At the first of the year, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute of BYU (used to be called FARMS) released the first issue of a new journal which will aid those studying the Bible. The new journal will be published twice a year. Its called Studies in the Bible and Antiquity. This slim journal is only 100 pages, but there are five articles that are excellent approaches to various aspects of both the Old and New Testament. One in particular will be of great use to those who are interested in the Law of Moses. The articles is written for Latter Day Saints, but it will also appeal to those non-Mormons who believe that the prophets in the Old Testament pointed the way to Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah of the world.

The article is by Julie M. Smith, a graduate of the Theological Union at Berkeley, California. She adapts the approach of Mary Douglas to the book of Leviticus and uses Douglas’ analogical approach to Leviticus to show how the book leads to Christ. Another fascinating article is by David E. Bokovoy, a doctoral candidate in the Hebrew Bible at Brandeis. He uses ritual hand placement, the seeking of blessings and the exchange of clothing (including animal skins) to shed new light on the difficult story of Jacob and Esau and the blessing of Isaac.

The other articles are equally enlightening and they are all very readable, even though they’re written for a more knowledgeable audience. I can’t recommend it highly enough for those wanting to know the Bible better. Here’s the link:  http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/studies.  I’ll say more about this later, so check back.

General Petraeus is credited as the author of the Surge, the change in the Iraq strategy beginning in 2007 that made such dramatic improvements in the Iraq situation. His ideas have been so successful that the current President is taking credit for the success even though he was highly critical at the time. There are several books out about the surge, but the best is called The Surge: A Military History. Its published by Encounter Books and is written by Kimberly Kagan.

Unlike the other books, Kagan’s book focuses on the operational aspects of the Surge, how its deployments, tactics, strategies and policies engaged the insurgents and caused the violence to drop to a much more secure level for the people. Kagan has taught at West Point and other places and she has a keen sense of military operations.

Another book that tracks what General Petraeus said last night is called A Question of Command. Its written by Mark Moyar and is published by Yale. This book provides a history of counter-insurgency from the Civil War to Iraq and identifies what similarities have worked in those battles and what hasn’t. He also explains what traits modern soldiers and leaders must have in order to function in today’s non-conventional battlefield. Both books track General Petraeus’ ideas to keep our country safe in the threatening world of today.

Following World War II, Great Britain followed a disastrous course which lowered the standard of living, caused massive shortages of almost everything and caused its world standing to be lower than at almost any point in the previous 700 years. Most industries were owned by the government and the nation was often paralyzed by strikes. Even the economic struggles of the United States during the Carter years paled in comparison.

Along came a self-made woman who restored Great Britain to the wealthiest country in Europe and returned London to its position as a world financial center. She also turned out to be Ronald Reagan’s indispensable partner. Her name was Margaret Thatcher and her nickname was “the Iron Lady”. There is a new book out which describes Thatcher’s terms as Prime Minister and how she took a sledgehammer to England’s postwar socialist consensus. The book is written by Claire Berlinski and is called There Is No Alternative. Its available in hardcover from Basic Books and won’t be in paperback for six months. The sub-title of the book is “Why Margaret Thatcher Matters“.

Berlinski argues and demonstrates that Thatcher believed Britain’s decline was not a result of its imperialism, but it was a result of its socialism and that a return to capitalism would restore Britain’s greatness. She then shows how Thatcher accomplished the reversal of decades of movement towards socialism.

All those involved in policy-making should read this book. Last night, I attended the local caucus meetings in my precinct. I can say that there were three times the number of past participants in those meetings and people are wanting change. Those seeking votes from the American people this fall who desire to change the direction the country is going should read this book. It has an important message for all of us, especially in light of the past year.

The missing millenium is the thousand years leading up to the appearance of Christ and MacCulloch begins the book by describing Greek and Israelite history leading up to the time of Christ. This makes perfect sense in understanding Christianity in its infancy. MacCulloch takes about 40 pages to describe Greek influence on the people of Jesus’ time and another 40 pages to talk about ancient Israel. Although it’s a book on Christianity, it really added to my study of the Old Testament, since I’m constantly looking at the Old Testament to see why so many people viewed Jesus as the Messiah when he came.

