If Truth Were A Child

by George B. Handley

We live in an age of polemics. Choices are presented as mutually exclusive and we are given little time to listen. You are either secular or religious. You either believe in the exclusive truth of your own religion or you believe truth is everywhere or impossible to discover. The battle over truth rages on. But what if truth were a child? With how much more care and humility would we speak and act if truth was not the result of some war of wills, but a flesh-and-bone living child, a living soul? Humanities scholar and Latter-day Saint George B. Handley charitably invites us to put away the false traditions of the fathers while seeking to lay hold of every good thing wherever it may be found in the world, thereby increasing our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Genres: Religion, Mormonism, Lds, Book Club, Nonfiction, Essays

269 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 25, 2019

About the author

A Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Brigham Young University, George B. Handley's creative writing, literary criticism, and civic engagement focus on the intersection between religion, literature, and the environment.

Reviews

[Jared Gillins]

p. 24: "In everything I do as a Christian and in every relationship, I believe I am morally obligated to try to heal, to bring joy, and to do good. This is what amounts to bringing others to Christ, to whatever extent they are willing or interested. Sometimes that involves sharing openly the message of Christianity, and sometimes it involves simply serving others with consistency and integrity and genuine love without any mention of God or Christ; but in all cases it shouldn't be surprising that Christians are striving to consecrate the whole of their lives for the sake of all others--in every relationship and in every circumstance."

[conor · Rating 5 out of 5]

George B. Handley’s If Truth Were a Child: Essays is a deliberate and measured expression of lived Mormonism. The book resonated with me quite a bit, which is not that surprising given the shared, broad humanistic elements that color both Handley’s and my faith. The essays’ measured quality is rarely shaken, though there are a few moments peppered throughout the book, where Handley’s frustration with or distaste for a particular idea or practice or disposition comes through a bit more forcefully.

I found the whole collection worth reading, framing ideas in ways that were often similar to my own conception, but using language that I’d lacked, as well as occasionally providing some provocation for the certainty and zeal that I bring to some of the hottest topics in Mormondom. I may still believe that that zeal is justified, but Handley’s work calls for some introspection and epistemic humility that I appreciate and think we’d all do well to follow a bit more closely.
I was particularly struck by these three essays:

“On Criticism, Compassion, and Charity”
“A Poetics of Restoration”
“On the Moral Risks of Reading Scripture”

My "broken readings" feel a little more whole, as I’ve encountered and wandered the halls of Handley’s mind and soul in these pages. I hope to better embody the spirit of generosity, the epistemic humility, and the unquenching thirst for truth that I see here in my own discipleship.

For those in search of a pragmatic, grounded, deeply measured faith, Handley offers ideas worth engaging.

Full review, from which these comments were adapted here:
http://conorhilton.com/faith/if-truth...

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Handley's dedication to a life centered on thoughtful, questioning, balanced dialogue and positive community building shines through in every chapter. His strongest point, in my opinion, was his reading of truth as a child that is still growing, demanding interaction, instead of a fixed, amorphous entity to which humanity must bend.

This book is a must-read for people who wish to be religious in the 21st century (particularly those in the humanities) as it provides a framework in which being right matters far less than loving others, the clarion call of Christ's ministry. In balancing intellectual thought with religious experience, Handley's work calls for a discourse that is less divided within the community, and even within yourself.

[thethousanderclub · Rating 2 out of 5]

Upon receiving the recommendation to read If Truth Were a Child by George B. Handley, I responded that I have been on the hunt for a Latter-day Saint scholar who can rival Hugh Nibley in intellectual intuition and literary adroitness. Alas, my search continues. There are meaningful insights to be found in If Truth Were a Child, but the book never quite finds its footing and purpose. Furthermore, as a Latter-day Saint scholar, Handley, a Humanities academic, seems to use an inverted lens, as he too often applies a Humanities lens on the Restored Gospel rather than using the lens of the Restored Gospel on the Humanities.

To begin with, I love the Humanities and took as many courses as I could while completing my general studies. I am most certainly not in the camp of crows who incessantly bemoan general education as a waste of time and believes we should abandon classical elements of our learning in favor of a purely pragmatic education. And it's for this reason that I found so much of Handley's book to be disappointing. I don't believe he does enough to explicate the magnificent knowledge we find in the Humanities and how it fuses with the eternal knowledge we find in the Restored Gospel. He seems to skirt around many primary sources which could have bolstered his stilted arguments. For a truly talented author with the command of powerful prose, they may not need to rely on quotations or allusions; however, Handley doesn't shake your intellectual frame with his writing, and so he falls short on his own merit as well as by ignoring the giants' shoulders upon which he could have stood but decided to ignore.

