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The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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This truly is an amazing little book. Terryl Givens does a fine job of pulling off what seems to be an impossible task -- summarizing the Book of Mormon in a little book of about 130 pages. But he makes it look easy as he identifies themes, highlights key passages, offers sharp little insights, and even finds time to mention some of the criticisms and problems that the Book of Mormon has faced since its inception. Naturally, given the short space allotted him, Givens at times seems to be rushing, and you find yourself wishing he had been able to take more time to expound upon his insights. If you find yourself thinking this, then you might consider reading his more expansive book, "By the Hand of Mormon." As the author of a book about the Book of Mormon myself (Pearls from the Plates: Reading and Responding to the Book of Mormon), I am humbled but lifted by Givens's achievement. Whether you are a scholar of the Book of Mormon or just someone curious about what it is actually all about, you will find something of interest and edification in this pithy little publication.

Terryl Givens, a highly regarded English professor at the University of Richmond and one of the finest Book of Mormon scholars, has written this brief introduction to the Book of Mormon for the Oxford University Press very short introduction series. The beauty of this book is that it is accessible at several different levels. It is highly accessible to anyone without any prior knowledge of the Book of Mormon. So it serves its introductory purpose quite well. But it also brings new insights or well-stated insights that might not be quite new to those well-versed in the Book of Mormon. Anyone interested in the Book of Mormon or Mormonism would be well-advised to read this fine, intelligent, beautifully crafted, and well-balanced book.
Also recommended: "The Koran: A Very Short Introduction" by Michael Cook.

Mr. Givens has a special gift for taking a subject (The Book of Mormon) that has been studied and reviewed for over 150 years and offering new insights in a writing style that is pure pleasure to read.

What makes this book unique is its emphasis on the content of The Book of Mormon itself, something very few books published outside mainstream Mormon presses even attempt. (For the most part books published outside mainstream Mormon presses focus on nineteenth-century authorship questions, while ignoring the content of the Book itself.) Mr. Givens's book is even more unique in that it--unlike commentaries published by said mainstream Mormon presses--is not afraid throughout to honestly acknowledge criticisms of The Book of Mormon, while firmly and persuasively presenting the thesis that The Book of Mormon is a unique theological masterpiece.

Having studied several score books on The Book of Mormon (both apologetic and dismissive), I think there is only one book that is better than this one in explaining--as objectively as possible--the internal beauty and broader significance of The Book of Mormon, and that book is Mr. Givens more extensive study also published by Oxford University Press: "By the Hand of Mormon."

Mr. Givens's small gem of a book is a perfect introduction to one of the greatest religious and theological books ever written.

In a few brief pages Terryl Givens presents the views of a well respected scholar who has actually read the Book of Mormon...a book whose origins and contents are debated vociferously by many critics who have never read it. It is refreshing, informative, enlightening and portable. It would be the perfect gift for someone sincerely searching for truth about what Mormons really believe. I bought, read and have given as gifts three copies and will buy more. Thank you, Amazon, for alerting me to this book and others in the Oxford scholarly series.

"The Book of Mormon" is one of the sacred scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints (Mormons). It is the book that is meant as an equally valid addendum to the Bible, and has been presented as such for almost two hundred years. If you live anywhere in North America you have probably come across Mormon missionaries at some point in your life, and have seen them carry The Book of Mormon on their proselytizing ventures. Ever since this book was first published in the early nineteenth century it has engendered a lot of controversy. Mormons believe that Joseph Smith in upper state New York translated this book from ancient golden tablets. These tablets, in turn, tell a story of ancient Jewish tribe that settled in North America 600 years before Christ, had Jesus Christ appear to them after his resurrection, and finally disappear from the scene due to war and turmoil around 400 AD. Aside from Joseph Smith, only a handful of other witnesses have purported to have seen the original plates.

This fantastic story of the origins and content of "The Book of Mormon" are unlikely to be plausible to most non-Mormons. In fact, most people, myself included, are highly dismissive of it. Furthermore, even putting the origin and the storyline aside, the book is very tedious and hard to read. It reads as a plagiarized and much less interesting reworking of the Old Testament narrative concepts and themes. Mark Twain called it "chloroform in print." I tried reading it on a couple of occasions, but was unable to get past the first couple of pages. All of this, in turn, makes it very hard for an interested outsider to get a better sense of the Mormon scriptures and beliefs.

"The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction" serves the purpose of presenting the content of this book in a scholarly and largely detached manner that for the most part avoids discussing the issues of its origin and claims of historical accuracy. It serves as a very good overview of all the narrative developments in The Book of Mormon, it presents the major themes and doctrinal points, most of which are not at odds with other Christian doctrines, at least on the surface. The introduction also deals with the controversies surrounding The Book of Mormon, both past and present. There are a few interesting nuggets of information in this introduction, such as the fact that for the most of Mormon history The Book of Mormon did not feature prominently in their devotional and ritual observances. The book gained more prominence starting in the 1980s, and today it is a prominent part of Mormon daily scripture reading.