Even at a thousand pages, the book just can’t cover everything. MacCulloch emphasizes the Greek, Latin and Middle-Eastern versions of Christianity and manages to touch on many events that will point the way to further study, which is the mark of the best non-fiction books. He even finds a couple of pages to spend on Joseph Smith and the Mormons, which is a sign that the growth of the LDS Church has caught the attention of scholars who find the Church more significant than in the past.

MacCulloch’s narrative style keeps the reader turning the pages. Although I don’t agree with MacCulloch about everything; Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years met my very high expectations.

Although its been written about in many places, few Americans realize that the unmanned Predator drones that cover the skies over Iraq, Afghanistan and other world hot-spots are operated by pilots based just down I-15 in Las Vegas. Nellis Air Force Base has a trailer for Iraq and another for Afghanistan. The drone technology has been around for years. Tom Clancy wrote about it in his last (long ago) novel, The Bear and the Dragon and the weapons have become far more advanced since.

This kind of unmanned weaponry is clearly the wave of the future. Sure, we see the Star Wars movies and laugh as the robot soldiers go to fight. P.W. Singer, in his latest book, Wired For War, shows us that George Lucas wasn’t so far-fetched after all. Wired For War is now available in paperback and its sub-title is The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21^st Century. That’s a bit of a mouthful, but Singer is one of the most brilliant writers we have on predicting the direction of arms. His previous books have been on the rise of private military firms (like Blackwater in Iraq) and also the use of child soldiers (like they do in Africa).

Singer has now turned his attention to what he calls “robotic warfare”. There are currently over 12,000 robotic systems in place in the Middle East. That is the tip of the iceberg. Singer shows what the next generation of weapons will look like and then he explores what that means to live soldiers now, as well as those of us at home. Wars will be less costly in terms of lives on the battlefield, but will be harder to control and will make it almost impossible to defend the civilian populace. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book. I’ll put more out about this book later.  Although it covers a scientific subject, its very interesting.

Today is my anniversary and one of the many thoughtful gifts JeNee has given me turned into a fantastic book. JeNee and I forward each other articles that we’d find interesting. (Just this weekend, I sent her an article from the New York Times about a Jewish woman who died at age 93 with 2000 descendents-her response to the Holocaust). An article JeNee sent a few weeks ago from Meridian Magazine (highly recommended) linked to a website, imageandlikeness.net. This website was for a book and there are pdf excerpts of about 200 pages of this 1100 page book.

The book is called In God’s Image and Likeness: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Book of Moses. Its written by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and is published by Eborn Books out of Salt Lake City. The book retails for around $50.00, but I will tell you that its under-valued. It is 1100 pages on thick luscious paper with countless illustrations covering the creation and Garden of Eden as well as the story of Adam and Eve and their children. The book is written for Mormons (since the Book of Moses was revealed to Joseph Smith shortly after the Book of Mormon went to press, but Bradshaw has gone to many sources, both ancient and modern that have nothing to do with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The annotated bibliography of ancient sources is easily a hundred pages and the bibliography of other sources is another hundred.

Bradshaw isn’t afraid to deal with questions raised by the accounts.  He and another scholar recently published an article about Satan’s role in the Garden of Eden (and it IS in the bibliography).  I’ve been working on a project of my own involving a talk Elder David A. Bednar gave in the April 2009 General Conference (IT is also in the bibliography).  In fact, almost all of the sources I’ve been using (at least those that are relevant) have been referred to here.

Setting aside the prodigious research, the analysis is the strength of the book.  This is a commentary worth waiting for, and it marks a great leap forward for Mormon scriptural studies.

Bradshaw thinks deeply about the stories and has compiled many versions and comments from around the world. He puts the Book of Moses in a context that makes it difficult to ignore and impossible to forget. I found myself learning so much, but confirming much of my own thought and study that I found myself wishing I’d written such a book. Check out the book on the website, imageandlikeness.net for yourselves.

My family gave me Kindle for Christmas in preparation for our family vacation. There are several free books that can be put on the Kindle that are in the public domain. Most other books retail for around $10.00. There are several titles that are not available from Kindle, since their publishers are putting them on other electronic readers. Some authors resist to having e-book versions. J.K. Rowling is the most notable.

The Kindle has been touted as an easy reading experience and it was far easier than I expected. The screen is not backlit, so you can’t hurt your eyes from it. It has an adjustable type feature that is very helpful. It only takes seconds to download a book. The Kindle remembers where you left off whenever you turn it off or switch to another book. You can save hundreds of books without having to delete any.

