink or smoke." He likes the motif of the '50s, citing the Church as an international Father Knows Best. Johanson is disingenuous in explaining why blacks weren't allowed into the priesthood until 1978,or the whole issue of polygamy. He says "Mormons believe in a Heavenly Mother in addition to a Heavenly Father",but there's the significant omission that Mormons aren't allowed to pray to her (thanks to an offhand remark by the current president of the Church in his Apostle days) Johanson doesn't mention that the Mormon Church has relaxed its teachings on abortion&artificial contraception since 1990, but he does stress the evils of coffee, caffeinated tea, and cursing. Of course,he doesn't explain that discrepancy.

"What is Mormonism all about?" is more interesting as an attempt at Mormon apologetics than an in-depth discussion of the religion. It's good for light reading,but not more than that.

I'm glad I got it for a penny...
This book is a children's book.His brief and shallow answers wouldn't satisfy anyone over the age of 12.

Honest Info, Easy Read
I was interested in reading this book since I am a "Mormon" (actual name: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and I was concerned about what it contained since there is SO much false info that swirls around (the review from "a reader" contains several) about "us".I was pleased to find that it gives frank and honest answers (often with a touch of humor) to the questions that I am asked by friends, and many that people are probably too hesitant to ask. I found it an easy read that kept me turning page after page to see what came next.It isn't meant to be scholarly, it's more like a conversation with a frank friend and I wish I could give my questioning friends answers as concise and clear as the author does.It actually has helped me to give better answers to my own friends.

Inadequate in too many areas
Johanson acknowledges the fact that Mormonism has a number of critics, yet he believes that this religion is true. He writes on page 8, ?There are those who are hostile to the Mormon Church, who claim that Mormons worship Joseph Smith. [straw man logical fallacy: he should name just one personwho claims this] This is not so. There are those who claim that Mormons worship Mormon. [again, name somebody] This is not so. There are those who claim that Mormons do not worship Jesus Christ and therefore are not Christians. This is certainly not so, as Mormons are committed, dedicated Christians who see themselves as having been ?born again? at Baptism, and as taking upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ, and who believe that there is no other way to salvation except through the grace and Atonement, sacrifice and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.?

Despite Johanson?s supposed background in Presbyterianism, Congregationalism, and Methodism, his book is highly disappointing. First of all, his answers to many of the questions are short and don?t really scratch below the surface. It appears that he makes a conscientious effort to not cite additional resources, rarely quoting from anything except an occasional biblical or other Standard Works passage.(I doubt that there are more than two dozen references in its 226 pages.)

One example of his short, inadequate answers appears on page 83 as he responds to a question on Mormon archaeology. It is a good question and deserves a thoughtful response. Instead, Johanson offers less than a hundred words insinuating that there have been plenty of archeological finds in South America, Persia, and the Middle East that somehow support the Book of Mormon. Yet he does not provide a shred of evidence. Earlier, however, he had said that when it comes to Book of Mormon archaeology, ?Mormons believe that God will intentionally withhold such hard evidence from mankind, just to test (or ?prove?) their faith.? (p. 23) Can such a claim really be taken seriously?

When responding to the question ?What?s the difference between Protestant denominations and the Mormons?? Johanson refers to a common Mormon idea that the Bible was changed sometime in the Middle Ages and somehow ?practices that were not the original practices? were introduced (p. 28). Because the Bible is incomplete and improperly edited, he recommends the Book of Mormon ?to clarify some of the more confusing or incomplete passages from the Bible.? (p. 12) Again, he doesn?t provide anything more than personal opinion to support his claims. This is a trait common throughout the book.

Johanson often uses ?doublespeak? in his answers. This is common with many Mormons who apparently hope that those who are not LDS?especially evangelical Christians?may casually gloss over and minimize differences. His goal, it is clear, is to have the reader think that Mormonism is synonymous with Christianity.

Finally, Johanson often uses pejorative adjectives to describe those who dare make the audacious claim that Mormonism is not a Christian religion. One overused moniker is ?anti-Mormon,? a word that must have been utilized by Johanson in excess of a hundred times throughout the book?s pages. For example, in his response to the question ?Do Mormons ever participate in Bible study groups?? he says that while Mormons study the Bible, ?Mormons would usually be unwelcome if fundamentalists, evangelicals, or anti-Mormons were also in the group.? (p. 49) In other word, if you are not ecumenical, then?take your pick?you must be a narrow-minded fundamentalist, evangelical, or anti-Mormon (or maybe you?re all three!) who discriminates against LDS ?Christians.?

