Marriage’s central role in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints distinguishes the faith while simultaneously reflecting widespread American beliefs. But what does Latter-day Saint marriage mean for men? Holly Welker presents a collection of essays exploring this question. The essayists provide insight into challenges involving sexuality, physical and emotional illness, addiction, loss of faith, infidelity, sexual orientation, and other topics. Conversational and heartfelt, the w...

For over a decade, Boyd Petersen has been an active voice in Mormon studies and thought. In essays that steer a course between apologetics and criticism, striving for the balance of what Eugene England once called the “radical middle,” he explores various aspects of Mormon life and culture—from the Dream Mine near Salem, Utah, to the challenges that Latter-day Saints of the millennial generation face today.Praise for Dead Wood and Rushing Water:“Dead Wood and Rushing Water ...

As one of the LDS Church’s most widely recognized scholars, Hugh Nibley is both an icon and an enigma. Through complete access to Nibley’s correspondence, journals, notes, and papers, Petersen has painted a portrait that reveals the man behind the legend.Starting with a foreword written by Zina Nibley Petersen and finishing with appendices that include some of the best of Nibley’s personal correspondence, the biography reveals aspects of the tapestry of the life of one who has truly...

In the first edition of The Mormon Mirage, Latayne C. Scott shared her remarkable journey out of Mormonism as she uncovered shocking inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and contradictions in the faith she had loved and lived. Thirty years later, Mormonism and Mormon scholarship have evolved with the times. In this third, revised and updated edition of her well-known book, Scott keeps pace with changes and advances in Mormonism, and reveals formidable new challenges to its claims and teachings. ...

For all its advances, our secular age has also weakened ties to religious belief and affiliation, and Latter-day Saints have not been immune. In recent years, many faithful Church members have encountered challenging aspects of Church history, belief, or practice. Feeling isolated, alienated, or misled, some struggle to stay. Some simply leave. Many search for a reliable and faithful place to work through their questions. The abundance of information online can leave them frustrated. P...

David L. Rowe asserts that many Mormons view Christian witnessing as Bible bashing. What Christians need to understand, he suggests, is that Latter-day Saints are an entirely separate ethnic group with their own history, values, and customs. Evangelizing Mormons can be so much more effective if Christians first know, understand, and respect Mormon heritage.With helpful illustrations and discussions of Mormon values and theology, Rowe calls Christians away from confrontational evang...

Originally written in the 1915 and having undergone several revisions since, A Rational Theology was written by Mormon scientist - and later apostle - John A Widtsoe. As he explained it, the book was an exposition and not an argument, and put forth the principles of the Mormon church 'simply and without comment' in order to 'show the coherence, reasonableness and universality of the Gospel philosophy.'

A Reason for Faith was written to do just as the title implies, provide reasons for faith by offering faithful answers to sincere questions. Before the Internet, historical and doctrinal questions not addressed in LDS Church curriculum were mostly found in the scholarly articles of academic journals. This is no longer the case. These topics are now widely debated and discussed online and in other forums. And when members of the LDS Church come across information that is unfamiliar...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) has generally been viewed by the public as anti-evolutionary in its doctrine and teachings. But official statements on the subject by the Church’s highest governing quorum and/or president have been considerably more open and diverse than is popularly believed.This book compiles in full all known authoritative statements (either authored or formally approved for publication) by the Church’s highest leaders on the to...

An intimate portrait of the man behind one of America’s fastest growing religions, Falling in Love with Joseph Smith offers a surprising and provocative window into the Mormon experience.When award-winning documentary film writer Jane Barnes was working on the PBS Frontline/American Experience special series The Mormons, she was surprised to find herself passionately drawn to Joseph Smith. The product of an Episcopalian, “WASPy” family, she couldn...

This volume collects, for the first time in book form, stories from the “September Six,” a group of intellectuals officially excommunicated or disfellowshipped from the LDS Church in September of 1993 on charges of “apostasy” or “conduct unbecoming” Church members. Their experiences are significant and yet are largely unknown outside of scholarly or more liberal Mormon circles, which is surprising given that their story was immediately propelled onto screens and cover pages across the West...

A compelling new interpretation of early Mormonism, Samuel Brown's In Heaven as It Is On Earth views this religion through the lens of founder Joseph Smith's profound preoccupation with the specter of death. Revisiting historical documents and scripture from this novel perspective, Brown offers new insight into the origin and meaning of some of Mormonism's earliest beliefs and practices. The world of early Mormonism was besieged by death--infant mortality, violence, and disease we...