Illuminating the Jaredite Records

by Daniel L. Belnap (editor)

New from the Book of Mormon Academy at Brigham Young University! This volume explores the relationship between the Nephite and the Jaredite records culturally, politically, literarily, and theologically. The first approach looks through a cultural-historical lens, in which elements of Jaredite culture are discussed, including the impact of a Jaredite subculture on Nephite politics during the reign of the judges, a Mesopotamian perspective of seership and divination, and the brother of Jared's experience as a spiritual transition. The second grouping looks at the book of Ether through a narratological lens, with all three papers exploring different aspects of Moroni's construction of the book of Ether. The third grouping explores the book of Ether's depiction of women, as it contains one of the most described yet ambivalent females in the Book of Mormon, both historically and in our contemporary era. Finally, the book of Ether is reviewed via a teaching lens. In Alma 37, Alma the Younger explained the teaching value of the Jaredite records. These last two studies examine ways in which the book of Ether in particular can be taught to a modern audience.

Genres: Religion, Lds

430 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Jonah]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It amazes me how some scholars are able to decipher such fine detail from a book that is very old and very vague. An example of this is how Daniel Blenap inferred based on details from The Book of Mormon, specifically in the books of Mosiah and Alma, what the culture would be like at the time for that people. The Jaredites are a civilization that we are given very little information on in The Book of Mormon. They are a rather mysterious people, but they existed long before, and for longer, than the more recent Nephites. This book shed more light on the history and culture of the Jaredites as well as their supposed impact on Nephite society. I recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in the history of early civilizations in the Americas. Overall, I learned much reading this book and it gave me much insight on the inferences one can make when reading ancient text.

[David Barney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take your time when reading. A lot of interesting material.