ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores recent theological contributions to the doctrines once thought uniquely Mormon. It aims to set out Joseph Smith's teachings on the following ideas; summarize divergent Christian views and criticisms of Joseph's positions; and to spell out developments or trends in contemporary Christian theology which significantly converge in Joseph's direction. The book examines nine distinctive theological ideas attributed to Joseph Smith, all of which have historically engendered the charge of heresy: the resumption of revelation and the reopening of the scriptural canon; the recovery of New Testament spiritual gifts or charismata; God as personal and passible; a social model of the trinity; deification; the divine feminine; God as eternally self-surpassing; postmortem evangelization; and divine embodiment. It briefly surveys a few additional Latter-day Saint (LDS) doctrines just beginning to gain traction.
