By The Hand of Mormon by Terryl Givens Book Review

This is a review of By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion by Terryl L. Givens:

I had wanted to read this book as soon as I learned about. I grew up in a home where the scriptures and mormon history were allowed to have their warts and difficult areas. There was no problem in this. Ever since, I have been fascinated to learn more and more of the history of LDS scripture and this book was a scholarly step forward.

Ok, I’m going to be frank. I love the the Book of Mormon. It is my favorite set of scripture in the LDS canon. It speaks to me clearly, teaches me in its allegories and truly shows me who Christ is as deliverer, teacher and Savior. I have found it to be a book of great depth when approached from all angles.

Terryl Givens has arisen as one of my favorite author’s and speakers, but this was the first book of his that I read in full. I have read quite a bit about the Book of Mormon from various sources seeking to understand the beauty of the book from every angle and the critiques/criticisms from their respective angles as well. I love the Book of Mormon and know that it is the word of God, even in the face of criticisms and difficulties.

Anyway, on to the book! At a first glance, this is a very scholarly, and wordy at times, take on the Book of Mormon. Givens covers a lot of ground starting with the First Vision and coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

This book is heavy. Not in weight, but in content and style.

It handles the Book of Mormon, it's coming forth, religiosity and criticisms in a scholarly manner, so that's different than most books that I had read about the Book of Mormon at the time (I read it in December 2011). Terryl Givens was still relatively obscure at the time. He has since written The God Who Weeps with his wife Fiona that was published by Deseret Book and has sold like wildfire.

So, something I really enjoyed was the amount of ground that this book covered. The chapter headings illustrate this:

Chapter One: "A Seer Shall the Lord My God Raise Up": The Prophet and the Plates

Chapter Two: "Out of the Dust": The Book of Mormon Comes Forth

Chapter Three: "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder": The Book of Mormon as Sacred Sign

Chapter Four: "I, Nephi, Wrote This Record": The Book of Mormon as Ancient History, Part 1--The Search for a Mesoamerican Troy

Chapter Five: "I, Nephi, Wrote This Record": The Book of Mormon as Ancient History, Part 2--The Search for a Rational Belief

Chapter Six: "Devices of the Devil": The Book of Mormon as Cultural Product or Sacred Fiction

Chapter Seven: "Plain and Precious Truths": The Book of Mormon as New Theology, Part 1--The Encounter with Biblical Christianity

Chapter Eight: "Plain and Precious Truths": The Book of Mormon as New Theology, Part 2--Dialogic Revelation

Chapter Nine: "A Standard Unto My People": The Book of Mormon as Cultural Touchstone

The chapter about criticisms and, mainly, possible influences and sources of the Book of Mormon is quite good, but it is a chapter that took me a while to get through. I’m quite familiar with a variety of criticisms toward the Book of Mormon, but this chapter goes deeper into a specific area (authorship and creation of the text) than I was familiar with at the time, so, it was rough going at first, but I’ve come to really appreciate that chapter’s honesty in considering what others have said, even if their ideas don’t hold much water.

The chapter on dialogic revelation (chapter 8) is my favorite. This chapter can be covered in a small way by a talk that Terryl Givens gave at BYU in 2005 entitled “Lightning Out of Heaven” (here’s the link http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1508&view=1) Givens brings to bear the idea that Joseph Smith taught a certain type of revelation. He brought back the idea that revelation and communion with God was a dialogue with God and it is accessible to ALL men. A beautiful quote from the chapter says:

“The Book of Mormon here becomes a study in contrast. Through chiastic form, thematic structure, numerous textual examples, and a final concluding instance of readerly invitation, the scripture hammers home the insistent message that revelation is the province of everyman. As a consequence, in the world of the Book of Mormon, concepts like revelation, prayer, inspiration, mystery find powerful and substantive redefinition. That may well be the Book of Mormon’s most significant and revolutionary--as well as controversial--contribution to religious thinking. The particularity and specificity, the vividness, the concreteness, and the accessibility of revelatory experience--those realities both underlie and overshadow the narrated history and doctrine that constitute the record. The “knowability” of all truth, the openness of mystery, the reality of personal revelation find vivid illustration within the record and invite reenactment outside it.” (p.221)

This book is worth anyone’s time that wants to have a greater appreciation of the influence that the Book of Mormon has had on the Church from the beginning.

