This book is a collection of primary sources about Joseph Smith, his family and his friends and detractors. The book recreates the original language, which makes it hard to read sometimes, in order to give us a picture of Early Mormonism and Joseph Smith. The book also has several Journals written by Joseph Smith about his life and the early LDS church. The book is well organized and well footnoted making it easy for any researcher or the curious person to find where the actual documents are located. It is recommended to anyone interested in the Mormon Church or is studying it.

My grandmother once taught me: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days (Mormons) teaches its members that if they want to know whether the Book of Mormon is true or not they should pray about the matter. If they receive a "burning in their bosom" they will know that the book and the accounts depicted inside are accurate. For faithful members of the church this is the only way to discover the "truth" of the Book of Mormon.

Brent Metcalfe and Dan Vogel take a different approach. They present a number of articles from scholars who have attempted to get at "the truth" of the Book of Mormon in a totally different manner. They apply the tools of the scientific method, historical research, and logical analysis to formulate hypotheses and draw conclusions. As a result, people who use logic and science to resolve issues are likely to be impressed by this book. On the other hand, those who believe in a religion purely because of faith and answers they have received in prayer are not likely to be impressed by this work, or to want to read it for that matter.

The articles are quite interesting. My favorite three included the one on "automatic writing", Tom Murphy's article on DNA and the Lamanites (which he came close to being excommunicated for writing), and the article on former "Seventy" B.H. Roberts and what he really believed about the Book of Mormon.

What comes through to the educated person is that many things that have long been presented "as facts" by the church are not. The truth is far more complicated. One can read the Book of Mormon and conclude that Nephites and Lamanites were supposedly the only groups present in the Americas between 600 BC and 400 AD. However, DNA testing shows this is simply impossible. The vast, vast bulk of Native Americans are related to groups in Asia that crossed the Bering Straits into this continent 10,000 to 50,000 years ago. In fact, its virtually impossible to find any connection between Native Americans and either Jews or Egyptians as claimed in the Book of Mormon.

The article on automatic writing challenges the allegation that it would be impossible for one uneducated person to "invent" or "write" the Book of Mormon by himself. In fact, such things have been documented to have been done several times in the past and perhaps on a more impressive scale.

This is a good book for a scholarly person who has questions about Mormon doctrine and seeks an answer that is not "faith-based". Whether all the writers have arrived at the correct conclusions or not, it does stimulate alot of powerful thinking.

Yet another in a fairly recent series of works designed to confront mormonism from a scholarly approach. While I appreciate the work these writers have put forth, this is not a book designed for the casual researcher into the murky world of mormon history and theology. These essays are ideally suited for a reader with a solid background in both Christianity as well as mormonism. For the average individual just looking for an intro to the fallacies of mormonism, Bill McKeever's "Mormonism 101" or Richard Abanes "One Nation Under Gods" are good materials.

I do find the approach of this book, along with "The New Mormon Challenge" to be a bit disturbing. They purport to discard the "tired old arguments" against mormonism, but these arguments still are as valid as ever. One cannot understand mormonism without looking at the history and character (or lack thereof) of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (see Fawn Brodie's "No Man Knows My History" on Smith), looking critically at the temple ceremony, the absolute laughable quality of the Book of Mormon and especially at Smith's bogus translation that makes up the "Book of Abraham". There are an awful lot of books on mormonism, of varying quality and it seems that many authors are trying too hard to look at new information, when the existing information is more than enough to quash mormonism as a serious theology.

As a side note, take some of these preceding reviews with a sizable grain of salt. One reviewer, John Tvedtnes, is a "professional" mormon apologist who gets his paycheck from Brigham Young University, so he has a vested financial interest in maintaining the mormon illusion. Kevin Christensen's review also mentions Tvedtnes and his "scholarly" friends at FARMS as sources. Anyone familiar with FARMS reviews of books will notice that a) they tend to be polemic and nasty in tone toward the authors and b) FARMS reviewers have a pretty mixed bag of backgrounds, including: "coordinator of performance tours at Brigham Young University", "self-employed artist currently writing a book on scrollsaw art " and "director of Parking and Transportation Services at the University of Utah". Certainly there is nothing wrong with these professions, but it makes you wonder how much of their reviews are mere parroting of what the top dogs at FARMS tell them to write.