Scripture Study

[rameumptom]

FYI, I post on the Scripture Study Forum almost weekly the Sunday School lessons. Currently, I have all the Old Testament, New Testament, and am a few lessons ahead in the Book of Mormon class.

I like using statistics to see different patterns and use. It's been several months since I looked, and so thought I'd see what's going on regarding people's Sunday School classes this year, and compare with previous two years.

More than halfway through the year of the Book of Mormon class, we've had about 6000 views of the lessons I've posted. The most popular lesson has had 1007 posts, and so the other 26 posts share the other 5000 views.

Compare those numbers to the New Testament class last year:

About 27,300 views with 5 posts over 1000 views.

Now compare with the Old Testament class 2 years ago:

About 65,000 views, 24 posts over 1000 viewers. The highest number of views on a post (regarding Solomon and the temple) has 8078 views.

Realizing that people have looked at the OT classes for more than 2 years, we can still see that after the OT lessons, interest in the New Testament was slightly less, with a little under 1/2 the views of the OT class. No lesson in the NT hit over 2000 views, and so the views on a single post do not come close to comparing with the OT's highest.

The Book of Mormon views seem dismal in comparison. By the middle of the OT class 2 years ago, the Solomon/Temple lesson already had over 2000 views. So far this year, there are only 6000 total views, with one post at 1007 views. This is half the number viewing the Old Testament lessons in its year.

Granted, I also post the lessons on my blog at joelsmonastery.blogspot.com, and I get many views there (about 70,000 views per year), but most of those come from other places (feast upon the word, ldsgospeldoctrine, etc). There definitely is a large group interested in my lessons, so I don't think that is it. Are people here reading mostly on my blog, or are they simply not studying the Book of Mormon for Sunday School? Or are they not aware of the Sunday School classes here?

This is a big concern for me, because we have been warned by Pres Benson about a great curse to come upon the Church, if we do not take study of the Book of Mormon more seriously. Granted, my lessons are not the Book of Mormon, but there are many people who do study it in conjunction so they get some new understanding on the scriptures.

So, what gives? Thoughts on how we can increase people reading and learning these things, instead of just reading about how someone wants to cheat on their spouse?

[skalenfehl]

I feel you. Personally speaking, some of those views are mine. I think I might have visited your blog once or twice. I have made a very serious and intense study of the Book of Mormon in my life, but on my own. I truly do appreciate all your time and efforts. Don't stop.

[rameumptom]

Ska, I'm not planning on stopping. It just takes a moment to add the posts here after I've blogged them. I just wish I knew what the change is all about. If people were to read the posts I've done, I think they would be amazed at some of the insights available regarding the Book of Mormon. I'm continually studying it and commentaries on it all the time, so that I can continually improve my own posts. I really like lessons 26 and 27, for example, for the interesting and unexpected points I am able to make.

[skalenfehl]

I just wish I knew what the change is all about.

Men's hearts are failing them. The Times of the Gentiles is nearly fulfilled. Soon the Time of Lamanites/Jews and the testimony of earthquakes, thunderings, tempests, and all things in commotion...

We're making history.

[beefche]

Are you saying because people don't read or respond to your posts on the BoM here that no one is studying the BoM on their own????

[mordorbund]

I suspect that your low reader count is because of the familiarity we already have with the Book of Mormon. The doctrines are laid out within a narrative, making them easier to digest. The characters and stories are ones that we've gotten (perhaps too) comfortable with over the course of years attending church meetings.

I imagine the other standard works commentaries get more views because -- Holy Cow!! there's a talking donkey!!! I gotta check this out <reads commentary/> Oh, I guess that makes more sense considering -- Lot's Daughter's Did WHAT??!! <reads commentary/> hmm... well, I'm still not comfortable with that, but I can see how that perspective helps. It seems -- UGH! why does the most important book of the Old Testament have to be the longest and most esoteric!! <reads more commentary/>

We have a similar familiarity with the New Testament. The entire volume is pretty short. The four Gospels are narratives that move along at a nice clip. The stories are familiar ones*. There's nothing really difficult -- What the heck is Paul saying?!! <reads commentary/> I'll have to get back to you later.

* You can test this by seeing if you get more views for your Pauline epistles than your Gospels posts.