He raises the war flag when it comes to rhetoric about those he feels are ?angry and hostile toward Mormons? and ?fundamentalist Christian groups (including some Southern Baptists and other evangelical groups) that are quite hostile toward Mormons.? He concludes this section by insinuating their miscommunication is on purpose, saying, ?Anti-Mormons are also quite quick to (intentionally?) misinterpret and miscommunicate many of the simple beliefs that Mormons hold, by trying to claim that Mormons believe in the Book of Mormon and not the Holy Bible; that Mormons believe Joseph Smith was someone to worship instead of Jesus Christ; and other such misrepresentations.?

There are, he claims on page 35, few sincere Christians. He writes that ?many people visit a few churches and decide which to attend, based on who else is there, or if they like the minister, or if the sermons are good (or short), or if they would like to join the choir, or what time of day the Sunday services are held, and so on, and that?s the basis of their decision. Those approaches are not true for Mormons.?

The Mormon Church, he adds, ?has a much more comprehensive and defined set of doctrines than do most Christian denominations.? Nothing like setting the stage to make non-LDS churchgoers look superficial and even sinful. Even Christian bookstores are part of the conspiracy against Mormons because, on page 11, he criticizes them for not carrying Mormon ?scholarly? works ?for they view them as false and un-Christian. The only Mormon-related materials in most Christian bookstores are anti-Mormon materials.? The question is, how many evangelical Christian books do the Deseret and Seagull bookstores carry?

Overall, I cannot recommend this book. It does not offer any adequate answers to the 150 questions posed. I would suggest Johanson go back to the drawing board, eliminate his use of logical fallacies, and do a little research that would involve more than just his mere opinion. Until he does this, his book wastes both paper and, if read, the reader?s time.

In response to the so-called "lifelong Mormon"
Just a word of caution to people reading these reviews- the person who wrote claiming to be a lifelong Mormon and stating that Mormons believe that God (Elohim?Never heard Heavenly Father referred to in those terms anywhere) had physical sex to conceive Jesus and that He has multiple wives is lying. The Mormons do believe in a Mother in Heaven (not Mary).What this person who claims to be LDS is stating is a gross misrepresentation of the LDS faith.Perhaps they should do more research than just watching The God Makers in their anti-Mormon church meetings... ... Read more

Product Description
Turn your home into a five-star dining experience with the recipes collected in "Five-Star Recipes from Well-Known Latter-Day Saints." Enjoy hundreds of proven recipes guaranteed to make mouthwatering dinners, delicious homemade breads, refreshing drinks, and succulent desserts. Some recipes are original creations (like Jack Weyland's blueberry-key lime pie yogurt dessert) and others have been passed down with love for generations (like Jake Garn's bread recipe, handwritten and framed by his grandmother). Treat your family to something special tonight from "Five-Star Recipes." ... Read more

Product Description
This 1208 page book contains 898 doctrines and principles of the Church. It is especially useful for teachers and speakers; but it also clarifies for the inquisitive what the LDS (Mormon) church believes. The book is organized alphabetically by topics ranging from Adversity to Zion. Each doctrine/principle is stated in a single sentence and given a number. For example, Doctrine numbered 655 reads:

"When the Lord wants the people to learn any essential truth, He will teach it to them over and over again through the repeated witnesses of prophets."

Product Description
Informational booklet about Mormon temples and doctrine of the Restored Church. Includes 20 color photos. ... Read more

Product Description
1946. In the spring of 1820, young Joseph Smith Jr. retired to the woods near his home and offered a simple prayer to our Father in Heaven. A series of remarkable spiritual experiences prepared him for his prophetic calling. He saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in vision and was chosen by God to restore the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth. Through revelation, he translated and published the Book of Mormon, organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received revelations to guide the Church. By inspiration, he called Apostles and other Church leaders, defined doctrines, and taught the principles and ordinances that would lead to exaltation. This volume covers the first period of the history and is based on the narratives of Joseph Smith. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more