Thoughts from "Increase in Learning" by David A. Bednar--Part 3

Sorry that this took a couple extra days! Oddly, it is shorter than the other parts of this particular series.

Chapter 3: Prayerful Inquiry: Asking, Seeking, and Knocking

"...note the requirement to ask in faith--which I understand to mean the necessity not only to express but to do, the dual obligation both to plead and to perform, the requirement to communicate and to act."--P.106

This is one of my favorite ideas that Elder Bednar pushes. This has been expressed before in his conference talk, “Ask in Faith” from April 2008. Living our prayers is what I like to call this. This idea is brought up in Alma 34:28 after Amulek talks about what we should pray for and how often we should pray, he says “do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.”

"Action alone is not faith in the Savior, but acting in accordance with correct principles is a central component of faith."--P.109

Great clarification on “what is faith?” I had a friend in my singles ward several years ago that asked me, “What question would you ask a General Authority if you could ask them anything?” I wasn’t sure, too many things to ask. He said that he would ask, “What is faith?” Not because he didn’t have a good idea of what faith was, but because faith can be approached from so many different angles and can be split into different categories and even levels (Elder Lund wrote an interesting article about seven levels of faith taught in the scriptures--I’m not sure this is available for free online, but I’ll look) that he wanted a straight, simple answer. I think Elder Bednar shows that there is more to faith than originally meets the eye. Perhaps faith is just a very encompassing word to cover quite a bit.

"The object of our prayerful inquiry should not be to present a wish list or a series of requests or demands, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is eager to bestow, according to His will and timing."--P.112

This helps me to look at prayer in it’s proper light. I have no problem expressing gratitude in prayer and have no problem understanding why we need to express gratitude to God in prayer, but sometimes I forget that we are seeking to secure blessings that God wants to give us, according to HIS will and HIS timing, and not just asking for those things that we think are things we need or that others need. The Spirit can and will prompt us to ask for those things which God seeks to bless us with if we listen.

Some Great LDS Inspirational Books

That previous short list of LDS books had to deal with mostly scholarly/analytical approaches to the topics, ideas and concepts, but that are wonderfully faith promoting. Also, I could have made that list longer :-)

I will make other suggestions for that list another day, however, today I wanted to get out a list of my favorite "inspirational" books. I mean the kind you'd find in the "Inspirational" section at Deseret Book or Seagull Book.

Increase in Learning by Elder David A. Bednar--I've posted the first two parts of a four part series on this one. The next post will be up this Friday.

The Broken Heart by Bruce C. Hafen--This book is beautiful. Elder Hafen does a fantastic job explaining how we can apply the Atonement to our daily experiences. He talks about mercy, justice, etc...

Hearing the Voice of the Lord by Gerald Lund--My favorite book about personal revelation. There are so many stories and quotes that help to teach concepts and ideas that we can apply and learn from so that we better recognize the promptings of the Spirit.

The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton Christensen--Best book about the HOW of sharing the Gospel. I was hesitant on this one because of how much it is lauded, but it deserves the praise in my opinion. Elder Ballard even mentioned Clayton Christensen in the October 2013 conference as a good example for sharing the Gospel.

Finding Peace, Happiness and Joy by Elder Richard G. Scott--This is a very personal look into the mind of Elder Scott. Some of this reflects some talks from a few years ago, but it he expounds on some ideas. Some of my favorite parts are when he talks about things he does to help keep the Spirit in his life and find balance. I learned that he plays the saxophone and is learning jazz piano!

Christ and the New Covenant by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland--This is a good book that provides insights from Elder Holland into the Book of Mormon--who doesn't want a little piece of Elder Holland's thoughts? My favorite chapters had to deal with rending the veil of unbelief.

Ok, I have to stop there. I have more, but those will be for another day.

One major difference in this list is that I have read all of these from cover to cover except for Everyday Missionary, but I'm getting close to finishing it. Yes, I read a bunch of books at the same time and jump around, call it book ADD if you will, but it works for me.

Also, my review of By the Hand of Mormon by Terryl Givens is taking me quite a bit of time, but it is coming after the Increase in Learning series is done. I want to make sure to share what I loved about it.

Some Thought Provoking LDS Books

So, I really want to write some separate blog posts on each of these books, and I’m working on one right now, and am currently reading the others still, but I wanted to get these out there as books that I think are worth peoples time to read.

