Mormon Books

There are so many good books to read regarding the Mormon issues. Here's a few we especially liked:

• An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, Grant Palmer. (can be purchased at BYU or ordered from Deseret Books). More on the author and review of his books.
• Standing for Something More, Lyndon Lamborn. More on the author and our review of his book.
• By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus, Charles Larson. (available online)
• The Story of the Mormons From the Date of their Origin to the Year 1901, William Alexander Linn. (available online)
• Mormon Enigma, Emma Hale Smith, by Linda King Newell & Valeen Tippetts Avery.

Mormon Enigma is one of the books that was allowed to be read for class assignment at BYU when I attended there.  It’s not dedicated to polygamy but deals with it quite a bit - mostly from Emma’s perspective.  It's available at Deseret Books.

Avery and Newell's 1984 bio of Emma Smith was referenced quite favorably in the Ensign pre-publication and they were both invited by church groups, particularly Relief Society groups, to give firesides and presentations on their work in church. Then some time after the book was actually published, all of the invitations stopped rather suddenly. Upon investigating, the authors learned that a letter was sent from church headquarters instructing wards and stakes not to allow the authors to address any church group. I believe the two authors were also not to be allowed to speak in their own wards' sacrament meetings.

They were finally granted an audience with Dallin Oaks, who, according to them, gave as the reason for the ban this gem of a quote:

"My duty as a member of the Council of the Twelve is to protect what is most unique about the LDS church, namely the authority of priesthood, testimony regarding the restoration of the gospel, and the divine mission of the Savior. Everything may be sacrificed in order to maintain the integrity of those essential facts. Thus, if Mormon Enigma reveals information that is detrimental to the reputation of Joseph Smith, then it is necessary to try to limit its influence and that of its authors." (Linda King Newell, 1992 Sunstone Pacific Northwest Symposium, "The Biography of Emma Hale Smith".)

The ban was lifted a few years later after quiet and persistent efforts by concerned parties behind the scene.

• No Man Knows My History, Fawn Brodie. (This book is found in many public libraries).
• The Keystone of Mormonism, Arza Evans
• Mormonism: Pro and Con, Ed Bliss
• The Mormon Delusion, James Whitefield. Excellent insights and analysis. Sections of his book are provided in both the Moroni Visitation and Nephi Or Moroni sections.

Here's a site that reviews many LDS books

• http://www.2think.org/alphabetical_by_author.shtml

List of many LDS books

• The Ex-Mormon Foundation
• http://www.utlm.org/navbooklist.htm

note: Please consider purchasing books from the Ex-Mormon Foundation as they receive a small contribution to their non-profit foundation for books ordered through their website.

New Book

New book release - It isn't the Jefferson Bible

Seventy-five-year-old award-winning published author Carl Jones, Sr., questions the truth of not only Mormon beliefs but also those of the other religions. In his new book, It Isn’t the Jefferson Bible, he supports the view that the ultra-moral teachings and philosophy of Jesus began to be altered by the Apostle Paul 40 years after Jesus’ death for the purpose of recruiting Pagans to his--Paul’s--newly invented church. Now, as the words of Jesus continue to be altered, these contaminated ideals have become the corrupted basis for all Christian religions.

The Apostle Paul incorporated the Devil, Hell, hate, fear, greed, intolerance, and a ruthless and demanding God rather than the philosophy of Jesus of tolerance, understanding, and love to create an abomination to perpetually subjugate humanity to the control of a few ruthless and greedy individuals. These ideals have been used as fodder for all of the earths Christian religions and to influence most others; there are now only minor differences between any of them.
In his new book the author Jones ponders these points but also expects few religious people to agree because they have had religion ingrained into their psyche from birth almost as permanently and indelibly as the id, ego, and super ego.

He says, “You might as well try to talk a religious person into giving up their skin as to argue them away from their ingrained religious beliefs.”

In his book the author attempts to reveals a glimpse of the real philosophy of Jesus and then show how this philosophy has been distorted, muddled, and hidden, possibly through, maybe, the well-meant efforts initiated by the Apostle Paul and his posterity. And then it describes the work of Thomas Jefferson when just short of 2,000 years after Jesus died; he (Jefferson) tried to uncover some of these lost and forgotten words from where they were entrenched and concealed in the confusion and dogma of the Bible and related books. And then it shows how the fanatic religious zealots are trying to retroactively alter this work by Jefferson and the real opinion of Jefferson as well.

Read about it here.

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