Speaking of giants, I am absolutely baffled by Handley's almost complete snubbing of our modern prophets and apostles. I don't believe a book like this needs to be a sacrament talk; yet, the brethren have spoken a great deal, in many different forums, on the most vexing issues of our day, many of which Handley touches upon. Why ignore what the brethren have said? Why not wrestle with it frankly and candidly? For example, Handley shares personal experiences with difficulties related to Latter-day Saint practice and culture and the LGBT community. A great deal has been taught on this issue in the past decade by the senior leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many members are facing similar issues. Once again, why ignore almost everything that has been recently written on this important topic? (Here's a good example of how to write about these issues effectively: https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2021/...). I simply don't understand it. I appreciate a personal reflection on a topic, but I think If Truth Were a Child aimed to be something more and simply didn't measure up.

Despite my overall disappointment in the book, I did appreciate the author's perspective on the use of scripture in our lives. A provocative question asked by the author is how scriptural stories and parables are perceived and used by Latter-day Saints in different parts of the world. How do the African Saints internalize the "land of promise" language found in The Book of Mormon? How do Saints in India "liken" the words of Isaiah to their experiences? Those are great questions. The diversity which currently exists in the Restored Church is sure to be eclipsed in a magnificent way in the future, and I enjoyed the thought experiment of not experiencing the Restored Gospel as an American Latter-day Saint. There are a few other stimulating passages to be found but fewer still worth remembering.

I didn't care for If Truth Were a Child. I gleaned from it what I could but was mostly unimpressed by the author's undeveloped latter-day scholarship. The conversation is so much more interesting than he makes it out to be. I admit I might have been looking for something he didn't intend to write. In that case, I apologize to the author for the misunderstanding. Regardless, I think there are much better books to be found out there, including and especially in the arcane arena of Latter-day Saint commentary.

https://thethousanderclub.blogspot.com/

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book suggested (to me) a writer born into a faith tradition who, because of temperament or circumstance or both, finds it necessary to "discover" it himself. I’m glad I took the time to read the collection carefully. The paragraphs are long and contemplative—there is little of the facile aphoristic writing that characterizes a lot of personal essaying. So plan to not rush through it.

It might be useful to have a Christian/LDS background to fully appreciate these essays, and as it happens, I do. However, any reader who is curious about the human pursuit of truth—about cradling it as carefully and consciously as a child (extremely good title!)—will be rewarded.

Here are some of the ideas that I most enjoyed reading and thinking about: choice, conflict, revelation leading to differences in opinion, alternatives to cynicism (see especially p. 50), apathy, and friendship.

Personal essays can sometimes feel like propaganda, but there is none of that here. Instead, there is a gentle but also inexorable unrolling of a philosophy that invites the reader to engage, challenge, defend, renounce, or embrace it. I guess this is what good teaching is. Handley explores what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ who also lives in a complicated, baffling, broken, beautiful world. I wish it had been longer, actually. Five stars.

[Austin Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big thanks to @afton for the rec and for marking up every page. What a thought-provoking read on a number of topics. I need to reread it though because some of it was so dense I surely didn’t get as much as I’d like out of it.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scholarly, academic essays on such topics as "Why I am a Christian", "Why I am a Latter-day Saint", to sustaining church leadership, the moral risks of reading scripture and my favorite essay, "Politics, Religion, and the Pursuit of Community." These masterfully written essays take careful, thoughtful reading and RE-reading. There is much to ponder and hopefully discuss with others. George not only shares his perspective and faith but through his writing I, at least, thought of some subjects in a new way and in some cases was introduced to completely new approaches and ideas. (for example the Menardian Paradox.) Excellent but takes time and this not light reading - George Handley is a smart, rigorous thinker, scholar and author. Most impressive and I predict his essays will be cited and referenced often.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This is a book of essays on the author’s faith. His thoughtful reasoning helped me to think about truth from a new perspective, and his spiritual experiences helped me to feel it. I appreciated reading another book on the intersection of faith and intellect and how both benefit from each other. I liked seeing how his unique life experiences and upbringing played into his spiritual understanding. There is such beauty in his honesty and sincere seeking. I am also grateful for his ability to articulate spiritual conclusions I have also reached through experience, but could never articulate as eloquently. Would recommend to any faithful seeker.

