Unlocking Isaiah in the Book of Mormon

I purchased a copy of Unlocking Isaiah in the Book of Mormon by Victor L. Ludlow while I was taking a class by Brother Ludlow at BYU. I finally read it during this past month as I studied Isaiah (yet again) during my personal scripture study.

The book begins by talking about Isaiah's writing style and the literary devices he uses. An understanding of his style helps the reader better appreciate what Isaiah is trying to say. It also helps to show exactly what Isaiah is trying to emphasize the most.

Then, when Ludlow begins to actually go in depth into the Isaiah sections of the Book of Mormon, he doesn't just give an understanding of Isaiah's message, but he also discusses possibilities as to why Nephi, Jacob, Abinadi, and the Savior would have selected these passages.

I was particularly impressed with the quotation of Isaiah 53 by Abinadi. I have always loved Abinadi's sermon, but Ludlow helped me understand that his sermon was essentially just a quotation and commentary on Isaiah. These passages from Isaiah had such an impact on Alma the priest, that he repented. Should not Isaiah have the same impact on me and all who read it?

It was also neat to read about the chapters quoted by the Savior when He visited the Nephites. One of the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to remind Israel of the covenants of the Lord and that He has not forgotten them. The chapters quoted by the Savior highlight this message of the Book of Mormon and the Savior further comments on these passages to clarify the sign of the fulfillment of these promises.

This book was a great and enlightening read. It is now only available as an ebook, but I still highly recommend it to anyone interested in studying Isaiah, especially the use of his teachings in the Book of Mormon.

The Third Thousand Years

The Third Thousand Years is the next installment in the series by W. Cleon Skousen. I personally enjoyed this book a lot more than the first, mostly because there are more historical records that the author was able to draw from as he compiled this book. Even if I do not agree with the author's interpretation of the scriptures in all cases, I do appreciate that because of this book I am now reading the scriptures closer and studying them more.

For example, when talking about the story of Joseph in Egypt, the author states that it was not Joseph's brothers, but rather a group of Midianites who sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites, who sold him into Egypt. When I read this I thought, "That's not right! His brothers sold him!" So I opened up my scriptures, and sure enough, it says that it was some Midianites who took him out of the pit. Now, maybe the Midianites and the brothers were in it together, but either way, this was something I had never noticed before.

The part that I enjoyed reading the most was all about Moses. Skousen frequently cites Josephus to give additional details to Moses' life. Now, since Josephus is not a scriptural record, perhaps we can't take everything he says for granted, but a lot of what he says matches with certain references in the Bible.

For example, Josephus says that Moses was actually the crowned prince of Egypt. Not just a prince, but the prince who would actually become ruler over all the land someday. Is this true? Perhaps... In Hebrews 11, we learn that Moses rejected the comforts of Egypt's palace of sin in favor of being with God's people.

During Moses' time as crowned prince, Josephus says he fought a battle against Ethiopia and at the end of the battle Moses married an Ethiopian princess. Well, in Numbers we read about Miriam and Aaron ridiculing Moses because of the Ethiopian he married. The scripture does not clarify whether this marriage occurred while they were all in the wilderness or if it occurred many years earlier. The fact that Doctrine and Covenants 132 teaches that Moses had plural wives indicates that this marriage to an Ethiopian probably occurred earlier and that Moses was married to her and to Zipporah at the same time.

I also loved learning more about the Law of Moses. While I am grateful we do not need to live the full extent of this law today, it was fascinating to me to learn how it worked, or rather, how it was supposed to work. As I read more about it and learned more about it, I saw how it really was a schoolmaster to bring the children of Israel to Christ. Although very strict and rigid, the principles it was founded on are the same principles that serve as the foundation of the Gospel and righteous living.

History of the Church vol. 5

The contents of this volume in the History of the Church include many famous teachings from the prophet Joseph Smith, but also some intriguing stories. I will highlight just a few of the many things I enjoyed from this volume.

This volume begins right away with a crazy story. John C. Bennett was a prominent leader in Nauvoo, but he used his influence to commit some serious sins. When he was discovered, he quickly turned against the Church and became one of Joseph Smith's bitterest enemies. Bennett only found support among the base people of society, and especially from the mobs in Missouri. It is because of him that Joseph frequently had to go into hiding.

Page 107 contains the prophet's classic statement, "undaunted, firm, and unwavering--unchangeable, affectionate Emma!" He declares this as he is making a list of his close friends. The next page contains a statement about Newel K. Whitney, where he talks about the strong bond between them.

