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Of
Making Many Books
There is no End
by Tari
Cartwright
An excerpt
from
Eternal Harvest,
An LDS Perspective on Homeschooling
and Accelerated Learning
Teaching one another words of wisdom
demands that we study and seek out of
the "best books"
Hugh Nibley wrote:
"We are commanded to build a
house of study [in which] people are to
"seek . . . out of the
best books words of wisdom" (D&C 88:118). A
list of the best books had
not yet been supplied. We
must find these ourselves by diligently
searching. If the
scriptures bind the worlds together, the
writings of man bind together
the generations and the
dispensations"
(Approaching Zion, p. 296; D&C 109:14-16,
given at the dedication of the first temple,
the great temple of Kirtland, which was to
become a house of learning, a house of
prayer).
Books that contain eternal
values and truths, books that teach and
exemplify truth are
the "best books". Ezra Taft Benson said:
"With the abundance of books
available, it is the mark of a truly
educated man to know
what not to read."
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Of
making many books there is no
end.
~~Ecclesiastes 12:12~~ |
In your reading you would
do well to follow the
counsel of John Wesley's mother: "Avoid
'whatever weakens your reason, impairs
the tenderness of your
conscience, obscures your sense of God,
takes off your relish
for spiritual things, [and] increases the
authority of the body over
the mind." (from Teachings,
pp. 304-305.)
In a positive light, then, the "best
books" are to be chosen that strengthen
reason, enlarge the
tenderness of conscience, enlighten the
sense of God, create a
relish for spiritual things, and increase
the authority of the mind
over the body.
We can find these books in the study of
history, sciences of all categories,
literature and several other
fields. Joseph F. Smith also admonished
students to "seek
out of the best books knowledge and
understanding. Read history. Read
philosophy, if you wish.
Read anything that is good, that will
elevate the mind and
will add to your stock of knowledge, that
those who associate with
you may feel an interest in
your pursuit of knowledge and of wisdom".
(C.R., 1903, p. 98.)
Libraries and bookstores may have
hundreds of choices but few may be
categorized as the "best
books". Books that "elevate the mind,"
"enlarge conscience,
enlighten a sense of God", "create a relish
for spiritual
things". Ezra Taft Benson acknowledged that
popularity is not an indicator
of a worthy publication. He
taught: "The fact
that a book or publication is popular does
not necessarily make it
of value. The fact that an
author wrote one good work does not
necessarily mean that
all his books are worthy of your reading.
Do not make your mind a
dumping ground for other
people's garbage. It is harder to purge the
mind of rotten reading
than to purge the body of rotten food, and
it is more damaging to
the soul." (as quoted in In His Steps,
Teachings, p. 304-305.)
Latter-day prophets teach about the
importance of creating a home library for
our families. A tour of the
Beehive House reveals part of the private
library belonging to Brigham
Young which is very impressive.
Brigham Young's advice about
choosing good books is memorable. He said:
"I would advise you to read
books that are worth reading; read reliable
history, and search wisdom
out of the best books you can procure...We
should not only study
good, and its effects upon our race, but
also evil, and its
consequences. All men should study to learn
the nature of mankind, and to
discern that divinity
inherent in them. A spirit and power of
research is planted
within, yet they remain undeveloped."
(Discourses, p. 257.)
What about the reading of novels? Some
haven't time for novels and others
insist that novel reading is
a waste of time. Brigham Young said this:
"Novel reading-is it
profitable? I would rather that persons read
novels than read
nothing." (Ibid.)
Spencer W. Kimball said he had over a
thousand books in his home library
(The Teachings of Spencer W.
Kimball, p. 256).
Home libraries are becoming more and more
necessary as classical literature
and history are taught less
in government schools and it has become
vogue to change
history in the name of entertainment. Public
libraries may contain
more popular selections than classics.
Parents are obliged to search in
other places to create a
library that contains books with moral and
ethical values to be
imprinted upon young minds. Parents, be
aware that many
classics published after 1960 have been
changed from their original format to
more "politically correct"
versions. Even long time favorites have been
changed in the reprinted
editions. A suggested
reading list is supplied at the end of this
chapter. This list is
a list of personally preferred books. It may
be used as an introduction
to classics as the family
begins it's own book list.
