Rating the scriptures

[Vort]

I'll probably want to revisit this and do it in a more meaningful way with better categories. But what the hey. This seemed like a fun little exercise, if you don't take it too seriously.

OLD TESTAMENT

Writing style: 9.5: Not perfectly even, but on the whole, this is a collection of the highest literary achievements of a great and ancient Palestinian civilization. Reading the Old Testament, you can see the common thread of humanity running from prehistoric times right through today. People were people, even back then. This is truly great literature, on par with any other literature we discuss and frankly superior to most of those.

Cohesion: 8. It's a library, and a good one. Narrative books like Genesis and Joshua are wonderful. You don't expect much narrative or internal agreement from a book of ancient Phoenician/Near Eastern proverbs or a love poem or a dour lamentation. On the whole, it's doctrinally consistent and hangs together quite well.

Insightfulness into human nature: 10. The Old Testament is a mastercourse in What It Means To Be A Human Being.

Doctrinal content: 8.5. Foundational to all the other scriptures, the Old Testament sets the bar for everything else. Quite a bit of time up front spent on the law of Moses, which determines or influences everything that comes later. It's clear that the law of Moses was in many ways a period-specific patchwork, and not all principles were applied evenly, but it's there if you're looking for it.

Day-to-day utility: 6 for the average scripture reader, I think. All the principles are timeless, but seeing their application to people 3000 years ago in a situation much different (at least on the surface) from what we experience might make application unclear for many people. You can laugh about how it's better to live on the corner of a roof than with a contentious woman, or (in the privacy of your room, with the door closed) even nod in sober approval; but I suspect that the average person finds less immediacy in the writings of the Old Testament than in other books of scripture.

Overall: Probably an 8.

NEW TESTAMENT

Writing style: 8. Everyone loves the New Testament. Let's admit that up front. But people thinking it's a literary masterpiece might be surprised to learn that it's written at about the level of a third-grade reading primer. I think its literary simplicity makes it all the stronger in its statements of truth, but from a stylistic standpoint, it's certainly a step down from the Old Testament.

Cohesion: 9. A generous rating, since the gospels (which are not perfectly consistent with each other, no matter what some Biblical apologists want to pretend) don't always mesh well with Paul's, um, forthright statements, and John's Revelation seems an extreme outlier. But if you stand back and maybe fuzz your eyes just a bit, the New Testament takes on a 3-D quality where all the different pieces seem to fit together. It's amazing. Miraculous, really.

Insightfulness into human nature: 10. A continuation of the Old Testament mastercourse.

Doctrinal content: 10. Really defines Christianity, or what we understand it to mean. I think there is sometimes a feeling among some Latter-day Saints that there is "too much Paul". I think I would not agree with this, but it certainly would have been nice to have more of Peter's writings, more testimonies of the acts of the apostles and other Church servants, and so forth. With the latter-day clarifications of doctrinal points that we have been given that others might not have understood correctly, we're in a pretty good position to mine the diamond benefits from these scriptures.

Day-to-day utility: 10. Hard to think of a better resource for meeting the challenges of life.

Overall: 10

BOOK OF MORMON

Writing style: Irrelevant. Maybe a 7 or 8, if I had to give it a number. Sorry. I love the Book of Mormon, but writing style is totally beside the point of the Book of Mormon, so it doesn't bother with it. Don't misunderstand. The Book of Mormon is a great and very productive read, one that I find enjoyable. But it's not Genesis or the book of John. If that's what you require, you will miss the benefits of the book.

Cohesion: 10. This is mostly a focused narrative throughout, with one man literally acting as the editor through more than half of the book. It's a perfectly balanced work of art.

Insightfulness into human nature: 10. Especially for us today.

Doctrinal content: 10. As Jarom put it: "For what could I write more than my fathers have written? For have not they revealed the plan of salvation? I say unto you, Yea; and this sufficeth me."

