Rediscovering the Book of Mormon

Fascinating from beginning to end. Insightful and on point... This book is a must have for the wannabe LDS Scholar. Published by FARMS this book compiles research papers from some of the best academic sources in the LDS camp. Packed with gems from cover to cover. The papers unfold in a progressive format, it delivers on the promise to provide you insights into the text you might have missed in a casual reading of it.... There is a difference between reading the scriptures and studying the scriptures. This book lends a hand in your study of the Ancient record we know and love as The Book of Mormon.

While no reading of commentary should replace direct study of scripture, reading insightful essays such as these can certainly cast fresh light on aspects of the Book of Mormon you may have missed, were unclear about, or you gain a bit more background for things you already are familiar with. All the articles here accept the Book of Mormon as scripture and the Church's position on everything about the book. The purpose of these articles is to aid the believer in understanding more about what the Book of Mormon says for itself (which can be different than some of the passed-down-stories we sometimes hang onto in to the Church), how the Book of Mormon fits with the societies from which it claims it originated (remarkably well, by the way), and insights into the language used in the book. There are twenty-three articles of varying length that are grouped four sections: 1) Authors and Editors (including Grand Hardy's article on Mormon as Editor) 2) Language and Literature (including the wonderful article on Alma 36 by John Welch) 3) Ideas and Themes (including Eugene England's article on B of M insight's into Christ's Atonement) 4) Society, Politics, and War (the war articles eventually became its own book) The subtitle of this book is: "insights you may have missed before". I think there are many fresh insights for you here, but even if you only get one really good idea from this book, reading all of it will have been worth it. Strongly recommended.

"Rediscovering the Book of Mormon" is a useful volume of essays dealing with the literary texture, variety and richness of the Book of Mormon that shows Joseph Smith could not have possibly authored the text in the 19th century. As an example, John Tvedtnes, in his essay pertaining to the Hebrew nature of the text, shows, from my educated perspective (I am a theologian) that the text is more Hebraic in nature than the King James Bible and that the language of the volume does not fit the dialect of New York that Smith was accustomed to. A must read!