Book Description
What do we really mean when we talk about God, faith, scripture, and salvation?
We Believe takes readers inside the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, exploring how its teachings both intersect with and differ from other Christian traditions.
Phillip M. Graehl examines some of Christianity’s biggest questions through a Latter-day Saint lens: Who is God? What is the role of Jesus Christ? Does revelation continue today? What happens after death? And how should we understand scripture, salvation, temples, priesthood, and eternal families?
Accessible, thoughtful, and grounded in scripture and doctrine, We Believe is for anyone curious about Latter-day Saint theology and the larger questions of Christian belief.
You don’t have to agree with a theology to find it worth understanding.
More About This Book
When and Why Should Someone Read It?
Reach for We Believe when you’re curious about Latter-day Saint beliefs but want more than stereotypes, sound bites, or theological arguments. It’s especially suited to Christians exploring how another Christian tradition understands Jesus Christ, scripture, revelation, salvation, and the nature of God, as well as readers interested in religion and theology more broadly. By the end, you’ll have a clearer understanding of what Latter-day Saints actually believe, where those beliefs connect with other Christian traditions, and where they differ.
Themes, Ideas & Atmosphere
Christ-centered Latter-day Saint theology: An exploration of how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints understands Jesus Christ, the Godhead, the Atonement, salvation, and discipleship.
Scripture and continuing revelation: How the Bible, Book of Mormon, modern prophets, and personal revelation work together within Latter-day Saint belief.
Restoration and religious authority: The theological foundations of the Restoration, priesthood authority, ordinances, covenants, temples, and eternal families.
Understanding doctrine beyond misconceptions: A direct examination of beliefs and practices that are frequently misunderstood, including where Latter-day Saint theology aligns with and differs from traditional Christianity.
The approach is scripture-focused, explanatory, and personal, combining doctrine and Church history with Graehl’s own perspective as someone who came to these beliefs through years of study and questioning.
If You Loved These, You'll Love This
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis — Like Lewis, We Believe takes major Christian questions seriously while making theology approachable for non-specialists. Both focus on what Christians believe about God, Jesus Christ, salvation, and discipleship, though We Believe examines those questions specifically through a Latter-day Saint perspective.
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel — The connection is the investigative mindset: approaching religious claims with questions rather than simply accepting inherited assumptions. Graehl similarly describes coming to faith through study and examination, although his focus is broader Latter-day Saint doctrine rather than making an evidentiary case for Christ.
The Bible — Scripture is central to the book’s approach. We Believe repeatedly places Latter-day Saint teachings alongside biblical passages while also examining the Book of Mormon, continuing revelation, and other Latter-day Saint scripture.
The Story Behind the Book
Phillip M. Graehl grew up in a nonreligious household with only limited exposure to his family’s Latter-day Saint heritage. It wasn’t until adulthood, after establishing his career as a physician and achieving many of the goals he had set for himself, that he began searching for a deeper sense of purpose. Encouraged by his wife, he started studying the Bible, which eventually led him to the Book of Mormon and a serious examination of Latter-day Saint beliefs.
That experience became the foundation for We Believe. Graehl brings the evidence-minded approach of a physician to questions of faith, drawing on years of personal study of scripture, Church history, and doctrine to explain beliefs he once realized he had never fully investigated for himself.
The Central Question
At the heart of We Believe is a question: How well do we understand a faith before deciding what we think about it?
The book examines the beliefs, doctrines, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from within the faith itself, addressing questions about Jesus Christ, scripture, revelation, salvation, priesthood, temples, and the Restoration. Graehl’s larger concern is the gap between what Latter-day Saints actually believe and what others often assume they believe.
Readers should walk away with a clearer understanding of Latter-day Saint theology, how it relates to other Christian traditions, and a willingness to approach religious differences with informed questions rather than inherited assumptions.