So… about a month ago, I got the fabulous opportunity of getting a whole bunch of church books FOR FREE! (much rejoicing in all the land) So I’ve been slowly working my way through them and I discovered some interesting. It seems like the quality of writing in church books has gone up tremendously in the last few years because the books that were more than 30 years old… well, let’s just say that they committed the literary sin of having contents with an emphasis that seemed different from the emphasis promised by the title.
How about The Spirit of the Old Testament by Sidney B. Sperry? What you expect to be in a book with that title? I thought it could be a careful description of cases in the Old Testament when the Holy Ghost was manifested in the lives of the people and maybe pointing out instances of manifestations of spiritual gifts. Or, looking at it from the writer’s perspective, it might be a careful analysis of the tone of the writing in the Old Testament and how it varied across the individual books and how it changed according to the purpose of the writer.
Was this what it was? No. It is a literary survey of the Old Testament from the lofty scholar’s view. For example, from a randomly chosen page, we get this sample:
“Few stories in all the history of the race can compare in beauty and conception with the stories of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. In these stories it is possible for the author of Genesis to point out in an appealing form the way in which Israel as a body came into contact with the world. Joseph is pictured as an individual who unwaveringly sought after righteousness and to whom character was paramount.”
About one other page is spent on Joseph, but only to tell in a most general way how his character is portrayed (one paragraph) and to mention his two sons as becoming their own tribes (one paragraph).
The writing ranges between giving brief summaries of what happens to what the stories imply. He skims over some things and points out why the writer of the scriptures seemed to focus on particular subjects.
This book, as a survey of the Old Testament, seems too brief to be scholarly, but too “literary criticism-y” to be for the layman. I really feel like Sperry was trying to do too much in a too-small space or that he didn’t have enough time to develop his ideas.
How about the book Stories of Our Mormon Hymns by J. Spencer Cornwall? What would you expect from this book? When I picked this book up, I thought it was going to be a bunch of stories about how the composers and lyricists went through the creative process writing the music and words for the hymns.
Well, sometimes it is that, like when it comes to the hymn “O My Father” by Eliza R. Snow and James McGranahan. But most of the time we are given a short description of the hymn that describes the musical aspects that make it unusual, and then we are given a biography of the writer and composer. I found the descriptions of the hymns of much greater interest than the biographies, so I didn’t read much of the book.
How about the book The Doctrine and Covenants and the Future by Roy W. Doxy? What would you expect of this book, based on its title? I would expect a discussion of various prophecies from the D&C along with an attempt to group them together so that they would inform each other and give greater light on the events described (since we all know that prophecy comes out whenever and wherever it wants, line upon line).
In the chapter “Look forward for signs” the signs of Christ’s second coming are summarized, and the scripture references are stuck at the bottom as footnotes for the reader to look up. Now, I may be especially picky, but as a reader, I’ve developed a particular appreciation for the exact language of scripture, so I really want those applicable scriptures quoted in the text. There is a special power there.
Also, it seems as if the book’s organization could use some work. The chapters are well-organized with relation to each other, but the contents of those chapters seem fragmented which makes it very difficult for the reader to really learn, as they can when subtopic follows subtopic logically. (But I suppose I must remember with mercy that this was published back in 1969 before there were word processors that would allow you to cut and paste chunks of text in different places.)
Now, we will consider the book Anxiously Engaged by Paul H. Dunn. As a reader, when I see that title, I would expect that it be about different ways that we can be more active in the church and its programs. But that is not what this book is about. It is a collection of short essays filled with stories and object lessons and thought experiments devoted to certain human virtues. For instance, the chapter “The Plus Sign” seems to be about not giving up, but it has a strange story to introduce it relating to superstition and luck.
I can happily say that this book is a very easy and pleasurable read with many interesting stories and illustrative examples. This is very good. But I lost sight of how all of this related to the title “Anxiously Engaged.” The chapter “On Time” is devoted to illustrating the importance of being prompt and on time to appointments. It is possible now for me to see how the virtue of promptness could be part of being anxiously engaged, but as I was reading the text itself, I couldn’t see it, nor did Brother Dunn explain the connection himself. It would have been an easy matter for Brother Dunn to end each chapter with a little blurb about how the chapter’s topic related to being anxiously engaged. Because that didn’t happen, it felt as if this book was a fragmented collection of lectures Brother Dunn gave (or wanted to give people) and the title was an attempt to pull it all together into a book. If blogging had existed back in 1976, these chapters would have been on a blog instead of in a book.
