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Paul Carden is executive director of the Centers for Apologetics Research in San Juan Capistrano, California. Murphy's position represents "a direct threat to the movement's central truth claims and its racial mythology," Carden said. "The movement rises and falls on the validity of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's status as the true prophet."

He said that Hinckley, 91, is the most public relations-savvy LDS leader in the church's 173-year history. Carden believes it would be in Hinckley's interest to respond to Murphy's findings. "For Hinckley—who is considered God's mouthpiece on Earth today—to stay aloof in such matters to some extent undermines the credibility of the church."

Mulholland said, "There is a growing cadre of Mormon intellectuals who like to do their own thinking. To tell them they can't express their beliefs creates tensions. The church wants scholars, but not scholarship that is self-critical."

"Murphy's findings are not the first dna study of its kind that poses challenges to the Book of Mormon, but it is the most widely discussed," Carden said. "It's another hole in the dike, and it's by no means the last."

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Additional coverage includes:

BYU professor refutes Book of Mormon DNA claims—NewsNet (Jan. 29, 2003)

Mormon scholar predicts his expulsion—Associated Press, (Nov. 13, 2002)

Previous Christianity Today coverage of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes:

The Shiny, Happy Olympics | Coverage of Salt Lake City's games focuses on who isn't evangelizing. (Feb. 13, 2002)

Weblog: The Church of Jesus Christ? | Mormons: Don't call us Mormons. (Feb. 20, 2001)

Mormon Makeover | An effective evangelical witness hinges on understanding the new face of Latter-day Saints. (March 6, 2000)

The Mormon-Evangelical Divide |Beliefs that set Mormons apart, and evangelicals' response. (Feb. 9, 2000)

A Peacemaker in Provo | How one Pentecostal pastor taught his congregation to love Mormons. (Feb. 9, 2000)

Mere Mormonism | Journalist Richard Ostling explores LDS culture, theology, and fans of 'crypto-Mormon' C.S. Lewis. (Feb. 9, 2000)

Mormons, Evangelicals Tangle Over Web Site | A publishing unit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will continue a copyright lawsuit against an evangelical ministry that counters Mormon teaching and history. (Feb. 9, 2000)

Mormons on the Rise | Southern Baptists Take Up the Mormon Challenge. (June 15, 1998)

Evangelists Sue in Utah (November 11, 1996)

Francis J. Beckwith, coauthor of The Mormon Concept of God: A Philosophical Analysis, reviewed How Wide the Divide? for Christianity Today. The review, "With a Grain of Salt," appeared in the November 17, 1997 of our print issue.

A review of Richard Ostlings' book, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, was published in Christianity Today sister publication Books & Culture. The review was written by two practicing Mormons.

Ostling's cover story on Mormonism, "Kingdom Come," from the August 4, 1997 of Time magazine, is available online.

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March 2003, Vol. 47, No. 3