Mormonism: What Everyone Needs to Know

by Terryl L. Givens

Mormonism, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is America's most successful-and most misunderstood-home grown religion. The church today boasts more than 15 million members worldwide, a remarkable feat in the face of increasing secularity. The growing presence of Mormonism shows no signs of abating, as the makeup of its membership becomes progressively diverse. The heightened contemporary relevance and increasingly global membership of the Church solidifies Mormonism as a religious group much deserving of awareness.Covering the origins, history, and modern challenges of the church, What Everyone Needs to Know offers readers a brief, authoritative guide to one of the fastest growing faith groups of the twenty-first century in a reader-friendly format, providing answers to questions such What circumstances gave rise to the birth of Mormonism? Why was Utah chosen as a place of refuge? Do you have to believe the Book of Mormon to be a Latter-day Saint? Why do women not hold the priesthood? How wealthy is the church and how much are top leaders paid? Written by a believer and the premier scholar of the Latter-day Saints faith, this remarkably readable introduction provides a sympathetic but unstinting account of one of the few religious traditions to maintain its vitality and growth in an era of widespread disaffiliation.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Mormonism

283 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 5, 2020

About the author

Terryl L. Givens was born in upstate New York, raised in the American southwest, and did his graduate work in Intellectual History (Cornell) and Comparative Literature (Ph.D. UNC Chapel Hill, 1988), working with Greek, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and English languages and literatures. As Professor of Literature and Religion, and the James A. Bostwick Professor of English at the University of Richmond, he teaches courses in Romanticism, nineteenth-century cultural studies, and the Bible and Literature. He has published in literary theory, British and European Romanticism, Mormon studies, and intellectual history.

Dr. Givens has authored several books, including The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy (Oxford 1997); By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion (Oxford 2003); People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture (Oxford 2007); The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2009); and When Souls had Wings: Pre-Mortal Life in Western Thought (2010). Current projects include a biography of Parley P. Pratt (with Matt Grow, to be published by Oxford in 2011), a sourcebook of Mormonism in America (with Reid Neilson, to be published by Columbia in 2011), an Oxford Handbook to Mormonism (with Phil Barlow), and a two volume history of Mormon theology. He lives in Montpelier, Virginia.

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

A positive and well-informed view of all things related to Mormonism. Reads a little like a book in the “for Dummies” series, but the author is a one of the best commentators on the subject of Mormonism writing from within the LDS faith tradition.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was worth the quick read. Gained some insights and perspective.

[Bryan Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
Terryl Givens offers a scholarly review of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' origin and history. It is presented in a FAQ format. Given's does not pull any punches nor does he tell you what to think; he just addresses the common questions and allegations with the facts and lets the reader decide how to feel about it.

The most interesting sections for me were:

Agency vs. Abortion

For a minority of Saints, the theological emphasis on choice offers a persuasive rationale for supporting abortion rights, even if one is personally opposed to the practice. The current leadership has explicitly condemned this rationale. President Russell Nelson, who was a surgeon before his call to the apostleship, has spoken in harsh terms against the "baleful war being waged on life" and "odious carnage." And First Presidency member Dallin Oaks has criticized the "personally opposed but reasoning in public discourses: the sanctity of one agent's choice can never trump the sanctity of the other's life, he argues. Given the status of the unborn child as a human individual in LDS thought, two human agents, and two vested interests, must be weighed accordingly. Oaks's comments highlight a particular LDS understanding of choice. In this view of moral freedom, there exists a sacrosanct link between choice and consequence. Freedom, in other words, is grounded in a framework of natural law. As Oaks reasons, "the effect in 95% of abortions is not to vindicate choice but to avoid its consequences; using arguments of choice to try to justify altering the consequences of choice is a classic case of omitting what the Savior called the 'weightier matters of the law.’” From this perspective, ironically, those who seek to protect the unborn child are actually defending the principle of choice by protecting the consequences of that choice (pp. 173-174).