Each chapter in my book is well-marked, but my very favorite chapters are:
-On Criticism, Compassion, and Charity
-Politics, Religion, and the Pursuit of Community
-Why I am a Latter-day Saint
-Church Life and the Discipline of Renewal
-Waiting on the Lord, or Sustaining Church Leaders
-A Poetics of the Restoration
-Why I am a Christian
(I will stop there before I list every chapter)

Some of my favorite quotes I want to hold on to:

-“I accept the tenets of my faith as plausible, compelling, and deeply moving. They make sense to me intellectually. More importantly, they have taken root in my very being as a result of acts of faith that brought personal witnesses of the gospel’s spiritual truths.” p. xii

-“There is a great deal I do not understand about the world and about my faith, but what I know is that I like the man I feel I am becoming when I take the claims of my religion seriously.” p. xii

-“I live in faith, which for me means that I trust that if I find myself at odds with the institution, in time I and/or the church and its culture will change and that a clearer pictures will emerge…And believing it, I do what I can to help build a culture worthy of what I consider to be the religion’s revealed truths.” p. xiii

-“From personal experience, I have learned that the Lord grants me higher understanding to the degree I am willing to improve my life and rethink my assumptions.” p. 11

-“He seems, in short, more interested in shaping me than he is in directing the course of my life.” p. 12

-“There is one answer, however, I always get when I pray with sincerity and humility, and that is that the Lord hears me, that he is with me, and that he will give me the power and love to sustain me in times of trial and difficulty. Because of the way this changes me for the better, such revelations of God’s love have proved to be more valuable than a direct answer to my specific questions.” p. 14

-“If I focus too much on an answer to my question and compartmentalize revelation too narrowly, I miss revelations about life in its fullest range of experiences.” p. 15

-“Contention isn’t what happens when people disagree. It is what happens when they lose trust and respect for one another.” p. 36

-“Simply put, it is more important to be engaged in the work of becoming good than to expend our energy insisting that we are already right.” p. 116

-“Life itself is a long dialogue with God. It may be interrupted by our distractions, blurred by our confusions, and stifled by our arrogance, but life can be marked as a series of returns to that deep place within our soul where things are still and where love abounds. When we find ourself in that place within us, whether we arrive there by intentions, serendipity, or grace, we wonder why we ever left.” p. 129

-“The point of life is to be good, and over time, perhaps over decades, the quiet kindness and goodness and generosity of our lives will speak far more profoundly and loudly than any defense of the truth we will ever utter.” p. 142

-“Faith is not faith without some critical judgment, but critical judgment alone will never allow me to see beyond the sometimes narrow limits of reason.” p. 146
-“Diversity is the key to the growth of understanding and the fuller restoration of truth.” p. 158

-“This means that is we are impatient with the incomplete information revealed to us and we refuse to trust or act in faith, then we can become vulnerable to the temptations of free and easy information, knowledge that we imagine can fill the gap of our understandings and allow us to make decisions without wagers of faith.” p. 162

-“Indeed, precisely because obedience does not require but instead rewards with understanding, I am wary of easy or superficially logical explanations that try to make facile sense of things that do not serve superficiality but instead require time and patience and faithful waiting.” p. 163

-“…when loyalty will be understood not just as protection of what we have received but as a collaborative search for greater light and understanding.” p. 164

-“I suspect that it matters far more how much love we retain in our hearts for God and for our fellow men and women than what we think or how we reason our way through social and political issues. Ideas matter, but love matters more, and love is an action that we render out of trust in what is good about others and about life and about God himself.” p. 164

-“It means not just tepid tolerance of difference but a profound understanding that truth shines more powerfully and the best policies emerge through broad exposure to and experimentation with a plurality of ideas.” p. 181

-“Revelation is his effort to pull us along, one step at a time to get us beyond these limitations, and yet he also understands that he can reveal himself to us only in the vocabulary of our current understanding.” p. 229

[Peter W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly liked two of the last few essays, On the Moral Risks of Reading Scripture, and Reading and the Menardian Paradox in 3 Nephi.

