What do you think?
Rate this book
Finding Christ in the Covenant Path: Ancient Insights for Modern Life
This volume offers a fresh but faithful focus on the journey of covenants and discipleship through the double lens of ancient words and medieval images. The first part of the book helps us see Christ’s identity as our Redeemer by exploring the ancient words that connect covenants, redemption, worship, the presence of the Lord, and sitting down enthroned in God’s presence as his children and heirs.
The second part of the book reveals Christ as our ransom by exploring medieval images, particularly the image of Christ. With personal anecdotes, historical background, and scriptural analysis, this section uses devotional images and late medieval practices of contemplation as a strategy to come unto Christ. By using medieval images as a counterpoint to Restoration practices and ordinances, we can more fully appreciate the gift of God’s Son and see it with fresh eyes.
The second part of the book reveals Christ as our ransom by exploring medieval images, particularly the image of Christ. With personal anecdotes, historical background, and scriptural analysis, this section uses devotional images and late medieval practices of contemplation as a strategy to come unto Christ. By using medieval images as a counterpoint to Restoration practices and ordinances, we can more fully appreciate the gift of God’s Son and see it with fresh eyes.
- GenresReligionNonfiction
200 pages, Hardcover
Published March 2, 2020
8 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 13, 2022
This is an excellent book about the plan of redemption, Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, and the covenant path and ordinances that help us come to know Him and become like Him! We can choose to believe in Him, behold and accept His redeeming sacrifice in our behalf, have faith in Him, repent, be baptized, and enjoy the blessings of the Holy Ghost and the power of His Atonement through participating in the ordinances of the gospel. Here are some great quotes:
"We feel lost. We are trapped. But our Heavenly Father has a plan. He wants us to know that his plan of redemption will work... His plan is big enough to bring all of his children home. He has chosen his Only Begotten Son as our Redeemer... to bring us back through the covenant path. This message of hope is communicated in scriptures and in the ordinances we perform, particularly in the temple (p. VII)."
"This is the message our Father in Heaven has been trying so hard to communicate to us--Christ can free us and bring us home if we trust him and come unto him... This journey of coming unto Christ can be understood more clearly as we become attuned to the concepts and symbolic language communicated in the covenants and ordinances of salvation (p. VIII)."
"We can have confidence that he is our Redeemer because of our covenants with him... Our covenants bring us into his family (p. IX)."
"We can fully receive this ransom price by receiving the image of Christ in ourselves (p. XI)."
"As we behold the gift of his love and sacrifice, we can more fully receive Christ into our lives. The covenants and ordinances offer both the message and the power of redemption (p. XII)."
"I printed out all the scriptures with redemption and redeem in the Old Testament. I studied each of the passages in the Book of Mormon where these terms were found... one day... something clicked. I started to see a pattern and a connection between redemption and covenant (p. 5)."
"Making a covenant in scriptural terms can best be understood as forming a new relationship... Covenants create family relationships. Covenants change who we are because they change our relationship with those around us and their relationship to us (p. 8)."
"In ancient Israel this sense of covenants as creating new family relationships not only brought people together with each other but also brought them together with the Lord. They became his people, and he became their God (p. 9)."
"Covenants create family relationships that are marked by a new name, reflecting a new nature (p. 10)."
"Part of the reason we are baptized is so we can have increased faith and confidence in the Lamb of God. He has taken away the sins of the world. He is mighty to save (p. 14)."
"As we receive his name more fully we can also receive his nature and his Spirit more fully. The Lord is promising to fill us with his Spirit and change our hearts so that we want to obey as he obeyed his Father (p. 15)."
"Our willingness to live in this covenant relationship opens the door for him to pour out his Spirit. When we receive the Spirit, we have access to his enabling power (p. 15)."
"Faith in ourselves will never get us out of the depth of our captivity. Hope in a gospel sense is not tied to confidence in our own strength, but to better understanding the nature of our covenant relationship and who we have covenanted with. When we understand and begin to trust the One who has made covenant promises, then we will look to him for help (p. 16)."
"Redemption emphasizes that we are saved from slavery through the payment of a price (p. 19)."
"When we recognize our need for a Redeemer, we are humbled by his humility to come down to earth in a human body to fell our pains and to suffer for us (p. 20)."
"Remembering that we have been redeemed in the past increases our confidence that we will be redeemed from present and future troubles... Satan wants us to believe that our weaknesses are our true nature and that we can't leave this condition of spiritual bondage. Knowing that the Lord is our Kinsman-Redeemer gives us confidence to ask for help, even when we are the ones that have sold ourselves into bondage (p. 27)."
"Nephi knew that because of his covenant relationship with the Lord, he wasn't dependent on his own strength alone... 'I know in whom I have trusted' (p. 28)."
"He chose to focus on gratitude for redeeming love and redeeming power rather than to despair at his own past or at his own weak nature (p. 29)."
"Because of our redemption, we belong to Christ... Our submission is what makes us Saints. Our willingness to live his way is how we worship (p. 36)."
"This sense of belonging to the Lord as his servants or slaves because of the redemption from bondage in Egypt is a foreshadowing of the spiritual principle taught by Paul: 'ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price' (p. 37)."
"When we feel a gratitude so deep that we would do anything for the One who paid the price for our escape from bondage, we can start to understand worship as bowing down and serving (p. 38)."
"Our choice to obey is a choice to worship with our lives (p. 39)."
"When we choose to be part of the kingdom of God by making covenants, we choose Christ as our King. We choose a relationship in which we promise to do his will (p. 39)."
