Mormon Doctrine

by Bruce R. McConkie

Book Overview

This work on Mormon Doctrine is designed to help persons seeking salvation to gain that knowledge of God and his laws without which they cannot hope for an inheritance in the celestial city. Since it... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0884944468
• ISBN13: 9780884944461
• Release Date: January 1958
• Publisher: Bookcraft Pubs
• Length: 856 Pages
• Weight: 1.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.5" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

A Great Resource

I grew up with several Mormon friends and my brother has converted to Mormonism. As a result I have had quite a few dialogs with Mormons. I found that I was woefully unprepared. So I began to study the Mormon religion. When I asked Mormons such as my brother about their beliefs I would get responses that were couched in terminology I as an "mainstream" Christian would find palatable. It was hard to find out what Mormon's really believed. I had other resources that were produced by "mainstream" Christians. However, these resources dealt with archaine theologies that while they are historically accurate are different from what most LDS believe today. MORMON DOCTRINES is an invaluable resourse to understand the current beliefs of the LDS Church. The first step in being able to talk to someone about their faith is understanding their faith. This is especially important in being able to bridge the language gap between Mormonism and "Mainstream" Christianity. MORMON DOCTRINE is especially good for this due to its encyclopedic format. Common terms such as Salvation, God, The Holy Ghost and Heaven can clearly be examined.While I strongly disagree with the doctrine promoted in MORMON DOCTRINE it is an indispensible resource for understanding what Mormons believe.

Excellent, concise resource

First of all, let me start out by identifying myself as a devout Catholic evangelist. Over the past year, the study of comparative religion has interested me greatly, and at first, my approach to study was marred by the use of unreliable and biased resources. I made the mistake of trying to learn about Mormons by reading anti-Mormon literature. However, what I found there (in books such as The God Makers, Kingdom of the Cults, etc) was not only appalingly uncharible and vindictive, but also appalingly deceitful and false! Unimpressed with their rhetoric and straw men tactics, I decided instead to do what I should have done in the first place; ask the Mormons what they believe.Aside from the BOM and D & C, this is the first resource I purchased. The layout was impressive - very easy to use, concise, and well cross referenced. I was at first dismayed at the lack of an index, but that became a moot point since the book is so well laid out. Furthermore, although I know this is of course not scripture any more than the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas are to Catholics, it does present a good yet fallible summary of, well, Mormon Doctrine. My only complaint is that McConkie is a bit too brief in covering some points, and doesn't always give references to relevant sections in the canonized books of the Mormon Church. Because of this, further study is not always easy to persue. On the pro side of that, this book can rightfully be considered a "primary source" when citing, by and large.While I still disagree with many aspects of Mormon theology, at least now I can be confident that what I am stating on a particular point is actually what the LDS church believes. Persuing Mormon literature (and conversations with Mormons) prevented me from going down the fiery path of polemics and hatred for Mormons. As a Catholic, I know all too well what it is like to be on the receiving end of hatred and bigotry which roots itself in misunderstanding. As someone who is oftentimes on the receiving end of counter apologetics, I know well the difference between mere theological disagreement and outright bigotry. The distinction makes all the difference in the world when it comes to dialogue.Persual of literature such as this will require some extra effort, yes, but it will also help you obey the commandment not to bear false witness. There is no excuse for lazy research.Anyway - I fear that this book review had turned into an admonishment for my fellow apologists to be honest. However, since I think it needs to be said, and it does tie into this book in a sense, I'm keeping it here. In any case, if you want to learn about Mormonism, don't listen to idiots like Dave Hunt. Rather, you do well to start here for a good, reliable primer and a lasting resource.

the best

this book is just awesome. No one, in the whole world, has been able to clearly express and define concepts and religious beliefs.

Handy One-volume Cyclopedia of Mormonism

Bruce R. McConkie's first book is a touchdown! Set up as a cyclopedia, "Mormon Doctrine" has several thousand entries on topics relating to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, such as Aaronic Priesthood, Jesus Christ (the most cross-refenced entry), Atonement, Evolution, and Zion. His uniqe spiritual and theological endowments are shown plainily in the many entries in the book. It is a must for any new convert or seasoned scriptorian who wishes to know more about Mormonism. It is also valualble for the student who whishes to have a quick, one-volume work on the faith of the Latter-day Saints.