A Guide to Scriptural Symbols

by Joseph Fielding McConkie, Donald W. Parry

A Guide to Scriptural Symbols

Genres: Religion, Lds

193 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Joseph Fielding McConkie received a Doctorate of Education from Brigham Young University in 1973, following which he became the director of the LDS Institute of Religion at the University of Washington in Seattle. Four years later he joined the faculty at BYU where he is now a Professor of Ancient Scripture. He is the author or co-author of 25 books, the most recent being a 1200 page work titled Revelations of the Restoration. His scholarly interests center in scripture and doctrine. Other experiences include being an LDS Chaplain in Vietnam, a mission president in Scotland, and a Stake President at BYU.

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http://deseretbook.com/auth/302/Josep...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_F...

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a phenomenal book for deeper understanding of scripture. While maybe unconventional, I went ahead and just read this book front to back. It's unconventional because the book is basically three sections, each section a different theme of symbols, put into alphabetical order. So it looks and feels like a dictionary of symbols (albeit not very thick) and is probably meant to be used as a reference. But, I would recommend this front-to-back approach to everyone. By reading such a variety of symbols and not only looking at ones you're interested in I think you improve your understanding and breadth of symbolism in the scriptures.

I think there could have been areas where a little more explanation was given and the variety of symbols covered be expanded. The authors also relied heavily on well-defined symbols found in biblical scholarship, so I would guess it is something like 60% Old Testament, 30% New Testament, and then 10% modern scripture (usually when a symbol from the bible is explained). So this is more a book to build a solid foundation of symbolism, rather than an entirely exhaustive list. This foundation would help anyone wanting to understand the scriptures better. In fact, I nearly see it as a textbook for scripture study. This should be read and understood as soon as possible for any individual looking to deepen their study.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro. on symbols in scripture!

[Valerie L · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of this book is the entire chapter on titles and names of Christ! A very comprehensive look at all the titles used to refer to Jesus Christ throughout all the scriptures. The first section of the book does have a good scriptural Symbols section - I just think it needs better format to make it easier to look at and find what you are looking up. Thus making it harder to use as a tool for studying. Overall I am very glad I own it! It will be a great resource when studying the Savior and his titles.