Handley points out that the scriptures blast misinterpretation of the scriptures as a serious sin – both Peter and Alma speak of people wresting the scriptures unto their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16, Alma 13:20). And yet, Nephi speaks of the need for readers to liken scriptures, or translate a text from its context to the context of the reader. So here is the challenge: we have to liken the scripture to our own circumstances, but the possibility of misinterpretation is destructive.

This challenge is related to another dichotomy – that between textual determinism (“it is merely and always the text that produces meaning, never the reader”) and reader response theory (“all readings are produced primarily or even solely by the context of the reader”) (196, 214). Both theories cannot really be applied to scripture. Textual determinism fails because the scriptures ask to be likened and pondered in ways that put the onus on the reader to create meaning. However, the other extreme fails because “it gives license to the reader to imagine whatever the reader desires God’s will to be. The sacred text becomes a mirror, saying back to us only what we already wanted to find” (227). So what is the solution to this dichotomy?

Handley seems to suggest that it is in imagination -- “a faithful reading imagines a voice speaking to us in our circumstances and yet coming from beyond them” (228). I was struck by Handley’s reminder that the often-neglected context of the well-known scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants in which God urges Oliver Cowdery to “study it out in your mind” is that Oliver Cowdery was attempting to translate a text that he could neither read, write, understand, or speak. Just as Oliver Cowdery was asked to exercise significant imagination in his translation effort, we are also asked to exercise significant imagination in our translations of the scriptures from their original context to the context of our own lives. “Divine language,” Handley writes, “is not merely the transfer of information but a poetic reformation of a higher idea.” (224).

But how do we know that the voice we are imagining coming to us in our reading is really a divine voice? Could this imagination be another form of finding in the scriptures whatever we already wanted to find?

Handley writes that “a good reading is a response to a semiotic pattern already established in the text” (232). We are all to plant and nourish the seed of faith mentioned in the parable of the sower and in Alma 32. Scripture shows us not only sacred text, but also reveals how to react to sacred text. Matthew is a scholar of the Hebrew Bible who endeavors to align prophecy with Jesus’ life. Nephi creatively riffs on Isaiah and prays to understand the vision of the tree of life (even though the vision didn’t initially have a clear message for him). Nathan’s indictment “thou art the man” to King David at the conclusion of the parable of the poor man’s ewe lamb in 2 Samuel 12 “metaphorizes the narrative” and prompts the prophet’s audience to ponder how they are akin to the “bad guy” in the parable (201). There will always be risk involved in interpretation and imagination. Nevertheless, the promise of Alma 32 is that reading scripture with attention to how the text wants to be read and a willingness to be transformed will change the reader’s life for the better.

[Tim Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent writing and thoughts from a man I greatly respect and trust as my former bishop, even though I’m sure he would be uncomfortable with that praise. I still remember him emphatically insisting on me calling him “George” rather than Bishop nearly the moment after he was released (so that’s how I will refer to him in this review).

Refreshing to read a faithful perspective that is nevertheless unafraid to critically analyze his faith culture in hopes to distinguish the “traditions of the fathers” from the transcendent truths of God. In fact there is a whole essay devoted to both the necessity of this criticism and its equally necessary opposing force, compassion, and how charity is the fulcrum that balances them.

This and other essays cut to the core of issues facing our church and our nation at this historical moment, exposing some of the hidden evils and spiritual dangers I haven’t heard other LDS authors talk about enough, including the evils of apathy about social injustice and the “arrogant triumphalism” about our supposed absolute understanding of the mind of God.

George’s background positions him to call with a compassionate and critical voice for greater reverence and respect for world views and perspectives that not only differ for our own but are essential to our growth towards greater understanding of the truth. But more importantly, how to be good Christians in a world of diversity. Because as he teaches so beautifully in “If Truth were a Child”, it is more important to be good than to be right. That is a paradigm shift for many in a nation where more love and compassion are needed on all extremes.

I especially enjoyed the earlier chapters that explore our faith’s approach to missionary work, temple worship, community and politics. Every member of the Church deserves to benefit from this thoughtful perspective. I gained a rich view of how true renewal can come from church activity, engagement and study. His discussion reframed the pursuit of revelation for me in the context of my church and human family. After reading I feel
simultaneously humbled and emboldened in my pursuit of truth in spite of my mortal failings.

The last several chapters were more challenging for a simple doctor like me and non-student of literature and the humanities but were worth the effort.

I would love to hear more from George in the future exploring pressing societal issues from a faithful doctrinal standpoint. I think this would help build bridges with a younger generation that is searching for understanding and sometimes rejecting certain traditions and with them a faith they don’t completely understand.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

George B. Handley is a humanities professor at Brigham Young University. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MA and PhD from UC Berkely. This book, part of the Maxwell Institute’s “Living Faith” series, is a collection of personal essays he has written about “the seamlessness of humanities and belief, intellect and faith” (page XI).

Handley explains in the preface that “What keeps me in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint and what keeps me working at living according to its principles is the fundamental fact that I accept the tenets of my faith as plausible, compelling, and deeply moving. They make sense to me intellectually. More importantly, they have taken root in my very being as a result of acts of faith that brought personal witnesses of the gospel’s spiritual truths” (page XII).

There are several essays that I particularly enjoyed. In “Why I Am a Christian,” he says “We talk of sin as a deliberate rejection of God, but sin often feels to me more like being a slave to myself, unable to escape my own psychology, genes, upbringing, habits, or personality even and especially when I am aware that life calls me to better habits and deeper commitments” (page 3). He further explains, “nothing has given me more confidence in the living reality of Jesus Christ as the Redeemer and resurrected Son of God than the way that my trust in him has converted my awareness of my insufficiencies into hope, into a palpable increase of love for myself, for others, and for life itself that is beyond my natural instincts…. A willingness to repent and then to declare my faith has opened me to deeper appreciation for the meaning and power of Christ’s atonement” (pages 4-5). He also makes the important distinction that “Christ’s pure love is not the same thing as blanket tolerance for all human behavior or belief” (page 7).

In “Why I Am a Latter-day Saint,” he says that “I am a Latter-day Saint because of my experience with personal revelation, the method that the restored gospel places front and center as its promise to believers” (page 10). He talks about the difficulty of receiving personal revelation and the patience required. “I would go as far as to say that I am a Latter-day Saint both because the Lord has answered my prayers about my fundamental commitments and because he doesn’t answer all my questions, at least not right away or in the way I hope…. There is one answer, however, I always get when I pray with sincerity and humility, and that is that the Lord hears me, that he is with me, and that he will give me the power and love to sustain me in times of trial and difficulty” (page 14).

The Church is sometimes criticized for its efforts in sharing the gospel. Handley points out that “The fact that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is so determined to declare its beliefs to the world can sometimes turn people away from it, but if a religion has any claim to truth, wouldn’t we expect and even want it to be shared?” (page 22). He also answers a similar criticism: “Feeling chosen or called by God should not be equated with membership in an elite club. Rather, it bestows a responsibility to extend God’s blessings to others” (pages 23-24).

On the topic of temple work, he says “If a religion believes in its own universality and in the idea of its own saving power but cannot provide adequate means of providing those teachings and saving ordinances to the whole human family, it strikes me that religion becomes just a method for condemning the majority of the human family” (page 28). He later adds, “The temple is the great promise of eternal progress, of second and third and fourth chances, however many it takes. It provides the circumstances and the means by which life’s many injustices might find more balance and mercy. It provides the means to hold families together even when in this life, for reasons we don’t completely understand, people take different paths” (page 32).

In “On Criticism, Compassion, and Charity,” he addresses a concern that has become common as of late: “Styles, personalities, isolated statements, and even policies can change, but the fundamentals of the gospel–obedience, service, repentance, and faith–do not…. Keeping ourselves committed to the fundamentals will not always provide answers to our questions, but it will provide the strength to live with the questions” (pages 51-52). He also pleads, “How I wish people of faith would learn to defend their faith with love, not with vitriol. How I wish critics too would exhibit even a modicum of the kind of love they claim the church doesn’t have” (page 54).

In the title essay, he talks about the fallacy of binary choices. “You either believe in the infallibility of church leaders or you believe in moral relativism. You must decide whether to either stand up for moral truth or be compassionate toward those whose lives have taken different directions than your own, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You either believe in the truth of your own religion or you believe that truth is everywhere and nowhere. You can’t expend your energy in compassion for others while also defending God’s truths. In the end, the unfortunate result of such polarized and mutually exclusive thinking is that you come to believe that you are one of the good ones because now you know who the bad ones are, and good thing too you figured that out soon enough because, well, the judgment is not coming at some future point. It is already here. And of course everyone wants to be with the winners” (pages 82-83).