The famous quote, "Happiness is the object and design of our existence" comes from page 134.

I was interested in a conversation between Joseph Smith and Willard Richards, when Willard Richards asked him if he wanted a wicked man to pray for him. Joseph replied yes and said, "The prayer of a wicked man may do a righteous man good, when it does the who prays no good."

This quote sounds like something President Gordon B. Hinckley would say: "We don't ask any people to throw away any good they have got; we only ask them to come and get more" (Page 259).

Page 261 gives the prophet's key to understanding parables--and that is to look for the question that drew out the parable. This protects us from making crazy interpretations.

A few times Joseph Smith says that believing false doctrine does not make you a bad person. There are many good people, even in the Church, that believe things that aren't correct. We should not judge a person's character on their beliefs alone.

I also thoroughly enjoyed getting a glimpse of the prophet's humor. In a discourse given on pages 339-346, Joseph Smith made me laugh out loud a couple times. One of my favorite quotes is, "This learned interpretation is all as flat as a pancake! 'What do you use such vulgar expressions for, being a prophet?' Because the old women understand it--they make pancakes." I don't know why, but I found this very funny.

Another funny story is when Joseph was arrested and delivered to the custody of a sheriff from Missouri. the sheriff kept threatening to shoot him, and Joseph bared his chest and said, "Shoot away!"

Last of all, on page 401, the prophet said something really thought-provoking. He said if he was better than anyone else, he would ascend to the highest heaven, but he would be alone. He talks about being a rough stone rolling down from a high mountain, being polished as it rolls.

I am looking forward to reading the next volume, although I am sad as well because I know the next volume contains the prophet's martyrdom. I have enjoyed getting to know the prophet better through reading his history.

Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price

Well, as sad as it may sound, Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price by George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl has got to be the worst book I have read in a long time. As a story book, or fictionalized book, it may have passed off as an okay book. But as a good trying to offer helpful insights into the Pearl of Great Price, it failed miserably.

Let me begin by talking about the good things in this book. Don't worry. This won't take very long. When talking about the Prophet Joseph Smith, the authors respond to the question of why didn't Joseph Smith heal everybody if he really had the priesthood. Their answer is that the ancient apostles didn't heal everybody either, and they cite some examples to prove that point. I thought that was interesting.

They also suggest that although the Garden of Eden was a paradise, Adam and Eve still worked in it, as they were told to take care of the garden. The difference between the pre-fall work and the post-fall work is that the post-fall work included thistles and thorns that made the work harder.

Ok, now time for the bad.

The authors repeatedly elaborate on the stories in the Pearl of Great Price with no scriptural basis whatsoever. They don't just suggest possibilities, they teach their ideas as fact. This drove me nuts! For example, they claim that the angel appeared to Adam to explain sacrifices on a day when he was particularly depressed. The scriptures say nothing about him being depressed, especially on that day. This is just one of numerous examples.

At one point, they argue that the Pearl of Great Price contains "misquoted" words because it doesn't fit with their interpretation of the event. They argue that the words were either transcribed incorrectly or else printed incorrectly. What kind of blasphemy is that?

Later on they quote from an account from John...but this account doesn't exist. Here is the account they claim is "recorded of John." See for yourself if you think this is made up: "It appears that Jesus and His Apostles had been on a tour of preaching the Gospel throughout the land of Jerusalem. As they neared the end of their journey, they, because of the rigors of foot-travel, became weary; they were almost exhausted and sought much needed rest. In a nearby field they laid themselves upon the ground, and John, whom Christ loved, put his head upon the Savior's breast and slept."

Yeah, that's not in the Bible anywhere. But then again, neither is Isaiah chapter 85, which the authors quote at one point.

The research is shoddy, the explanations little more than fantasy, and very little commentary on the actual doctrines. This book reminded me of Elder Bruce R. McConkie's counsel to avoid drinking from the muddy stream, but to instead go straight to the source. This book is not staying in my library.

The First 2,000 Years

I have been interested in reading The First 2,000 Years by W. Cleon Skousen for some time now, and that time finally arrived! Some parts of it I found very enjoyable. Some parts I found myself being a little skeptical. But overall, it was a good read and it is definitely thought-provoking. Perhaps everything didn't happen the exact way that Skousen explains it, but it does provide an interesting viewpoint to consider.

However, instead of dwelling on the things I didn't like so much, I want to share some ideas from this book that I enjoyed. I may not agree 100% with these ideas, but I enjoyed them so much because they were new thoughts to me and made me ponder.

