New Release: “Are We of Israel?”

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Are We of Israel? by George Reynolds, just released on Project Gutenberg, offers a deeper look at the twelve tribes and the circumstances surrounding the scattering of the ten. Originally intended for use as a Sunday School manual, Reynolds’ book speaks with clarity and ease. Readers will learn of the historical implications of the scattering of Israel, as well gain a new appreciation for blessings promised to those of the House of Israel, a virtue of the Abrahamic covenant. Reynolds also discusses various speculative theories on the relationship between various European peoples and the lost tribes.

According to the Old Testament, the prophet Jacob had twelve sons, each of whose posterity became known as the one of the twelve tribes of Israel. As the grandson of Abraham, Jacob entered into a covenant with God that promised to bless the people, conditional upon their willingness to obey the commandments of God. Due to the rebellion and disobedience of ten of the tribes, these people were carried up into the “north countries” and lost until a later date.

In the Book of Abraham (which Reynolds quotes) it reads, “My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee [Abraham] and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure … for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.”

And so one will come to understand the meaning and significance of belonging to the House of Israel and the “blessings of the gospel” in this succinct yet engaging read. It’s valuable both from a doctrinal perspective and as an example of late 19th century Church understanding of Israel-related historical issues.

Margaret Willden, one of our summer 2015 BYU editing interns, proofread and produced Are We of Israel? and contributed to this blog post.

New Release: “Eventful Narratives”

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Eventful Narratives, just released on Project Gutenberg, is the thirteenth book in the Faith Promoting Series. It’s comprised of three narratives: the story of an English convert running away from home to join the saints in Utah; the story of a martyr in the Battle of Nauvoo and the faith of his plural widows; and the account of a member’s survival on a government expedition outside of the Salt Lake Valley into Native American territories. All three of these narratives, written to inspire the youth of the church through the exceptional examples of saints before them, give modern-day saints an insight into the trials, experiences, and faith of the saints in the past.

Most importantly, these events testify of the divinity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These real-life experiences show how the Gospel can bless followers of Christ, and give saints the faith to endure regardless of whatever trials they will face in this life. They also give a historical perspective on the eternal nature of the human soul, and the eternal consequences of mortal actions, for better or for worse. In the words of the publishers, the purpose of publishing these narratives “has been and is to increase faith in the hearts of those who peruse them, by showing how miraculously God has overruled everything for the benefit of those who try to serve Him.”

Steven Fluckiger, one of our 2015 BYU history summer interns, proofread and produced Eventful Narratives and contributed to this post.

 

New Release: “Helpful Visions”

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Helpful Visions, the fourteenth book in the Faith-Promoting Series, is a collection of three stories about early Saints and the visions that they had to help them through their trials. It’s just been released as a free e-book on Project Gutenberg. The Preface summarizes the purpose of the book:

“The Visions here recorded will again prove that truth is stranger than fiction, and we trust that a perusal of these manifestations will lead our young people to seek for the guidance of the Lord in all things, and make Him their constant friend. The article on traitors is very appropriate reading matter for the present season, and will, it is hoped, cause everyone to look upon the men of this class with the contempt they so justly merit, and sustain everyone in shunning as they would poison, any traitorous act.

“Our great desire is that this little book may assist in the education and elevation of the young people and others who may peruse it.”

“A Terrible Ordeal” tells the story of David Patten Kimball, who was lost on the Salt River desert in Arizona. When near death, he had a vision of the afterlife, where he saw his father and many other faithful Saints who had previously passed on. He was told he could remain if he wished, but he chose to return to life, in order to support his family and to repent of his sins, and was given two more years of life.

“Briant S. Stevens” tells of a valiant and extraordinary young man who fell ill following a series of accidents. He was faithful till the end, and was ordained to the Priesthood before his death. He later appears to his father in a vision to provide comfort to his grieving family.

“Finding Comfort” is a first-hand account from Thomas A. Shreeve, who as a young man was called on a mission to Australasia. This section details his experiences while on his mission in a distant land.

Finally, Helpful Visions concludes with an article discussing the characteristics of traitors. Like other books in the Faith-Promoting Series, it’s a quick and inspiring read for anyone interested in stories from the early days of the Church.

Holly Astle, one of our 2015 summer interns, proofread and produced Helpful Visions and contributed to this blog post.

New Release: “Labors in the Vineyard”

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“Labors in the Vineyard,” published in 1884 and just released on PG, is the twelfth book of the Juvenile Instructor Office’s Faith-Promoting Series. The Faith-Promoting Series was designed to teach young Latter-day Saints gospel principles and share experiences of other Latter-day Saints. “Labors in the Vineyard” specifically shares the missionary experiences of six Latter-day Saint elders who went on missions to the eastern states, Arizona, England, Switzerland, and Australia.