Some other things in the title essay that resonated with me are “my worldviews and attitudes seem to change according to my mood, and my mood, although a fickle thing, is generally shaped by how I am living” (page 91), and “It is little wonder that what awakes me from spiritual stupor is invariably a sudden reminder of the soulful presence of another, whether it be the glance I steal at my wife while she sleeps next to me and I suddenly feel flooded with love or those moments of discovery that my children are far more complex and beautiful and individual than I had realized” (page 94). Also, “I wonder why anyone should believe they need to have answers for everything” (page 95).

This collection of essays is a literal fulfillment of the “Living Faith” series title. It is a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of a fellow Latter-day Saint that many of us can probably relate to in some way. I enjoyed reading most of the essays and they gave me a lot to think about.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't really add more than Conor Hilton's book review of If Truth were a Child found [image error], but I'm going to try anyway.

I'm in the midst of preparing for my defense, and I also just had a second child, so I haven't been able to post any new book reviews recently. The lack of sleep really does add up. I have also been trying to tackle two other rather dense books at the same time, so I've been moving pretty slowly.

I was excited when I saw that Handley had another book coming out. I had really just discovered him when I read his [image error], a mentor of his and a figure in Latter-Day-Saint-dom that I really wish I could have known in person. Like his mentor, Handley grasps the nuances and difficulties of faith-- and yet, I would add, firmly committed to the gospel. He recounts in his book two difficult experiences that shaped his faith experience: a brother who committed suicide and another brother who came out as gay. Events like that change you and your faith.

If Truth Were a Child is a complete whole, but it is made up of a series of standalone essays. You could really read them in any order you wanted and it would still make sense. I read it as one whole, and that (combined with the fact I read it over a 2-month period) makes it hard to keep all the pieces or themes separate from one another. I'd like to be able to tell you which essays I like the best, but it's kind of hard to pick out the pieces. I don't want to ruin the title piece for you-- you'll have to figure out why truth would be like a child-- but I will give you a taste of two unique ideas near the end of the text. In Reading and the Menardian Paradox Handley draws on a character from the works of Jorges Luis Borges Pierre Menard who tried to re-write Don Quixote as if if actually were the original author. Sounds kind of absurd, right? Like, it's already been written, man, isn't this a useless exercise? Handley uses this illustration as a jumping off point to explore two different theories of scripture: either the text and its possible interpretations are constant, and the views of the reader don't matter at all. Or (according to reader-response theory) every reader's interpretation of the text is unique, making it all subjective: why even try to find big-t truth in such a case? Handley calls this the Menardian paradox. Handley believes that Latter-Day Saints are able to "solve" (or at least engage and embrace) this paradox because our theology is dynamically orthodox:

We adhere to what we have recieved not out of fear of competition but in anticipation of what is yet to be revealed.

Latter-Day Saints are proud of our prophetic tradition because it does leave room for change to adapt to changing circumstances. But it can at times be a source of embarrassment: if it can change doesn't that imply that you were wrong? Weren't prophets wrong about blacks and the priesthood, and couldn't they be wrong about a lot of other things? Are Latter-Day Saints actually just changing with the world? Handley engages with some of the consequences of this, firmly declaring that we aren't moral relativists, but that the Latter-Day Saint embraces a model of revelation similar to that found in the Bible e.g. Peter receiving revelation to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.

Wow-- so that and his other essay On the Moral Risks of Reading deal with this idea that how we read matters and has moral implications. Kind of a fascinating idea, and could create a spark in your own reading of scripture.

Handley engages with a lot of other authors throughout the book. I had to add some new ones to my reading list, but I also got excited when I found a familiar name, like Marilynne Robinson. I really like his building off of Adam Miller in the last chapter. I discovered Miller initially through his short paraphrases of books of the bible (check out my reviews [image error], [image error], and [image error]). You will notice, as already pointed out in the previous section, that Handley's ideas center around engaging in religious tension: reader-response theory versus immutable texts. The last essay The Grace of Nothingness is, to put it over-simply, an engagement with grace versus works. He begins with a quote attributed to Brigham Young and Saint Augustine that has had me thinking more than once before this essay:

Pray as if everything depends on the Lord. Act as if everything depends on you.

