Much of the media we consume comes in the form of podcasts, videos, social media, audiobooks, or other reading substitutes. But there is information in church history that can only be learned by reading.
For example, a comparison of Joseph Smith’s journals with the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon shows significant differences. The manuscript has no punctuation or editing marks. On the other hand, his journals have many editing marks. He changed words, inserted others, or simply crossed out entire phrases and started over. The differences between these documents teach us a lot about Joseph’s writing abilities, and give additional evidence about the origination of the Book of Mormon. That is not something you can glean from a podcast or an audio book.
In a prior post, I talked about the difference between evidence and advocacy, and the importance of reading the evidence yourself and forming your own opinions.1 There is evidence that you can only find in the historical documents, and it is very difficult to see that without reading.
The Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon
Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from April to June of 1829.2 During the translation, witnesses were able to observe “Joseph dictating for long periods of time without reference to any books, papers, manuscripts, or even the plates themselves; . . . Joseph starting a dictation session without prompting from the scribe about where the previous session had ended.”3 The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon shows no editing marks, as it was written while Joseph dictated. I would encourage you to look at the pages of the original manuscript on the Joseph Smith Papers website.4 (The JSP website doesn’t have an option to download the images of the manuscript, so I can’t post it).
Joseph’s Journals
Contrast the original manuscript with Joseph’s journal-writing efforts. His “first journal begins 27 November 1832 and ends 5 December 1834, with entries spread unevenly over this period of just over two years.”5 The very first page of Joseph’s journal is striking:5
In this first effort of keeping a journal, Joseph can’t even write the title without crossing it out and starting over. The first time I saw this, I found it amazing. How could he dictate the entirety of the Book of Mormon as essentially a stream of consciousness, but then three years later struggle to even write a title for his journal? I have read the records and formed my own opinion. If you want to be confident in your opinions, you need to read the evidence for yourself.
If you’re only listening to other people talk about these things, you’re missing opportunities for personal discovery. Those discoveries happen as you encounter the original records. And in order to do that, you have to read.
Don’t let reading become a lost art
In a beautiful article, David L. Ulin writes about the challenges of reading in our current society:
“It isn’t a failure of desire so much as one of will. Or not will, exactly, but focus: the ability to still my mind long enough to inhabit someone else’s world, and to let that someone else inhabit mine. Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being. We possess the books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with thoughts and observations, asking us to make them part of ourselves. . . . In order for this to work, however, we need a certain type of silence, an ability to filter out the noise.
“Such a state is increasingly elusive in our over-networked culture, in which every rumor and mundanity is blogged and tweeted. Today, it seems it is not contemplation we seek but an odd sort of distraction masquerading as being in the know. Why? Because of the illusion that illumination is based on speed, that it is more important to react than to think, that we live in a culture in which something is attached to every bit of time.”6
A podcast or audiobook or video can run in the background while we’re only paying partial attention. We can browse social media while doing several other things. Reading requires concentration and focus. Reading is a primary activity, it’s not a passive activity that can be done in the background while we’re focused on something else. It can be a challenge to make the time and to focus our efforts to read, but there are many benefits that can come from reading:
(1) it increases intelligence; (2) it can boost brainpower; (3) reading can make you more empathetic; (4) flipping pages can help you understand what you’re reading (“The feel of paper pages under your fingertips provides your brain with some context, which can lead to a deeper understanding and better comprehension of the subject you’re reading about”); (5) it may help fight Alzheimer’s disease; (6) reading can help you relax (“One 2009 study by Sussex University researchers showed that reading may reduce stress by as much as 68 percent”); (7) reading before bed can help you sleep.7
You can learn to love reading
Reading is a skill that can be learned and improved. There are many things that can be done, but one site recommends the following: (1) set aside time to read each day; (2) set reading goals; (3) preview the texts you read; (4) determine the purpose; (5) learn and apply key reading strategies; (6) take notes while you read; (7) summarize what you read.8
My recommendation would be to read something you enjoy. I didn’t start reading for fun until I was out of law school, and my subject matter was Star Wars. I read every Star Wars novel I could find. They were dumb, but it opened the doors to me to feel the joy of reading. So find something you enjoy, take a break, and read.
References
- “How Do I Judge the Evidence of the First Vision?” https://discoverfaithinchrist.com/how-do-i-judge-the-evidence-of-the-first-vision/.
- Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, circa 12 April 1828–circa 1 July 1829, p. 6, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed August 21, 2023, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/original-manuscript-of-the-book-of-mormon-circa-12-april-1828-circa-1-july-1829/4.
- Royal Skousen, “How Joseph Smith Translated the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 1997: Vol. 7 : No. 1 , Article 4, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol7/iss1/4.
- Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, circa 12 April 1828–circa 1 July 1829, p. 3, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed August 21, 2023, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/original-manuscript-of-the-book-of-mormon-circa-12-april-1828-circa-1-july-1829/1. There is not an option to download an image of the original manuscript, so I can’t provide that on my site and hope that you will refer to the JSP website to view the images.
- Journal, 1832–1834, p. 1, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed August 21, 2023, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1832-1834/2.
- David L. Ulin, “The Lost Art of Reading,” Los Angeles Times, August 9, 2009, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-reading9-2009aug09-story.html.
- Abigail Wise, “8 Science-Backed Reasons to Read a (Real) Book,” Real Simple, October 22, 2022, https://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/benefits-of-reading-real-books.
- Jennifer Herrity, “How to Improve Your Reading Skills,” Indeed, February 23, 2023, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-improve-reading-skills.