Throughout this book one can not only read about interesting missionary experiences, including several where God was able to help and protect the missionaries, but also learn about the thoughts and feelings of the missionaries. Among others, it shares Harrison Burgess’ early life story of living in Kirtland, Ohio and being a part of Zion’s Camp, and discusses C. V. Spencer’s mission to England, after which he testified:

“I am satisfied and paid for the very little and feeble labors that I performed. I returned bright and zealous in the love of the truth. God has never yet forsaken me by His Spirit, and I do not believe that any man will ever be trusted to walk in the footsteps of his Elder Brother, Jesus, as a Savior of a world, or ever be seated with honor on the right hand of His Father, until he has learned to wade through deep and troubled waters, up stream and against the current without earthly props or stays.”

If you enjoy early Latter-day Saint history and reading about different missionary experiences, this book will be a fun, inspiring read.

Shawnee Hawkes, an MTP summer intern from the BYU American Studies program, proofed and produced Labors in the Vineyard and contributed to this post—our thanks to her!

Announcing the Mormon Audiobooks Project

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Think the Mormon Texts Project, only for audiobooks–Ben Crowder, the original founder of MTP, is now looking for volunteers interested in working on the Mormon Audiobooks Project. It lives here; see also his announcement here. If you’re interested in volunteering as a reader or proof-listener, want updates, or even think managing such an effort would be up your alley, get in touch with Ben through his site and/or sign up for his mailing list. Should be a great resource for audiobook aficionados.

On our end, the MTP internship program is near its halfway point and has swelled the length of our books-in-progress list to an all-time high. Expect the blog to be pretty quiet for another month or so as intern projects go through HTML production and final checks, after which we should release around a dozen books by the end of August.

New Release: “Jacob Hamblin,” frontiersman & Indian missionary

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The title says it all:

JACOB HAMBLIN,

A NARRATIVE OF HIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, AS A FRONTIERSMAN, MISSIONARY TO THE INDIANS AND EXPLORER,

DISCLOSING

Interpositions of Providence, Severe Privations, Perilous Situations and Remarkable Escapes.

A convert to the Church during the Nauvoo era, Hamblin’s story is recorded in this the fifth book of the Faith-Promoting Series. Now on Project Gutenberg.

In other news, the MTP internship program kicked off this week! As that consumes resources, the blog may suffer a bit, but rest assured a burst of productivity is under way.

 

Autobiography of Anthon Skanchy, translated by John A. Widtsoe

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Anthon Skanchy (pictured) was the early Norwegian missionary who baptized noted Apostle John A. Widtsoe and his mother into the Church. Skanchy wrote this autobiography in Norwegian, and Widtsoe translated, edited, and published it as Anthon L. Skanchy: A Brief Autobiographical Sketch of the Missionary Labors of a Valiant Soldier for Christ. We’ve recently released it as a free e-book on Project Gutenberg.

Skanchy led an interesting life; he served various missions in his native Norway, and much of the book recounts his mission experiences, including both some remarkable spiritual incidents and some interesting temporal details, such as his employment as a fisherman during parts of his mission. He also worked on the Logan temple and tabernacle and served as a bishop. He eventually took charge of the Scandinavian mission, with a special charge to build mission houses in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Unlike mission homes today that often just house the mission president, these included substantial meeting halls, pictured in the book. It’s a window into an interesting life and, weighing in at 56 pages, a fun Sunday afternoon read. Enjoy.

New Release: “Mother Stories from the Book of Mormon”

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President Hinckley was first introduced to the Book of Mormon by his mother reading him this book (source) by William A. Morton, and treasured it in his old age. Weighing in at 158 pages and using simple language, it could make good reading material for small children today as an intermediate between the Book of Mormon picture books and the real thing. And it’s now available as a free e-book on Project Gutenberg. Enjoy.

New Release: “The Hand of Providence” by J. H. Ward

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This 1883 book by J. H. Ward is an early Mormon take on world history; it’s now available on Project Gutenberg, complete with more than thirty original illustrations. You may remember J. H. Ward as the author of Gospel Philosophy, a book on science and the gospel that we released and discussed some time ago.

The Church today has a particular understanding of how world history led up to the Restoration; this book shows Ward’s 19th century understanding of that topic, including discussion of Rome, the Middle East, the Reformation, the Americas, etc. I’m not sure to what extent Ward was popularizing existing theories vs. breaking new ground, but either way this is interesting stuff from a historiographical perspective.

“Mormon Settlement in Arizona” by James H. McClintock

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This work, by a non-Mormon historian of Arizona, discusses the titular topic and was produced some time ago by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders. (As longtime readers know, I think very highly of PGDP.) It touches on the Mormon Battalion, pioneer and Forty Years Among the Indians author Daniel W. Jones, noted missionary Jacob Hamblin, and the ancient history of the area, among other things. Give it a look.

The existence of this e-book somehow escaped our notice up until now, but no longer; now it’s on the Available Texts page. On that note, should anyone know of similar works already available on PG or elsewhere, get in touch–we want to get the word out about them.