Thoughs on Joseph Fielding McConkie Book

[Andrew Callahan]

I recently received the book Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions by Joseph Fielding McConkie. Published by Deseret Books 1998. It is in question and answer format, organized topically, and I've looked through it some.

I'm wondering if anyone on this board has read it and/or has comments about it they would care to share. I'd also be interested in any comments folks had about the author generally, because I am not familiar with him, other than knowing him to be son of the Apostle Bruce R. McConkie.

Thanks.

[Duncan]

I have never met the man so I can't say anything about him personally but I enjoy his writings. I just bought his latest book about being Valiant to Christ...I think its called... but I have read most of the other ones and I don't know enough to refute him so I guess its allright to go. I read but don't recall the book you mention, seemed I guess enough okay.

[Facsimile 3]

I recently received the book Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions by Joseph Fielding McConkie. Published by Deseret Books 1998. It is in question and answer format, organized topically, and I've looked through it some.

I'm wondering if anyone on this board has read it and/or has comments about it they would care to share. I'd also be interested in any comments folks had about the author generally, because I am not familiar with him, other than knowing him to be son of the Apostle Bruce R. McConkie.

Thanks.

I love Joseph Fielding McConkie because of this talk of his I read while on my mission:

http://rsc.byu.edu/pubJMcConkieFirstVision.php The First Vision and Religious Tolerance

It's all about what makes up "different" from other Christians and what it really means to be tolerant. He throws down.

[BCSpace]

Even knowing that such a book is not doctrine, I'd be curious to see what he has to say about evolution if anything. I'd have to guess he's opposed to it, but he'd be wrong to say such opposition was LDS doctrine.

[frankenstein]

i read one part of a book he wrote.

He claimed that not everyone would have a knowledge of their pre-earth life. He used some part of the BoM about not using gifts and those gifts would be taken away to justify his position. Didn't feel the need to read anything of his after that.

[firepatch36]

I had Joseph Fielding McConkie as a teacher at BYU for D&C. It was an amazing class, I learned a lot and liked his teaching style. Stephen Robinson was my favorite religion teacher, followed closely by McConkie and then a huge drop off. I haven't read this book, but I've read his agency and symbolism books, both of which I enjoyed.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

I recently received the book Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions by Joseph Fielding McConkie. Published by Deseret Books 1998. It is in question and answer format, organized topically, and I've looked through it some.

I'm wondering if anyone on this board has read it and/or has comments about it they would care to share. I'd also be interested in any comments folks had about the author generally, because I am not familiar with him, other than knowing him to be son of the Apostle Bruce R. McConkie.

Thanks.

Would this be "Mormon Doctrine Part II"? If so I would love to read it, he is a great speaker (or teacher).

[Lightbearer]

I recently received the book Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions by Joseph Fielding McConkie. Published by Deseret Books 1998. It is in question and answer format, organized topically, and I've looked through it some.

I'm wondering if anyone on this board has read it and/or has comments about it they would care to share. I'd also be interested in any comments folks had about the author generally, because I am not familiar with him, other than knowing him to be son of the Apostle Bruce R. McConkie.

Thanks.

Yes I have the book and have read it. I think it is an excellent book, and while "non-doctrinal" as it is not "officially published by the Church," still it is very worthwhile and I believe as doctrinally accurate as any other book I have seen of a "non-official" nature. For those who are dogmatically connected to Evolution I think his section of Science and Religion will probably upset, just as his father did in his works. Yet to me his arguments are sound. I also recommend the section on Grace vs works, it is well articulated and gives a good presentation of the LDS position. Also another good book by Joseph Fielding McConkie is "Here We Stand." I have also read two other of his books "The Life Beyond" and "Gospel Symbolism" both also good.

[Lightbearer]

i read one part of a book he wrote.

He claimed that not everyone would have a knowledge of their pre-earth life. He used some part of the BoM about not using gifts and those gifts would be taken away to justify his position. Didn't feel the need to read anything of his after that.

Which book was that? The only thing that comes close to that idea, is a part in the book in question that tells about the spirit world after death and gives as his opinion that the knowledge of our pre-earth life will not be restored to us automatically at death which could be quite problematic for the preaching of the Gospel in the spirit world if it was the case. I think his position was that this knowledge would only be restored after the resurrection (which is a reasonable assumption to me) and the only thing that may or may not be correct is that he does not think the knowledge of pre-earth life would be restored to the wicked.

