Reexploring the Book of Mormon

I am starting to read the book entitled, Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch. This book is a collection of brief outlines addressing various aspects of Book of Mormon research. It was published in 1992, so it might be a bit dated, but I still feel that it will be worthwhile to read. Hopefully I will read some interesting things in this book that will enhance by understanding of Book of Mormon culture that I can share here on my blog.

Though books like these can be interesting to read and discuss, they cannot replace the actual scriptures themselves in our library of helpful books. In Elder Holland’s book about the Book of Mormon he says the following: “…this book is emphatically not a substitute for reading the Book of Mormon itself. In fact, one could make a persuasive argument that no book should be written about the Book of Mormon, particularly if reading such a secondary work became an alternative for becoming immersed in the scripture firsthand.”

So studying books about the Book of Mormon should never trump our study of the Book of Mormon. However, reading books about the Book of Mormon can supplement our study and can help increase our desire to study the Book of Mormon. That is what I hope comes about as I study this book.