All Saints Day Books

"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.

This book is a children's book. His brief and shallow answers wouldn't satisfy anyone over the age of 12.

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 person who 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.

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...

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.

I am a fan of Thomas More's writing, but I am generally not a fan of daily devotionals. In the case of this particular devotional, snippets of More's writing are place in "short" sections for each day which range from a couple of lines in length to multiple pages.

While this is the writing of St. Thomas More, it seems badly misplaced. It would seem the purpose of a daily devotional would be to parallel a passage with a particular time of year or day to be recognized such as Christmas. Yet the writing just seem to be randomly disorganized thought the editor seems to have a loose theme for each month. I would recommend reading St. Thomas More's writings in their proper context as opposed to random entries.