[cjcampbell]

I have both met him and read his book. I think he makes some good points and backs them up well. However, I do not think he is 100% correct.

As for his claim that not everyone would have a knowledge of their pre-earth life, I think it is highly speculative.

[cinepro]

I recently received the book Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions by Joseph Fielding McConkie. Published by Deseret Books 1998. It is in question and answer format, organized topically, and I've looked through it some.

I'm wondering if anyone on this board has read it and/or has comments about it they would care to share. I'd also be interested in any comments folks had about the author generally, because I am not familiar with him, other than knowing him to be son of the Apostle Bruce R. McConkie.

Thanks.

There are excerpts from the book here:

Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions

From what little I've read of his writings, it seems Joseph McConkie is cut from the same cloth as his father. Based on the title on the book, I would expect things to stay on the path blazed by Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce McConkie.

This quote would seem to indicate as much, and it may come to mind as you peruse different discussions on this forum:

It is not uncommon in gospel discussions for someone to challenge what is being said with the question, "Is that official Church doctrine?" This question often means the one asking it does not like what is being said and is seeking a reason not to be bound by it. The question is generally successful in putting the one being challenged on the defensive because of the difficulties associated with defining "official Church doctrine."

In telling the story of the Creation, for instance, teachers are commonly challenged with the question, "Does the Church have an official position on the theory of evolution?" The answer is no, it does not. On the other hand, and this is certainly very important in such a discussion, the Church does have an official position on the doctrine of the origin of man. The way questions are framed is very important. On the one hand, the Church is not in the business of evaluating scientific theories; on the other, it is in the business of teaching that all humankind are the offspring of divine parents and thus not the product of an evolutionary process. The knowledge that we obtain in the temple, knowledge required for us to enter into the presence of the Lord, and the ordinances performed there do not permit the notion that our blood line traces to animals.

These are also some interesting, but unsurprising, thoughts...

Most doctrinal errors are rooted in a desire to accommodate either the standards of the world or its philosophies and theories. In a sobering, prophetic description of our day, Nephi said, "They have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men" (2 Ne. 28:14). The Lord warned Joseph Smith that the prince of darkness would come to["[take] away light and truth, through disobedience," doing so under the cloak of the "tradition of their fathers" (D&C 93:39).

The only true danger facing Mormonism is that which comes from within. It comes from those who would seek to popularize Mormonism so that we might be like, and thus acceptable to, the world. Such people should remember, observed President Joseph F. Smith, "that the theories of the worldly-wise cannot with safety be engrafted into the principles of the gospel. We have received a distinct dispensation of the gospel." Ours is a revealed faith, a new dispensation, which by its very definition demands that we stand independent of the world. "We cannot," President Smith observed, "consent to be guided by inspiration from the outside, but are in duty bound to follow in the way revealed by God. To be directed by the postulates of the world, and by leaders of men, will be just as fatal to the Latter-day Saints, as it was for the Former-day Saints" ("Principle, Not Popularity," 731).

Of necessity there will always be things about our faith that will be offensive to the world. "Do you suppose that this people will ever see the day that they will rest in perfect security, in hopes of becoming like another people, nation, state, kingdom, or society?" Brigham Young asked. "They never will," he declared. "Christ and Satan never can be friends. Light and darkness will always remain opposites" (in Journal of Discourses, 1:188). [Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions, 211-230, by Joseph Fielding McConkie]

An advertising blurb for the book says:

Responding to questions that might be asked in religion courses or missionary conferences and citing the scriptures and the writings of latter-day prophets, Brother McConkie clarifies points of doctrine and untangles such knotty issues as these:

[dblagent007]

From what little I've read of his writings, it seems Joseph McConkie is cut from the same cloth as his father. Based on the title on the book, I would expect things to stay on the path blazed by Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce McConkie.

He was in my stake presidency (an Orem family stake). He seemed very much like his father to me.

He interviewed me for a temple recommend and I recall that somehow we got sidetracked on to the subject of copyrights (it was at the time when Napster was a big issue). He said that if there were no copyright laws, he would stop writing books since he wouldn't get to enjoy the revenue produced by the books. I was taken back a little by this since I imagined a more altruistic motive for writing his books. Once I mulled it over a while, I could see that he was absolutely right.

[cinepro]

And for the OP, I would also add that the book doesn't appear to make the claim that the "straightforward answers" are necessarily correct.

But I suppose "Ambiguous Answers to Gospel Questions" wouldn't quite have the same draw.