Mediation and Atonement

by John Taylor

This is a stunning example of the Mormon President John Taylor's book, An Examination into and an Elucidation of the Great Principle of the Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Originally published in 1882 it is extremely rare and difficult to locate. This is a First edition Reprint. Chapters include Christ's Testimony - Inspired Translation of Genesis - Book of Mormon and The Atonement - D&C and the Atonement - Seth his sacrifice Accepted and many others. Read and understand a Prophet's understanding of the most important event in the world.

Genres: Lds, Religion

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 28, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[David Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

For content I give this book a 5. However the writing style of the era is challenging to push through. Lots of long recitations of scriptural passages with little commentary from Pres. Taylor. For the era it was groundbreaking and ahead of its time. Although members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have never doubted the Christology of the doctrine in modern times it has become the rallying cry of many evangelicals in opposition. Certainly during President Taylor’s time there was plenty of opposition but generally it was of a different strain. His work laid the foundation for many outstanding scholars that have expanded on his early writing.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's going to take some time to process everything this book teaches. It's the kind of book that you read very slowly, three pages a day or so. John Taylor scrutinized the scriptures so closely that I had to match his style of reading to understand what he was saying. I'll share some of the gems I learned in the next coming days. This book is worth owning and studying, written from the hand of a prophet.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book written by President Taylor since it was the first book written by a President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while he was serving as President of the Church. (This is, of course, excluding the Book of Mormon translated by Joseph Smith and the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of revelations received by Joseph Smith.) Most of the first half to two-thirds of this book is John Taylor collating scriptural texts from the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the then newly canonized Pearl of Great Price to support key doctrinal points regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The latter part of the book offers some commentary, and the Appendix is interesting. But apparently as President of the Church, John Taylor felt that using the canon to teach about the most core beliefs of the Christian faith was a pretty good pattern.
I wonder how that might have shaped much of Latter-day Saint pedagogical culture, even without many Latter-day Saints knowing about this book. Latter-day Saints have a strong tendency to anchor their teaching in the scriptures--in the talks they give, the lessons they teach, etc. Certainly this was a pattern modeled by early Church leaders from Joseph Smith onward. But for the first book ever authored by a current Church President to be so scripture-focused must have had an impact on the collective consciousness of Church members.
I also wondered how much this might have influenced Latter-day Saint literature as well--e.g. James E. Talmage's "Jesus the Christ" and "The Articles of Faith," Elder Bruce R. McConkie's "Messiah" series, "Doctrinal New Testament Commentary," and "A New Witness for the Articles of Faith," and so many other books written by more contemporary General Authorities (Elder Holland paticularly comes to mind).
While I found a few insights about the subject matter itself to be useful and informative, mostly I think I come away from this thinking about how this book set a pattern for later Latter-day Saint authors to feel somewhat beholden to. Maybe, or maybe not.
As most people who have read 19th century literature before know, you have to be used to this style of writing. It's very matter-of-fact and no frills or embellishments.
This book was published just three years before President Taylor went into self-appointed exile to escape the persecution incident to the Church's practice of plural marriage. It definitely seems like a deliberate attempt in the midst of one of the more difficult eras of the Church's history to focus members of the Church on that aspect of their faith that matters most of all and to remind them of the reason for the hope that was within them.

[Shawna · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was written in 1882. My copy was poorly formatted. However, the scriptures and commentary are presented in a logical, thoughtful way. There were moments of head shaking in agreement, and moments of deeper understanding. Well worth the time to read it.

[Brannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book. The first section shares all of the scriptures on the atonement from all of the books of scripture. The second section goes through the history of the world in relation to the atonement. The last section goes in to deeper detail about why the atonement was necessary and what it accomplished.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Well written, wonderful message, excellent book. This is the second time I have read this book. I highly recommend it.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meaningful discourse on the mission of Jesus Christ.

[Andrew Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent content, but the long passages cited in the body of the text make it cumbersome to read. However, the commentary given on the passages is really incredible, and that is what made the book rewarding and overall worth the effort.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

as expected - good material here (from a true source of real wisdom)

[Kendal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly, this brilliant book is often overlooked. One of the best priamry sources on the Atonement, along with 70's Course in Theology year 4.