Comments on: 2016 Gospel Doctrine- Recommended Resources on the Book of Mormon (updated)

By: Ben S.

Ben S. — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 06:15:26 +0000

I’d seen that one before. It’s read by a non-native speaker, not the posh Parisian of my official mission cassettes.
Thanks for the Japanese link, too.

By: Nathan Ellsworth

Nathan Ellsworth — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 03:21:18 +0000

Thanks KC! MP3 audio for the Book of Mormon in Japanese is there as well as Spanish, but not for any of the other selectable languages. However, for Ben, I found this site via Google which appears to have a French version to download. http://www.lelivredemormon.org

By: KC Kern

KC Kern — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 02:37:41 +0000

Nathan, the Japanese version is here: https://www.lds.org/media-library/audio-interim?lang=jpn

By: Ben S

Ben S — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 02:35:35 +0000

Ah, sorry Nathan. Here's the link to the Book of Mormon audio. Alas, it's only English, I don't know why. I know they had French audio 20 years ago, because I bought the cassettes on my mission. I've emailed repeatedly about that language, and never gotten replies.

By: Nathan Ellsworth

Nathan Ellsworth — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 22:35:02 +0000

Other Ways to Read #7, about listening to the scriptures, contains a duplicate link to Ardis’ site. I would appreciate the correct link to download audio versions of the scriptures. I’m looking for Japanese Book of Mormon MP3. Thanks for compiling this fantastic list of resources.

By: PJ

PJ — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 22:36:12 +0000

KC Kern –

I’ve used your “bookofmormononline” site, and think it’s fabulous. I was encouraged to check it out by a prominent LDS scholar. Your work is definitely appreciate!

By: KC Kern

KC Kern — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 06:17:23 +0000

The Book of Mormon Online (http://bookofmormon.online/) is my attempt at presenting the Book of Mormon text in a web-friendly, accessible format with lots of study resources and supplement. It has not gotten a lot of attention through the years, but those who have used it have found it to be quite useful.

By: Joseph Stanford

Joseph Stanford — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 03:37:39 +0000

I want to put in a second vote for Beholding the Tree of Life. A Rabbinic Approach to the Book of Mormon. Great to learn some new ways to engage the text of the Book of Mormon on multiple levels.

By: Larry Cheesman

Larry Cheesman — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 16:29:31 +0000

I have written a couple of books that would make good resource material for GD teachers in the church. One is titled- “Morals of the Book of Mormon”. This lists the “and thus we see” type references in the Book of Mormon and then I support those scriptures with quotes from General Authorities. The other book is titled- “The Script of the Book of Mormon”. In this book, I have just reformatted the Book of Mormon into two columns. One column shows who is speaking and the other column contains the verses that are spoken. It’s a very interesting way to read the Book of Mormon. I would be glad to submit them for review and make them available for download through your site.

By: Brad L

Brad L — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 21:08:07 +0000

JT, it is perfectly fine to tell infer someone’s intentions when we have ample and/or clear evidence of what they are. What else can be understood from writing, “additional references and commentaries should not be necessary to teach the lessons” in response to a post that gives reading suggestions for this year’s study of the Book of Mormon (clearly referring to its study in the context of the correlated Sunday School)? Dave has already spoken. We have strong evidence that his intent was to come on here and subtly frown on Ben’s encouragement to engage in extensive reading about the Book of Mormon and even more evidence that he is cautioning against reading supplemental material. At this point, Dave needs to either take ownership for what he has already written or recant.

By: JT

JT — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:35:49 +0000

Brad (26) – There are few things that annoy me more than discouraging learning, but one of them is telling someone else what their actual intentions are. Let Dave speak for himself.

By: Ben S.

Ben S. — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 15:53:46 +0000

Thanks Terry. Interesting story.

I’m adding one last element under commentaries.

By: Terry H

Terry H — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 21:51:00 +0000

Brad L and Ben S. An interesting story about the Gutjahr book. Originally, Terryl Givens was preparing the Book of Mormon volume for that series from Princeton. Somewhere in the manuscript, he was REMINDED by Oxford that he was under contract to them and so his manuscript turned into The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction. (2009). Frankly, having reviewed both, Gutjahr is adequate (especially for a person who’s not LDS, but Givens would have been better). I also agree that the book that should be on top of Ben’s list is By The Hand Of Mormon. (I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but whenever I’m asked for such a list, that’s my number one).

Ben, thanks for this list. I really think you’ve covered the subject. I’ve used Second Witness for years and its terrific. One feature that caught my attention was his reference to “Yahweh” wherever the text mentions “the Lord”. In addition to the commentary having a Meso-American emphasis, it also has an Old Testament emphasis as well. The Lehites were clearly Old Testament, pre-exilic Israelites.

I also have to mention for a few that there’s a very light-hearted (light-minded) version called The Lost Plates of Laman, 2d Edition that has recently been reprinted. Its by Bob Smith (who I don’t know). Not for everyone, but parts of it had me laughing out loud. Its original version was from Signature and I’m not sure how it sold. Too bad. Funny.

The best Book of Mormon book I read last year was From Darkness Into Light. I look forward to more such volumes from the JSP project.

By: Cameron N.

Cameron N. — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 19:41:25 +0000

Ardis, that quote in #10 is also very outdated and if ready carefully doesn’t preclude anything suggested in this OP.

“Far too many teachers seem to stray from the approved curriculum materials without fully reviewing them.” – EG don’t just wing it without even studying what the actual topic is about.

“If teachers feel a need to use some good supplemental resources beyond the scriptures and manuals in presenting a lesson, they should first consider the use of the Church magazines” – Given before the advent of the internet. The church is moving toward an even-more bare bones in lesson guidance, similar to Come Follow Me, but for everyone.

By: Brad L

Brad L — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 19:25:58 +0000

Come on, Dave, we have every reason to believe that you came on here to softly condemn Ben’s suggestion to undertake any sort of deep reading or deep thinking to prepare to teach Sunday School classes. Ardis’ characterization of your efforts as passive-aggressive anti-intellectualism is dead on. While you don’t tell people to completely avoid the use of supplemental materials, your posts come off as a stern caution against it.