"Trusting the Lord when we don't understand is bowing down (p. 41)."
"Exercising faith in Christ to receive his servants takes just that: faith. We choose to receive their word as thought from his own mouth (p. 41)."
"All service in the Church is worship and none more so than in the temple (p. 41)."
"All lands and all people are invited to covenant, be redeemed, and become the Lord's servants (p. 42)."
"With our service and obedience, our busyness, we can still sometimes feel stretched and strained. In our hustle and bustle to go and do, we may find our well is running dry. It is easy to slip into simply being active in the Church and feel a hollowness or emptiness inside... Worship often is expressed in the outward performances of our lives, the bowing down and serving, and so when our limitations weigh us down, it is time to look again to our Redeemer for a deeper level of our relationship (p. 44)."
"All are invited to come and partake of the love of God. Seeking out the presence of the Lord moves us from focusing not only on what we do to obey and sacrifice, but what we are thinking and feeling, who we are. The invitation to partake of the fruit of the tree of life is an invitation to the presence of God--to be with him as we become like him (p. 46)."
"The holiness of being in the presence of God is the source of joy. Being at the tree and partaking of the fruit is being in the presence of God (p. 47)."
"Longing for the presence of God is part of the quest for holiness (p. 48)."
"Those who have been seen as 'dry trees' shall be given 'a place and a name better than of sons and daughters.' Rather than limitation they will experience abundance. The covenants and access to temple blessings in the latter days are now available to all (p. 53)."
"All are alike unto God. He invites all to come unto him and partake of his goodness (p. 54)."
"Christ has paid the price so that we can be freed from the captivity of guilt for anything that we have done. We can walk away from that enslavement if we are willing to keep repenting, keep trying, keep seeking to 'take hold of his covenant' (p. 54)."
"We have to want to live in the freedom that he offers us. We show that desire by our choice to be obedient (p. 54)."
"We have to want to be holy (p. 55)."
"When we choose holiness in body and mind, we choose the Lord. We make choices that enable us to enter into his presence (p. 56)."
"Sometimes we forget the covenant privilege that is ours with the gift of the Holy Ghost. By coming unto Christ with faith, repentance, and partaking of the cleansing power of baptism and the sacrament, we are made fit to be temples of God, to have the presence of the Lord literally within us through the gift of the Holy Ghost (p. 57)."
"In any time frame, we must be clean to enjoy the presence of the Lord (p. 57)."
"Access to the presence of the Lord is made possible only in and through Christ's Atonement (p. 58)."
"The gift of the Holy Ghost is the means by which the sanctifying, purifying influence of Christ's Atonement becomes available to us. When we choose holiness, we choose to invite that cleansing power into our lives (p. 59)."
"Only he can change our natures (p. 59)."
"When we are taking the name of Christ upon us, we can show others who he is and who they can become (p. 64)."
"God takes us from the dust and shows us that we belong on thrones (p. 64)."
"He has not only bought us out of bondage, but... he is lifting us up to thrones of glory in the presence of his Father. His love for us, his vision of who we are and who we can become, is so radically different from our fears and doubts, our regrets and self-recrimination, that it can rewrite our vision of ourselves and our lives (p. 65)."
"There is no other way to be saved, only in and through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ (p. 66)."
"Being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, we can continue along the covenant path (p. 67)."
"We don't deserve it. We don't earn it. The gift of Christ's redeeming love comes to us not just to start us on the path home, but also to give us strength, power, and desire to continue on the journey (p. 67)."
"He is telling us that we are welcome, that we belong (p. 67)."
"Following the covenant path can feel routine, but part of growing up in life and part of growing up in Christ is learning to find joy and satisfaction in the routine. Stability may seem like the enemy when we're a thrill-seeking teen, but refusing to settle down leads us to miss out on being at home in God's presence. If we're always seeking out new sensations and diversions, we won't settle down to be present and enjoy the simple joys of the Spirit (p. 69)."
"How can we be settled then if we ourselves are not constant? Faith in Christ produces something that stabilizes us when the fruits of our faith are sometimes a little erratic... Hope is the fruit of faith... Christ's promise is sure. We trust in the covenant because we trust in him... He is the source of our stability (p. 70)."
"Obtaining this exalted and divine state and condition requires us to be filled with charity and to take on the divine nature. It's a long journey, but we can have hope (p. 71)."
"We must start by acknowledging that we need help, that we need a Redeemer. Having the humility and faith to ask for his grace opens up the door to all that we need to do and to be... His grace is sufficient, if we are willing to rise up and become what he sees in us. His redemption is there to reclaim us and to take us to where we belong, sitting on the throne of the covenant promise of exaltation (p. 72)."
"Do we really have to wear these robes of righteousness all the time?... Being clothed with righteousness is a temple image that shows us that God wants to give us the kind of nature that he has, if we are willing to keep moving along the path to receive that gift... When we attend the temple, we accept the invitation to ritually sit down as kings and queens. When we discard anything filthy from our lives, we accept the invitation to sit down as kings and queens and allow ourselves to be clothed with the robe of righteousness (p. 73)."
"His throne is not where he is as much as how he is (p. 74)."
"'Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things... but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world' (1 Peter 1:18-20). That is the plan. It has always been the plan. Christ was foreordained as our ransom price... This plan of redemption is God's ancient message of hope that he has been trying to communicate through the ages (p. 77)."
