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The Book of Mormon Reference Companion
The Book of Mormon Reference Companion brings together, all under one cover, more than 900 entries addressing 1500 Book of Mormon topics, including people, places, words, phrases, doctrines, purposes, themes, historical background, Isaiah chapter reviews, books of the Book of Mormon, and general topics of interest. Never before has a reference work of this scope been created to help both the experienced reader and the investigator or new convert understand this important book of scripture. It is like having a teacher beside you as you read and study. Maps, illustrations, photographs, pictures, outlines, and charts combine with the informative articles to enhance understanding and help parents, teachers, and leaders share the message of the Book of Mormon with their families and students. A must-have reference book for every Latter-day Saint library!
850 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2003
37 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Smith Jr.
637 books290 followersJoseph Smith, Jr. was the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, also known as Mormonism, and an important religious and political figure during the 1830s and 1840s. In 1827, Smith began to gather a religious following after announcing that an angel had shown him a set of golden plates describing a visit of Jesus to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. In 1830, Smith published what he said was a translation of these plates as the Book of Mormon, and the same year he organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
For most of the 1830s, Smith lived in Kirtland, Ohio, which remained the headquarters of the church until Smith began encouraging members to gather the church to a Latter Day Saint settlement in Missouri. There, tensions between Mormons and non-Mormons resulted in the expelling of the Mormons. Smith and his people then settled in Nauvoo, Illinois where they began building a new temple aided by new converts from Europe. He was assassinated by a mob of non-Mormons at the age of 38.
Smith's followers consider him a prophet and have canonized some of his revelations as sacred texts on par with the Bible. His legacy as a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been recognized by millions of adherents.
For most of the 1830s, Smith lived in Kirtland, Ohio, which remained the headquarters of the church until Smith began encouraging members to gather the church to a Latter Day Saint settlement in Missouri. There, tensions between Mormons and non-Mormons resulted in the expelling of the Mormons. Smith and his people then settled in Nauvoo, Illinois where they began building a new temple aided by new converts from Europe. He was assassinated by a mob of non-Mormons at the age of 38.
Smith's followers consider him a prophet and have canonized some of his revelations as sacred texts on par with the Bible. His legacy as a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been recognized by millions of adherents.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 22, 2018
This book is intended to function like a "Bible Dictionary" for the Book of Mormon, and although a lot of work clearly went into this, it desperately needs to be updated. The book was first published in 2003, but it reads like it was written in a different era for several reasons.
First, women's voices are lacking, even intentionally excluded. The book lists over a hundred contributors to the various entries, but less than ten are women. The entries themselves are also heavily skewed toward men. There are at least a dozen entries for men who helped scribe, provide money for, or otherwise assist in the publication of the Book of Mormon. But not a single woman has an entry, although there are several obvious choices like Emma Smith or Mary Whitmer. Josephs' brother, Hyrum, got his own entry, and Emma certainly contributed more toward the publication of the BoM than he did. Mary Whitmer saw the gold plates in an experience much more powerful than that of the official Three or Eight Witnesses. Several women characters of the BoM are also strangely given only a very light acknowledgment in the book. For example, King Lamoni's father is not named in the BoM, but he gets his own entry ("Lamoni, Father of"). Yet King Lamoni's wife, who we are told had greater faith than any of the Nephites at that time in the BoM, gets only a single sentence in the entry for her husband Lamoni. Similarly, the mothers of the Stripling Warriors are also skipped, receiving only one throwaway sentence at the end of the "Stripling Warriors" entry.
Second, the sources that the contributors rely on are old, revealing a strange reticence to cite to anything produced after 1990. For example, the one non-BoM person who is quoted more often than any other is Bruce R. McConkie, who died in the 1980's. The second most frequently quoted is McConkie's father-in-law, who died in the 1970's. Additionally, for a book about the people, places, and themes of the BoM, the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price are cited an awful lot. The most problematic approach to sources, however, is the way the contributors would selectively use only a part of a source, ignoring anything that would discredit the "perfect" view they try to give to the BoM, which leads to the third reason why this book reads like it was written in the early 80's.
Like many church writers and apologists of the past, most of the contributors' approach to the BoM's many historical anachronisms and doctrinal issues is the same as Frank Drebin's approach to the car crash at the firework factory in the classic comedy Naked Gun: Move on! Nothing to see here! For example, in the entry on seer stones, the contributor refuses to quote from any source that actually talks about JS using a seer stone in a hat to "translate." Rather, the book doggedly clings to the outdated view that JS used only the "Urim and Thummim." Even when the book acknowledges an anachronism, however, any apologetic effort is shallow and artificial, at best. For example, one issue that has troubled me for a while is the revelation to Jacob that the Messiah's name would be "Christ." If heard in its original language, this "revelation" would have said something like: The "anointed one's" name will be "anointed one." The same thing can be said about "charity" being the "pure love of Christ." If the Greek work "charity" had been translated into Hebrew, and then that phrase translated into English, Mormon would have been saying something like: "love is the pure love of Christ." These issues are either not addressed, or given very unsatisfactory explanations that ignore the underlying problem. And yet, the contributor who wrote the entry for "Anachronisms, alleged" states at the beginning of his entry: "Those who have a conviction that the Book of Mormon is an authentic and true record have little difficulty finding sound arguments to dismiss any presumed anachronisms." To me, that statement is not only false, it is highly offensive. That approach to BoM issues reigned for too long among BYU Faculty and among some church leaders, and now, we are reaping the consequences.
