Book Review: The Book of Mormon (Maxwell Institute Study Edition)
When I first considered the Maxwell Institute Study Edition of the Book of Mormon by Grant Hardy to review, I suspected that this might be sort of like an institute study guide—heavily influenced by the male authors, with cross references to what we are “supposed” to learn, and so on—the kind of thing that sometimes tires me when I read about scripture. Thus, it took me a little while to prepare to read this book.
I include this detail because I love the Book of Mormon. We’ve been reading it as a family every night—or at least almost every night for a few
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years now. Our scripture reading is one of my favourite times in the day; in part because of the spiritual aspect, but also because it is a family routine that we have worked past (Knock on wood!).
But mostly, in our family readings, my children pick up on tiny nuances—quickly creating family treasures– that I had not previously considered in previous personal study. Speaking of that– sometimes in my individual study, I have been drawn to personal interpretations of some passages that are very important to me. Because of this, the Book of Mormon is personal, and sometimes, scripture study guides seem to ignore the personal, and focus on what some anonymous author thinks I “should” be learning from that passage of scripture.
Thus, it took a bit of courage for me to open the book and get into.
Gratefully, this book is nothing as I had imagined. It is beautiful, every whit, and in no way tells me what I “should” be learning.
Importantly, Emma Smith’s testimony is included in company with the testimony of the three and the eight witnesses, as well as her husband’s testimony. Having a woman’s witness is important for so many reasons, and it is a relief that the author also felt that including her voice was imperative to this printing.
The configuration of the text makes it easy to read. Bruce R. McKonkie’s chapter headings are gone, with softer, simple descriptor notes meant to simplify study. Plus, the layout is lovely. It is absent of the two-column newsprint style that is so familiar in scripture, making it more like I was reading a book. In this, I felt more allowed to sink in and enjoy the prose, wording, and message. In in many places, the most poetic parts are formatted as just that—poetry. As we also love reading poetry as a family (we might have a history of sneaking in poetry books to read during church), this format allowed my family and I to enjoy the lyrical and expressive flow of those words in a way the breathed new life, and warranted repetition.
Another magical thing about this book is the artful interweaving of Royal Skousen’s scholarship. Skousen spent –who knows how long- researching every detail in the translation and printing of the Book of Mormon throughout history. His work uncovered typos and printing errors, among other misplaced morsels in the texts of the Book of Mormon. These corrections are included in this book, neatly placed on the same page of the correction—offering a new way to pause, study and enjoy the work of many hands in this book of scripture.
Lastly, the woodcut prints by Brian Kershisnik. They are delightful. My only tiny criticism is the lack of females represented in the woodcuts. To be clear, there are female in some of the images, but I am always looking for more images of women represented in scripture. So I am a tough critic. But even with that, the woodcut prints added a combination of strength, grace and beauty to the book, in a way that only quality artwork can convey.
I quite frankly loved this rendering of the Book of Mormon, and hope to purchase copies to use for our family reading.
The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (Maxwell Institute Study Edition) can be purchased at Deseret Book and Amazon, and this and more of Segullah’s book reviews can be found on Goodreads. Come follow us there!
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