Yes, it's another response (sort of) to How Wide the Divide, and this one is really a mixed bag. There are times when I wish I could take these sorts of books written as essays by multiple authors, walk into the bookstore with scissors, and take out only the chapters I want and pay only part of the price. That's because The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism runs in quality like a seismograph near the San Andreas Fault.

The book's chapters run with a general outline of first delineating orthodox Christian belief, then Mormon belief. The first chapter by Norman Geisler is on the subject of Scripture, and it frankly would be the first victim of my scissors. Geisler clearly took the ho-hum approach to compiling this material; I can see obvious places where LDS apologists would take him to the woodshed for not being up-to-date, being vague, or not citing sources with his arguments...and indeed, they have, in a recent issue of the FARMS Review of Books, which contains unarguable evidence that Geisler's chapter is little more than an often word-for-word rehash of what has been written elsewhere by the Tanners. Either way, this is a chapter that could have been done much better.

In contrast, the second chapter by Francis Beckwith is worth half the price of the book alone. Beckwith is the co-author of a detailed (and expensive!) monograph critiquing the Mormon concept of God, and this chapter is a microcosm of that book, modified as a critique of Robinson's arguments in Divide. More than any other essay, Beckwith's effort is an address to that debate. (I am especially gratified to see Beckwith make the point, against the Mormon charge of Greek influence on the Christian doctrine of God, that "truth is truth regardless of where it is found.")

The third chapter by Ron Rhodes on the subject of Christ is a fair effort that is mostly summary data; likewise the fourth chapter by Phil Roberts on salvation. These chapters make for good starting points in the subject areas, but will need to be worked beyond for effective apologetics. The final chapter by "Team Tanner" (Jerald and Sandra) focuses on differences in use of terms between Christians and Mormons (a point also alluded to, but not worked on in detail nor organized coherently, in Divide), and has the distinct plus of letting the LDS scriptures be their own witnesses.

The chapters by Beckwith and the Tanners are the most useful in the set; but remain cognizant that this book is, like so many others I have reviewed here, best used only as a starter kit. Use it as a resource for dealing with the missionary at your door, but don't expect to down the busy bees at FARMS or FAIR who have moved beyond the basics.