Beyond Mormonism: An Elder's Story

Jim Spencer had turned from the emptiness of the world to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he found meaning and purpose. He became the pillar of a good Mormon family, a missionary who taught Gospel Doctrine classes and a respected Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. Then Spence began facing a series of troubling questions: Despite the lovely image of a typical Mormon family, why were divorce and suicide and child abuse so rampant, and why did no one really get close to one another : What were the real reasons behind three different Mormon organizations, each claiming to be the one True Church and each declaring the others to be apostate ; Why was his church-affiliated college so isolationist, so unable to converse honestly with students about relationships and problems ; Why did he continue to feel so troubled by the secret ceremony at the temple that was to be the height of his spiritual experience as a Mormon Worst of all, if he entered the inner circle of God's True Church, why did he begin to feel again a nagging sense of emptiness To leave the Church would mean social rejection by the community in which Spencer was not only a member but a leader. "My daughter's father is a Mormon Elder," his wife told him. "If you leave the church you leave your family." So when Spencer began finding some surprising answers beyond Mormonism, he had to ask himself: Was he willing to pay that high price - and for what return
Author: James R. Spencer

Publisher: Chosen Books

Binding: Paperback

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0800790766

ISBN-13: 9780800790769