My children and I love to go to thrift
stores and look for classic books to
add to our collection and to
shop on Internet auctions for book bargains.
We have also
downloaded books off of the Internet for
printing at home and have
bought book collections on CD
to print out at home. As always, prayer and
study are required in
choosing books for your own children and I
would not assume to
know the mind of the Lord in this matter.
The scriptures of course come first in
any family's library. Each child
requires a complete set of
scriptures as soon as possible after the age
of around four years
old. When the child starts to read he may
enjoy reading the Book
of Mormon to the parent each day. What
better reader can a child
have? The spirit that the
Book of Mormon brings is indispensable for
the family to function
in love each day. Ezra Taft Benson said,
"Every Latter-day
Saint should make the study of the Book of
Mormon a lifetime
pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in
jeopardy and neglecting that
which could give spiritual
and intellectual unity to his whole life."
(The Book of Mormon Is
the Word of God, Regional Representatives
Seminar, Provo, Utah,
4 April 1986.)
To reiterate, President Benson is saying
that it is necessary to study the
Book of Mormon each day. This
edict includes a blessing ("spiritual and
intellectual unity to his
whole life") and a punishment (placing the
soul in jeopardy" and
neglecting the blessings).
He
continues: "Unless we
read the Book of Mormon and give heed to its
teachings, the Lord
has stated in Section 84 of the Doctrine and
Covenants that the whole Church
is under condemnation: 'And
this condemnation resteth upon the children
of Zion, even all.'
(D&C 84:56.)...The Lord continues: 'And they
shall remain under
this condemnation until they repent and
remember the new covenant, even
the Book of Mormon and the
former commandments which I have given them,
not only to say, but
to do according to that which I have
written.' (D&C
84:57.)...Now we not only need to say more
about the Book of Mormon, but we
need to do more with it. Why?
The Lord answers: 'That they may bring forth
fruit meet for their Father's
kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge
and judgment to be poured out
upon the children of Zion. (D&C 84:58.) We
have felt that scourge
and judgment!
"The Prophet Joseph said that 'the Book
of Mormon was the most correct of any
book on earth, and the
keystone of our religion, and a man would
get nearer to God by
abiding by its precepts, than any other
book.' (Book of Mormon,
Introduction). The Book of
Mormon has not been, nor is it yet, the
center of our personal
study, family teaching, preaching, and
missionary work. Of this
we must repent." (C.R., April
1986, bold and underling added.)
Ezra Taft Benson strived to emphasize the
eternal ramifications of Book of
Mormon studies when he
repeated again and again that "We need to
read daily from the
pages of the book that will get a man
'nearer to God by abiding by
its precepts than any other
book.' " (C.R., April 1986, p. 14, C.R.,
Oct. 1988, p. 8,
Ensign, April 1988, Church News, June 25,
1988.)
If daily reading and study of the Book of
Mormon will get us nearer to God
than any other book and will
bring us spiritual and intellectual unity,
it seems clear that if
we are wise we will utilize the Book of
Mormon as the basis
for teaching our children. The Lord states:
"And again, the elders,
priests and teachers of this
church shall teach the principles of my
gospel, which are . .
. in the Book of Mormon, in the which is the
fulness of the
gospel." (D&C 42:12.) Our first duty of
teaching is to our own families, we
have been organized by the
Lord into families first. It is a wonderful
calling to teach and bless
people of the world but each parent has been
given a special
calling and assigned pupils, our children.
These are our first
priority. And as we read and teach, we are
to liken the Book of Mormon
scriptures unto us "that it
might be for our profit and learning" (1
Nephi 19:23). (The
Book of Mormon Is the Word of God, Regional
Representatives
Seminar, Salt Lake City, Utah, 4 April
1986.)"
For more
information on the book Eternal Harvest, An
LDS Perspective on Homeschooling
and Accelerated Learning, go to
www.schoolofabraham.com/eternalharvest.htm.
See our related articles:
Words of Our
Leaders
From the History
Files:
A Love of Libraries
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