Overall, this is a well-written and objective introduction to The Book of Mormon. However, there is only so much one can do with an essentially not too exciting subject matter, and this short introduction is unlikely to keep most readers up at night.

This is a suprisingly well comprised introduction to the Book of Mormon (BOM) in consice format. Here you will basically find all you need to know prior to reading the book itself. Actually this work also summarizes the meatiest parts of the book while explaining its red threads. Givens has managed to produce a easily understood, simple work for a wide audience on a highly controversial book which is often debated - but seldom read. Terry L. Givens, is, apart from being a professor of literature and religion at U of R, himself a LDS scholar. As such he is biased, of course, so you won't have the critical perspective of the fantastic claims which the BOM makes. The author will also make a case for the similarities between some of the passages in BOM with the biblical book of Jeremiah and a few other notices that would be in favor of the BOM as an inspired work. However, this does not hinder the book from being quiet objective in its outlook. Also included are remarks of the importance and influence of the BOM within the LDS church itself, where we learn that it has not always been as emphasized as it appears to be now.

Oxford's "Very Short Introduction" series (VSI) seeks to provide scholarly and accessible overviews of an impressive array of topics (200+ so far) printed in a concise package (the books measure about seven by four inches, .5 inches thick). Terryl Givens's "The Book of Mormon" VSI is number 219, the second VSI focusing on a Mormon subject. Having read the Book of Mormon a few dozen times I wondered how interesting a "very short introduction" could be. Just in case you read no further into this overlong review, let me make it plain up front: if you have the slightest interest in the Book of Mormon for any reason you should read this book. Those unfamiliar with the Book of Mormon will find an excellent supplement here. If you are already familiar with the Book of Mormon, this re-introduction will make it seem like you're meeting again for the first time.

Summing up the Book of Mormon and its related narratives in under 130 (undersized) pages is one curelom of a task, and one Givens has executed remarkably. He observes that the book hangs "at the center of a complex tapestry of intersecting narratives" (3). These narratives aren't confined to its internal characters and plots--the stories of Lehi, Nephi, Alma and Moroni. The narratives extend to include 19th-century angelic visits and golden plates, a miraculous translation, seeming environmental influences, sectarian conflicts, and personal conversions. 20th-century research and criticism, alongside increasing missionary promotion of, and Mormon devotion toward, the book demonstrate continued interest in the "Mormon Bible." Givens tackles all of these issues with careful balance.

According to Givens, the Book of Mormon has served as a "lightening rod for both conversion and criticism." (Some of that lightening will undoubtedly be refracted onto Givens's own book!) Its claim of being the inspired translation of an ancient text by a modern boy-prophet "is so radical that the storms of controversy over its origins and authenticity have almost completely obscured the text itself" (4). Even for believers, the text has functioned more as a sign that God still lives and communicates with humans than a collection of doctrinal directives. Too little attention has been directed to what the book actually says so Givens mainly focuses on the "narrative between the covers," while peripherally surveying its modern origins and reception.

This VSI contains three sections. The first, "The Book of Mormon speaks for itself," is a refreshing literary analysis of the book's plots, themes, doctrines and structure, spanning sixty-six pages (3-68). The discovery and translation of the Book of Mormon is related in section two's mere seventeen pages (85-101), while the eighteen page third section describes the book's life and reception (105-122). Rather than summarizing the foregoing text, the three-page conclusion offers suggestions of how the book has retained--and will likely continue to retain--remarkable relevance for readers interested in locating Zion in the shifting and often unsettling dark and dreary wilderness of life (123-125). An appendix describing Book of Mormon manuscripts, editions, and translations includes information that may seem new to many average Latter-day Saint readers (126-128). It is followed by a simple timeline tracing the origins of the book from Joseph Smith's first vision in the spring of 1820 to the founding of the Church in April 1830 (129-130). Because the VSI series lacks footnotes, five pages of chapter references and suggestions for further reading round out the book (131-135). It concludes with a simple index (136-140).

The most enjoyable and unique aspect of this VSI is the way Givens coaxes the reader to see the text with new eyes by highlighting distinct themes throughout the text. A few examples should suffice to whet the appetite. Echoing a theme he has discussed elsewhere, he argues that the Book of Mormon relates--and itself enacts--"dialogic revelation," pleading for an "openness to radically individualistic and literalistic conceptions of divine communication to mortals" (21).

In his characteristically flowing prose he argues that, in contrast to the biblical depiction of God intruding in the world once and for all with Jesus Christ's incarnation, "we have in the Book of Mormon a proliferation of historical iterations, which collectively become the ongoing substance rather than the shadow of God's past dealings in the universe" (31). Christ appears in a second-coming-like fashion to the New World believers and announces his intention to visit still others (28-30).

Nephi's midrashic use of Old Testament prophecy (reusing or reinterpreting older texts) is reenacted in the current Mormon tendency to "liken the scriptures" to contemporary situations (37). The "Chinese-box structure" (35) of the Book of Mormon is unpacked, such as when Givens traces a few verses of scripture back through their line of transmission: the writings of Isaiah and the Decalogue make their way into Laban's brass plates, which are stolen by Nephi, subsequently quoted by Abinadi, remembered and re-recorded by Alma, read by King Mosiah, abridged by Mormon, and translated by Joseph Smith (39). Givens says the line of transmission doesn't stop there; "the boundary between...Moroni and Joseph Smith again fades...in the sense of its nineteenth-century incarnation as one more stage, one more version, of prophetic utterance that can never be permanently fixed or final" (39). In contrast to the book of Genesis's happy ending, Givens finds that in the Book of Mormon "sibling jealousies do not find resolution but violent expansion, culminating in a tragic and genocidal finale painfully deferred until the record's final pages" (42). But he looks closer at the book's warfare to underscore surprising scenes of "moral ambiguity" (50). The anti-Nephi-Lehi's become a prime example of pacifism, having sworn off bloodshed even while a war for their own protection rages around them. Their children, the young "stripling warriors," exemplify a properly executed just war as they covenant to uphold and defend liberty, even by the sword when necessary. "The moral of this story," Givens observes, "where righteous pacifism and righteous warfare find comfortable co-existence, would seem to be that faithfulness to covenants righteously entered into trumps both...In the Book of Mormon, covenant is the thread of safety on which the survival, spiritual safety, and very identity of the people hang" (51).

Givens admits that "[s]earching for literary wonders in the Book of Mormon is a bit like seeking lyrical inspiration in the books of Chronicles or Judges" (61). Nevertheless, "there are enough moments of lyrical beauty" to suffice, citing Nephi's lamenting psalm, instances of unique imagery and phrasing, and complex, structural chiasmus as examples (61-65). Certainly Givens recognizes there are instances when Mark Twain's description of the Book of Mormon as "chloroform in print" is more accurate than not, which can "make for heavy going." Nevertheless, "these are more than compensated for by moments of conspicuous poetry, pathos, and literary complexity" (68).

Givens has a gift for clothing familiar points in fresh phrases. When Nephi accurately predicts the murder of a judge, his audience quickly accuses him of being involved in the judge's death. Givens pithily describes them as "a people made obtuse by their intransigent self-justification [who] confound prophecy with complicity" (57). So much observation in so few words.

This VSI overflows with such observations. It throws open many windows for the careful reader into subjects including the justice, mercy and the atonement, memory and cultural change, the centrality of the family, the nature of scriptural writing, the difficulties of anachronism and evidence of authenticity, and the increasing importance the book has for the millions of people who testify they believe it is the word of God. In 1972 a religious history professor from Yale university observed: "A few isolated individuals can still read [the Book of Mormon] as a religious testimony,...but not even loyal Mormons can be nourished by it as they were a century ago" (110). "Today," Givens responds, that observation is "simply dead wrong" (110). Scholarly research from different angles becomes more sophisticated. Devotional appreciation increases as Mormons spend more time in its pages. "Like Muslims, Jews, and other Christians, the Mormons are increasingly coming to be People of the Book--their book" (111). For me, this very short introduction is a very welcome re-introduction to my book, The Book of Mormon.

Terryl Givens is the one most qualified to write this book. His engaging writing shines through once again. He starts with the Book of Mormon's content as opposed to the controversy around the Book, as what is usually done in academic treatments of the book. I especially enjoyed his breakdown of the Book's major thematic elements.

I think Givens should be the one to write an in-depth literary analysis of the Book of Mormon. Hardy's magnificent volume (Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide) focuses on narrator analysis. Givens should put a book of with more of a thematic approach to the Book of Mormon. What also should be taken into consideration is that Givens's training is in comparative literature, Hardy's in history.

This is a very carefully crafted book. It reads much like a casual visit from a friend that ends up being a pitch for selling Amway. I believe it is designed to create the illusion of being an un-biased introduction, and would appear to address the criticisms, and out right evidence that show this document to be a work of fiction in a fairly disingenuous manner. I am by no means an expert, but this thing wreaks of clever use of language to create credibility and plausibility where there is none. In my opinion,
this is a Mormon scholar doing damage control, and a little missionary work. I do like his style, however, and there is enough good information to make it worth reading.