During this Internet age, detractors of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a larger platform and a larger audience than they have ever had in the past, resulting in questions from people both within and outside of the Church concerning controversial topics. In response to widespread confusion and misinformation, BYU religion professor Robert L. Millet has compiled seventeen articles by scholars that address some of the more common points being raised. No Weapon Shall Prosper: New Light on Sensitive Issues provides a fair response to these questions and points out that many of the objections to the Church come from sincere and well-intentioned Christians. Millet notes that the doctrine of the Restoration, namely that all other churches are apostate, is offensive to those of other faiths—in other words, “we started the fight!” (vii). It should not surprise anyone, then, that the status quo has been a “seemingly unending flow” of anti-Mormon activity from the Church’s beginnings. However, with new technologies the currents of criticism have greatly accelerated, and while we as Latter-day Saints must not become “consumed with provocative materials critical of the Church, the day for ignoring such matters is long past” (viii).
The book is organized into four main sections: “Restored Christianity,” which addresses issues such as the definition of a Christian and whether Mormons fit that definition; “Latter-day Saint Church History,” which discusses sensitive topics such as Joseph Smith’s sealing to Helen Mar Kimball and his alleged translation of the Kinderhook Plates; “Scriptural Perspectives,” which includes articles concerning DNA and the Book of Mormon and the authenticity of the book of Abraham; and “Doctrinal Teachings,” which presents discussions of restored doctrines such as the Fall as a beneficial event and the relationship between God and man.
No Weapon Shall Prosper is a valuable resource for those who are curious about, or even troubled by, some of the less discussed or more controversial aspects of Mormonism. The Internet has allowed anti-Mormon arguments to gain greater ground, and this book respectfully but unapologetically responds to such arguments. In a concluding chapter at the end of the book, Millet notes that despite all of the evidence—or lack thereof—that might exist for a certain viewpoint, it is ultimately the words of the prophets and apostles, as confirmed to us by the Holy Ghost, that enable us to know spiritual truths.
