What the conservative chattering class is chattering about the last few days is Jacques Barzun and his book From Dawn to Decadence . So it was no surprise to see Steve Sailor quote the book’s lessons.
Here’s one lesson that piqued my Mormon interest.
The potent writings that helped to reshape minds and institutions in the West have done so through a formula or two, not always consistent with the text. Partisans and scholars start to read the book with care after it has done its work.
Are there any Mormon books or sermons that fit the bill?
I don’t have the scholar chops to say for certain, but what about the Book of Mormon? It certainly feels like a lot of what it had to say about Christ and even its historical and cultural clues got ignored until recently. If the contents of the Book of Mormon mattered at all, maybe they mattered mostly as soundbite: “Christ came to America! America is the Promised Land!”
On the other hand, maybe that Campbellite was right that the Book of Mormon was attractive because it solved so many doctrinal fights from infant baptism on down.
What do you think?
From what I’ve read so far, Rousseau and his general will is one of the books that Barzun thinks is mostly misremembered in a few inaccurate soundbites. Russell Fox will be pleased.
I think that may be the case for nearly every book in the scriptures. When your gospel doctrine teacher says to turn to Abraham, you know that you\’re going to a few verses in chapter 2. Moses means Moses 1:39, and the book of Galatians means Galatians 5:22-23. Each general conference gives us two or three phrases that are repeated for the next six months. And these are good things: I think that human understanding is built around anchor points, and these powerful verses act as the anchors whereon we build context and meaning from the rest of the content.
I think the formula – if you want to call it that – that makes a difference in the Book of Mormon is this: God doesn’t care where you’re from, what color your skin is or who your parents are. Choose him through Christ and you will be his. There are text blips that are inconsistent with this – the skin of darkness and so on – but it is still the main message of the book. I don’t think its work is done yet, so maybe the scholars can hold off for a bit?
Is this even what you’re talking about? It’s getting late.
The thing I remember most from all those early morning seminary classes is Moroni 10: 3-5, Moroni 10: 3-5, Moroni 10: 3-5. You learn that it’s true and then spend the rest of your life trying to understand what it’s really talking about–and that’s not a bad formula for “learning by faith.”
Pres. Benson gets credit for reminding us of the central place the BoM has in our doctrine, which to a great extent had not been the center of our understanding of it for much of the 20th century. The key doctrines of atonement, of equality, repentance, faith, and the follies of pride and riches are all in there, but were not as focused on.
I grew up with the stories, but I now find myself digging deeper into the doctrinal sections, and actually enjoy plowing through 2 Nephi. I’m far less concerned about finding archaeological evidences, or parallels to other ancient books ala Nibley, but more concerned about what can this book teach me, and how can it change my behavior.
I think the Lectures on Faith has not stood the test of time as well, and believe there are reasons why it is no longer included in the canon of scripture as it once was. I find it much less useful than I used to.