"The ordinances are there to point us to Christ and to increase our confidence in the price that he paid as our Redeemer. So our challenge is not just to participate, but to behold, to take meaning out of the ordinances, to see them pointing us to Christ's expiatory suffering and death... Nephi was able to behold the Father's ancient message of hope in the life and death of Jesus Christ because he beheld him as the Lamb of God, our ransom price (p. 79)."
"For the purpose of practicing beholding the suffering and death of Christ, we don't need more historical details. Even people who saw the historical suffering and death of Christ still needed to look beyond the events to see the meaning of his death as our vicarious substitute... God's ancient message of hope is primarily communicated through images and symbols... Our skill in finding meaning in the scriptures and the ordinances can improve with practice as well (p. 80)."
"We embrace the power of art, like the power of music, to lift our minds and hearts to worship and to contemplate the love and power of our Heavenly Father and his divine Son, Jesus Christ (p. 88)."
"Surrounding ourselves with the images of Christ not only signals our faith to others but can also serve as a reminder to ourselves... We have covenanted to always remember him, and devotional art can help us to always remember... but we must not look only to images. Images cannot be the source of a relationship or connection with the Savior (p. 91)."
"Christ wants us to connect with him through his Spirit, but he also provides a physical, tactile way for us to encounter his suffering and death. He wants what he experienced to be real for us (p. 106)."
"'Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows' (Isaiah 53:4). His sorrow helped to lift my sorrow (p. 109)."
"'Behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin.' If Christ's suffering and death are just an abstraction or an idea for us, it is hard for his atoning sacrifice to soften our hearts. Taking time to behold his sufferings and death opens our heart and mind to the love he had for us in order to suffer and die on our behalf... Taking the time to behold the blood that he shed for us can move our hearts to a response of love and gratitude (p. 113)."
"The gift of Christ's ransom price can have a transformative power as we more clearly behold and receive what we are being offered (p. 117)."
"He is always offering us mercy. His arms of mercy are extended to us. But his justice--his righteousness--is shown in letting us have the final word on what we want (p. 120)."
"The Lord has always used images and parables to connect physical reality with spiritual reality (p. 121)."
"He shed his blood to give us life (p. 127)."
"If we do not choose faith, repentance, and making and keeping covenants, we are instead choosing to persist in our 'own carnal nature, and [go] on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God.'... He offers to take away the cup of wrath and replace it with the cup of his blood, his life, his fullness. We decide. We will receive what we are willing to receive (p. 128)."
"The Book of Mormon is in many ways a manual of how to respond to Christ... 'O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death' (Alma 36:18). As we seek to learn for ourselves what mercy is and how to receive it, this plea can help us learn the only way to find redemption (p. 141)."
"Christ repeatedly presents himself to us in ways that emphasize both his life and his death (p. 150)."
"As we behold him in his totality, we can realize that we need not be troubled or afraid. His redeeming love and his victory over death give him power, and that victory is visible through the marks in his hands and feet (p. 150)."
"Christ's invitation is that we come to behold and experience the simultaneous reality of his infinite life and his atoning death. We need to know for ourselves that he lives as our God and that... he has given himself to be slain for the sins of the world... This is the invitation that he gives when he says: 'Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet' (D&C 6:36-37, p. 151)."
"We can know him more fully as we become more like him (p. 152)."
"Knowledge in a scriptural sense is not what we know, but what we are, what we have become... This knowledge is not abstract but embodied, and it is modeled for us in the ritual action of ordinances (p. 154)."
"As we seek to follow and serve Christ, we come to know him (p. 159)."
"President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that our responsibility to take Christ's name and image upon ourselves is not something for a future day... 'our lives must become a meaningful expression, the symbol of our declaration of our testimony of the Living Christ, the Eternal Son of the Living God.' Our lives are the symbol of our faith (p. 159)."
"As we live our covenants, we come to know Christ (p. 163)."
"The ordinances are necessary but not sufficient. We make covenants, but we also must choose to keep those covenants. We 'put on Christ' in the ordinances, but we must also 'put on Christ' in our lives (p. 163)."
"Obedience is not about our capacity but our willingness (p. 164)."
"'Live with more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ... Study the Master's every teaching and devote ourselves more fully to his example... believe in those 'exceeding great and precious promises'... claim them (Howard W. Hunter, p. 165).'"
"It is only by putting on Christ through the ordinances of the temple that we come to know him. It is only by putting on Christ through the ordinances of the temple that we receive 'all things that pertain unto life and godliness' (p. 166)."
"Through the ordinances we receive the power to become godly (p. 167)."
"He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The only way to find the freedom that he offers is to continue in his word, becoming his disciples and coming to know him as we experience the freedom of living his kind of life (p. 173)."
"God himself came down to atone for the sins of the world, but we decide if we want to give away our sins to know him. The great Jehovah gave himself to free us from the bondage of sin and our fallen state, but we decide if we are willing to make and keep the covenants that he offers us (p. 174)."
"The restoration of Christ's Church established the only path back home (p. 174)."
"We cannot be where he is and stay where we are (p. 174)."
"When we choose to connect ourselves to Christ through covenant we become free. We accept him as our Redeemer and he takes us on the journey from bondage (p. 175)."
"We feel lost. We are trapped. But our Heavenly Father has a plan. He wants us to know that his plan of redemption will work... His plan is big enough to bring all of his children home. He has chosen his Only Begotten Son as our Redeemer... to bring us back through the covenant path. This message of hope is communicated in scriptures and in the ordinances we perform, particularly in the temple (p. VII)."
