A slightly different take on a controversial read.
Written: Aug 08 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quite an epic read, some very good lessons for life.
Cons: Scriptural style, is it true scripture or fraud?
The Bottom Line: I recommend this book, avoiding the whole controversy of scripture vs fraud, for the fact that it is just an interesting book.
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| Truerelic's Full Review: The Book of Mormon Books |
I’ve had to think long and hard about this review, mainly because the topic is so unique and potentially controversial. In looking at all the other reviews, it has become clear to me that they are all missing the point.
What is the point in reviewing the Book of Mormon? Well, each reviewer has taken the stance of reviewing the ‘truthfulness’ of the book, whether it really is scripture or fraud. Frankly, I think that is the wrong track to take. Hence, my review of the book itself. Granted, I will have to address the issue of scripture vs. fraud, but I choose to do so in only one paragraph.
Scripture is, by definition, the word of God (or gods, as the case may be). The Koran, the Bible, etc., all of that is canon. The Book of Mormon is placed among these works by the followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (obviously, the Mormons). It’s history is one of a young man, Joseph Smith, being guided by heavenly angels in translating ancient records found in the American continents. Many of the controversies surround how this translation was done, and where Joseph got many of the ideas for the stories. I’m not going into detail on that, save that the two schools state that 1) Joseph Smith did receive divine inspiration and aid in translating true records of scripture or 2) Joseph created a fraud plagiarizing from the Bible as well as taking many of the more outlandish ideas that existed at his time, and formed a whole explanation for the native American population. I leave it up to the reader to decide which.
Now, as to the review of the actual book.
As in all scripture, the Book of Mormon is written in a very old, archaic style, which can be found in the Bible. For example “And it came to pass, that thy children became overly bold, in the ways of the lord” etc. etc. So I can’t write scripture worth a darn, but as long as you understand there are a ton of these, thous, and heretofores, you’re in great shape.
The book itself is made up in several different ‘books’, classified as being written by separate ‘prophets’ and then compiled later on in history by two individuals, Mormon and his son Moroni. Each of these books is then broken down to into chapters and verses. In effect, if you’re used to the style of the Bible, you’ve got the same organization here. For example, a scriptural reference can be listed as 2 Nephi 4, 3-7, which translates as the book of 2nd Nephi chapter 4, verses 3 through 7.
Ok, now that we’ve got the boring layout out of the way, here’s the story itself. Around the year 600 BC, a prophet in Jerusalem, by name of Lehi, is told by the Lord to take his family and flee, as Jerusalem is about to be destroyed. So, grabbing up his immense family and circle of friends, Lehi flees the city, taking a record of his genealogy, and him and his family end up in the promised land, aka, the American continents. His sons, namely Laman, Lemuel, Nephi and Sam eventually splinter off into two cultural groups, the righteous following Nephi (and becoming known as Nephites) and the wicked following the eldest son Laman (becoming known as Lamanites, see how that works?). This becomes the two dominant groups throughout the Book of Mormon.
Over time, these two groups clash often and quite violently, with full cities being destroyed. And when I say full cities, I mean civilizations have been formed, dominating their respective areas.
Of course, religion is the overriding factor here, with the wicked Lamanites wanting to destroy the righteous Nephites, and only succeeding when the Nephites themselves become wicked, forcing them into a state of humility, which starts the cycle all over again. This cycle for the Nephites being one of humility, which leads to being blessed by God, which leads to riches, which leads to pride, which leads to getting taken down a notch by the Lamanites, which comes full circle to humility.
Not only are there wars and intrigues, but down the line, the ‘true believers’ are on the verge of being wiped out, mainly for the fact that they believe in one person, Jesus Christ, and everyone else doesn’t. This comes to a head on the day of His birth in Jerusalem, because in the BoM, it was prophesied exactly when this would happen. Well, suffice it to say, not only is there a star in Jerusalem heralding His birth, but there are also signs here, sparing the lives of the believers. Down the road around 33 years, after the Savior is crucified back in Jerusalem and resurrected, He also visits His people in the Book of Mormon area.
Of course, it doesn’t take too long (400 years) for that event to wear off from the people, and they start fighting and killing each other again, until finally, the Nephites are wiped out, leaving only the Lamanites here, which the LDS church believes are precursors to the Native Americans. Again, I leave it to you to peruse the multitude of documentation and soul searching to verify this for yourself.
The gist of the review comes then, in how I feel about this book, my own opinion. The stories themselves in the book are very interesting, though again, they are written in scriptural style, but the tales of wars, of heroes, of good rising over evil, and then tragedy as people become wicked and are destroyed is what makes the book a classic. I love the stories in it.
Unfortunately, the scripture vs. fraud debate cannot be separated out, you are either reading the Word of God, or you are reading a very imaginative book. Either way, I recommend the book, for the fact that it is a good read and fascinating to read about these peoples, but also recommended for the fact that until you do, you really don’t have a leg to stand on whether it is scripture or fraud. I mean, I can’t say I hate McDonald’s if I’ve never eaten inside one, now can I?
Take the time to read it, is my recommendation.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Truerelic
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Member: Doug Ratcliffe
Location: Las Vegas
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
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