A DIFFERENT JESUS?: The Christ of the Latter-day Saints

A humble, inviting foreword by evangelical Christian leader Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, sets the stage for this groundbreaking book by a Mormon scholar that compares LDS beliefs about Christ with traditional Protestant (and to a lesser extent, Catholic and Orthodox) views. Millet, a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, has spent years in formal conversation with evangelical friends (including Mouw) and coming to understand their beliefs as he presented the LDS viewpoint. This book is offered in the same spirit of dialogue, with no traces of the smugness or shrill tone that often characterize apologetic works. After providing a brief overview of LDS origins and history, Millet offers the LDS perspective on knotty theological issues such as Jesus' premortal life, the reliability of the Bible, the need for a "restoration" of the New Testament church, the nature of humanity, the mechanics of salvation and the eternal fate of those who've never heard the gospel message. Millet is as at home in the writings of such evangelical heroes as C.S. Lewis, J.B. Phillips, John MacArthur and Max Lucado as he is in the teachings of LDS prophets like Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and Gordon Hinckley. The book's honest and searching tone is deepened still further by Mouw's gracious afterword, in which he respectfully identifies issues where he disagrees with his Mormon friend. (Apr.)