Another great feature is the text to speech. Not all books have this enabled, but those that do give the reader the option of having the Kindle read the book to them from a generic male or female voice. The female sounds more computerized. The reading speed is variable. There are many other features that make the Kindle an outstanding tool. For me, the greatest one is that I can carry books that are hundreds of pages in a device no thicker than a pencil.

The Kindle and other e-readers are something book lovers will be wrestling with for the next century and perhaps beyond. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow.

NON-FICTION.

My non-fiction choices have to be interesting AND entertaining. 2009 saw the celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Naturally, there were too many new Lincoln books to count. The best book on Abraham Lincoln in the last decade, or on any other non-fiction topic for that matter was Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals. It won the Lincoln Prize and also other awards as well. Lincoln is written about more than any other nineteenth century figure and its difficult to say anything original about him, but Goodwin managed to do so.

Team of Rivals tells the story of the Lincoln presidency from a unique standpoint. Goodwin focuses on four men who challenged Lincoln for the Presidency in 1860. Lincoln defeated all of them in an upset and he then turned around and asked them to serve on his cabinet during the Civil War. Lincoln eventually won the respect and admiration of the men (with one notable exception) and managed to final a particularly loyal and helpful friend in William Steward, who spent time with Lincoln relaxing and dealing with the stress of the bloodiest war in American history.

Goodwin has a talent for making historical figures come alive as she tells the events of a particular time. She did it for Churchill and FDR in World War II and she’s done it even better here. Goodwin takes her time telling her story. Lincoln doesn’t even get nominated for President until 250 pages into the book, but you enjoy the book so much, you hate to see it end. I was captivated from the opening page and kept turning the pages. There were several moments in the book I’ll never forget. Only a book of the decade leaves that kind of a mark on the reader’s brain.

RELIGION

During the last few years, the work of Methodist preacher and Old Testament scholar, Margaret Barker, influenced and changed the way I view the scriptures, particularly her book, The Risen Lord. In spite of this, however, my religious book of the year is one that I have been waiting for for two decades. Richard L. Bushman finally delivered his long-awaited full-length biography of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling was released in the fall of 2005 from Knopf. Its still available in both hard and soft cover. Bushman hoped it would sell around 30,000 copies and his publisher told him that was a fairly optimistic estimate. Rough Stone Rolling sold almost 100,000 copies in hardcover alone.

In an ironic twist, Knopf published what was previously considered the most important Joseph Smith biography, Fawn Brodie’s No Man Knows My History. Brodie had left the LDS Church and her book was a reflection of her obvious disbelief in the prophetic claims of Joseph Smith. Bushman is a faithful and active member of the LDS Church, who also happens to be one of the most respected scholars on early American history in the country. In spite of his this, he tries to avoid making Joseph Smith into a more ideal person than he really was.

The bibliography and footnotes alone are over 100 pages and are almost worth the price of this book. Bushman discussed many areas of Joseph Smith’s life in a way that helped me understand him far better than before and which gave me a taste of what he was thinking. Bushman demonstrates how unique Joseph’s revelations and teachings were for his time. He also explains how much Joseph wanted to share his experiences with his followers so they could enjoy the same blessings he did.

Rough Stone Rolling is something that will stand the test of time and will be read for generations. 

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

The last ten years saw an explosion in sales of literature written for young adults. In fact, sales of a certain series aimed at young adults had sales that were unthinkable when the century ended.  On my program about the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the summer of 2000, I warned people in St. George to reserve copies of the book because it would be sold out in spite of its record 3.2 million copy print run. That statement was prophetic, since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was a tipping point for the series that broke new sales records with each new release. The seventh and final volume came out in the summer of 2007, selling a record 11 million copies in English during the first 24 hours of its release.

Sales alone, however, won’t get Harry Potter a place in my books of the Decade list, but quality certainly will. One of the main reasons for Harry’s amazing success was author J.K. Rowling’s ability to tell a story that captivated young people AND their parents. In England, the publisher even put out copies with covers aimed for adults who might feel self-conscious being seen reading what were clearly children’s books. No greater authority than Dr. Seuss himself said that writing for children and adults was the same. No books proved that more truly than the Harry Potter books.

