REVELATIONS IN CONTEXT
Edited by Matthew McBride and James Goldberg
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016, 346 Pages
Reviewed by Michael Beach
This work is intended to be used as a reference document for the church's Sunday School class on church history. The main canonical text is the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C). The subtitle of this volume reads The Stories Behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants and is a good description of what is contained.
The reader is given insights into some of the people around the prophet Joseph Smith and other key church leaders who author some of the later D&C sections. The issues that come up are usually followed by supplication to God by the prophet, and the associated section of the D&C is the documented revelation. So often as we study works of scripture some of the meaning and motivation is lost without understanding the context. This work does not attempt to explain every section, but it does help the Sunday School student to better understand some of the early prominent church members.
For those interested in 19th century U.S. history there is much to gain, even if the reader is not interested in the religious aspects of the work. For those seeking a deeper understanding of the Mormon canon this text is worth the effort.
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