Monday, December 30, 2013

On we move to the Old Testament for Gospel Doctrine...

I've been trying to decide if I'm going to continue the blog into next year. I'm trying to finish up my thesis (PhD) in the next month or so and I will be released from my calling when I move back to the states, so it remains to be seen how I move forward.... Plus, I've only taken a single introductory Hebrew Bible class. This is clearly not my area of expertise. But I do have a few initial suggestions that might help in the year that follows.

My friend Ben Spackman has compiled a great list of resources for timesandseasons here.

To echo a lot of what Ben says--There is much that separates us from the Hebrew Bible--language and culture begin the list. There is a chasm between us. The King James Translation of the Bible uses antiquated language that likewise separates us even further. (English speaking Mormons will probably continue to stick with the KJV in church services due to a LDS adhesion to sacred language rather than switching to a more modern translation. I don't see that changing.) Despite this, we can benefit from the nuances and explanations offered with different translations. I would urge you to enlarge your study of the Old Testament with more than one translation--and I'm not referring to the JST, remember that wasn't a translation from the original Hebrew--that was Joseph as revelator. Ben notes net.bible.org as a great online resource to compare several different translations and the reasoning behind the translations. And it is free. Try the parallel columns. Very cool.

I also really like the Oxford Annotated Bible which includes illuminating essays--I used this in Divinity School for both the New and Old Testaments. In the opinion of some of my Hebrew Bible friends, the Deseret Book published Richard Holzaphel and friends' Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament is one of the better Old Testament references they have published. I like it. And you can get the ebook version with their Deseret Bookshelf app. I also think that Kevin Barney's essay from Dialogue here on Latter-day Saints and the documentary hypothesis is really useful to begin to think about higher biblical criticism.

Whatever you choose, do something. Something. Lately, I've been reading a lot of 19th century anti-Mormon criticism that the problem with Mormons was that they relied too much on the Old Testament--clearly that is no longer the case. It might take some effort, but generally things that require more effort are really more valuable in the long run.



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