Rowling wrote seven books and with each book, the characters were all a year older. In the final volume, Harry Potter, the boy whose parents were murdered when he was a baby, took the leadership role that had been thrust on him throughout the series. As the series progressed, it became darker and more characters died, but by then, the readership had grown to expect more of a taste of real-life. Rowling left plenty of clues, but no-one expected the ultimate answers to the mysteries surrounding Harry Potter and the evil Lord Voldemort. The last book wasn’t the best from start to finish (the sixth book was), but it reached higher points that moved the reader in ways that only the greatest literature does.

The Harry Potter books are a classic that will be read for generations. We were a part of this history the last ten years, and for that, the Harry Potter books are the best young adult books this decade.

FICTION

It was almost six years ago that I read the first book in a series I’ve been working on ever since. This series of 20 books has grown to become one of my all time favorites and this year I turned the final page in the series, over 6500 pages later. I turned right around and started it again. I’ve talked about the Master and Commander books by Patrick O’Brian on the show ever since the movie came out over 5 years ago. Master and Commander itself was my fiction book of the year and its direct sequel, Post Captain, was the number two choice the year after that.

The multi-volume hardback that prints 21 books in five volumes and paginates them consecutively is the best way to read this 6500 page story. It is really a lifetime friendship between the surgeon and intelligence agent, Stephen Maturin, and the career naval officer, Jack Aubrey. Master and Commander introduces the two to each other and after an initial conflict, the two wind up shipping together. In fact, the arrangement works out so well that they spend the next couple of decades together. They sail around the world together at least twice. They fight many battles and also deal with foreign agents and intrigues. They build families, each of them quite different and play a lot of music together and eat a lot of toasted cheese. When one book ends, the next picks up almost immediately.

After the first few books, O’Brian doesn’t care as much about his plots as presenting the characters. In fact, as the series progresses, more of the larger events take place off camera, so to speak, with the book dealing more with the aftermath than presenting it.

I love reading the Aubrey/Maturin books, particularly when I’m near the ocean. The books take some getting used to, but the rewards are great. You may come to care about the characters as much as I do and want the voyage to continue for many years to come.

Kinship by Covenant is not easily found on the shelves, but it is easy to order. The price may seem a little steep at $50.00, but it is worth every penny. In this book, Hahn, who is a Jesuit Priest, shows how covenant provides the over-arching themes for unifying the scriptures, particularly the Old and New Testaments. The book is extremely detailed. Its almost 340 pages of text, 150 pages of end notes and the bibliography is 60 pages. The notes and bibliography are worth the price of the book itself.

Hahn takes a different approach to the idea of covenant in the scriptures than that held by most scholars over the last century and a half. He argues that the relationship between God and His people is shaped by the different covenants entered into through the Old Testament. The covenants combine to make a family type of bond between God and His children. It also explains much of the New Testament views on Jesus as the Messiah and the Christian views of how He fulfilled the kingly promises made by God to David.

The real strength of this book is seeing how Hahn studies the Old Testament and makes it relevant to our relationships with God today. His depth and ideas have provided an entire new framework to add to my personal study.

Earlier this year I suggested that people pre-order the second volume of the Joseph Smith Papers to come out. The Joseph Smith Papers is a documentary edition aimed at libraries and archives. Its written for serious scholars and is definitely not an easy read. The first two printings of the first volume totaled well over 10,000 copies, which is a huge release for a documentary book. Those printings sold out immediately and it was several weeks before stores could restock. The first volume, containing Joseph Smith’s journals and some excellent notes and historical aides. It continues to sell well.

Today is the national release for the second volume, which is the first in what’s called the Revelations and Translations series. This is what is called a facsimile edition. Its twice as large as the Journals. It contains full color reproductions of each page of two books containing revelations given to Joseph Smith between 1828 and 1834. Most of them were published in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. Nine of the revelations, however, have never been published. None of them are controversial or make major changes in church doctrine or belief, but their inclusion shows the Church is serious about releasing all of Joseph’s papers.  Future volumes will have copies of other manuscripts and revelations.  I assume they will include the manuscript for The Book of Mormon, the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, the Book of Abraham and others. 

The first unpublished revelation is June 1829 and it appears to be a revelation written by John Whitmer but received by Oliver Cowdery. In the original revelation book, pages 15-22 are missing, the Oliver revelation is contained on pages 23 and 24 and then pages 25 and 26 are missing. Oliver’s revelation appears to be the sacramental blessings on the bread and wine, with admonitions not to take the sacrament unworthily and other ways to treat those who repent. Most of this is a restatement of verses currently contained in the Doctrine and Covenants.

The second is from early 1830 sometime between April [when the Church was organized] and July. It is probably in April, since it follows revelations written April 6 and then five others merely dated April 1830 and then is followed by one dated April 16, 1830, with the next entry dated July, 1830. Its written by John Whitmer but received by Joseph Smith. It is written between the revelations at Doctrine & Covenants 23:4, 5, 6-7 and Section 22 and 24 [which come after it in the first revelation book]. It is to Oliver Cowdery, Hiram Page, Josiah Stowell and Joseph Knight. It has to do with securing the copyright for the work [I’m presuming they mean the copyright for The Book of Commandments they are preparing, not necessarily the Book of Mormon, which had already been published by this time.

The third one is dated May 15, 1831 and is written by John Whitmer, received by Joseph Smith. It is given to Ezra Thayer and Joseph Smith, Sr.. It concerns a farm and a house for Ezra Thayer but also discussed Frederick G. Williams’ family while he was heading west. This was clearly marked in the book with a large and small X across it to show it was not for publication.

The fourth is from March 1832. It was written by John Whitmer and was received by Joseph Smith. It discusses paper to be purchased for the printing of the Book of Commandments and that Martin Harris was not yet to go to the Land of Zion [Missouri]. It was also marked with a large X probably to indicate it was not for publication.

The fifth is from April 28, 1834. Its written by John Whitmer and received by Joseph Smith. It is very short. “Verily thus saith the Lord concerning the division and settlement of the United Firm. Let there be reserved three thousand dollars for the right and claim of the Firm, in Kirtland for inheritances in due time, even when the Lord will; and with this claim to be had in remembrance when the Lord shall reveal it for a right of inheritance. Ye are made free from the Firm of Zion and the Firm in Zion is made free {in/from} the firm in Kirtland thus saith the Lord Amen”. Never published.

The next new revelation comes from the second Revelation Book, which begins with the recording of the Vision received by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon. This is a fascinating portion in and of itself. It consists of 10 pages written by Frederick G. Williams with a few portions hand-written by Joseph Smith himself. The majority of corrections are from Joseph himself as well.

The sixth new revelation was received 2 weeks later on February 27, 1832. It is short and reads, “Behold thus saith the Lord unto you my servants that I have chosen Lincoln [Haskins] to be a servant unto me wherefore verily I say unto you let him be ordained and receive the articles and covenants which I have given unto you and some of the commandments that he may go forth and proclaim my gospel whithersoever I will send him in the congregations of the wicked and inasmuch as he is faithful I will prosper him. Even so Amen.”

The seventh is from March 20, 1832 and appears to be similar in content to the fourth one above discussing the purchase of the paper. There is an addition at the bottom that reads, “Shall we finish the translation of the new testament before we go to Zion or wait till we return. It is expedient saith the Lord that there be no delays and this saith the Lord is for the greatest good and benefit of the Church wherefore omit translating for the present time.”

The eighth is from May 15, 1831 and appears to be very similar to the third one I discussed above. This one, however, is written by Frederick G. Williams. The ninth is written by Orson Hyde and is basically the same as the fifth one described above about the United Firm.

It appears to me that the second revelation book copied some previous revelations from the first as part of the publication preparation process, but then the revelations were not determined necessary as part of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants process. More research on my part is certainly required.

In addition, there are other things that were not published in the Doctrine and Covenants. There is a Testimony of the witnesses to the Book of Commandments dated around November 1, 1831 with several signatures. This appears to have been intended to have witness statements similar to those of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses which attend The Book of Mormon. Another is a “Sample of Pure Language” from around March of 1832. Joseph is discussing the meaning of the name Amen or Ahmen. It comes in the book right after the Answer to Questions that make up Section 77 in the Doctrine and Covenants and perhaps was just a bit too rough to be included.

The books are beautifully bound and extensively annotated. The photograph of the book is on the left and the typescript is on the right. There are color codes to show who made corrections to the original and footnotes are included to provide proper context or other historical notes. There is an essay at the beginning about the revelation and translation processes. The book also contains biographical information for the scribes and a few other aids for study. These volumes are worth whatever money you pay for them. I couldn’t say that about very many books today. I’m proud to have the Joseph Smith Papers in my personal library.