Excommunication of "The September Six"

Excommunication for heresy has been more common, or perhaps more publicized, in the modern Christian world than excommunication for moral turpitude. The twentieth century saw a number of prominent disciplinary actions for heresy: the Reformed, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Baptist, and Catholic churches have all held church courts or imposed discipline in the last century and up to today. Joseph Smith, from the Church of Jesus Christ's inception, gave great latitude to unorthodox belief: "I never thought it was right to call up a man and try him because he erred in doctrine, " he said, “I want the liberty of believing as I please, it feels so good not to be trammeled." However, the leadership drew the line at teaching doctrine deemed injurious to the church.

Judicial proceedings were outlined in early LDS revelations and are conducted by the bishop or by the stake president in cases where a Melchizedek priesthood holder is the offender. Such councils can result in no action, in disfellowshipment (a kind of probationary state in which one is barred from full participation), or in excommunication (resulting in loss of membership and nullification of sacraments performed). The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries saw a handful of LDS excommunications of vocal critics and dissenters from orthodoxy. Following one such highly publicized episode involving "the September Six," a group of feminists and scholars disciplined by church councils in 1993, the church affirmed that the relevant criterion for church discipline was promulgating, not holding, heretical beliefs. As they clarified in an official statement "we have the responsibility to preserve the doctrinal purity of the Church. Apostasy refers to Church members who (1) repeatedly act in clear, open, and deliberate public opposition to the Church or its leaders; or (2) persist in teaching as Church doctrine information that is not Church doctrine after being corrected by their bishops or higher authority; or (3) continue to follow the teachings of apostate cults…after being corrected by their bishops or higher authority."

Role of Blacks in the Church

Joseph Smith’s views on blacks were progressive for his era. A revelation declared as earlier as 1833 that, “it is not right that any man should be in bondage to another (D&C 101:79). And under his lear few black members were ordained to the priesthood alongside whites. Intemperate LDS praise for "the wonderful events of this age," in which "much is doing towards abolishing slavery," fueled I anti-Mormon violence in slavery-leaning Missouri, and Joseph Smith himself campaigned for US president in 1844 on a platform that advocated a federal buyout of all slaves by 1850. The situation changed abruptly with the Saints' removal to Utah. While making no specific claim of revelation, in 1852 President Brigham Young declared a prohibition on Blacks receiving the priesthood. It seems to have been justified by inherited Christian beliefs regarding the curse of Cain and of Ham, reinforced by Young's own reading of the Bible. Decades later, the leadership would find further support in an Abrahamic text produced by Smith that referred to a "lineage" with no "right of priesthood" (now understood as having no reference to race).

From that time on, Blacks were accepted as members but denied both priesthood and temple sacraments. Opposition to the church's position grew from within and outside the church alike during the civil rights era. It was only after most of the storm had passed, however, in 1978, that President Spencer W. Kimball claimed a revelation declaring that "every faithful, worthy man in the church may receive the holy priesthood, with power to exercise its divine authority, and enjoy with his loved ones everv blessing that flows therefrom, including the blessings of the temple. Shortly thereafter influential apostle Bruce R. McConkie advised the church membership to "forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world."

Evangelization in Africa has yielded hundreds of thousands of converts, but growth among American Blacks remains tepid. Commemorations of black history, sponsorship of LDS symposia on African American relations, and outreach (as in the aftermath, of the 1992 Los Angeles riots) have contributed somewhat to mending the damaged relations of the past, with three particularly striking developments. First, in April 1988, church president Gordon B. Hinckley received the NAACP Distinguished Service Award from Julian Bond. In 2001, the church made public, with great fanfare, the records of the Freedman's Bank. The extensive records from this Reconstruction-era institution, organized under church sponsorship during an eleven-year period, make it possible for millions of African Americans to connect their family histories to the half-million names indexed in the collections. In this way the church furthered its mission to connect the human family through genealogical research, while providing a significant service to the African American community. And in 2019, President Russell Nelson was invited to address the annual meeting of the NAACP.

