I’ve been keeping up with a number of LDS blogs in my feed reader. For a complete list of the ones I read, see my del.icio.us “mormonism blog” category.

What struck me initially was the number of theologically liberal Mormon blogs there are when compared with the number of conservative ones. These are the kind of Mormons who read Dialogue and Sunstone; the kind who might be feminists and pray to Heavenly Mother; the kind who might agree with Grant Palmer that the Book of Mormon had its authorship solely in Joseph Smith. These are people who still hold to their Mormon beliefs and heritage while denying or downplaying vital doctrines and speaking out against church leadership.

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I want to thank everyone for the great feedback I received from my previous post on “Mormon Literature”:http://www.joeyday.org/2005/03/29/mormon-literature. There was a lot of information provided, but it gives me a great place to start and answers some questions about what I should focus on if I want to get a balanced and clear picture of Mormon doctrine.

Following up on that post, I want to mention that “English transcripts”:http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,49-1-520,00.html of the 175th Annual General Conference are now available on the LDS church website.

Also on a related note, I ordered a copy of Preach My Gospel from the church distribution center. The “ldscatalog.com”:http://www.ldscatalog.com website was crawling along Saturday afternoon following Elder Scott’s announcement of the new resource, but I was able to get in and place my order late Saturday evening. I didn’t expect it to arrive so soon given the demand is probably high right now, but it arrived in the mail yesterday. It appears to be a very handy resource — to the point that I _almost_ wish I was a missionary again. There’s much more information provided than was ever a part of the six discussions. This book alone will give me much to read and study.

I have in my hands a copy of Martha Nibley Beck’s book, Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith. When I noticed it on the shelf last night at the Christian bookstore where I work, I immediately pulled it and told the owner of the store we probably shouldn’t be selling it. I’m not sure why I never warned him about this book. Somehow I just assumed it would never show up.

Nevertheless, here it is sitting in front of me. I told the owner I would look it over at home and let him know what I think about it. I’m 99% certain I’m going to tell him to send it straight back to the distributor.

I thought about actually reviewing it here, but I don’t think that’s necessary. It’s a bunch of hogwash from a new age “life coach” with repressed memories. It propagates every stereotype of Mormonism you’ve ever heard and even starts a few new ones. Even if all it’s vitriol were true, it’s certainly not Christian, so what place does it have in a Christian bookstore?

I started a series on the Trinity almost two months ago. I’m going to continue it making use of a concise little book (just under a hundred pages, not counting the indices) I discovered last year called Making Sense of the Trinity: 3 Crucial Questions, by Millard J. Erickson1. When I say “make use of” I mean simply that I will follow Erickson’s outline and ask the same three “crucial” questions. I’ll try to provide my own answers to the questions without simply regurgitating Erickson’s responses, though I may throw in a quote here or there.

And so, I turn to the first crucial question: “Is the doctrine of the Trinity biblical?”

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1. I would highly recommend this book to any reader. It lays down a number of compelling biblical, rational, and practical reasons for believing in the Trinity. If you have the time, however, and wish to read something of more substance, the author recommends his own God in Three Persons: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Trinity. [↩]

I know I said my previous post would be the last thing I write about Mormonism for a while, but I can’t pass up this opportunity. I watched most of conference this weekend and I’m wondering which talks inspired or interested people the most.

I was personally intrigued by Elder Russell M. Nelson’s talk about his wife and preparing to meet God. That’s certainly one I’ll study thoroughly when the transcripts get posted on Thursday. I’m also more than a little curious about the church’s new missionary program, Preach My Gospel, announced by Richard G. Scott.

Anyone else have a favorite talk you plan to study in more detail later?

This will be my last post on Mormonism for a while. I honestly never intended for this blog to center around Mormonism, but it’s a hard subject for me to avoid given my background and the concern I have for my friends and family.

The purpose of this post is to ask an honest question. I’m trying to learn all I can about Mormonism. In my statements here and elsewhere I’d like to portray LDS doctrine as accurately as I can without resorting to ad hominem or straw man arguments. To that end, I’m asking the LDS folks who read this blog to please recommend some positive reading material. I’m interested in reading the classics I never read before—preferably books that most Mormons would recognize and trust.

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