"This is the message our Father in Heaven has been trying so hard to communicate to us--Christ can free us and bring us home if we trust him and come unto him... This journey of coming unto Christ can be understood more clearly as we become attuned to the concepts and symbolic language communicated in the covenants and ordinances of salvation (p. VIII)."
"We can have confidence that he is our Redeemer because of our covenants with him... Our covenants bring us into his family (p. IX)."
"We can fully receive this ransom price by receiving the image of Christ in ourselves (p. XI)."
"As we behold the gift of his love and sacrifice, we can more fully receive Christ into our lives. The covenants and ordinances offer both the message and the power of redemption (p. XII)."
"I printed out all the scriptures with redemption and redeem in the Old Testament. I studied each of the passages in the Book of Mormon where these terms were found... one day... something clicked. I started to see a pattern and a connection between redemption and covenant (p. 5)."
"Making a covenant in scriptural terms can best be understood as forming a new relationship... Covenants create family relationships. Covenants change who we are because they change our relationship with those around us and their relationship to us (p. 8)."
"In ancient Israel this sense of covenants as creating new family relationships not only brought people together with each other but also brought them together with the Lord. They became his people, and he became their God (p. 9)."
"Covenants create family relationships that are marked by a new name, reflecting a new nature (p. 10)."
"Part of the reason we are baptized is so we can have increased faith and confidence in the Lamb of God. He has taken away the sins of the world. He is mighty to save (p. 14)."
"As we receive his name more fully we can also receive his nature and his Spirit more fully. The Lord is promising to fill us with his Spirit and change our hearts so that we want to obey as he obeyed his Father (p. 15)."
"Our willingness to live in this covenant relationship opens the door for him to pour out his Spirit. When we receive the Spirit, we have access to his enabling power (p. 15)."
"Faith in ourselves will never get us out of the depth of our captivity. Hope in a gospel sense is not tied to confidence in our own strength, but to better understanding the nature of our covenant relationship and who we have covenanted with. When we understand and begin to trust the One who has made covenant promises, then we will look to him for help (p. 16)."
"Redemption emphasizes that we are saved from slavery through the payment of a price (p. 19)."
"When we recognize our need for a Redeemer, we are humbled by his humility to come down to earth in a human body to fell our pains and to suffer for us (p. 20)."
"Remembering that we have been redeemed in the past increases our confidence that we will be redeemed from present and future troubles... Satan wants us to believe that our weaknesses are our true nature and that we can't leave this condition of spiritual bondage. Knowing that the Lord is our Kinsman-Redeemer gives us confidence to ask for help, even when we are the ones that have sold ourselves into bondage (p. 27)."
"Nephi knew that because of his covenant relationship with the Lord, he wasn't dependent on his own strength alone... 'I know in whom I have trusted' (p. 28)."
"He chose to focus on gratitude for redeeming love and redeeming power rather than to despair at his own past or at his own weak nature (p. 29)."
"Because of our redemption, we belong to Christ... Our submission is what makes us Saints. Our willingness to live his way is how we worship (p. 36)."
"This sense of belonging to the Lord as his servants or slaves because of the redemption from bondage in Egypt is a foreshadowing of the spiritual principle taught by Paul: 'ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price' (p. 37)."
"When we feel a gratitude so deep that we would do anything for the One who paid the price for our escape from bondage, we can start to understand worship as bowing down and serving (p. 38)."
"Our choice to obey is a choice to worship with our lives (p. 39)."
"When we choose to be part of the kingdom of God by making covenants, we choose Christ as our King. We choose a relationship in which we promise to do his will (p. 39)."
"Trusting the Lord when we don't understand is bowing down (p. 41)."
"Exercising faith in Christ to receive his servants takes just that: faith. We choose to receive their word as thought from his own mouth (p. 41)."
"All service in the Church is worship and none more so than in the temple (p. 41)."
"All lands and all people are invited to covenant, be redeemed, and become the Lord's servants (p. 42)."
"With our service and obedience, our busyness, we can still sometimes feel stretched and strained. In our hustle and bustle to go and do, we may find our well is running dry. It is easy to slip into simply being active in the Church and feel a hollowness or emptiness inside... Worship often is expressed in the outward performances of our lives, the bowing down and serving, and so when our limitations weigh us down, it is time to look again to our Redeemer for a deeper level of our relationship (p. 44)."
"All are invited to come and partake of the love of God. Seeking out the presence of the Lord moves us from focusing not only on what we do to obey and sacrifice, but what we are thinking and feeling, who we are. The invitation to partake of the fruit of the tree of life is an invitation to the presence of God--to be with him as we become like him (p. 46)."
"The holiness of being in the presence of God is the source of joy. Being at the tree and partaking of the fruit is being in the presence of God (p. 47)."
"Longing for the presence of God is part of the quest for holiness (p. 48)."
"Those who have been seen as 'dry trees' shall be given 'a place and a name better than of sons and daughters.' Rather than limitation they will experience abundance. The covenants and access to temple blessings in the latter days are now available to all (p. 53)."
"All are alike unto God. He invites all to come unto him and partake of his goodness (p. 54)."
"Christ has paid the price so that we can be freed from the captivity of guilt for anything that we have done. We can walk away from that enslavement if we are willing to keep repenting, keep trying, keep seeking to 'take hold of his covenant' (p. 54)."
"We have to want to live in the freedom that he offers us. We show that desire by our choice to be obedient (p. 54)."
