Writing a book

[alexm8]

So, I guess an introduction is in order about me. Alex Mathom is my pen name and I am writing a book about Fundamental Christianity and the differences to LDS doctrines. I consider myself an academic with a special interest in early Christianity and the Reformation. I've studied a lot of post-Apostolic theologians, along with Martin Luther and John Calvin (yes I've read much of his Institutes - <yawn>). It's interesting to me the controversy between Protestant and Catholic doctrines and how LDS theology has gotten caught in the middle.

I know about all the issues regarding Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and problems with Church History. To be honest, I struggle with their "fringe" teachings and the disparaging accusations against them, and don't have easy answers for them. I do know that Joseph Smith could not have so perfectly reconstructed the early teachings of the Early Church Fathers without divine assistance. More importantly, I have received personal revelation and understanding from God that Joseph Smith was His instrument in bringing forth His Gospel more fully. Anything more than that, I cannot say.

My goal is to teach LDS missionaries to defend their beliefs against Evangelical criticisms and to strengthen their testimonies. I am a deep thinker and I really try to understand they whys of things, and what it really means for us. I'll be posting some new things on the Trinity, the false dichotomy of Evangelical Salvation, what is actually required of LDS members to maintain their salvation, our spiritual progression, and other topics. I'd like to make sure that I can write it in an easy format that even those learning the ideas for the first time can understand them. For that, I'll need your help.

I also hope I can be a valuable contributor to these forums in return. Thanks.

[blackknight5k]

This sounds very interesting and I would love to help in any way, and I'd also love to see the finished project.

Though I was baptized in my childhood, I can't say that I've been an active Mormon until the last year or so. I have done a ton of research on the different issues with the way people see the church and mostly I think it comes down to 2 things the fact that the hard core antis will not sit down and take a non-biased look at the church.

Now, that being said, a lot of members will not do that either. However, I have done so for many years and found that the church is a wonderful thing, very different than any other religion out there and very special for that reason. I do not believe that Joseph smith could have written the Book of Mormon from scratch in the time frame he did, there are too many arching and intertwining "story lines" and "plots" in the book for it to be just written from scratch without re-writing over and over again.

Anyway, I'll end my rant here and see you in the other areas of the forum.

[pam]

My goal is to teach LDS missionaries to defend their beliefs against Evangelical criticisms and to strengthen their testimonies. I am a deep thinker and I really try to understand they whys of things, and what it really means for us. I'll be posting some new things on the Trinity, the false dichotomy of Evangelical Salvation, what is actually required of LDS members to maintain their salvation, our spiritual progression, and other topics. I'd like to make sure that I can write it in an easy format that even those learning the ideas for the first time can understand them. For that, I'll need your help.

Let's also keep in mind that while this board is centered around LDS beliefs, we do have numerous members of other faiths that are and have been members of this site for a long time. Anything that might be perceived as derogatory towards other faiths is not something that we promote on lds.net.

[NeuroTypical]

My goal is to teach LDS missionaries to defend their beliefs against Evangelical criticisms and to strengthen their testimonies.

Interesting. Why are you focusing on the Evangelical criticisms? Will other books focus on other directions from which we take heat, like scholarly or historical or cultural criticism, criticisms from athiesm and other religions?

Like Pam, I think you'll enjoy much more success by teaching defenses rather than trying to pick holes in other people's belief systems.

Happy writing!