Early in the book Skousen talks about the relationship between priesthood and motherhood. He argues that the priesthood is meant to put men on equal footing with women. As mothers, they naturally have more influence on their children than anyone else. This gives women a lot of power in the world. The priesthood gives authority to the men, which allows men and women to then work, equal in authority, to raise their children. I have heard many theories on the priesthood, but this was a new explanation to me.

At another place in the book, Skousen discusses why the Jaredites were commanded to take so many animals with them on their journey to the promised land. Skousen suggests that after the flood, there was no life to be found anywhere in the Americas. The Jaredites were commanded to replenish the life of both animals and humans. While I had never considered this before and it does make sense, I also think that some animals could have migrated to the Americas before the earth was divided in the days of Peleg.

One of my favorite things about this book was how Skousen outlined the lives of the patriarchs. It was so interesting to me to see how many of them overlapped. In fact, Adam and Seth both lived to see the city of Zion built by Enoch before they passed away. When Zion was translated, Methuselah wasn't left on the earth alone. He still had his grandfathers living on the earth. Interestingly enough, Methuselah lived until the year of the great Flood. I had never realized before how much their lives overlapped.

I am excited to read the next volume!

Young Men Mutual Activities

I received a copy of Young Men Mutual Activities by Blair & Tristan Tolman when I was 16. Blair Tolman was my seminary teacher and I won this and one other book for being the first student to memorize all 25 Book of Mormon scripture mastery. I had flipped through the book before, reading an idea here or there, but I actually read the whole thing cover to cover this last week.

As the title suggests, the book is full of ideas for activities with the Young Men. The last chapter even includes ideas for Young Men and Young Women to do together for combined mutual nights. A really neat feature of this book is that if a particular activity will help fulfill a merit badge, the authors always make mention of that.

Many of the activities are practical ideas that will lead to growth and development in the young men. Others are just plain fun activities. One of my favorite suggestions was to play Gospel Family Fued, where the leaders poll various members of the ward and the young men have to guess the top survey results (for example, name an animal in the Book of Mormon).

This book was published in 1998, and so some of the activities are a little outdated. For example, young men can no longer visit an airport and practice finding different gates, etc. Also, the widespread use of the internet and cell phones takes away the challenge from other activities, such as a trivia scavenger hunt. Instead of being able to find people who actually know the answer to the trivia questions, anybody could just look up the answers on the internet, thereby defeating the purpose of the activity (although I did like that a suggested trivia question had to do with Disneyland).

Even though a revised edition may be in order, I still think this book would be a great springboard for new ideas.

Journey Beyond Life Vol.1

I just finished reading Journey Beyond Life by Michelle R. Sorensen and Dr. David R. Willmore. This book is now out of print, which is sad because it was a good book. I inherited the copy that belonged to my Grandpa Wanlass. After he passed away, it was found on his desk, bookmarked with one of his business cards. It was possibly the last book he had been reading. I found his business card still inside when I began reading the book.

Many of the stories I read in this book are also found in Life Everlasting. However, there were a few things that stood out to me that I feel are worth sharing here.

On page 89 there is a story of one woman's near-death experience. They do not say who this woman is or where they got their information. However, at the beginning of the book the authors state that some people they spoke with asked to remain anonymous, so this is apparently one of those people. Anyway, she talks about her life passing before her eyes in such a way that she can perceive every choice she made and how she could somehow sense the Lord's approval or disapproval of each instance. She also talks about seeing angels escorting her spirit to her birth when her life began. I love that concept of being escorted by angels to mortality.

Another neat story that I enjoyed comes from Brother LeSueur. His brother Frank had been unexpectedly killed by some outlaws. One night he passed into the world of spirits, and among his many experiences, he had the privilege of seeing his brother teaching a group of spirits. A beautiful woman was standing by him, and Brother LeSueur learned she was to be his wife. Shortly after this experience, and after returning to mortality, a woman came visit him and told him that as her daughter was dying, she said she was to be married to Frank. When she showed Brother LeSueur a picture of her, he immediately recognized her as the woman standing next to his brother. Accordingly, they did temple work for them and had them sealed.

Experiences beyond the veil are always interesting to read about. They vary so widely that it is sometimes difficult to understand how things really are there. The authors of this book were careful not to teach anything as doctrine, although where they had supporting statements from general authorities, they used them. To me, the most important thing to come away with from these stories is not a "newly discovered doctrine or theory", but rather an understanding of the importance of things of eternity. These stories serve as a reminder that we can be called at any time, and we must be ready. If we are, a beautiful place called Paradise awaits us.