Favorite Exmormon Books?
Talk exmormon
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1john.phile
I really haven't read much on mormonism from exmormons. I realized mormonism is false by reading the sanitized promormon books, which coupled with rational thought helped me see the absurdity of it all. So my question is for you guys that have really researched mormonism, what are your favorite books on the church's history, etc that have helped you gain a truer understanding of the cult? Thanks for sharing your thoughts and recommendations.
2quaintlittlehead
I have only read three books written by ex-Mormons: Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith by Martha Beck, Mormonism, Mama, and Me by Thelma Geer, and Out of Mormonism: A Woman's True Story by Judy Robertson. The second one was the one I got the most information out of. It concentrates on detailing the history and origins of the church and arguing against them from a Christian perspective. It deals a lot more with older doctrines than modern ones, but if you don't know much about the older doctrines you could learn a lot from it. The other two are more autobiographical accounts. Beck's deals a lot with her sexual abuse as a child and her problems expressing herself as an academic at BYU, while Robertson's offers the perspective of an ignorant sometimes-Protestant-churchgoer who joins the LDS Church for all the wrong reasons and then eventually leaves again. If you are interested in learning about theology, you won't get as much out of either of these.
3r8tor
Michael Quinn's history, "Mormonism and the Magic World View" is a first-rate historical narrative of Mormon origins with a useful history of ideas perspective. Quinn was a practicing Mormon scholar (BYU prof) at the time of the book's publication, but he was excommunicated for publishing this book. Another interesting and scholarly book on Mormon theology by an ex-Mormon is "Foundations of Mormon Theology," by Sterling McMurrin, the late U of U philosophy professor.
