Religious Readings List
"I say that we need to teach our people to find their answers in the scriptures...But the unfortunate thing is that so many of us are not reading the scriptures. We do not know what is in them, and therefore we speculate about things that we ought to have found in the scriptures themselves. I think that therein is one of our biggest dangers of today."
--President Harold B. Lee
I generally frame my day with gospel study. Each morning I read the scriptures, and I try to read the Book of Mormon at least but sometimes three times a year. The scriptures are my foundation. At night, I'll try to read gospel related materials such as conference reports, Ensign, or current/past general authority books. I typically stay away from other LDS readings.
|
Of course, James E. Talmage is one of my favorite scholars. It was through his Jesus the Christ that I learned about Frederic Farrar's Life of Christ. Talmage quotes extensively from this humble Anglican minister's thorough discussion of the Savior's life.
|
I tend to stay away from scripture commentaries, but one that I've been comfortable with has been Grant Hardy's Understanding the Book of Mormon which is a narratology approach to the writers of the Book of Mormon. I also like his The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide which is a paragraph version of the Book of Mormon.
|
George Q. Cannon
One of my favorite writers and church leaders is George Q. Cannon . He was a member of the First Presidency under four presidents: Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow. He is a great writer. His history of the Prophet Joseph is the only one to rely on accounts of people who personally knew the prophet.
|
Bruce R. McConkie
|