Book of Mormon Student Manual PDF Download

Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Publisher: David Van Leeuwen
ISBN: 1592976654
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 439

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Author: Terryl L. Givens
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199745692
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
With over 140 million copies in print, and serving as the principal proselytizing tool of one of the world's fastest growing faiths, the Book of Mormon is undoubtedly one of the most influential religious texts produced in the western world. Written by Terryl Givens, a leading authority on Mormonism, this compact volume offers the only concise, accessible introduction to this extraordinary work. Givens examines the Book of Mormon first and foremost in terms of the claims that its narrators make for its historical genesis, its purpose as a sacred text, and its meaning for an audience which shifts over the course of the history it unfolds. The author traces five governing themes in particular--revelation, Christ, Zion, scripture, and covenant--and analyzes the Book's central doctrines and teachings. Some of these resonate with familiar nineteenth-century religious preoccupations; others consist of radical and unexpected takes on topics from the fall of Man to Christ's mortal ministries and the meaning of atonement. Givens also provides samples of a cast of characters that number in the hundreds, and analyzes representative passages from a work that encompasses tragedy, poetry, sermons, visions, family histories and military chronicles. Finally, this introduction surveys the contested origins and production of a work held by millions to be scripture, and reviews the scholarly debates that address questions of the record's historicity. Here then is an accessible guide to what is, by any measure, an indispensable key to understanding Mormonism. But it is also an introduction to a compelling and complex text that is too often overshadowed by the controversies that surround it. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Author: Grant Hardy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199745447
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
Mark Twain once derided the Book of Mormon as "chloroform in print." Long and complicated, written in the language of the King James version of the Bible, it boggles the minds of many. Yet it is unquestionably one of the most influential books ever written. With over 140 million copies in print, it is a central text of one of the largest and fastest-growing faiths in the world. And, Grant Hardy shows, it's far from the coma-inducing doorstop caricatured by Twain. In Understanding the Book of Mormon, Hardy offers the first comprehensive analysis of the work's narrative structure in its 180 year history. Unlike virtually all other recent world scriptures, the Book of Mormon presents itself as an integrated narrative rather than a series of doctrinal expositions, moral injunctions, or devotional hymns. Hardy takes readers through its characters, events, and ideas, as he explores the story and its messages. He identifies the book's literary techniques, such as characterization, embedded documents, allusions, and parallel narratives. Whether Joseph Smith is regarded as author or translator, it's noteworthy that he never speaks in his own voice; rather, he mediates nearly everything through the narrators Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. Hardy shows how each has a distinctive voice, and all are woven into an integral whole. As with any scripture, the contending views of the Book of Mormon can seem irreconcilable. For believers, it is an actual historical document, transmitted from ancient America. For nonbelievers, it is the work of a nineteenth-century farmer from upstate New York. Hardy transcends this intractable conflict by offering a literary approach, one appropriate to both history and fiction. Regardless of whether readers are interested in American history, literature, comparative religion, or even salvation, he writes, the book can best be read if we examine the text on its own terms.

Author: Brigham Henry Roberts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781560850274
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Available for the first time fifty years after the author's death, Studies of the Book of Mormon presents this respected church leader's investigation into Mormonism's founding scripture. Reflecting his talent for combining history and theology, B. H. Roberts considered the evident parallels between the Book of Mormon and Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews, a book that predated the Mormon scripture by seven years. If the Book of Mormon is not historical, but rather a reflection of the misconceptions current in Joseph Smith's day regarding Indian origins, then its theological claims are suspect as well, Roberts asserted. In this and other research, it was Roberts's proclivity to go wherever the evidence took him, in this case anticipating and defending against potential future problems. Yet the manuscript was so poorly received by fellow church leaders that it was left to Roberts alone to decide whether he had overlooked some important piece of the puzzle or whether the Mormon scripture's claims were, in fact, illegitimate. Clearly for most of his colleagues, institutional priorities overshadowed epistemological integrity. But Roberts's pathbreaking work has been judged by the editor to be methodologically sound-still relevant today. It shows the work of a keen mind, and illustrates why Roberts was one of the most influential Mormon thinkers of his day. The manuscript is accompanied by a preface and introduction, a history of the documents' provenances, a biographical essay, correspondence to and from Roberts relating to the manuscript, a bibliography, and an afterword-all of which put the information into perspective.

Author: Gaye Strathearn
Publisher: Brigham Young University Press
ISBN: 9781590387993
Category : Book of Mormon
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Author: Timothy B. Wilson
Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
ISBN: 1462104754
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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This book reads on a 8th to 9th grade level, making it a useful tool for students of all ages. It was created to bridge the gap between the text of The Book of Mormon and the reading and/or word comprehension and/or signing skills of many people.

Author: Terryl Givens
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190603887
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
The Pearl of Greatest Price narrates the history of Mormonism's fourth volume of scripture, canonized in 1880. The authors track its predecessors, describe its several components, and assess their theological significance within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Four principal sections are discussed, along with attendant controversies associated with each. The Book of Moses purports to be a Mosaic narrative missing from the biblical version of Genesis. Too little treated in the scholarship on Mormonism, these chapters, produced only months after the Book of Mormon was published, actually contain the theological nucleus of Latter-day Saint doctrines as well as a virtual template for the Restoration Joseph Smith was to effect. In The Pearl of Greatest Price, the author covers three principal parts that are the focus of many of the controversies engulfing Mormonism today. These parts are The Book of Abraham, The Book of Moses, and The Joseph Smith History. Most controversial of all is the Book of Abraham, a production that arose out of a group of papyri Smith acquired, along with four mummies, in 1835. Most of the papyri disappeared in the great Chicago Fire, but surviving fragments have been identified as Egyptian funerary documents. This has created one of the most serious challenges to Smith's prophetic claims the LDS church has faced. LDS scholars, however, have developed several frameworks for vindicating the inspiration of the resulting narrative and Smith's calling as a prophet. The author attempts to make sense of Smith's several, at times divergent, accounts of his First Vision, one of which is canonized as scripture. He also assesses the creedal nature of Smith's "Articles of Faith," in the context of his professed anti-creedalism. In sum, this study chronicles the volume's historical legacy and theological indispensability to the Latter-day Saint tradition, as well as the reasons for its resilience and future prospects in the face of daunting challenges.

Author: Grant Hardy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781944394653
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This exquisitely produced volume presents the official LDS edition of the Book of Mormon in an attractive, accessible, readable version that brings to Latter-day Saints the helpful features that have been part of standard Bible publishing for decades: paragraphs, quotation marks, poetic stanzas, section headings, and superscripted verse numbers. The latest LDS scholarship is reflected in its brief, thoughtfully considered footnotes, although the focus is always on the text itself¿its wording, structure, and interconnections¿allowing the book¿s sacred message to be heard anew. The Maxwell Institute Study Edition, produced by believing scholars, is ideally suited to both new readers of the Book of Mormon and also those who know the book well and have loved its teachings and testimony of Christ for many years.

Author: John Christopher Thomas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781935931553
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description
In this monograph, Pentecostal New Testament scholar John Christopher Thomas offers a constructive, critical reading of the Book of Mormon that focuses on a variety of issues often under-represented in the literature currently available. Utilizing narrative analysis Thomas begins with an investigation of the book's overall structure detected by means of literary markers in the text. He next presents an extended reading of the narrative contents of the book focusing on its literary and theological dimensions. This close reading enables the construction of a 'Theology of the Book of Mormon' that explores the major theological emphases that emerge from a narrative analysis of the book. The study next traces the book's reception amongst followers and opponents alike, as well as its impact in the areas of music, art, and disastrous interpretations of the book. The Book of Mormon and Pentecostalism are then placed into dialogue through historical analyses of early Pentecostal thought on the book and the movements it spawned, before a comparison of the theological heart of Pentecostalism and the book is given. Finally, issues of origins are discussed by an examination of the earliest story of the book's origins, the major complications of this story, and the proposal of a taxonomy of various reading strategies offered in the light of these complications. Seeking to maintain an irenic and constructive tone throughout, this work should serve both to acquaint interested readers with the Book of Mormon and to encourage candid, thoughtful, and respectful conversations about the book between those who hold it to be Scripture and those who do not.

Author: Daniel Becerra
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781950304264
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Where does one go to learn more about Book of Mormon studies? For those who do not regularly engage with scholarship, it's hard to know how to begin. Currently there's no general guide to Book of Mormon scholarship available to the public. Given all that's happened in the last few decades-and especially all that's happening right now-in Book of Mormon studies, this situation needs to be remedied. This introduction breaks down Book of Mormon studies, from its history to the obstacles that will need to be overcome as it moves forward. Additionally, this introduction provides readers with resources that they can turn to for further information on Book of Mormon studies.