"We have to want to be holy (p. 55)."
"When we choose holiness in body and mind, we choose the Lord. We make choices that enable us to enter into his presence (p. 56)."
"Sometimes we forget the covenant privilege that is ours with the gift of the Holy Ghost. By coming unto Christ with faith, repentance, and partaking of the cleansing power of baptism and the sacrament, we are made fit to be temples of God, to have the presence of the Lord literally within us through the gift of the Holy Ghost (p. 57)."
"In any time frame, we must be clean to enjoy the presence of the Lord (p. 57)."
"Access to the presence of the Lord is made possible only in and through Christ's Atonement (p. 58)."
"The gift of the Holy Ghost is the means by which the sanctifying, purifying influence of Christ's Atonement becomes available to us. When we choose holiness, we choose to invite that cleansing power into our lives (p. 59)."
"Only he can change our natures (p. 59)."
"When we are taking the name of Christ upon us, we can show others who he is and who they can become (p. 64)."
"God takes us from the dust and shows us that we belong on thrones (p. 64)."
"He has not only bought us out of bondage, but... he is lifting us up to thrones of glory in the presence of his Father. His love for us, his vision of who we are and who we can become, is so radically different from our fears and doubts, our regrets and self-recrimination, that it can rewrite our vision of ourselves and our lives (p. 65)."
"There is no other way to be saved, only in and through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ (p. 66)."
"Being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, we can continue along the covenant path (p. 67)."
"We don't deserve it. We don't earn it. The gift of Christ's redeeming love comes to us not just to start us on the path home, but also to give us strength, power, and desire to continue on the journey (p. 67)."
"He is telling us that we are welcome, that we belong (p. 67)."
"Following the covenant path can feel routine, but part of growing up in life and part of growing up in Christ is learning to find joy and satisfaction in the routine. Stability may seem like the enemy when we're a thrill-seeking teen, but refusing to settle down leads us to miss out on being at home in God's presence. If we're always seeking out new sensations and diversions, we won't settle down to be present and enjoy the simple joys of the Spirit (p. 69)."
"How can we be settled then if we ourselves are not constant? Faith in Christ produces something that stabilizes us when the fruits of our faith are sometimes a little erratic... Hope is the fruit of faith... Christ's promise is sure. We trust in the covenant because we trust in him... He is the source of our stability (p. 70)."
"Obtaining this exalted and divine state and condition requires us to be filled with charity and to take on the divine nature. It's a long journey, but we can have hope (p. 71)."
"We must start by acknowledging that we need help, that we need a Redeemer. Having the humility and faith to ask for his grace opens up the door to all that we need to do and to be... His grace is sufficient, if we are willing to rise up and become what he sees in us. His redemption is there to reclaim us and to take us to where we belong, sitting on the throne of the covenant promise of exaltation (p. 72)."
"Do we really have to wear these robes of righteousness all the time?... Being clothed with righteousness is a temple image that shows us that God wants to give us the kind of nature that he has, if we are willing to keep moving along the path to receive that gift... When we attend the temple, we accept the invitation to ritually sit down as kings and queens. When we discard anything filthy from our lives, we accept the invitation to sit down as kings and queens and allow ourselves to be clothed with the robe of righteousness (p. 73)."
"His throne is not where he is as much as how he is (p. 74)."
"'Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things... but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world' (1 Peter 1:18-20). That is the plan. It has always been the plan. Christ was foreordained as our ransom price... This plan of redemption is God's ancient message of hope that he has been trying to communicate through the ages (p. 77)."
"The ordinances are there to point us to Christ and to increase our confidence in the price that he paid as our Redeemer. So our challenge is not just to participate, but to behold, to take meaning out of the ordinances, to see them pointing us to Christ's expiatory suffering and death... Nephi was able to behold the Father's ancient message of hope in the life and death of Jesus Christ because he beheld him as the Lamb of God, our ransom price (p. 79)."
"For the purpose of practicing beholding the suffering and death of Christ, we don't need more historical details. Even people who saw the historical suffering and death of Christ still needed to look beyond the events to see the meaning of his death as our vicarious substitute... God's ancient message of hope is primarily communicated through images and symbols... Our skill in finding meaning in the scriptures and the ordinances can improve with practice as well (p. 80)."
"We embrace the power of art, like the power of music, to lift our minds and hearts to worship and to contemplate the love and power of our Heavenly Father and his divine Son, Jesus Christ (p. 88)."
"Surrounding ourselves with the images of Christ not only signals our faith to others but can also serve as a reminder to ourselves... We have covenanted to always remember him, and devotional art can help us to always remember... but we must not look only to images. Images cannot be the source of a relationship or connection with the Savior (p. 91)."
"Christ wants us to connect with him through his Spirit, but he also provides a physical, tactile way for us to encounter his suffering and death. He wants what he experienced to be real for us (p. 106)."
"'Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows' (Isaiah 53:4). His sorrow helped to lift my sorrow (p. 109)."
"'Behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin.' If Christ's suffering and death are just an abstraction or an idea for us, it is hard for his atoning sacrifice to soften our hearts. Taking time to behold his sufferings and death opens our heart and mind to the love he had for us in order to suffer and die on our behalf... Taking the time to behold the blood that he shed for us can move our hearts to a response of love and gratitude (p. 113)."
"The gift of Christ's ransom price can have a transformative power as we more clearly behold and receive what we are being offered (p. 117)."