Having said all of that, I am still giving the book three stars. Many of the entries are great, some were even exceptional. But even though the book was published only 15 years ago, it is already a relic of the past.
First, women's voices are lacking, even intentionally excluded. The book lists over a hundred contributors to the various entries, but less than ten are women. The entries themselves are also heavily skewed toward men. There are at least a dozen entries for men who helped scribe, provide money for, or otherwise assist in the publication of the Book of Mormon. But not a single woman has an entry, although there are several obvious choices like Emma Smith or Mary Whitmer. Josephs' brother, Hyrum, got his own entry, and Emma certainly contributed more toward the publication of the BoM than he did. Mary Whitmer saw the gold plates in an experience much more powerful than that of the official Three or Eight Witnesses. Several women characters of the BoM are also strangely given only a very light acknowledgment in the book. For example, King Lamoni's father is not named in the BoM, but he gets his own entry ("Lamoni, Father of"). Yet King Lamoni's wife, who we are told had greater faith than any of the Nephites at that time in the BoM, gets only a single sentence in the entry for her husband Lamoni. Similarly, the mothers of the Stripling Warriors are also skipped, receiving only one throwaway sentence at the end of the "Stripling Warriors" entry.
Second, the sources that the contributors rely on are old, revealing a strange reticence to cite to anything produced after 1990. For example, the one non-BoM person who is quoted more often than any other is Bruce R. McConkie, who died in the 1980's. The second most frequently quoted is McConkie's father-in-law, who died in the 1970's. Additionally, for a book about the people, places, and themes of the BoM, the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price are cited an awful lot. The most problematic approach to sources, however, is the way the contributors would selectively use only a part of a source, ignoring anything that would discredit the "perfect" view they try to give to the BoM, which leads to the third reason why this book reads like it was written in the early 80's.
Like many church writers and apologists of the past, most of the contributors' approach to the BoM's many historical anachronisms and doctrinal issues is the same as Frank Drebin's approach to the car crash at the firework factory in the classic comedy Naked Gun: Move on! Nothing to see here! For example, in the entry on seer stones, the contributor refuses to quote from any source that actually talks about JS using a seer stone in a hat to "translate." Rather, the book doggedly clings to the outdated view that JS used only the "Urim and Thummim." Even when the book acknowledges an anachronism, however, any apologetic effort is shallow and artificial, at best. For example, one issue that has troubled me for a while is the revelation to Jacob that the Messiah's name would be "Christ." If heard in its original language, this "revelation" would have said something like: The "anointed one's" name will be "anointed one." The same thing can be said about "charity" being the "pure love of Christ." If the Greek work "charity" had been translated into Hebrew, and then that phrase translated into English, Mormon would have been saying something like: "love is the pure love of Christ." These issues are either not addressed, or given very unsatisfactory explanations that ignore the underlying problem. And yet, the contributor who wrote the entry for "Anachronisms, alleged" states at the beginning of his entry: "Those who have a conviction that the Book of Mormon is an authentic and true record have little difficulty finding sound arguments to dismiss any presumed anachronisms." To me, that statement is not only false, it is highly offensive. That approach to BoM issues reigned for too long among BYU Faculty and among some church leaders, and now, we are reaping the consequences.
Having said all of that, I am still giving the book three stars. Many of the entries are great, some were even exceptional. But even though the book was published only 15 years ago, it is already a relic of the past.
July 3, 2022
The best one that I have found! Very scholarly but very readable.
May 22, 2008
Dennis Largey was my New Testament teacher at BYU and everyone loved him. He was laid back, (a surfer when he was growing up) but had a wonderful testimony of the Gospel. I was so happy to see that he compiled this helpful work.
October 5, 2010
Though I haven't read this word for word, cover to cover, I have enjoyed using it in my study of the Book of Mormon. I especially like the notes and commentary on the Isaiah chapters which I have studied along with our Gospel Doctrine classes this year.
June 4, 2013
This is the definitive reference source for all things Book of Mormon.
It's well organized and written by experts in the particular subjects. I challenge you to open it up to something random and not get sucked in by the knowledge it offers.
It's well organized and written by experts in the particular subjects. I challenge you to open it up to something random and not get sucked in by the knowledge it offers.
June 30, 2016
This is an interesting way to examine the Book of Mormon. Pick a topic, any topic, and chase down the references to it. I have enjoyed making connections from book to book by topic and the commentary was simple and meaningful.
February 19, 2008
Very good..
February 22, 2008
I am using this to study the Book of Mormon this year and have benefited from the discussions in this book.
March 28, 2008
This is my favorite reference book that I use when studying the Book of Mormon.
April 3, 2008
This really is a great reference tool. I learned an amazing amount of information from this book and still reference it frequently for lessons, talks, and my own personal study.
April 17, 2008
Great source book and reference companion.
November 15, 2009
A terrific reference book that covers every question about the Book of Mormon imaginable!
October 7, 2008
A must-have for any serious student of the Book of Mormon.
November 24, 2008
I have a lot of partially read church books, I see. I had better remedy that, I think!
November 19, 2009
A wonderful reference book in my study of the Book of Mormon.
February 24, 2011
A constant study companion to the Book of Mormon.
January 31, 2014
Excellent book with lots of information on every name in the Book of Moromn
March 7, 2010
Isaiah section is great!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews