The Book of Mormon Made Harder

Made Harder

by James E. Faulconer

Latter-day Saint philosopher James E. Faulconer’s Made Harder series raises many more questions than it answers. And that is precisely the point. Faulconer wrote The Book of Mormon Made Harder on the premise that our scripture study is only as good as the questions we bring to the endeavor. While many books about the Book of Mormon provide useful shortcuts, chapter synopses, timelines, and memorizable bullet points, this book consists almost entirely of challenging questions (with occasional commentary for clarity’s sake) because, in Faulconer’s experience, questions themselves are the key to reflective and deep scripture study. This book is intended to make reading harder—and therefore fresher—by priming your pondering pump with insightful study questions. The Book of Mormon Made Harder is the perfect tool to improve personal and family scripture study, sacrament meeting talks, or Sunday School lessons. So much of modern life is geared to finding faster and easier ways to do the same old things. The Made Harder series is proof that making things easier does not always make them better.

Genres: Religion, Reference, Lds, Nonfiction, Theology

398 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2014

About the author

James E. Faulconer is an American philosopher, a Richard L. Evans professor of philosophy at Brigham Young University, the director of BYU's London Centre, a fellow and associate director of the Wheatley Institution, and the former dean of Undergraduate Education and chair of the Philosophy Department at BYU. Brother Faulconer received his BA in English from BYU. He then received master's and PhD degrees in philosophy from Pennsylvania State University. His area of interest in philosophy is contemporary European philosophy, particularly the work of Martin Heidegger and late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century French thinkers.

from https://rsc.byu.edu/authors/faulconer...

Reviews

[Jason Comely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the concept but wasn't sure how to use this study guide. After some experimentation I decided to read the scripture chapter and then review the chapter using Faulconer's questions. It was a much smoother and enjoyable learning experience after that.

Overall, this was a worthwhile companion for my Book of Mormon study.

[David Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's unfortunate that no index was included with this book. The chapter names are labeled “Lesson 1”, “Lesson 2”, etc, with no reference to the actual material covered. You can generally zero in on the chapter and verse you are interested in without much difficulty, but an index would have made it more convenient.

Also, I have to say I just don't find the questions posed here all that compelling. Like the questions I've heard teachers ask in many a Sunday school class over the years, they seem designed in such a way that they will inevitably elicit pat answers.

There are many interesting questions which could be asked about the Book of Mormon. One which interests me is the purpose of the Liahona’s second spindle as mentioned in 1st Nephi 16:10. But I found no mention of the spindles at all at that point in this book.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because I wanted to improve my study of the Book of Mormon. I think the biggest benefit I gained from reading it is that it has changed the way I think as I read, to the point where I often had questions of my own come up even when not following along with this book.

For the first part of the year I tried to answer all of the questions in a study journal. After a while life got in the way and I just didn't have the energy to spend as much time as that required each day, especially when there are a large number of questions that I simply had no answer to at all.

A new edition would be nice, as this follows the old Sunday School lesson rotation and sometimes conflicted with the new Come, Follow Me schedule.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book does not fit with my study style. I really like the idea of asking questions, but the questions were too many and came too fast. Many of the questions were not the sort that would cause me to ponder. I actually prefer the way Come Follow Me and the Institute study guide pose questions--thought provoking and not very many.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some good questions here and the point is certainly well-taken, that I should be asking more questions as I read the scriptures. But, the questions themselves mostly were not questions that I learned too much from.

[Tyler Critchfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to Faulconer, the quality of our scripture study is only as good as the questions we bring to it. This book doesn't contain answers - rather, it's filled with questions. Many of them don't have easy answers, but I think are worth the effort to ponder and study. If the authors/compiler of the Book of Mormon were indeed intentional about what they were doing, then it behooves us to seriously give thought to why they wrote and structured their words as they did. We so often think we know the scriptures that we rarely take the time to dig in deeper. . .

To keep up with the Come, Follow Me schedule I admittedly couldn't give proper time to each of these. But I look forward to continuing to use these questions to spark further study as I proceed slowly and thoughtfully through the Book of Mormon again. In fact, just using this has helped me discover better questions on my own and approach the scriptures more thoughtfully.

In addition to a resource for personal study, this would be a fantastic resource for Sunday School teachers seeking better discussion questions.

[Walt Bristow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A totally new approach to a 'study guide.' Instead of answers, Faulconer poses hundreds (thousands?) of questions and invites you to find answers of. I like it. As a retired attorney (and college professor for a short time), I have been convinced for decades that knowing the questions to ask is more important than the right answers because of you don't ask the right question to ask, you can't get to the 'right' answer. The author puts you on that course of discovering questions to ask.

[Steve Cramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has changed my life and the way I study scripture. I have found such incredible depth in snook that I have already studied and loved for years.

For the last 7 years, I have used this book to study the Book of Mormon. I would usually read the Book of Mormon all the way through 4 times a year. This time it took me 7 years reading and pondering a verse or two a day. What I would learn and feel would stick with me.

I can’t recommend this book enough.

[Thebarrys10 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very, very thought provoking questions that helped me search and ponder.

[Don Gubler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really very enlightening questions posed.

[Erneilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful questions that have made this year's reading of the Book of Mormon more challenging.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the idea of this book, but I did not find the layout or the questions to be as helpful as I wanted. (Not terrible, but not as good as I was hoping.)

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this study guide for the Book of Mormon, Professor Faulconer proposes a set of questions to nudge the reader into deeper thought and consideration of the text. He offers a nice model for learning to dig a little deeper in these writings that are often taught and studied for the surface meanings. The fact that the sets of questions make it easier to scan the multiple layers of meaning available in the Book of Mormon suggests that the title is intended ironically. I interpret the giant rock on the cover as emblematic of the Sisyphean effort we face each time we come back to "I, Nephi..."