Gardner's Book of Mormon Myths: Number 5
Likening With Care, Part 4
In our recent conversations with Gardner he outlined five conceptual myths (or misconceptions)
regarding the Book of Mormon he believes potentially hinder a solid understanding of the text. Today is myth 5. Gardner:
"It is a myth that we can properly understand the Book of Mormon in small pieces.
We read the Book of Mormon in the same way we read the Old and New Testaments. We read them for the particular verses that we can apply to a question or situation. Of course, we cannot always read large amounts of the text, nevertheless, our modern assumptions seem to be that we can get all necessary meaning out of a verse or two.
While that is an appropriate use of the text, we miss the fact that Mormon's work was intended to create a message as a whole. We should be reading it for the overall message, not just the nuggets of insight that are also available.
Of course, I should also note that this applies to other Book of Mormon authors as well. We should understand why Nephi writes two books instead of continuing the material he placed in the second book in his first. We should understand how Jacob's message is very different from Mormon's, even though they are dealing with many of the same issues. Mormon conceived of an entire book, not just the really nifty verses we usually quote."1
For more from the "Likening With Care" series, see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
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FOOTNOTES
[1]
Gardner, personal email in possession of author (Sept. 1, 2008).
[2]
The image is adapted from a photograph by "steph" on PBase.com.
2 comments:
Sorry I haven't showed up on the blog in a while...life just happens, man. Anyway, this first myth was interesting. I wouldn't have thought that this would be a real hindrance worth writing a book about. Then again, I'm now anxious to see the next 4 myths to see if I'm guilty of having those misconceptions.
BTW, is Cecil still going to church? Do you watch college FB as much as the Jazz? I think the Jazz are in trouble this year.
Lance
Seeing the Book of Mormon as a record of a real people in a real time with real people lets us understand why there are moments in the book where some prophetic statements add to former statements that didn't include as much info. Think about Alma's letter to his son talking about the resurrection, for example. Gardner also discusses the Nephite understanding of God which is actually closer to first temple Judaism than say, our current understanding of the Godhead. Knowing that view helps understand what the record is talking about.
I don't know about Cecil, you need to call him this week. I talked to him a few months back. Now you ought to call him and see what he's up to as well. I found his number by googling it. ;)
I don't think the Jazz are in trouble; I hope they learned a little from their embarrassing series against the Fakers. I'm not into college football, though; not enough time!
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