Day-to-day utility: 11. Drink from this well every day.

Overall: 10. This is truly the book for our day.

DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS

Writing style: A solid 8+. Joseph Smith was not formally well-educated, but he was a very smart man who learned to express himself elegantly. When he acted as the mouthpiece of God, you could hear God speaking through him.

Cohesion: Irrelevant. Maybe a 5, if I had to give it a number. This is a random-seeming and non-exhaustive collection of revelations. They do work together and build off of each other to some degree, but that's not how the book is organized.

Insightfulness into human nature: 9.5. Lacking the narrative structure of the preceding three scriptures, you don't have the opportunity to witness the same kinds of things. But the insight into the human condition comes through loud and clear in instances such as Oliver's struggles (and failure) to translate the Book of Mormon and Joseph's unsparing observation that "...it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion."

Doctrinal content: 10, especially for Church organization and function. Absolutely indispensable.

Day-to-day utility: 8. Definitely something you want to include in your scripture study.

Overall: 10, since it is our latter-day Leviticus.

PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

Writing style: 9+. Joseph at his prophetic apex, IMO. Whether Joseph composed the wording himself or received it from divine sources, this is beautiful scripture.

Cohesion: 2. Completely irrelevant in a grab-bag of revelatory scripture such as the PoGP.

Insightfulness into human nature: 9.5, if for nothing else but the Book of Enoch excerpts in Moses, not to mention the entirety of the Book of Abraham. Joseph Smith's history might push that to a solid 10.

Doctrinal content: 9. I don't say 10 because it's not comprehensive. But it fills in the cracks.

Day-to-day utility: 6, maybe. I think there's a lot there that is extremely useful, but it doesn't replace the Book of Mormon or the New Testament.

Overall: 9.5

 

[NeuroTypical]

4 minutes ago, Vort said:

I'll probably want to revisit this and do it in a more meaningful way with better categories.

Also you can up your grading system from the tired and worn out 1-10 scale.  

 - My own personal rating system would have these sprinkled through your work. 

 

[Vort]

2 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Also you can up your grading system from the tired and worn out 1-10 scale.  

 - My own personal rating system would have these sprinkled through your work. 

 

Ma che dici?

[mikbone]

BoM - going to be stranded on a deserted island and I get to take one book.  This is the one.

PoGP - So much info in a tiny package.  Well named.  If I had to choose the OT vs PoGP I take the pearl.  Plus Moses 1.  No wonder Lucifer had it removed.

NT - My love affair with this book has rekindled over the years.  Jesus Christ is just the best.

OT - Makes me wish I had learned Hebrew.  Good reference material.   usually my last resort.

[Traveler]

Currently there is an advertisement on TV where a small morsel of pork is placed on a plate with a drop of some sauce topped with a single bean.  This is how I feel about the standard works of scripture.  Jesus said, in essence, that scripture will not provide much of anything with the singular exception that one can glean a witness of Christ.

In mathematics there is an expression – necessary and sufficient.   It should be obvious, yet I am most astonished when someone intends to present scripture as anything close to grasping the depths of just this life – let alone the eternities.  One can argue that our standard scriptures are necessary (though I find such arguments lacking) but to imply sufficient? 

I do not want to sound or imply that I am ungrateful, but like the morsel of pork, sauce and bean - regardless of how good it is, to make any lasting value of it I will need more – a lot more of more.  We are admonished in scripture to hunger and thirst after righteousness.  There have been times in my life that I have eaten grubs and insects to sustain myself – I would have rejoiced to rummage through garbage and waist for something and been thankful.  Jesus said that if we will drink of the water he will give – we will never thirst again.

I am quite sure Jesus was not talking about the scriptures.  But I strongly believe scriptures are some small part of traveling through this mortal labyrinth successfully.   If I had access to one thing only from the restoration, history and nothing else I would choose the temple with its accompanying covenants and ordinances. 

 

The Traveler