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Preface"I wrote books I should have liked to read. That's always been my reason for writing. People won't write the books I want, so I have to do it for myself: no rot about 'self-expression.'" - C.S. Lewis1 I have endeavored to make this book exactly the kind of book I would like to have read when I first became interested in comparing Mormonism to early Christianity. As I read the few books available on this subject, I noted various aspects of their differing approaches and styles of presentation and found that none of them fit my needs. Some were excessively difficult for a beginner like myself to fully appreciate, being written for a readership more familiar with the subject. Others were intended only as short surveys, and tended to put forth rather simplistic arguments that robbed the reader of a solid understanding of the various issues involved as well as of the dynamics of the apostasy. These often quoted essentially from other LDS authors rather than from non-Mormon or even early Christian sources.2 On the other hand, works by non-Mormon authors tended to gloss over the issues that are of interest to Latter-day Saints. In order to fill the gap I perceive in the LDS literature, I have included the following elements in the text to help a broad spectrum of readers come away with a better understanding of the subject and greater confidence in the truthfulness of the Restored gospel. 1) An appendix has been included which introduces the most often quoted early Christian writers and documents. Thus, I believe anyone can follow and evaluate the arguments presented in this study in their proper historical context. 2) I have tried to include enough background information to allow the average reader to understand the information presented in context. 3) My documentation is taken almost exclusively from non-Mormon, English-language sources. I concentrated on non-Mormon sources because, generally, they cannot be accused of being biased toward the LDS position, and I have used English language sources so that readers can more readily verify the information cited in the text. In a few instances when non-Mormon English sources were not available, I have included translations of non-English passages from scholarly works found in reputable Mormon publications. In all cases, however, I have made sure that my arguments do not stand or fall on the strength of these citations, since I was not capable of checking them myself. 4) Finally, I have tried to avoid oversimplification. Sometimes complex subjects require simplification due to limitations in space or the technical expertise of the intended audience, but simplification in the context of a book like this should never result in giving the reader the impression that the case for the Restoration of the gospel has been entirely proven. I don't believe that spiritual things can be proven by human wisdom. After all, Paul explained that God had "made foolish the wisdom of this world. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." (1 Corinthians 1:20-21) And he exhorted the Corinthians that their "faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:5) Accordingly, Latter-day Saints proclaim that anyone can empirically test the truthfulness of the gospel by studying it out, and then praying to God in faith to obtain an answer respecting its truthfulness. Millions have put Mormonism to the test in this manner, and the same method should be employed when considering the ideas presented in this book. Since proof of religious matters is not to be expected, it has been necessary to approach this subject from the point of view of faith, to a certain extent.3 Given the incomplete nature of the historical record, as well as the fact that Joseph Smith claimed to reveal some doctrines that had never before been revealed, it would be fruitless to search the extant early Christian literature for data to "falsify" LDS claims. Instead, we must for the moment assume these claims are legitimate, and then honestly and carefully explore the extent to which these claims are supported by the available evidence. Readers must decide for themselves how compelling the assembled evidence is. Similarly, I accept as a given that Jesus was and is the Son of God, that the New Testament record is for the most part accurate, and that it was actually written by Jesus' Apostles and their associates. Those who reject these assumptions will no doubt find the arguments presented here less compelling, but even so I believe these arguments demonstrate conclusively that Mormonism is very similar in many respects to some very early forms of Christianity. About the author: Barry Robert Bickmore was born in Redwood City, California, and grew up in various places in California and Utah. Raised a Latter-day Saint, he fulfilled a two-year mission to Iowa. He graduated magna cum laude with a major in geology and minors in chemistry and philosophy from Brigham Young University in 1994. While attending BYU, he married the former Keiko Ann Guay, with whom he now has two children. Having received a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, Barry is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in geochemistry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Barry has fulfilled various callings in the Church, including elders quorum president, counselor, and teacher, seminary teacher, stake missionary, and ward clerk. At present he is both a ward clerk and elders quorum teacher in the Blacksburg Ward of the New River, Virginia Stake. Acknowledgments: I wish to thank the many people who made the production of this book possible. First and foremost, my wife Keiko put up with an obsession for several years, occasionally gently reminding me to keep my priorities straight. My children, Elijah and Amaya, cut into my writing time considerably, but in the process made life worth living. My parents and siblings have continually encouraged my work, and have inspired me with their excitement about it. Rob Page, Ph.D., Richard Bird, Ph.D., Robert Rees, Ph.D., Clark Goble, and Russell Anderson provided helpful reviews of the text at various stages of the writing process. Darryl Barksdale, Kerry Shirts, and Julie Reynolds of FAIR believed in the project and made it happen. Finally, I wish to thank the many people who challenged and encouraged me to continue to refine my thoughts on the links between Mormonism and early Christianity Note on conventions: Bracketing of words and phrases within quotations indicates summarization or commentary by the author, except where noted in the endnotes. In cases where quoted material uses Greek words spelled in the Greek alphabet, I have chosen to transliterate them. Notes1 R.L. Green, C.S. Lewis (London: The Bodley Head, 1963), 9. 2 Hugh Nibley has written extensively about the connection between Mormonism and Early Christianity in his books, The World and the Prophets, Mormonism and Early Christianity, and various others. These are excellent sources for the interested student, but Nibley treats the subject in bits and pieces, and I found that I needed some background in early Christian history to completely understand many of his points. James Barker's The Divine Church contains an excellent discussion of the apostasy as a historical process, but glosses over many of the theological aspects. Michael Griffith's books, One Lord, One Faith and Signs of the True Church of Christ, have some useful information on early Christianity, but tend to quote LDS authors too frequently and cover the subject matter inadequately. However, Griffith intended these books only as short sketches pointing the reader to sources for further study. 3 David Bercot, a member of the Society of the Good Shepherd, which seeks to reestablish the faith of the pre-Nicene Church, makes the following criticism: We should either honestly accept the historical evidence of the early Christian writings, or we should quit quoting them altogether. Either these people were orthodox Christians-or they were heretics. To quote them when they support our denomination's beliefs, and then call them heretics when they don't, is hypocritical. David W. Bercot, Common Sense: A New Approach to Understanding Scripture (Tyler, TX: Scroll Publishing Co., 1992), 108. However, at least from an LDS perspective, this is impractical. Since we believe the post-apostolic Church had fallen away, we fully expect these documents to include views contrary to ours. But we also expect that the earlier we go, the more true doctrine we are likely to find. Therefore, it is perfectly legitimate for us to use early Christian writings to support our practices and beliefs, as long as it is recognized that these same documents also contain false doctrine.
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