Press Release
New Groundbreaking Book Compares Mormons and Catholics
Orem, Utah-----August 12, 2008 for immediate release
Angels and demons, prophets and popes, do Mormons and Catholics really have anything in common? Author and Mormonism/Catholicism expert Alonzo L. Gaskill released his much-anticipated book, Know Your Religions: A Comparative Look at Mormonism and Catholicism, last week at the LDS Booksellers Convention in Sandy.
Gaskill’s book was well received at the LDS Booksellers Convention, becoming Millennial Press’s best-selling new release in ten years. Bookstore owners from Calgary to Concord commented on the critical need for his book and gave it high praise as reflected in their abundant orders.
Published by Orem-based Millennial Press, this book is the first in a series of ten books formatted to help readers understand the differences and similarities between the major world religions and Mormonism, the predominate faith in Utah.
Because of the growing population of more than 200,000 Catholics in the state of Utah, and considering the LDS missionaries spanning the globe to convert Catholics to Mormonism, this book is timely and useful to Latter-day Saints often known for being ignorant of religions outside of Mormonism. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the LDS Church has challenged Latter-day Saints, “Get to know your neighbors. Learn about...their views... If our history teaches us nothing else, it should teach us to respect the rights and beliefs of all people..."
Amazingly, praise for this book has also come from the other side of the aisle. Roman Catholic Father Patrick L. LaBelle, director of The Catholic Community at Stanford University, has recently said, “Dr. Gaskill has shown us in this work...how to understand the faith of another tradition with precision and accuracy, and at the same time, he allows his readers to learn more about their own faith in the process. I believe that it would be a good idea to make this a regular text for Catholics who want to learn more about their own church and LDS neighbors.”
Gaskill is a professor of Religion at Brigham Young University where he has taught a variety of religious subjects including World Religions for the past five years. He has treasured his opportunity to write this important volume and sees it as a culmination of his research and personal experiences with Catholicism, including the work he did at the University of Notre Dame.
Gaskill will be teaching classes each day this week at Brigham Young University’s campus Education Week. His paperback book, of more than 200 pages, retails for $14.95 and is available at Deseret Book, Seagull Book, BYU Bookstore, Sam Wellers, and wherever books are sold.
I'll be doing a review of Know Your Religions: A Comparative Look at Mormonism and Catholicism by Alonzo Gaskill, and hopefully an interview with the author as well, soon. So check back . . . believe me when I say, it will be worth your time. Alonzo is one of my favorite religious writers, I use his Lost Language of Symbolism all the time!
Other books by Alonzo Gaskill:
Lost Language of Symbolism
Odds Are, You're Going to be Exalted
The Savior and the Serpent
The Nativity
Orem, Utah-----August 12, 2008 for immediate release
Angels and demons, prophets and popes, do Mormons and Catholics really have anything in common? Author and Mormonism/Catholicism expert Alonzo L. Gaskill released his much-anticipated book, Know Your Religions: A Comparative Look at Mormonism and Catholicism, last week at the LDS Booksellers Convention in Sandy.
Gaskill’s book was well received at the LDS Booksellers Convention, becoming Millennial Press’s best-selling new release in ten years. Bookstore owners from Calgary to Concord commented on the critical need for his book and gave it high praise as reflected in their abundant orders.
Published by Orem-based Millennial Press, this book is the first in a series of ten books formatted to help readers understand the differences and similarities between the major world religions and Mormonism, the predominate faith in Utah.
Because of the growing population of more than 200,000 Catholics in the state of Utah, and considering the LDS missionaries spanning the globe to convert Catholics to Mormonism, this book is timely and useful to Latter-day Saints often known for being ignorant of religions outside of Mormonism. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the LDS Church has challenged Latter-day Saints, “Get to know your neighbors. Learn about...their views... If our history teaches us nothing else, it should teach us to respect the rights and beliefs of all people..."
Amazingly, praise for this book has also come from the other side of the aisle. Roman Catholic Father Patrick L. LaBelle, director of The Catholic Community at Stanford University, has recently said, “Dr. Gaskill has shown us in this work...how to understand the faith of another tradition with precision and accuracy, and at the same time, he allows his readers to learn more about their own faith in the process. I believe that it would be a good idea to make this a regular text for Catholics who want to learn more about their own church and LDS neighbors.”
Gaskill is a professor of Religion at Brigham Young University where he has taught a variety of religious subjects including World Religions for the past five years. He has treasured his opportunity to write this important volume and sees it as a culmination of his research and personal experiences with Catholicism, including the work he did at the University of Notre Dame.
Gaskill will be teaching classes each day this week at Brigham Young University’s campus Education Week. His paperback book, of more than 200 pages, retails for $14.95 and is available at Deseret Book, Seagull Book, BYU Bookstore, Sam Wellers, and wherever books are sold.
I'll be doing a review of Know Your Religions: A Comparative Look at Mormonism and Catholicism by Alonzo Gaskill, and hopefully an interview with the author as well, soon. So check back . . . believe me when I say, it will be worth your time. Alonzo is one of my favorite religious writers, I use his Lost Language of Symbolism all the time!
Other books by Alonzo Gaskill:
Lost Language of Symbolism
Odds Are, You're Going to be Exalted
The Savior and the Serpent
The Nativity
Alonzo Gaskill's latest . . .
![Alonzo Gaskill's latest . . .]()
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Rating:
Thanks for letting us know about this. I look forward to picking it up!
ReplyDeleteWe once had a little activity in my BYU class on Reformation history, where we'd chart which of various theological viewpoints (Protestant/Catholic) seemed to most resemble that of the LDS. As I recall, it was almost evenly divided, with our similarities to those of the Catholic persuasion being things like a continued emphasis on ordinances and a tangible religious hierarchy.
I was just in an LDS bookstore and saw this on the shelf. I am not one to just grab the latest book about Mormonism, so I refrained. I will admit, this book did grab my attention.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this review. I will now purchase the book. It definitely sounds like one that I will enjoy.
You have a lovely blog:-)
tDMg
LdsNana-AskMormon
My niece joined the Catholic church in February and a coworker had given her a similar book - comparing the Catholic and LDS religions. I can't recall who wrote the book, I'll see if she still has it, but I was upset to see that they had accurately described an endowment session in the book, right down to the last detail. Hopefully this book doesn't quite go that far, I'm sure it doesn't if you're recommending it! ;-) It wasn't very complimentary to those of the LDS persuasion, probably written by a Catholic to sway any members of their church thinking about leaving. I only read part of it, but it left a very anti-LDS taste in my mouth.
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