The Mystery and Controversy Surrounding Mormonism

The Mystery and Controversy Surrounding Mormonism
Author: Walt Scott
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2007-11
Genre: Latter Day Saint churches
ISBN: 1598585002

The Mormon Church is the fourth largest church in the US. Though organized in 1830, and with a current worldwide membership of over thirteen million and annual growth rate of about three hundred thousand, it is without a doubt the least well-understood major church. Surveys show the public has good feelings and respect for members, but ignorance and even animosity toward the Church's beliefs and history. This timely book addresses ignorance, misunderstanding, and misinformation, providing a clear, factual, and comprehensive picture. It deals candidly with the issues and questions people are asking, with solid, documented reasons and facts. The hope is to increase tolerance, respect and good feelings. We may not see things the same way, but we can at least try to understand and respect each other. The book is in two parts, with different levels of detail, for different levels of interests, and easy reading. Walt Scott, a fifth generation Mormon, has twelve ancestors who crossed the planes. One joined the new church in 1837, seven years after it was organized. This book benefits from that legacy and the author's lifelong experiences in leadership and teaching. He has degrees in electrical engineering and management from George Washington University and MIT (Sloan Fellow). Walt, a "pioneer" himself, was part of a small team that built several of the U.S.'s first satellites, forerunners of today's GPS systems. He joined NASA at its inception, becoming a division director at age 34 (protocol rank of one star general). He was co-founder of a company that pioneered methods for early identification of leadership talent. When PC's were first introduced, he became a self-trained consultant. Later, he and his son designed and managed the construction of modular homes, a technology that was quite new when they began. Walt has served four times as a Bishop's Counselor, twice on Stake High Councils, and in numerous teaching assignments. He and his wife, June Langston Scott, have been married for fifty-three years and have six children, nineteen grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. From that group and their spouses, there have been twelve who have served fulltime missions for the Church, with another preparing to leave shortly, and more anticipating that experience. They have served in New York, Texas, England, France, Russia, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil and Taiwan.

Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Banner of Heaven
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2004-06-08
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1400078997

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

Cold-Case Christianity

Cold-Case Christianity
Author: J. Warner Wallace
Publisher: David C Cook
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2013-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1434705463

Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.

Constancy Amid Change, Radio Addresses Delivered Over Station KSL From the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah

Constancy Amid Change, Radio Addresses Delivered Over Station KSL From the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah
Author: Albert E (Albert Ernest) 187 Bowen
Publisher: Hassell Street Press
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781013865749

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Understanding the Book of Mormon

Understanding the Book of Mormon
Author: Grant Hardy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2010-04-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199745447

Mark Twain once derided the Book of Mormon as "chloroform in print." Long and complicated, written in the language of the King James version of the Bible, it boggles the minds of many. Yet it is unquestionably one of the most influential books ever written. With over 140 million copies in print, it is a central text of one of the largest and fastest-growing faiths in the world. And, Grant Hardy shows, it's far from the coma-inducing doorstop caricatured by Twain. In Understanding the Book of Mormon, Hardy offers the first comprehensive analysis of the work's narrative structure in its 180 year history. Unlike virtually all other recent world scriptures, the Book of Mormon presents itself as an integrated narrative rather than a series of doctrinal expositions, moral injunctions, or devotional hymns. Hardy takes readers through its characters, events, and ideas, as he explores the story and its messages. He identifies the book's literary techniques, such as characterization, embedded documents, allusions, and parallel narratives. Whether Joseph Smith is regarded as author or translator, it's noteworthy that he never speaks in his own voice; rather, he mediates nearly everything through the narrators Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. Hardy shows how each has a distinctive voice, and all are woven into an integral whole. As with any scripture, the contending views of the Book of Mormon can seem irreconcilable. For believers, it is an actual historical document, transmitted from ancient America. For nonbelievers, it is the work of a nineteenth-century farmer from upstate New York. Hardy transcends this intractable conflict by offering a literary approach, one appropriate to both history and fiction. Regardless of whether readers are interested in American history, literature, comparative religion, or even salvation, he writes, the book can best be read if we examine the text on its own terms.

Out of Mormonism

Out of Mormonism
Author: Judy Robertson
Publisher: Bethany House
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2011-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0764209019

How one woman's soul-searching journey led her to the Mormon church and how her discovery of Jesus, helped her leave despite horrific persecution.

The Bishop's Wife

The Bishop's Wife
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Publisher: Soho Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2014-12-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1616954787

In the predominantly mormon city of Draper, Utah, some seemingly perfect families have deadly secrets. Linda Wallheim is a devout Mormon, mother of five boys and wife of a bishop. But Linda’s daily routine of church-going, Relief Society meetings, and visiting church ward members is turned upside down as a disturbing situation takes shape in her seemingly idyllic neighborhood. Young wife and mother Carrie Helm has disappeared. Carrie’s husband, Jared, claims that she has abandoned the family, but Linda doesn’t trust him. As she snoops, trying to learn more about the Helms’ circumstances, Linda becomes convinced Jared murdered his wife and painted himself as a wronged husband. Inspired by a chilling true crime and written by a practicing Mormon, The Bishop’s Wife is both a fascinating peek into the lives of modern Mormons and a grim and cunningly twisted mystery.

The Mysteries of Godliness

The Mysteries of Godliness
Author: David John Buerger
Publisher: Signature Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781560851769

A veil of secrecy surrounds Mormon temple worship. While officially intended to preserve the sacredness of the experience, the silence leaves many Latter-day Saints mystified. What are the derivation and development of the holy endowment, and if these were known, would the experience be more meaningful? Modern parishioners lack context to interpret the arcane and syncretistic elements of the symbolism. For instance, David Buerger traces the evolution of the initiatory rites, including the New Testament-like foot washings, which originated in the Ohio period of Mormon history; the more elaborate Old Testament-like washings and anointings, which began in Illinois and were performed in large bathtubs, with oil poured over the initiate's head; and the vestigial contemporary sprinkling and dabbing, which were begun in Utah. He shows why the dramatic portions of the ceremony blend anachronistic events--an innovation foreign to the original drama. Buerger addresses the abandonment of the adoption sealing, which once linked unrelated families, and the near-disappearance of the second anointing, which is the crowning ordinance of the temple. He notes other recent changes as well. Biblical models, Masonic prototypes, folk beliefs, and frontier resourcefulness all went into the creation of this highest form of Mormon Temple worship. Diary entries and other primary sources document its evolution.