The following books aren't given in any specific order.

Understanding the Book of Mormon by Grant Hardy--This is a literary analysis of the Book of Mormon, but different than anything to date. Grant Hardy analyzes the three compilers/editors of the Book of Mormon--Nephi, Mormon and Moroni. I’m almost half way through this.

Of God and Gods by Blake T. Ostler--A theological/philosophical analysis, defense, comparison and explanation of the Godhead and Deification in Mormon thought. I’m about ⅔ of the way through this. Some of the philosophical and theological arguments take quite a bit of mental gymnastics. The scriptural arguments are gold.

In God’s Image and Likeness 1&2 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David J. Larsen--These books are the best “commentaries” that exist on the Pearl of Great Price. Hands down. They are compilations of history, scholars (Mormon and not), science and art from all cultures. It has to be seen to be appreciated.

Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Bushman--The best scholarly handling of the Prophet Joseph Smith. “Warts and all” as I've heard said about it many times is accurate. I really enjoy seeing how the good the times and bad times were handled. Growing pains were just that, pains.

Opening the Heavens edited by John Welch--The first hand, second hand, third hand, etc...accounts of the translation of the Book of Mormon. The accounts of the first vision. The accounts of the restoration of the Priesthood. This book’s strength is in the accounts, both good and bad. The introduction articles to each set of accounts is also very good and informative.

By the Hand of Mormon by Terryl Givens--Fantastic scholarly work on the Book of Mormon’s translation, archaeology, critics and the concept of revelation as introduced by Joseph Smith (it’s one of my favorite chapters and favorite ideas, dialogic revelation). I have read this one completely and am working on a review for it.

Thoughts from "Increase in Learning" by David A. Bednar--Part 2

This is the second post in a four part series about highlights from Elder David A. Bednar’s book “Increase in Learning” published by Deseret Book. This is the shortest of the four parts.

I will hopefully be coming out with some more posts soon about some book reviews and possibly in some scholarly studies and, if I get daring enough, to introduce some theological ideas that I have found helpful and insightful as I have recently been studying about the view of God, particularly in regards to Trinitarianism in various forms, from other religions and how it has helped me understand other Christian faiths. Be patient with me as WRITING about the more scholarly, analytical, historical and theological side of faith is a new challenge I am taking on.

Chapter 2: Knowledge, Understanding and Intelligence

"Ultimately, the Savior is interested not just in what we know but in spiritual intelligence--in how we apply what we know for righteous purposes."--P.74

This is phrased very astutely. Elder Bednar defines a term not used very often, “spiritual intelligence” as being “how we apply what we know for righteous purposes.” This puts it in a category above “spiritual knowledge” or “spiritual information”. From this quote, we can see that the Savior IS interested in what we know, but that it is not sufficient to just KNOW things. He wants to see them applied and lived out in our lives, day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year and into the eternities. He wants to see us become like Him and increasing in spiritual knowledge and applying it is a crucial part of how to approach this.

"Intelligence is living in such a way that the doctrines of the Church are active in us--an active and integral part of who we are, and what we are, and what we do, and what we think."--P.75

It seems like this quote should almost appear before the previous quote in Elder Bednar’s book, but it doesn’t. This is a very straight forward reminder that we are to study and live the doctrines of the church. As a slight aside, we need to search, ponder and pray so that we may be assured that our studies of the doctrines of the Gospel will deepen our understanding and expand our soul, but challenge us to learn by study and also by faith.

Thoughts from "Increase in Learning" by David A. Bednar--Part 1

Let's start off by saying that I already quite thoroughly relate to and enjoy the way that Elder David A. Bednar speaks and structures his talks. I was quite excited when this book came out in 2011 so that I could learn more about learning! Particularly in the Gospel, but some of his book applies generally.

I am going to go through and highlight a couple thoughts/phrases from each chapter that caused me to stop, think and/or reflect on how I am doing in the area of personal learning.


Chapter 1: An Individual Responsibility to Learn

"Are you and I truly agents who act and seek to learn, or are we waiting to be acted upon and relying exclusively on other people to teach us?"--P.4

This is a principle that Elder Bednar places lots of emphasis on. Do we make our own choices to do good? Do we reach out to those around us? Do we step up and volunteer? As he points out, do we wait for others to teach us? I love learning, particularly about the Gospel. I make decisions to study my scriptures, to not just read them, but to search them for answers, to search them for what God would have me do, to understand my relation to Him and Jesus Christ, to have faith in dire times and to be motivated, among other reasons.