From the church leadership, condemnations of racism are frequent, and the church aspires to embody the principle first printed in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon: "he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female" (2 Nephi 26:33). Still, the sting of the more than century-long ban remains, and many still await a formal apology for a policy that has never been clearly repudiated as prophetic error.

When Leaders Make Mistakes

If the church is led by revelation, why has its position on many issues (race, marriage, homosexuality) changed?

Modern leaders continue to disavow infallibility and urge on members personal responsibility. Not every statement made by a church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. Elder Todd Christofferson reminded the Saints, “when a member of the First Presidency recently expressed what should have been an unexceptional truism, “leaders in the church have simply made mistakes,” the New York Times found it striking enough to devote two articles to it. It would seem, like biblical figures who could err and argue even as they moved forward the building of the church. Compare, for instance, Moses's sin at the waters of Meriba and Peter and Paul's sharp discord (Numbers 20:12; Galatians 2:11- 14), LDS prophets believe they are called of God, but nonetheless, receive God’s word according to their inspired but human capacity—precept upon precept, line upon line (Isaiah 28:13).

Review:
This is my least favorite Givens book, but still, it was astonishing. I appreciated his no-nonsense, scholarly examination of the religion in which I was raised and still adhere. I originally gave this book 3 stars. But because it challenged my beliefs, I had to upgrade it to 4 stars. (I was one of the minority Saints who advocated pro-choice for others.) I didn't realize my belief was contrary to what the prophets taught. Now I'm asking myself if I need to keep my belief to myself? Is it injurious to the Church? Should I change my belief? I am currently following the Prophet Joseph Smith's counsel mentioned above. " I never thought it was right to call up a man and try him because he erred in doctrine, " he said, “I want the liberty of believing as I please, it feels so good not to be trammeled." However, the leadership drew the line at teaching doctrine deemed injurious to the church. I'd like to get some counsel from my church leaders.

If you're looking for a logical, relatively-unbiased apology of Mormonism, this seems like a good place to start.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not the intended audience for this book, nor would an active believing member be. It seemed geared towards people who have little experience with the LDS church, but are wanting to learn about it. It breaks things down into a variety of basic questions people might have about the church and its members. I think it's very informative. The author doesn't seem to be trying to convert people to the Church or lead people away from it. There is no discernable lean whatsoever and the book merely gives clear, direct answers to the questions. It was pretty short and concise as well, which I think is good for anyone who just wants an introductory look at Mormonism, especially because you can easily pick and choose sections to read based on the topics you're interested in.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terryl has written this in a question and answer format. And he asks all the questions, the easy ones and the hard ones. He doesn’t pull any punches nor does he shy away from difficult topics. As a fairly knowledgable member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was neither shocked, nor surprised by anything in the book. I feel like it is an excellent summary for those not of the faith who want to know more without feeling like they are being proselytized. Some LDS church members may be uncomfortable with some of Given’s “revelations” but I found the book solid, well organized, and of value to those “everyones” who fell the “need to know.” 3.5 stars.

[Teri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Each time I start to read a book by the Givens, I do so with great hopes that it'll be inspiring and illuminating. Instead I find that they quietly lead readers to and open the doors to the road to apostasy.

Yes, they are scholarly, too smart for their own good, and they respect only others who are equal to them. But they do not explain the faith or Church of Jesus Christ in an inspiring, testimonial kind of way. They are more focused on what the world will think of their books, and explaining both the gospel and the Church to other scholars who are not of our faith, and possibly not of any faith, and the Spirit whispers each time to me: This is not honest, of good report nor praiseworthy and it will lead others astray. It is not necessary for your relationship with God nor your understanding of His gospel and Church.

Yes, Givens shares mostly truths - but mostly covered and twisted in such subtlety that is fuels the fire of those who are seeking to leave the church rather than those who are seeking to join it or stay in it.

So no, I do not recommend this book as honest or Good. Capital G. (That means Good in God's eyes.)

I'm sorely disappointed with almost all of their books and have personally known people who have left the true Church due to these books. Sad to have to say this. I wanted to so much to enjoy their books, this one included.

[Brad Rees · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seems to be almost a direct response to the CES letter, which has been a source of questions for some LDS church members.

Clearly, the scholarly expertise and intellectual rigor in this book are far superior to anything found in the CES letter, so it feels like a different universe. But, the topics and fundamental principles addressed in this book clearly address some of the issues raised, and this book would be a helpful companion for anyone who is seeking to clear up questions.

That said, this book is almost a glossary format. It doesn’t delve particularly deep into one topic, and it doesn’t fully answer every issue. But it’s still a great starting point for the serious student who wants to really understand the issues.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this book from beginning to end, but, with the Q&A format, I think it would be an invaluable resource for anyone who had specific questions about the Mormon/LDS faith but wanted to get more authoritative, unbiased, and scholarly answers than Google would provide.

Best used for looking up individual questions than reading straight through, as many of the answers repeat information found in other answers and it can get a bit repetitive, but the author was obviously trying to make each answer understandable and complete when read on its own without reference to any other question/answer combo.

[Drew Tschirki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t rate this less than 5 stars. It’s literally “what everyone needs to know” about the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Givens is a skilled scholar and listening to this nice summary of LDS beliefs was a positive experience.

Did I really learn anything new? No. Givens isn’t trying to unearth new information. He’s simply compiling information readily available into one neatly organized source.

I’d recommend listening.

[Scott Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight forward explanation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Doesn't try to tell you how to think, he just puts it out there and you can decide. If you want to know about Mormonism this is a good place to start if you don't have missionaries or other members of the church on hand.

[Jeremy Howlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly a scholarly apologetic rendition of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. I did the audiobook and it was a little hard to listen to the reader because of poor pronunciation of some of the names and places. However, the content was good. I appreciate the knowledge of Terryl Givens.

[Elizabeth Ricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to this book and learned many things that I didn't know. All told, I thought it was a pretty fair treatment. It's not a book I would give to someone who is investigating the church because it focuses quite a bit on the "gray" areas and on some of the historical misunderstandings rather on the doctrines per se.

[Dallas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good questions and informative answers

Terryl Givens has written another great book with wide ranging information to help both those trying to understand and those who understand but needed more support. Kind of like “I believe, help thou my unbelief”.
Well written and provocative, meaning it will get you thinking.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book does answer all your questions regarding race, gender, polygamy, weird beliefs, and more.
The only downside is that is written as a FAQ, and some of the same answers get repeated. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Mormonism, even if it's for just sociological reasons.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of essays about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The book discusses the origin and history of the church. It is very well researched and written. It is an excellent source of information to anyone interested.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of Mormonism! A very informative overview of LDS beliefs. Even for members, it's an excellent overview.

[Ben Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Givens asks and answers the easy and the hard questions about Mormonism. Valuable resource for those wanting a broad introduction to the Faith.

1-10 Takeaways:
1) NA

1-10 Questions:
1) NA

[Craig Earnshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent work, tackles all the questions

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction

[Tehteh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite thorough and informative, good narration in the audiobook. I learned a good bit from it as a curious person who likes to learn about cultures and religions

[Nancy Kendall]

Hoopla (8 hrs)

[Dustin Tramel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly, it's a false religion.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Christian, I’ve always found the Mormon religion to be interesting but didn’t know much about it. This book covered a variety topics about the LDS church, including its history, who founded the church, and what their beliefs are and how they differ from other denominations of Christianity. I listened to an audiobook version of this book and found the narrator to be decent, nothing mesmerizing, though I suppose that’s difficult to do for a non-fiction book.