Isaiah for Airheads

by John Bytheway

If you think understanding the passages from Isaiah is like trying to find your way through a dense dark forest, then you'll appreciate the enjoyable Isaiah for Airheads. After many years of personal study and preparations, John Bytheway has created and mapped out the “Isaiah National Forest.” He offers the reader 'four guides, four trees and four keys — useful tools for approaching any Isaiah chapter, specifically those found in 2 Nephi. In addition, he explains latter-day relevance for each chapter and shows how these scriptures can strengthen our homes, families, and testimonies. A talk CD is included in the back of the book, featuring John's unique teaching style. After reading and listening to Isaiah for Airheads, you'll echo the feeling, “great are the words of Isaiah!”

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Lds, Lds Non Fiction, Spirituality, Inspirational, Church

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 14, 2006

About the author

John Bytheway (born October 1962) is an American author and academic, who is well known as a comic motivational speaker for youth within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Born in Salt Lake City, Bytheway attended the University of Utah and Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, receiving a Master's Degree in Religious Education. He also served as a missionary for the LDS Church in the Philippines.

Bytheway is a religious studies instructor at BYU, currently focusing on the Book of Mormon. He also serves on the Aaronic Priesthood/Young Women Writing Committee for the LDS Church. Bytheway and his wife Kimberly have six children.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're LDS and you've read the Book of Mormon, you may be just as confused as everyone else by the Isaiah chapters. They are loaded with symbolism and ancient "manner of prophesying." If you don't get it, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. I LOVE John Bytheway. He writes and speaks for the youth of the church. He doesn't even pretend to be a great intellectual, although his manner of teaching gets the point of deep thoughts across just fine.

In this book, he first explains about Isaiah and what he's talking about and how to "listen" to what he's saying. Then he goes through, chapter by chapter, the Isaiah chapters and explains the overview, breaks it down in to sub-categories, then breaks THEM down verse by verse (sometimes line by line) and explains them. He explains the history and geography of the region, which is important in understanding some of these writings, and it's just an awesome book to have sitting at your elbow when you read these important chapters.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally I got something out of Isaiah besides a headache and guilt. It took me a long time to get through it by the time I marked my scriptures and all.

[Marinda Misra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I can't believe how clear John Bytheway made Isaiah for me! As always, his writing style is one of the most approachable I've ever read, but his method that he explains for how to tackle "Isaiah National Forest" changed my perspective and has given me a frame work to bring to my study. I would definitely recommend this book, particularly if you're planning on reading it WITH the scriptures - I tried just blazing through a couple of chapters and it is really dry without reading, you know, what it is actually giving commentary on!

[Blake]

It makes Isaiah a TON clearer

[Happy Reading Watching]

This was such a good listen, and I will be revisiting soon.
John Bytheway is such a great speaker and has some of the best devotionals.

[Lori Mulvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still very far from completely understanding Isaiah, but this well-written book helped me take several steps forward. Bro Bytheway breaks down every chapter and verse and makes things much more straightforward. Loved it.

[Mary L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the easiest reading--but then Isaiah is hard! Enjoyed most his insights at the end of the book; especially slow down and think about it rather than just plowing through it.

[Keri-Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent information, better than any other commentary I've read before on Isaiah. My only "dislike" was the format of the book. I certainly understood why the author chose it, as it had its merits, but what I would have liked is a "read this passage" and then follow up with this commentary or an inclusion of more verses of Isaiah in the text, rather than just partial phrases. I know it would have been a bigger-and thus more expensive-book, but it would have been nice to have it all together that way. We debated from the beginning whether to read the Isaiah/2nd Nephi chapters in full before reading the commentary, and we tried that, but there just wasn't time to do both in a morning's reading time and reading the scriptural text and then the commentary a day or two later was too much of a gap. Ultimately we chose to rely on memory of the scriptural text and read the commentary only, though we certainly did have to look up a few Isaiah passages when memory failed. The four stars are for the structure of the book, not for the content, which was superb. I know it would have been hard to write/publish the book any other way, but perhaps just a little of "put this book down now and go to the scriptures and read these verses" and then the commentary might have helped.

[Skye Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It’s meant to be read alongside the Isaiah chapters of the Book of Mormon. I have never really understood these chapters in the past. Of course, I’d pick up little nuggets that I loved throughout my life while struggling to read them, but this book really helped me understand Isaiah in a much deeper way. The author views Isaiah as a beautiful national forest, and so it’s important to look at the big picture when reading. But I really appreciated how the author said that there are four main trees we will see in the “Isaiah National Forest” which are, “Covenants, Christ, Current Events, and Coming Events.” When reading these chapters now I will always search out the four trees to understand what’s really going on. This book also puts Isaiah into context. Learning more about what was going on at the time, as well as the geography of the places Isaiah is taking about really helps. Fantastic study book!

[Jeff Birk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I figured it was high time for me to get more serious about understanding the book of Isaiah. I read a brief address from Bruce R. McConkie (Keys to Understanding Isaiah) and started looking for books. I thought, based on the title, that this would be a good one to start with and it didn't disappoint. The author lays some great groundwork by likening the book of Isaiah to a national forest and taking a trip through it. The four main 'trees' that Isaiah always talks about are covenants, Christ, current affairs and coming events (the four 'c's). He does a great job chapter by chapter reminding us of which trees are covered in each chapter and then offers commentary covering most of the verses and sticking to the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. This was a great introduction and starting point for me as I now look to other commentaries which may dive a little deeper.

[Julee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up to 4. While I'd rate the introductory material as a 5 for the way that it simplifies and provides some good tools for approaching Isaiah for those new to studying his record, I didn't find the commentary section of the book especially noteworthy and would rate it a 3. So, for those who are beginning to study Isaiah or for those who are trying to teach those who are new to studying Isaiah, I'd recommend the introductory chapters of Bytheway's book and the framework & tools he presents, but I'd recommend more scholarly rich sources for commentary.

[Jocelyn]

Great book to simplify Isaiah. I like the way the author used a forest analogy and broke the pieces down for each section/verse. Only part I was disappointed about was that it doesn't go through ALL of Isaiah. It only goes through the parts of Isaiah that are highlighted/repeated in the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, it took me this long to read it because I put it down when I started working and didn't pick it up again for a long time!

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the first time in my life I'm actually beginning to understand Isaiah! Thank you John Bytheway!
I love the way Brother Bytheway writes, he makes it so easy to understand.
I will have this book on hand EVERY TIME I read Isaiah. Also, when you're ready to delve deeper he has a bibliography at the back of the book so you can continue your research if you so choose.
If you struggle to get through the Isaiah chapters every time you read the Book of Mormon - this is the book for you.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

John is seriously my favorite gospel teacher. Has been for 20 years!
He was a good friend to have when attempting Isaiah. This book only covers the chapters referenced from the Book of Mormon and my goal this Easter season was to read all of Isaiah but this still helped get an understanding and get through the chapters that John didn't cover.
I didn't realize this book was written in 2005. I wonder what he would put and say 20 years later on the subject.

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't close this book feeling as enlightened as I usually do after reading scripture commentary books. I love John's ability to bring principles to life through stories and ideas, but for deep doctrinal stuff I think I'll go elsewhere in the future. I love him, just not for this. I can certainly see how others would though ... totally my own personal learning style here.

[Patrick Trent · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book talks about some insights into the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. It had a few insights. There were a lot of quotes. I was hoping for something along John Bytheway's other book about the war chapters in the Book of Mormon that was awesome!

I am sorry to say that this one fell short.

[Beth Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaiah made comprehensive!

Like many, I’ve always avoided Isaiah. I love the scriptures but Isaiah seemed so difficult and hard to understand. But this book has opened the window to a whole new understanding and helped me comprehend so much that before I was missing. I’d recommend this for anyone who wants to learn why the writings of Isaiah are so important - to us today.

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prepping for seminary. Good introduction to well documented insights of the words of Isaiah. I'd consider it a high school (seminary) explanation. However there are other resources used for a more advanced or thoughtful student.

[Jeff Hennore · Rating 5 out of 5]

John is such a great author! Anytime I get to the Book of Isaiah, I dread it so I power through them ASAP. Bytheway’s insights on several passages and what to look for in others proves insightful as I am excited for the next time that I’ll read this fantastic book. Thanks, John!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the analogy of “Isaiah National Forest” and the framework of the analogy to step through the chapters in the BoM and understand them better. The plain and straightforward language is helpful.

[Hannah Laudermilch · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't mind dorky humor scattered throughout, this is a nice way to ease into the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. It's not super academic, but it doesn't pretend to be. Its goal is to simplify, and it accomplishes that.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m teaching a class on Isaiah, so this has been a huge help to this “airhead”. Thanks to my friend Eric for loaning this book to me.

[Kristopher Swinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's closer to a reasonable Sunday School level of perusal, less, than most commentaries are more.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally loved it.

[Jodi Hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good thoughts and resources. Now to learn more.....

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of good information gathered from many sources and great ideas for studying.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I really like John Bytheway and His humor. I liked some of his insights into Isaiah. I already really love Isaiah, so it didn't open my eyes up too much. Good book though.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful overview and chapter by chapter explanation of the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaiah has always been more difficult for me to understand. John Bytheway does a great job in explaining and teaching us how to comprehend Isaiah's teachings.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beginner’s study of some of the chapters of Isaiah. I feel ready to continue with a more comprehensive study now.