"He is always offering us mercy. His arms of mercy are extended to us. But his justice--his righteousness--is shown in letting us have the final word on what we want (p. 120)."
"The Lord has always used images and parables to connect physical reality with spiritual reality (p. 121)."
"He shed his blood to give us life (p. 127)."
"If we do not choose faith, repentance, and making and keeping covenants, we are instead choosing to persist in our 'own carnal nature, and [go] on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God.'... He offers to take away the cup of wrath and replace it with the cup of his blood, his life, his fullness. We decide. We will receive what we are willing to receive (p. 128)."
"The Book of Mormon is in many ways a manual of how to respond to Christ... 'O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death' (Alma 36:18). As we seek to learn for ourselves what mercy is and how to receive it, this plea can help us learn the only way to find redemption (p. 141)."
"Christ repeatedly presents himself to us in ways that emphasize both his life and his death (p. 150)."
"As we behold him in his totality, we can realize that we need not be troubled or afraid. His redeeming love and his victory over death give him power, and that victory is visible through the marks in his hands and feet (p. 150)."
"Christ's invitation is that we come to behold and experience the simultaneous reality of his infinite life and his atoning death. We need to know for ourselves that he lives as our God and that... he has given himself to be slain for the sins of the world... This is the invitation that he gives when he says: 'Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet' (D&C 6:36-37, p. 151)."
"We can know him more fully as we become more like him (p. 152)."
"Knowledge in a scriptural sense is not what we know, but what we are, what we have become... This knowledge is not abstract but embodied, and it is modeled for us in the ritual action of ordinances (p. 154)."
"As we seek to follow and serve Christ, we come to know him (p. 159)."
"President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that our responsibility to take Christ's name and image upon ourselves is not something for a future day... 'our lives must become a meaningful expression, the symbol of our declaration of our testimony of the Living Christ, the Eternal Son of the Living God.' Our lives are the symbol of our faith (p. 159)."
"As we live our covenants, we come to know Christ (p. 163)."
"The ordinances are necessary but not sufficient. We make covenants, but we also must choose to keep those covenants. We 'put on Christ' in the ordinances, but we must also 'put on Christ' in our lives (p. 163)."
"Obedience is not about our capacity but our willingness (p. 164)."
"'Live with more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ... Study the Master's every teaching and devote ourselves more fully to his example... believe in those 'exceeding great and precious promises'... claim them (Howard W. Hunter, p. 165).'"
"It is only by putting on Christ through the ordinances of the temple that we come to know him. It is only by putting on Christ through the ordinances of the temple that we receive 'all things that pertain unto life and godliness' (p. 166)."
"Through the ordinances we receive the power to become godly (p. 167)."
"He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The only way to find the freedom that he offers is to continue in his word, becoming his disciples and coming to know him as we experience the freedom of living his kind of life (p. 173)."
"God himself came down to atone for the sins of the world, but we decide if we want to give away our sins to know him. The great Jehovah gave himself to free us from the bondage of sin and our fallen state, but we decide if we are willing to make and keep the covenants that he offers us (p. 174)."
"The restoration of Christ's Church established the only path back home (p. 174)."
"We cannot be where he is and stay where we are (p. 174)."
"When we choose to connect ourselves to Christ through covenant we become free. We accept him as our Redeemer and he takes us on the journey from bondage (p. 175)."
April 1, 2021
Overall: Intellectually enlarging and spiritually strengthening
Jennifer C. Lane does a masterful job of combining academic sources, scriptural references, and personal experience to teach the most fundamental truths of this life: the doctrine of Jesus Christ. That he lived a perfect life, that he died for our sins, and that he was resurrected on the third day. She focuses on how our covenants connect us with Christ and allow us to apply the truths of his gospel.
The book is broken into two main sections and conclusion. The first section explores the hebraeic roots of critical terms in our current religious vernacular. My personal favorite was her insights on the word “covenant”. I was able to look at this word in a new light and my increased understanding helped me to feel a greater love for my Savior and my covenants with him. Other words like “Redeemer” and “worship” also provided wonderful insight that will continue to bless me in my ongoing scripture study.
The second section, which focuses on art related to Christ and his passion, was also insightful. While I personally prefer textual expressions of theological ideas to artistic ones, I did learn a great deal from the author’s wealth of knowledge on devotional art in the middle ages. For those who find art to be a key element in their efforts to come unto Christ, this section would be an amazing way to further their understanding.
The conclusion of this book is very short compared to the other two sections. Ms. Lane does a phenomenal job of tying the rest of the book together and inviting the reader to a deeper and holier personal discipleship. Her final explanation of Christ's command to “consider the lilies of the field” (Luke 12:27) was one of my very favorite insights of the whole book.
For anyone hoping to come closer to Christ and deepen their understanding of how Christ is not just connected to our covenants but central to them, this book would be a wonderful supplement to your study of the scriptures!
Jennifer C. Lane does a masterful job of combining academic sources, scriptural references, and personal experience to teach the most fundamental truths of this life: the doctrine of Jesus Christ. That he lived a perfect life, that he died for our sins, and that he was resurrected on the third day. She focuses on how our covenants connect us with Christ and allow us to apply the truths of his gospel.
The book is broken into two main sections and conclusion. The first section explores the hebraeic roots of critical terms in our current religious vernacular. My personal favorite was her insights on the word “covenant”. I was able to look at this word in a new light and my increased understanding helped me to feel a greater love for my Savior and my covenants with him. Other words like “Redeemer” and “worship” also provided wonderful insight that will continue to bless me in my ongoing scripture study.
