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Abinadi
Under the guidance of some of the best thinkers on the Book of Mormon, the Abinadi narrative springs to life as each chapter approaches Abinadi's story and words from a different perspective. Whether viewed through a sociopolitical, literary, theological, philosophical, or historical lens, new insights and a new appreciation for the richness of Abinadi's discourse will help readers reignite their passion for the beauty and depth of the Book of Mormon.
This volume is written for an informed, Latter-day Saint audience and seeks to fill a gap in high-quality research and writing on the Book of Mormon. It is produced by members of Brigham Young University's Book of Mormon Academy, a group of scholars dedicated to research on the Book of Mormon. Each of the members brings a different area of expertise to bear on the Abinadi narrative. As that narrative is viewed from a variety of angles, its richness, beauty, and profound meaning come more clearly into focus.
This volume is written for an informed, Latter-day Saint audience and seeks to fill a gap in high-quality research and writing on the Book of Mormon. It is produced by members of Brigham Young University's Book of Mormon Academy, a group of scholars dedicated to research on the Book of Mormon. Each of the members brings a different area of expertise to bear on the Abinadi narrative. As that narrative is viewed from a variety of angles, its richness, beauty, and profound meaning come more clearly into focus.
- GenresReligion
437 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2018
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21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 13, 2019
An odd combination of insightful scholarship and late-period-Maxwell-Institute navel gazing. The strongest essays were by Belnap, Hilton, Wright and Hull, and Spencer. The weakest ones were so "truth bracketed" that it seemed inappropriate the authors are on a payroll financed by tithing.
November 16, 2019
There are a couple essays that I really enjoyed. The rest of the essays were ok, but I don't think they add much to the already existant writings on Abinadi.
May 20, 2020
There are three main sections in this book:
1. Narrative Section. I bought the book mainly to enlighten my understanding of the Avi story, and I expected the three essays in this section to accomplish this. I listened to the MI podcast in which this book was promoted, where they offered a great explanation of King Noah's priests' use of Isaiah 52. That made me want to buy the book for further light and knowledge. I was a little disappointed. I found John Welch's Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon's chapter on the trial of Avi more illuminating by a longshot.
2. Textual Criticism Section. This section was OK, relative to the fact that for a long time I've found textual criticism to be the boringest method in Biblical studies. In this section one guy proposed that the near-identical wording between King Benny and Avi stemmed from the fact that perhaps Avi was the angel who appeared to King Benny. Shane Hopkin, the editor, contributed an interesting chapter in which he summarized the debate between those who believe the BOM is ancient vs. those who believe it's modern (like David P. Wright).
3. Historical/Philosophical Section. This was the best part of the book. Instead of shedding light on a large chunk of the Avi story, these chapters gather voluminous historical information and philosophical methods to contextualize and categorize narrow items in the story, such as
(1) the manner in which Avi was killed (the answer will SHOCK you)
(2) what the "East Wind" curse Avi pronounced on Noah & gang meant in a Palestinian and Mesoamerican context
(3) how the BOM's teachings on infant baptism compared to teachings on the issue from Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Unitarian, Congregationalist, and Restorationist denominations when the book came out.
(4) Philosophihcal impliations of Mosiah 16:6 and 16:7
(4) is one probably only the third treatise I've read on BOM as philosophy. The other two were on the 3 Nephites and Lehi's opposition theodicy.
I was a little disappointed on Susan Easton Flake's (3). She said understanding the environment around the BOM's coming forth is important to understanding how the Early Saints received the BOM. Well, since she's a historian, she could've gone through journals to see how early Mormon converts received teachings on infant baptism in the BOM. But she didn't.
Then there's the appendix. I only read some of it. Most of it is just footnotes on how many times this or that phrase appears in the standard works. They probably ran some string scanner to return those results. Not very useful information for the most part.
What was enlightening in the appendix was the indicator that King Noah's priests used Isaiah 5:1-3 as a blueprint for their building projects. I thought that was really cool. The priests must've written their dissertations on Isaiah. If I were the mayor, I'd like to hire them in my city planning.
Overall, while this book could've been better, its still enriched my knowledge of the Avi story by examining it from a variety of angles.
1. Narrative Section. I bought the book mainly to enlighten my understanding of the Avi story, and I expected the three essays in this section to accomplish this. I listened to the MI podcast in which this book was promoted, where they offered a great explanation of King Noah's priests' use of Isaiah 52. That made me want to buy the book for further light and knowledge. I was a little disappointed. I found John Welch's Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon's chapter on the trial of Avi more illuminating by a longshot.
2. Textual Criticism Section. This section was OK, relative to the fact that for a long time I've found textual criticism to be the boringest method in Biblical studies. In this section one guy proposed that the near-identical wording between King Benny and Avi stemmed from the fact that perhaps Avi was the angel who appeared to King Benny. Shane Hopkin, the editor, contributed an interesting chapter in which he summarized the debate between those who believe the BOM is ancient vs. those who believe it's modern (like David P. Wright).
3. Historical/Philosophical Section. This was the best part of the book. Instead of shedding light on a large chunk of the Avi story, these chapters gather voluminous historical information and philosophical methods to contextualize and categorize narrow items in the story, such as
(1) the manner in which Avi was killed (the answer will SHOCK you)
(2) what the "East Wind" curse Avi pronounced on Noah & gang meant in a Palestinian and Mesoamerican context
(3) how the BOM's teachings on infant baptism compared to teachings on the issue from Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Unitarian, Congregationalist, and Restorationist denominations when the book came out.
(4) Philosophihcal impliations of Mosiah 16:6 and 16:7
(4) is one probably only the third treatise I've read on BOM as philosophy. The other two were on the 3 Nephites and Lehi's opposition theodicy.
I was a little disappointed on Susan Easton Flake's (3). She said understanding the environment around the BOM's coming forth is important to understanding how the Early Saints received the BOM. Well, since she's a historian, she could've gone through journals to see how early Mormon converts received teachings on infant baptism in the BOM. But she didn't.
Then there's the appendix. I only read some of it. Most of it is just footnotes on how many times this or that phrase appears in the standard works. They probably ran some string scanner to return those results. Not very useful information for the most part.
What was enlightening in the appendix was the indicator that King Noah's priests used Isaiah 5:1-3 as a blueprint for their building projects. I thought that was really cool. The priests must've written their dissertations on Isaiah. If I were the mayor, I'd like to hire them in my city planning.
Overall, while this book could've been better, its still enriched my knowledge of the Avi story by examining it from a variety of angles.
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June 26, 2023Doctrinal essays.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews