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In general I would recommend it to anyone. It's a great bio and a great antidote to anyone who has read Brodie's work. Other recent bios of modern prophets (e.g. To the Rescue, about Pres. Monson) are basically hagiographies, which I don't much value. I want to know the full truth, the real picture. By seeing the whole man I can really appreciate and relate to a what a truly amazing thing a prophet is, and feel to praise God for giving us these great but imperfect men who accomplish wonders. If a member or investigator would have their faith shaken by a "warts and all" depiction of a prophet, then I guess I wouldn't recommend RSR to them. A shame, I would think, but maybe better if that individual skips this book. I would hope that someday they would be ready for it.

Nothing, You are certainly free to privately believe what you want. I personally haven't heard of active LDS members who reject part of the LDS scriptures. The scriptures are canonized, which means they are pretty core to what Mormons believe. So to say that D&C 132 - the entire section - is false, is pretty much saying that the prophet and apostles are in error by keeping it in there. That's pretty close to apostasy, I think. I think the most important thing for you is to keep the commandments and follow the teachings of Jesus. Meanwhile, I recommend you continue to study and pray about D&C 132. I personally don't think the Lord requires you to believe something you don't believe, if you are not ready to. But I think he does require that you keep your baptismal and temple covenants, and try to follow and sustain his chosen prophets. We must all press forward in faith, living the truths that we understand, and seeking to continue serving, growing - and learning by obeying God's will for us, as best we can find it out. As others have pointed out D&C 132 is about marriage in general, and the (now outdated) polygamy stuff is just a part of it. Why is the polygamy stuff still in there? Well, I don't think the church has ever said it was wrong to practice polygamy in the past. The Lord commanded it at that time. Now, the prophets have said through modern, continuing revelation that we are not to do it at present. The Lord directs us through prophets, and the most important prophet to listen to is the current one.

I don't actually understand what you're saying with this

Yes, I always thought section 132 was just about regular (monogamous) marriage with a little of the outdated polygamy referred to as well. I was surprised to hear anti-Mormons saying this section was about polygamy. Yes, lot of important doctrine in there for all LDS.

Also read the original Bolo short stories by Keith Laumer, if you haven't. https://www.amazon.com/Bolo-Keith-Laumer/dp/0441069975/ I hope you like AJ. And check out the Corey books too, if you haven't.

I think I disagree with everything you've said I think Heinlein is great, although can feel a bit dated. OK, Herbert's Dune and Tolkien are both first-rate. But they're different genres, so why argue - just read them both. Tons of great recent sci fi in recent years, although maybe not as much to my taste as when Heinlein was writing. But check out the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award_for_Best_Novel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel One that stands out is Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. Wow. If you (like me) love space sci fi, check out: Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie Lots of others too.

I think for some people it's psychological closure. "I'm done with that site and don't want to be able to post again!" Deleting the account keeps them from posting, kind of like biting your lip. Unless of course they create a new user name, but that's still a little hurdle, enough that would require consciously doing it, which might be what they want to keep themselves from posting again. Lurking I've never really understood. I'm too opinionated and I like writing too much. If I care enough about a site to visit it, I'm probably going to post!

I have no experience with polygamy, but from what I've read about it, it was very hard for the husband (and wives too I assume). I am blessed to have married a wife who is a better person than I am, who puts up with me and understands that marriage means you stay committed even though the person you married (me) turns out to be a high-maintenance fool (that's me). Having said all that - It is hard enough for me to be married to one wife (as great as she is). It is a good "hard" - it's certainly stretching and teaching me a lot. BUT - I can only imagine being married to more than one wife just multiplies how hard it is. Maybe, for me, how having child number two made life so much harder that it was with just child number one? I used to think polygamy was really weird. Now I realize it seemed that way because of the culture I grew up in. So I've tried to think above that old mindset. What's wrong with it? Nothing, if the Lord commands it. Abraham and others did it. I will do polygamy or not, as the Lord commands. But I'm glad I don't have to right now.

Why is it all or nothing? These women you're meeting - how good are they for you if they're leading you away from church? In any case: Matthew 22: 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.

It's not banning speech. They can speak and associate outside of school.

Only Christ will judge. Everyone will be rewarded with the kind of life they will be happiest with. And it's not over till it's over, as the quote goes. The important thing is that God (and we) should keep trying to become more ourselves; and keep trying for other people, to teach and persuade them, to try to be more, to follow God better. If we, or others, do not want to be more, then we should ask God to give us that desire and the faith to do it. I think he wants the utmost for us, and will help us if we ask and work for it. Temple work will be done for everyone eventually, as I understand it. It's never a wasted exercise.

I think recent prophets have suggested 30 minutes a day, although lately I've been lazy and just listen to the audio version on LDS.org, one chapter a day. I think if you stop and ponder what is really being sad, then the Scriptures aren't boring. Pray to have the Spirit with you and they will not be boring. Section 1 in the Doctrine and Covenants, for example - you could give a whole talk on just about every single verse in there. Another example: I took a semester class on just Isaiah at BYU. It was fascinating. It might help you to also read books and commentaries. I like the Institute manuals, which are free on LDS.org. There are many other good books also. If you want to see how much depth there can be in the Scriptures, check out the books and lectures by Hugh Nibley, for example. It also helps to ask yourself questions about what you read, and to liken the Scriptures unto yourself.

I'm sad that you feel ugly and unloved. Is that how your husband sees you? As a man, I have to think "shame on him." I think a husband should always make his wife feel attractive, cherished and loved. After so many years together I would expect he would be way past superficial physical appearance. Once you know a person, beauty and attraction are mostly about what's inside. I'm not going to try to analyze your marriage from a few posts by you, and I'm not a counselor anyway. But it sounds like marriage counseling might help you guys figure out how to be happier. Best wishes.

You have to remember the church is still relatively young. The church passed 1 million members in only 1947. Until recently it was hard to find good stuff that was pro-Mormon that was not published by the church. (Partly because of Brodie's abuse of the church opening it's archives to her, the church became guarded about that afterwards.) This is happily changing now with new Mormon scholarship being produced, and a more open attitude by the church. I rarely see things about Mormonism that I consider objective or neutral. However, Wikipedia is actually pretty accurate from what I've seen, and seems pretty neutral to me. Bushman's book RSR is honest and he tries to be objective. Even though he is a believing member, he was also a first rate professor of history at Columbia U. I trust this book. There is plenty of stuff on the anti-Mormon side. Some is not overly anti-Mormon, but they rely on anti-Mormon sources too much, such as the American Crucifixion book. The author of that book naïvely tried to get info from all sides, but he ended up serving a drink mixed with anti-Mormon sewage. It's important to consider all sides but not all sources are of equal value or trustworthiness. Most of the overtly anti-Mormon stuff is not worth the paper it's printed on, as far as getting to an objective and honest understanding of the facts. Brody's book is well-written and is the most popular biography "out in the world", but it is full of very questionable statements and the author was antagonistic toward the church. She had an agenda. For a scholarly book it is not very forthcoming about the sources for the statements it makes. Overall, it amounts to an anti-Mormon book, not because the author is overtly anti-Mormon, but because the author is not being honest and distorts or even apparently invents many things. Some non-Mormons honestly try to explain Mormonism but they get it wrong, because it's so different in many ways. You see this in the newspapers a lot.

Someone here mentioned the book about Joseph Smith titled No Man Knows My History, by Fawn Brodie. This book is anti-Mormon and I do not recommend it to anyone. Here is a detailed list of point by point rebuttals of Brodie's claims in that book: http://en.fairmormon.org/Criticism_of_Mormonism/Books/No_Man_Knows_My_History:_The_Life_of_Joseph_Smith I think people should read and learn and become informed. But you need to also know the quality and trustworthiness of what you read. Joseph Smith is a prophet. A testimony of this comes from the Holy Ghost. Not from listening to lies and distortions written about him. Sure, read Brodie. But don't automatically trust what she says.

From what you have said, I think you will find the book valuable. Many new Mormons do not have a background in religion like you do. So recommending RSR to them is like telling a French 101 student to read Moliere or Proust. Also, faith can easily be snuffed out when it's new. Spiritual knowledge is not like academic knowledge. I certainly didn't mean to treat you like a child. Mormons should definitely ask questions. Just try to be ready to hear the answers. Some things in church history and doctrine are hard to understand. I'm not saying don't ask questions. I'm just saying people shouldn't try to run before they can walk. We have given you enough info here for you to choose, I think. If you have a little seedling barely sprouting, you would destroy it by dumping too much water and fertilizer on it, until it had grown and had big enough roots. Or, for another analogy, if you wanted someone to enjoy learning calculus and appreciate what a great tool it is, you would tell them to spend a few years on algebra first.

Yes, it is one of the most worthwhile books I've read about Mormons, outside church publications. I hesitate to recommend it for new members, as I have said above. But it's worth owning and reading, for Mormons who want depth beyond the usual Sunday School level of history. It's the kind of book that's worth re-reading over the years.

Oh, please, no. I read this book. It a sensationalist book written by a journalist who has no scholarly in background in Mormons, religion or history. Avoid. It will give you a distorted, unfavorable, and unfair view of Joseph Smith and Mormonism. At the minimum, read RSR first. Then you can spot the distortions and glaring omissions in AC better. But second rate histories like AC are a dime a dozen, whereas RSR stands alone as an excellent "real" history written by an eminent, believing, but analytical Mormon historian.

I'm not sure This is a good start, but I'm wondering if there are other things too? I guess they would be areas where we interpret the Bible differently - but I guess those interpretations would have all some from modern prophets too. Can anyone things of differences between Mormons and other Christian denominations from teachings that were NOT restored?

I love the book RSR, but I don't think of it as a book for brand new members. The church is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet. However, sometimes new members have their faith shaken when the learn that the church and its prophets aren't perfect. Only Jesus was perfect. But he uses us imperfect people to do his work. And he uses the church to teach us to become more perfect. Also, some new members have trouble accepting Joseph Smith's polygamy, because it is so different from their own cultural background. Polygamy is in the Bible; for example Abraham did it. Joseph Smith did polygamy because God commanded him to. It's an example to us of submitting to God even when he asks us to do something we don't understand at the time. Joesph Smith was amazing. I love to read his words. It's clear to me that he was a prophet, and I feel the Holy Spirit telling me this when I read Joseph's words. I recommend the RSR book whenever you feel ready. But you might want to read the church books such as Truth Restored first. The church institute manuals are also great for getting more knowledge. And carefully read the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, to see what a prophet Joseph was. To get a strong testimony of that first. A final note: The RSR book was written by a historian. He is trying to tell the facts. It is not necessarily trying to build your faith. So be aware of the tone and the purpose of the book when you read it.

They're presentists. Ignore em

Yes. I personally find the Star Wars stories inspiring. ( I am not including the Annikin movies. Those aren't real Star Wars and my mind ) The heroic journey myth https://youtu.be/kJwPIiUPfK4

My family is visiting Washington DC, and we stopped at the Jefferson Memorial yesterday. A very moving place. My wife and I both got choked up reading the preamble from the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." I also noted the following on a facing wall: "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, even that his justice cannot sleep forever." Is there any doubt that Jefferson was one of the principle people the Lord referred to when he said: Quotations on the Jefferson Memorial https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/quotations-jefferson-memorial

In light of the new health study, I think US Mormons should think twice before supporting this man for president: