Latter Days: A Guided Tour Through Six Billion Years of Mormonism

by Clayton Corey Newell

Chances are very good that within five years someone close to you will have become a "Mormon," a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which adds a million converts every three years. An audacious claim? Try this one: Members of the Church will tell you exactly what God looks like, where he lives, what he wears. They can even describe his voice. Furthermore, they can tell you where you came from, why you're here on earth, and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312241089
• ISBN13: 9780312241087
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

This is a very good book

Coke Newell's "Latter Days" is a lively and wonderfully-written account, not just of the institutional Mormon Church, but of the entirety of the metaphysics of Mormonism. Newell presents, with no apology, the Mormon cosmology that sets Mormonism apart from the rest of Christianity. No attempt is made to harmonize Latter-day Saint theology with larger evangelical thought, and this, I believe, is right. Mormonism either stands or falls on its own, finding its foundations in continuing revelation, sometimes independent of known written sources. This is a very good book. St. Martin's Press is to be commended for bringing this book to the market. And Mr. Newell is to be congratulated for doing such a fine job. Review by Jeffrey Needle, Association for Mormon Letters jeff.needle@general.com

Coke Classic - Excellent review of Mormons and Mormonism

Coke Newell's "Latter Days" has all the makings of a good book: it is interesting, accurate, amazingly thorough for its length, and eminently readable. The book flows quickly (he does not get off on tangents--has no time to), and covers a lot of territory.I notice one other review that takes the author to task for working in the PR department of the LDS Church. Well. Every author writes from their personal perspective. I'm at least impressed when an author is upfront and revealing regarding where they are coming from. There are things Mr. Newell can tell us from and with his background that are unique and interesting.Mr. Newell notes at the outset that he hopes to provide an accurate and helpful "insider's view" but one which he intends to be insightful and reasonably objective to anyone (non-member or member alike) with an interest in understanding Mormons or Mormonism. He simply never comes across to me as being in any kind of proselytizing mode.Mr. Newell is primarily factual in presenting Mormon doctrine and history, but he does occasionally provide some "spice" in the form of brief commentary as well as some personal feelings and anecdotes from his own experience. I welcome that, as it makes the book that much more interesting and readable.In the end, I felt I came away from the book with a rather complete view of Newell's topic. Yes, it is from his perspective, but he's upfront regarding himself and his purposes which are explicitly to tell a story, not to convert. I think this is as it should be. Bottom line: I loved the book.

This is going to be a classic!

For the layman, and for those itching to take a glance at Mormonism, this book far more than any other present offer is the one to read. And for those only begining their studies into the religion of the Latter-Day Saint Church, this is where you want to begin (possibly excepting the Book of Mormon itself).Coke Newell brilliantly and swiftly traverses through the wonderful history surrounding this religion. From the humble beginings in Palmyra to their vast empire in Salt Lake City. Every major event in the history of the Mormon people is covered. Not objectively, of course, since the author is a member of and works for the church. Thus, the embarassments of history, as are evident in all peoples, are left out and ignored. Nevertheless, Newell's brief outline of how the Mormons came to be where they are is engaging. Written with those not of the Mormon faith in mind, the work is a captivating introduction into a history which is often overlooked and ignored (perhaps considered an embarassment of America for some).Two things stand out about the work: the prologue and epilogue Newell includes with his history. Other books have been written before, with Latter-Day Saint or 'Gentile' in mind, that do just as worthy a job as this one. This stands alone in the pack, to be noticed and admired, for its treatment of Mormonism as not simply a new creation brought up out of the creative mind of Joseph Smith, but as other religions view their ideology: an eternal, everlasting truth. With this attitude, Newell discusses what Mormons believe happened in the before-life and in the after-life. And it is this attribute which adds to the unique flavor this book presents and gives it the quality to be a worthwhile read (it gets a 5star because of this, too).

And you thought we were only 170 years old!

A number of months ago, I was having a conversation with a close friend who is a Catholic. We were talking about religion, as we often do, when she mentioned jokingly that her church has "been around longer" than mine. The thought occurred to me that she was mistaken, but I was at a loss as to how I might explain why this was the case. I hadn't read Latter Days at the time; it hadn't even been published.Having now read it, and thinking back on that conversation, it strikes me how marvelously Coke Newell has expressed what I wanted to say that day. Mormonism, to most people, came into existence just over 170 years ago. But to those of us who accept its doctrines, "the Church" has been around for some 6 billion years or so (as the subtitle of the book implies). I have always been impressed by the concept that, regardless of the name by which God's great plan is known, truth is still truth. And if, by chance, we Latter-day Saints have "got it right," the rest of the world should be no less willing to accept "Mormon" doctrines than if they were known by another name. This book offers some exceptional insights into LDS unique doctrines (such as the pre-mortal existence of spirits, vicarious work for the dead, and a heaven comprised of three "degrees of glory"). As Newell explains in the preface to his book, "books written by the faithful are, almost without exception, written to the faithful, using language that only the faithful understand..." Latter Days is one of the very few exceptions. And a big plus, in my opinion as a fellow-believer, is that never in the book does he proselytize. Actually, close to half of the book (the middle section) deals with Mormon history from 1830 (when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formally organized) to the present. You'll read the real story behind the "infamous" Danites, Joseph Smith's trial for treason, and other fascinating events in our past. The first quarter of the book concerns the period of "Church" history dating back to the "real" beginning, billions of years ago. The final quarter addresses what the future holds, specifically in terms of the Latter-day Saint concept of Heaven and Hell, etc.Latter Days is extremely well-documented, with footnotes on virtually every page. And Coke Newell is a very talented writer! Although I seldom read histories and couldn't manage to get through even the first book of The Work and the Glory series (English-speaking Latter-day Saints will recognize the title), I had a hard time putting this book down. If you're interested in taking an objective look at Mormon history, I can assure you that you'll find Latter Days to be well worth your time.

Very compelling--even though I already knew the story!

I'm a mormon. I grew up learning the doctrines and stories related in this book and yet I enjoyed it very much. In fact the engaging writing style and clever structure (identifying "mormonism" as something that started not with Joseph Smith's first vision but in the premortal existence and down through the ages) made it a very difficult book to put down. I believe both mormons and non-mormons will enjoy it. It will probably be faith promoting for members of the church and answer in an honest and forthright way many questions of non-members. I believe the tone is just right: neither apologetic nor defensive. Mr. Newell simply recounts events and explains doctrine as he understands them. It is a very readable, interesting book, one that I'll recommend to others.