If I took anything away from this book, it is that turning paradoxes into an either/or is an over-simplification that can have dire spiritual consequences. Handley retains the mystery that is central to the gospel. Trying to retain the mystery of paradox isn't to be lukewarm (neither hot nor cold, as the book of Revelation says), as some may accuse. On the contrary, picking a side is the easy way out, and is morally lazy. It's giving up the life-long fight, the wrestle with the angel, that paradoxes represent.

[Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I ended up actually liking it. There were parts that were eloquent and moving and insightful but the second last chapter in particular seemed to my simple mind to be trying to make things more complicated than necessary. Some of the jargon and references were a bit too far over my head to really embrace - which obviously says more about me than the book but it was a bit frustrating because I felt there were meaningful ideas that weren’t quite as clear as I would have liked.

[Lisa Reising · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I don't naturally think like a philosopher and some of this was challenging to understand, I love the way the author opens up my mind. I like the way the thoughts in his essays make me feel about the infinite possibilities of understanding God and His purposes. I will read these again, hopefully understanding more possibilities each time. It was an energizing and hope-filled book, best taken in little chunks at a time.

[Chadwick Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enlightening insight into the challenges and some answers to those challenges that people of faith and members of the church if Jesus Christ face. We get into some pretty deep doctrine and it might take a few different reads to follow the line of thought.

In the end my understanding of the gospel of Christ, my understanding of it and understanding of my struggles in my faith was increased by the insights highlighted through this book.

[Carlee Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often bogged down by academese (It’s a Maxwell Institute book after all) which made my rushed reading limited, there are some real gems of thoughtful articulation here. Specifically: I was inspired by the concept of the “hermeneutics of love” (pg 49-50), hopefully challenged by the chapter on sustaining church leaders, and enlightened by the final chapter (a highlight reel of my favorite themes from studying under Handley as an undergrad).

[Tara T. Boyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charity emanates through Handley’s writing. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered writing that is so sincere, earnest, compassionate, patient, and profound. What a gorgeous gift this collection is. Worth buying and ruminating over again and again (almost like scripture).

[Lyndsey Thackston · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the title and listened to a Maxwell institute podcast on this. I could have very well not been the right audience for this book, but I did not find a lot of original ideas in here. Very little resonated with me.Based on the reviews, Apparently, It’s just me.

[Avid reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well-written, insightful, and deep.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, not every essay is great, but the ones that are REALLY are! Enjoyed most of this one.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly thought-provoking and insightful. At times over my head. But one to definitely revisit more! I love this guy’s mind.

[Andrea Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide whether to throw this book in the trash or read it again. Its very difficult going in many parts, Handley uses enormous words and so many of them in such long sentences that I have to reread whole paragraphs to figure out his message in some spots. Its like reading Soren Kirkegaard; actually Kirkegaard may be easier than Handley! If you can get through his writing style, which is so convoluted and obtuse, you will find those gold nuggets of beautiful messages. Some I really liked I marked so I never have to read the whole miserable thing again. Truth challenges our current views, pg. 111. Institutional imperfections, pg. 99-120. Point others to God, pg. 123. Renewing a dialogue with God, pg. 133. Revelation, pg. 155. Assisting others in reaching their potential, pg. 157. Sustaining leaders, pg. 160. Lastly, why the Lord gives us incomplete information, pg. 161.
Handley has a beautiful message to convey if you have time to excavate it from beneath all his massive words hiding his meaning. Here is the worst sentence I found, but forewarning, the whole book sounds like this! "In it's perpetual metatextual reminders about the inherent textuality of understanding, as well as the need for abridgement, revision, rephrasing, appropriation, and the seeming inevitability of anachronism of anachronism (things that Nephi's use of Isaiah and other biblical language demonstrates particularly well) the book of mormon highlights the dynamic and incomplete nature of interpretation."

[Hannah Packard Crowther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many thoughtful essays, including the one that gives the book its title, and which I had found online and loved. I loved this line in the last essay, in referring to the confession that there is no formula for determining the outcome of life:

“All it requires is that we must lose that maniacal and selfish need for life’s plotline and instead fall in love with life as a plotless poem.”

[Afton Izu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annoyed that I need to buy a new copy bc I have obnoxiously highlighted every sentence in mine. "On the Moral Risks of Reading Scripture," "If Truth Were a Child," "Waiting on the Lord, or Sustaining Church Leaders," and "A Poetics of the Restoration" were awakening!