Also, I think the organization inside the chapters seemed to wander. The transitions were there, but I could never tell where he was going to go and when the chapter was finished, I couldn’t tell you were we had been, even in that short chapter. This could probably have been fixed by making and using a reverse outline in the end writing stages. Likewise the organization of the chapters in relation to each other could have been improved the same way.
How about the book Spiritual Survival in the Last Days by Blaine and Brenton Yorgason? As a reader, I would expect this book to tell about the physical and spiritual dangers of the last days and then describe how those dangers may be avoided.
Well, this book has a ton of material about physical and spiritual dangers in the last days. Then it discusses certain principles that will help the saints survive, but it never goes into enough detail about how those principles contribute to survival. One chapter that it does well is the one about listening to prophets, but most of the chapters on spiritual principles are merely recapping things that an active Mormon will have learned at church and at the very end of the chapter there is a mere paragraph about how that principle will enable the saints to survive the last days. This is a shame. I really think that with a title like “Spiritual Survival in the Last Days” the reader deserves to have the “spiritual survival” perspective dominate the rhetorical approach of the book instead of being tacked on as an afterthought.
One chapter that it does well is chapter 6 “A Land of Desolation” in which it presents a number of prophecies of various modern prophets about the last days. This is very interesting material and it is nice to have it brought together in one place.
The chapters that deal with gospel principles are very thorough in their treatment, and there are appropriate subtitles. However, I felt as a reader was that the subtitled sections seemed to jump about and some material seemed to stray from the topic of the chapter. For instance, the following subsections were in the chapter “Sincere and Humble Repentance”:
A Knowledge of Unworthiness
Vain Things of the World
The “Little Sins”
Where Much is Given
Flaxen Cords
The Guilty Taketh the Truth to be Hard
Satan Is As Real As Christ
Satan’s Ambition
Satan’s Laughter
How Evil Spirits Act upon Mortals
Avoiding Satanic Afflictions
The Law Governing Satan and His Host
By the Priesthood
Diligently Fulfilling Callings
Children in Zion Greedy
The Precious Blood of Christ
According to Our Desires
Examining each subsection, there is a quote in “By the Priesthood” that would go better in “The Law Governing Satan and His Host”, and the material in that section could be merged with the section “Avoiding Satanic Afflictions.” Quite frankly, it is as if the authors collected so many good quotes that they wanted to use them all and tried to work them all in, one way or another. Also, what seems to be the main points of the quotes in certain subsections are either repeated in other places or would belong better elsewhere. I can recognize this problem because I’ve found it in my own writing and I’ve learned how to curb it.
Again, this was a book that I finished reading feeling a vague confusion. It’s a sort of a feeling like, “There was a reason why I picked up this book, there was something I really wanted to know and I forget what it is, but I don’t feel satisfied some how.” And it is when I look again at the title of the book and compare it to the content that I realize that I hardly remembered anything of what I really wanted to know. There’s lots of material on “the last days” but “spiritual survival” is kind of lacking.
It was published in 1990, and I’m not sure just how far word processing software had progressed at that time, so maybe the authors had yet to adapt their revision techniques.
Here is a more recent book that I CAN highly recommend—Hearing the Voice of the Lord: Principles and Patterns of Personal Revelation by Gerald N. Lund. (2007) A careful examination of the table of contents shows that the book focuses on “principles and patterns” and Lund has very carefully organized his chapters and subsections so that they build carefully on each other. This becomes very important because the ideas Lund presents are weighty and solid.
The beginning section defines revelation, why it is important, and what makes it possible. The next section covers how revelation comes, including direct and indirect forms of many types—voices, visions, feelings, burnings of the bosom, and much more. After this it describes ten principles that govern the giving and receiving of revelation. The principles described were broad enough for them to be universally applicable. For instance, the first one is “God determines all aspects of revelation.” The next section discusses false revelation and how to recognize it, and the last section discusses how we increase our likelihood of receiving and recognizing revelation.
One of the things that I love about this book is that after it presents a principles or a pattern, it explores common errors we make in relation to the principle just discussed. I’ve had a number of my own errors nicely skewered like a shish kabob in this way and because Lund wrote an attitude of love, it actually felt… good.
Lund is not afraid of exploring difficult questions such as how to become spiritual self-reliant while still trusting and depending upon the Lord. He discusses feelings as both vehicles of revelation and obstacles to revelation.
Another thing that makes this book excellent is that Lund includes many stories and experiences in it to help illustrate the principles he points out. This gives it extra interest.
Because of the depth, breadth, careful organization, and the strong focus on principles of this book, I really think that it is a definitive and timeless work. It will be an excellent guide for anyone who has to give a talk or lesson on revelation.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