"'The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity--thou must commune with God.'"--P.6-7, this is a quote from Joseph Smith that Elder Bednar quotes--just to clarify :-)

Joseph Smith was a great example of learning the things of God. He received revelation upon revelation by asking question after question and serving person after person. You know, I personally don't think I stretch my mind high enough to the utmost heavens or low enough to the contemplate the darkest abyss and the broad expanse of eternity. Imagine what things God has in store for us as we stretch our thoughts and dwell on the spiritual things. Think of questions that you've always had, now, think about searching for that answer, have you communed with God in searching? What does Joseph Smith teach us here that is important to communing? That we need to stretch our minds all over! These things aren't given lightly. Reach, push, pull and stretch our minds. I'm not the best at this, but I'm getting better.


"'Put forth your ability to learn as fast as you can, and gather all the strength of mind and principle of faith you possibly can, and then distribute your knowledge to the people'"--P.9, this is a quote from Brigham Young that Elder Bednar quotes.

How fast are we learning? Do we think it is important to learn the things of God quickly? Or do we put other things before our Spiritual learning? Ever had one of those days where you don't have time to study anything from the scriptures? Yeah...those days have happened to me before, but the problem with them is that we are putting so many other things before what is really important and we don't see how important it truly is that we "gather all the strength of mind and principle of faith [we] possibly can". This is followed by the instruction to "then distribute [our] knowledge to the people". This is something I didn't understand before. I always studied for myself and sought learning and strength of mind and to increase my faith, but I didn't think about doing it in order to build the Kingdom of God by distributing that knowledge. That is one way we contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God.


"None of us...knows enough. The learning process is an endless process. We must read, we must observe, we must assimilate, and we must ponder that to which we expose our minds...You cannot afford to stop. You must not rest in your development....There is so much to learn and so little time in which to learn it.'"--P.11, quoting Gordon B. Hinckley

You're never enough, what a thing to hear from President Hinckley. I love reading, observing, assimilating and pondering, but I'm never done. Oh, and keep in mind that we have to learn SO much more than we think and SO little time to learn it in. A very good reminder to put learning before leisure.


"Spiritual knowledge cannot be given by or borrowed from another person. Shortcuts to the desired destination do not exist. Cramming for the ultimate final examination on the day of judgement is not an option."--P.16

Ok, Elder Bednar quote again, it's his book, so you'd think there would be more here from him, but I will get to more of him in the next three chapters. Anyway, I find this another motivating quote to acquire spiritual knowledge, why? Because I have to get it for myself! It is not something that can be given to me from another person. Cramming doesn't work like it does for some school tests--notice, "some", cramming hasn't worked for me in collegiate engineering very well...

Feel free to comment and share your thoughts and insights on these quotes. Remember, these are just highlights that stuck out to me. If you have other parts that you liked, feel free to share them below!

This is part one of a four part series on "Increase in Learning" by Elder David A. Bednar.

The First One! Some Thoughts From Home Evening

Well, I'm finally starting my blog, month's after I initially planned to, but, better now than tomorrow right? 

So, for my first post, I want to briefly discuss what my wife and I talked about for our little Family Home Evening tonight.

President Thomas S. Monson spoke this past General Conference in the Priesthood session about home teaching. I was touched by a quote from David O. McKay that he shared, "Home teaching is one of our most urgent and most rewarding opportunities to nurture and inspire, to counsel and direct our Father’s children. … [It] is a divine service, a divine call. It is our duty as Home Teachers to carry the … spirit into every home and heart. To love the work and do our best will bring unbounded peace, joy and satisfaction to [a noble,] dedicated [teacher] of God’s children."-- Priesthood Home Teaching Handbook, rev. ed. (1967), ii, iii

The fact that he said "most urgent" got me thinking and has motivated me to make a new resolution to put serving others above serving myself. Not that I am a self serving person, but it's time that I reorder my priorities and make sure that I put the needs of others and the emulating of the Savior first. Christ would be out helping others and blessing their lives, especially when He has been asked to do so. I have been asked to visit with and bring the Spirit into the homes of those who I home teach. 

I will do so.