The second section, which focuses on art related to Christ and his passion, was also insightful. While I personally prefer textual expressions of theological ideas to artistic ones, I did learn a great deal from the author’s wealth of knowledge on devotional art in the middle ages. For those who find art to be a key element in their efforts to come unto Christ, this section would be an amazing way to further their understanding.
The conclusion of this book is very short compared to the other two sections. Ms. Lane does a phenomenal job of tying the rest of the book together and inviting the reader to a deeper and holier personal discipleship. Her final explanation of Christ's command to “consider the lilies of the field” (Luke 12:27) was one of my very favorite insights of the whole book.
For anyone hoping to come closer to Christ and deepen their understanding of how Christ is not just connected to our covenants but central to them, this book would be a wonderful supplement to your study of the scriptures!
December 8, 2020
I can’t say that this book is without its merits. However, I felt like there was far more personal account of the authors experience on her mission, her graduate school, and the like than actual analysis of ancient language and images. The second half did have a better ratio.
Like I said, not without merit, her accounts were inspiring, just not what I expected given the description and chapter headings.
Like I said, not without merit, her accounts were inspiring, just not what I expected given the description and chapter headings.
July 28, 2021
Most of this wasn't what I was expecting, which would have been something more like Susan Easton Black's "Finding Christ Through the Book of Mormon," a breakdown of references and names and such, with the ordinances of our church in mind, instead.
This is quite the opposite. For a rather short book, it's a leisurely tour through the mind of the author--her own insights and ideas about viewing our journey through life, creating rich and layered metaphors for the path of discipleship. It's a rewarding work--almost a memoir with tangential reflections on conceptualizing our work and place in existence--and her creativity is appreciated. I definitely enjoyed many of her insights.
Often, though, I felt like these insights were obvious or even trivial. More than once, I finished a chapter and wondered what the point of it was. Sometimes her meandering meditations didn't really seem to tie into the title's stated purpose at all. Except for the temple, which is a dominant theme throughout, some sections of the book don't really focus on the ordinances of the covenant path until the book is nearly over.
Still, I learned some delightful things from this, and intend to read some of the texts she cited. I liked the way she reverently integrated medieval art into her book, using it as a springboard to help us all see our life in church activity with fresh eyes, and reorient us towards knowing and following Jesus. Bravo on that!
This is quite the opposite. For a rather short book, it's a leisurely tour through the mind of the author--her own insights and ideas about viewing our journey through life, creating rich and layered metaphors for the path of discipleship. It's a rewarding work--almost a memoir with tangential reflections on conceptualizing our work and place in existence--and her creativity is appreciated. I definitely enjoyed many of her insights.
Often, though, I felt like these insights were obvious or even trivial. More than once, I finished a chapter and wondered what the point of it was. Sometimes her meandering meditations didn't really seem to tie into the title's stated purpose at all. Except for the temple, which is a dominant theme throughout, some sections of the book don't really focus on the ordinances of the covenant path until the book is nearly over.
Still, I learned some delightful things from this, and intend to read some of the texts she cited. I liked the way she reverently integrated medieval art into her book, using it as a springboard to help us all see our life in church activity with fresh eyes, and reorient us towards knowing and following Jesus. Bravo on that!
July 2, 2022
I read this book together with my wife. I enjoyed Jennifer Lane's discussion of how people have historically remembered and followed Jesus Christ. The author blends research with her personal experiences to share thought about how we can remember and respect our Savior, Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite quotes from the book: "We cannot be where [Christ] is and stay where we are. We cannot become as he is and stay as we are. But the good news is that, thanks to Christ's ransom, the covenant path will take us there. Christ will take us there. That is his promise.
One of my favorite quotes from the book: "We cannot be where [Christ] is and stay where we are. We cannot become as he is and stay as we are. But the good news is that, thanks to Christ's ransom, the covenant path will take us there. Christ will take us there. That is his promise.
September 3, 2023
An easy read with lots of great reflection on Christ and our covenants. It really brought out a lot on the need for a Savior and the process of taking upon ourselves His nature that caused me to pause and process. That a good sign for me. The key to any relationship, especially a covenant relationship, is that you need to want it. Until we come to understand that we are in bondage, we won’t recognize the need to be redeemed, and therefore won’t feel the desire to “put on Christ.”
Definitely will use this as a reference read due to the awesome art throughout the book.
Definitely will use this as a reference read due to the awesome art throughout the book.
Read
June 9, 2021Covenant Discipleship is the key focus of this book. I found it, at times, more of a personal memoir, which was fine. I enjoyed the ancient word analysis, the illustrations of and views of Christ through the ages.
I especially enjoyed the connections made between covenants, ordinances, and the Savior's Atonement. I learned a lot about baptism and the other savings ordinances we participate in as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I especially enjoyed the connections made between covenants, ordinances, and the Savior's Atonement. I learned a lot about baptism and the other savings ordinances we participate in as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
July 18, 2023
There were so many gems in this book about our covenant relationship with Christ. She did a great job at stringing scriptures and scholarly material together in a clear way. I think the RSC should get her to edit some of their compilations. Overall I would have preferred more of the ancient insights promised as I’m sure she had a lot more she could have pulled from. But I understand she was working hard to make it appeal to a general audience.
June 22, 2020
The first half is excellent and offers many new ways of looking at Jesus Christ—I have much to ponder on from Lane’s insights. The second half is also interesting and enlightening; however, the second half also seems a little disjointed. 4.5 stars rounded up.
January 17, 2021
Beautifully designed book published by the Religious Studies Center, BYU. In addition to being reminded of the importance of covenants and our relationship with the Savior, I gained new insights and appreciation for medieval artwork depicting the suffering of Christ.
May 11, 2023
A very well written and thoughtful book
I really enjoyed this book, and the author's in depth exploration of covenants, as well as ancient and medieval concepts that are still relevant to our discipleship
I really enjoyed this book, and the author's in depth exploration of covenants, as well as ancient and medieval concepts that are still relevant to our discipleship
March 23, 2022
Didn't finish. Just wasn't ......polished. Must have been a first attempt. Just didn't flow.
September 18, 2022
Loved the explanations and deeper dive into medieval artwork of Christ.
Read
August 10, 2023Enjoyed the art included in the book and discussion surrounding the paintings.
January 19, 2025
Fabulous book. Highly recommend.
May 25, 2022
I enjoyed this book and found some really lovely insights in it, but I agree with some of the other reviews in that I had hoped for.. a bit more I guess? I think I was hoping for more analysis of medieval art and images. That said I found a lot in this book that did give me further insight into Christ and the Atonement. Particularly striking to me, for example was the chapter "Pieta" which is about our emotional response to the suffering of Christ. I, for one, tend to be pretty stoic and, at times, cynical about outward displays of emotion. When I read "The opposite of feeling a spiritual response is described in the Book of Mormon as hardening our hearts", that really hit home.
I think, overall, the author is trying to show a modern LDS audience the value of the a more ancient mode of worshiping Jehovah/Christ. We don't have to mimic everything that ancient Christians did to still consider how it helps us in these times to stay on the covenant path.
I think, overall, the author is trying to show a modern LDS audience the value of the a more ancient mode of worshiping Jehovah/Christ. We don't have to mimic everything that ancient Christians did to still consider how it helps us in these times to stay on the covenant path.
April 15, 2024
I picked this up at BYU’s bookstore (oops, I mean the BYU Store, which still sells some books) on sale during Education Week last fall because I was drawn by the cover and the lovely promise of medieval artwork used as a basis for reflection into our covenants with God. It’s a beautiful book, printed in quality paper and full color throughout. After reading it I felt like such a quality-printed book deserved better contents.
The second half of the book exceeded the first half, in interest to me. I appreciated the author’s intentions and desires to convey insights into ancient scriptural words based on modern practices, but often they felt very obvious or basic to me and I suspect to many who have been a Latter-day Saint for much time at all. Perhaps others will find these insights more interesting though. I often got bored in the first half. It took me weeks to plod through. I only put up with it because of the promise of the second half.
The latter half of the book was thoroughly enlightening and spiritually enriching. I loved the author’s insights into the meaning of medieval Christian art and specifically how we can use such art for reflection in our own worship. As a scholar, this is the author’s interest and it shows. I’ll read anything Prof Lane writes about medieval history or medieval Christianity now.
My only suggestion might have been to include more examples of such art. She talks about Michelangelo’s Pietà, but shows images of others in that genre. Having come face to face with the Michelangelo depiction of the forlorn Virgin Mary grieving over her Son’s lifeless body, I know the power of art to speak to the soul. That representation in particular is clearly inspired and especially inspiring. It’s a shame it was not included here. Perhaps a future edition could be something more like a daily devotional, centered on various examples of the genres of art featured herein.
I feel harsh and a bit of a grinch to give this only three stars, and mean no disrespect to the author. Also, the title struck me as a bit off. It uses the current Latter-day Saint buzzwords “covenant path”, but should we have to find Christ in the path? Shouldn’t Christ be obvious in the covenant path? If He’s not, then I humbly suggest that we’re “covenant pathing” wrong. Christ shouldn’t need to be discovered along the path; He *is* the path.
The second half of the book exceeded the first half, in interest to me. I appreciated the author’s intentions and desires to convey insights into ancient scriptural words based on modern practices, but often they felt very obvious or basic to me and I suspect to many who have been a Latter-day Saint for much time at all. Perhaps others will find these insights more interesting though. I often got bored in the first half. It took me weeks to plod through. I only put up with it because of the promise of the second half.
The latter half of the book was thoroughly enlightening and spiritually enriching. I loved the author’s insights into the meaning of medieval Christian art and specifically how we can use such art for reflection in our own worship. As a scholar, this is the author’s interest and it shows. I’ll read anything Prof Lane writes about medieval history or medieval Christianity now.
My only suggestion might have been to include more examples of such art. She talks about Michelangelo’s Pietà, but shows images of others in that genre. Having come face to face with the Michelangelo depiction of the forlorn Virgin Mary grieving over her Son’s lifeless body, I know the power of art to speak to the soul. That representation in particular is clearly inspired and especially inspiring. It’s a shame it was not included here. Perhaps a future edition could be something more like a daily devotional, centered on various examples of the genres of art featured herein.
I feel harsh and a bit of a grinch to give this only three stars, and mean no disrespect to the author. Also, the title struck me as a bit off. It uses the current Latter-day Saint buzzwords “covenant path”, but should we have to find Christ in the path? Shouldn’t Christ be obvious in the covenant path? If He’s not, then I humbly suggest that we’re “covenant pathing” wrong. Christ shouldn’t need to be discovered along the path; He *is* the path.
January 18, 2025
Fabulous book. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews