Understanding the Book of Mormon

I’m finally getting around to starting to read the Book of Mormon again, which is ironic, because I hadn’t even gotten to 1 Nephi 1 before getting sidetracked and having a month or so of downtime. I suppose that’s to be expected, really; the easiest time to break a habit (be it for good or for bad) is when the habit is relatively new. In fact, I’ve heard it said that it takes three weeks to ingrain a good habit, but only three days to undo that ingraining. Hopefully this will be day one of those first 21 days. :-)

Before I begin my study of the Book of Mormon, I’d like to introduce my readers to a book I recently purchased: Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, by Grant Hardy. I’ve been reading this book for about a week now, and I must say it is absolutely amazing: as I follow Hardy into the minds of the three most significant authors of the Book of Mormon, my understanding of their lives and their writings is being enhanced like I never imagined.

What makes this book truly amazing is that it works for all readers. Many people come at the Book of Mormon with a sure knowledge of its veracity, and this colors their understanding thereof. Others are convinced of its falsehood, and this likewise colors their reading. Hardy does not assume either basis. While he personally believes the Book of Mormon to be true, he emphatically denies that his reader must do the same. The principles of textual analysis don’t care whether the work being analyzed is scripture or fiction, and his treatment is effective in either case.

Regardless of how one approaches the book, Hardy’s purpose is summed up on page xiv of the Introduction:

“[R]eading the Book of Mormon well—that is, comprehensively, following the contours and structure of the text, perceiving how the parts fit into the whole, and evaluating fairly the emphases and tensions within the book—requires a recognition of the central role played by its three major narrators: Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni.”

While he does recognize the brief works of Nephi₁’s successors in keeping the Small Plates, their combined contribution constitutes less than five percent of the Book of Mormon. Thus, Hardy confines himself to those authors we really have a chance to meet: with over 100 pages written and/or compiled by each of the major authors, the context is sufficient to truly get to know them.

So, all this having been said, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the Book of Mormon, regardless of your reasons for doing so. I’m sure I’ll be citing it, over the next few weeks and months, so if you follow me as I learn, you’ll probably get a decent feel for it.

And away we go! :-)