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What Is Mormonism All About?: Answers to the 150 Most Commonly Asked Questions about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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.
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.
- GenresReligion
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 22, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 2, 2016
This is not a Mormon Catechism, but a book written by a Mormon for (presumably) non-Mormon Christians of the fundamentalist/evangelic variety. The purpose seems to be to show that Mormons aren't scary as they've been told, but are just nice folks. To that extent I suppose it succeeds, but growing up Catholic I was never told how awful Mormons were, just that they were (essentially) even-weirder Protestants. The writer frequently employs rhetorical techniques to make you feel at ease about Mormons, saying that “of course” they believe in such-and-such – and it is always “they” believe, not “we” believe. The author puts himself in with his audience instead of his subject. Interesting.
The big take-away for me is that Mormonism is an entirely fideistic religion. You are supposed to believe that the Book of Mormon is authentic based on a purely subjective prayer experience. Accepting the claims of Mormonism specifically despite the lack of evidence therein is what you're supposed to do as a Mormon. God took the golden plates away because if you could actually read them you wouldn't need faith to accept Mormon teaching. Of course the human mind as both a will and an intellect, so the author of this book does what little he can to try to appeal to both (e.g., he argues that it is reasonable to believe that the Book of Mormon is authentic because witnesses besides Joseph Smith attested seeing the plates).
From this book I also understand that Mormon theology really has just been made up as they go along. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Gnosticism addressed by St Irenaeus in Against Heresies. Like the ancient Gnostics, it seems that Mormons don't fully understand the orthodox Trinitarian theology they reject (on p.5 Johanson brushes it off as some sort of modalism, itself a heresy condemned in the ancient Church). I never got a good idea of what Mormon trinitariansm really is. The Holy Spirit was mentioned only once or twice throughout the book. Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, and so the Father he preaches in the New Testament is someone altogether different, a physical being living in a spiritual heaven, having spiritual children physically with a nondescript Heavenly Mother. These children need bodies are so are sent to Earth.
I don't know where the sacrifice of Calvary fits into all this.
I guess I don't know what I expected. Mormonism clearly doesn't try to appeal to much to people who desire systematic theology and consistent teaching, so insofar as this book has a specific target audience I suppose it succeeds. I think those who convert to Mormonism just want what it offers – a close knit society and strict moral code. I can't think of any other reason one would be attracted to it.
The big take-away for me is that Mormonism is an entirely fideistic religion. You are supposed to believe that the Book of Mormon is authentic based on a purely subjective prayer experience. Accepting the claims of Mormonism specifically despite the lack of evidence therein is what you're supposed to do as a Mormon. God took the golden plates away because if you could actually read them you wouldn't need faith to accept Mormon teaching. Of course the human mind as both a will and an intellect, so the author of this book does what little he can to try to appeal to both (e.g., he argues that it is reasonable to believe that the Book of Mormon is authentic because witnesses besides Joseph Smith attested seeing the plates).
From this book I also understand that Mormon theology really has just been made up as they go along. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Gnosticism addressed by St Irenaeus in Against Heresies. Like the ancient Gnostics, it seems that Mormons don't fully understand the orthodox Trinitarian theology they reject (on p.5 Johanson brushes it off as some sort of modalism, itself a heresy condemned in the ancient Church). I never got a good idea of what Mormon trinitariansm really is. The Holy Spirit was mentioned only once or twice throughout the book. Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, and so the Father he preaches in the New Testament is someone altogether different, a physical being living in a spiritual heaven, having spiritual children physically with a nondescript Heavenly Mother. These children need bodies are so are sent to Earth.
I don't know where the sacrifice of Calvary fits into all this.
I guess I don't know what I expected. Mormonism clearly doesn't try to appeal to much to people who desire systematic theology and consistent teaching, so insofar as this book has a specific target audience I suppose it succeeds. I think those who convert to Mormonism just want what it offers – a close knit society and strict moral code. I can't think of any other reason one would be attracted to it.
October 15, 2009
Easy quick reading. Great Author!! :)
March 1, 2017
What an excellent read this is! I love that Johanson wrote the book in an easily read Q & A style. Each question starts a new page, even if there were only four lines of text on the previous page. This allows the reader to fly through the pages. So even though there are 200 pages, it is a super quick read which is encouraging.
All of the questions and answers included were clear, concise and informative. I love that they were detailed enough to really get to the roots of what Latter-Day Saints believe and also explored how they are perceived by the rest of America, both laypeople and other religious groups.
Unlike most religions today, Mormonism is a cultural commitment that goes well beyond a short Sunday morning sitting in the church pew. It is a lifestyle adjustment for converts with me but the sacrifices are so so worth it because of everything you get in return.
Some of the questions that the book addresses are: What do LDS folks believe? Do they practice plural marriage? Who was Joseph Smith? What similarities and differences does this belief share with other major world religions? Isn't Mormonism only practised in the USA?
All of the questions and answers included were clear, concise and informative. I love that they were detailed enough to really get to the roots of what Latter-Day Saints believe and also explored how they are perceived by the rest of America, both laypeople and other religious groups.
Unlike most religions today, Mormonism is a cultural commitment that goes well beyond a short Sunday morning sitting in the church pew. It is a lifestyle adjustment for converts with me but the sacrifices are so so worth it because of everything you get in return.
Some of the questions that the book addresses are: What do LDS folks believe? Do they practice plural marriage? Who was Joseph Smith? What similarities and differences does this belief share with other major world religions? Isn't Mormonism only practised in the USA?
April 14, 2008
A very interesting book for those outside the Mormon church who want to know what the church believes. Written by a mormon for non mormons it answers and explains things plainly so it is easy to see the similarities and differences in beliefs. The question and answer format makes it a good quick reference guide.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews