Which of the standards works have you actually read entirely?

Michelle · Post by **Michelle** » June 23rd, 2017, 11:00 pm

I'm curious how many people have actually read the scriptures, word for word, and which ones?

Yahtzee · Post by **Yahtzee** » June 23rd, 2017, 11:16 pm

Still working on the OT. Slogging through it a little every year. I would probably be done if I didn't feel so compelled to read the BOM all the time, ha ha!

kittycat51 · Post by **kittycat51** » June 24th, 2017, 9:14 am

Yahtzee wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2017, 11:16 pm Still working on the OT. Slogging through it a little every year. I would probably be done if I didn't feel so compelled to read the BOM all the time, ha ha!

Ditto. Read everything but can't quite make it through the OT.

Original_Intent · Post by **Original_Intent** » June 24th, 2017, 9:27 am

On my mission I read all of the scriptures in a year. The OT was definitely the tough part. Now that I am older I have a goal to do it again, I have taken a few stabs at it, but the OT is still a real challenge.

In my lifeteime, I have no idea how many times I have read the BofM. Probably 20 or more, plus a few listens to the entire thing on audio. The New Testament, P of GP and D&C probably3 or 4 times each. The OT, only the one reading in its entirety.

brianj · Post by **brianj** » June 24th, 2017, 9:41 am

I have to admit to skimming over the genealogies in the old testament, but I have read them all. And one of these days I will again read the old testament, but will again skim over the genealogies.

marc · Post by **marc** » June 24th, 2017, 10:21 am

I've read all the standard works multiple times including the Lectures on Faith.

BringerOfJoy · Post by **BringerOfJoy** » June 24th, 2017, 11:09 am

Since I was baptized when I was 18; I get through the BoM about every other year. Sometimes more. So, that would be 21 times. The New Testament probably about 14. The D&C about 10--The OT twice. The Pearl of Great price--about 15.

brianj · Post by **brianj** » June 25th, 2017, 12:51 am

If you have not yet read the Old Testament and are interested in getting a glimpse before actually digging in, here's an interesting exercise I performed in March and look forward to repeating with more attention:

Read the chapters of Second Nephi that quote Isaiah. Read them side by side with the actual chapters of Isaiah as we have in the Old Testament. Consider the differences that you observe, knowing that the Book of Mormon is a cleaner translation and that Nephi had likened the scriptures unto himself and his people. Many of the differences are small, so subtle that I don't see any significance to them. Some of the verses are identical. But many have very interesting deviations that are well worth pondering.

I would love to do this as a group effort one day so we can discuss observations and opinions.

inho · Post by **inho** » June 25th, 2017, 10:20 am

I have read them all. OT is my favourite, yet I have read it from cover to cover only once.

Michelle · Post by **Michelle** » June 25th, 2017, 10:42 am

So the OT seems to be the sticking point for many, either not read, or read once. I LOVE the OT.

If you are having trouble with the OT, I would recommend skipping to the end, then coming back to the beginning.

In paticular, if you are curious about the last day, read Isaiah along with Jeremiah to Malachi. The last books of the OT basically explain Isaiah way better than a commentary by another author. It is the fullfillment of the prophecy the first time, that will be "repeated" in our day.

Jeremiah was a prophet in the same time and place as Lehi. Lehi's family obviously left for the promised land. Jeremiah is the story of the prophet left behind to endure the destruction and captivity. The other books continue the story of those left behind.

SmallFarm · Post by **SmallFarm** » June 25th, 2017, 1:54 pm

Same, all but the OT

Michelle · Post by **Michelle** » June 26th, 2017, 10:56 am

I wish we had a better sample. I'm pretty sure most who answered are more likely than most to have read the scriptures.

I know from informal polls that I've been shocked by how many members have only ever read the Book of Mormon, if that.

BeNotDeceived · Post by **BeNotDeceived** » June 26th, 2017, 1:52 pm

Michelle wrote: ↑June 25th, 2017, 10:42 am So the OT seems to be the sticking point for many, either not read, or read once. I LOVE the OT.

If you are having trouble with the OT, I would recommend skipping to the end, then coming back to the beginning.

In paticular, if you are curious about the last day, read Isaiah along with Jeremiah to Malachi. The last books of the OT basically explain Isaiah way better than a commentary by another author. It is the fullfillment of the prophecy the first time, that will be "repeated" in our day.

Jeremiah was a prophet in the same time and place as Lehi. Lehi's family obviously left for the promised land. Jeremiah is the story of the prophet left behind to endure the destruction and captivity. The other books continue the story of those left behind.

iWriteStuff · Post by **iWriteStuff** » June 26th, 2017, 2:04 pm

Michelle wrote: ↑June 26th, 2017, 10:56 am I wish we had a better sample. I'm pretty sure most who answered are more likely than most to have read the scriptures.

I know from informal polls that I've been shocked by how many members have only ever read the Book of Mormon, if that.

I often take it as a given that people in my classes have read the B of M. What stuns me sometimes is not only A) the number of those who haven't but B) the ones who just understand some of the basic stories and consider that a sufficient knowledge to get by. I love digging deeper! And I love reading them over and over again.

That being said, the OT has been my Achilles' heel.... until this year. I'm about halfway through it and loving it! Yes, loving it. I should have done this a long time ago. What's different is my approach - I'm looking for Christ in the OT. For that, you can thank an old Rabbi who converted to Christianity. His name was Alfred Edersheim. Says he,

"The Scripture is all full of Christ, and all intended to point to Christ as our only Savior. It is not only the law, which is a schoolmaster unto Christ, nor the types, which are shadows of Christ, nor yet the prophecies, which are predictions of Christ; but the whole Old Testament history is full of Christ. Even where persons are not, events may be types. If any one failed to see in Isaac or in Joseph a personal type of Christ, he could not deny that the offering up of Isaac, or the selling of Joseph, and his making provision for the sustenance of his brethren, are typical of events in the history of our Lord. And so indeed every event points to Christ, even as He is alike the beginning, the center, and the end of all history - "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."

"One thing follows from this: only that reading or study of the Scriptures can be sufficient or profitable through which we learn to know Christ - and that as "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" to us. And for this purpose we ought constantly to ask the aid and teaching of the Holy Spirit."
- Alfred Edersheim, The Bible History, Old Testament

It has made reading the OT fun - looking for Christ, finding analogies, references, types, patterns, etc. I highly recommend it.

bbsion · Post by **bbsion** » June 26th, 2017, 2:21 pm

As soon as I finish the OT then I will have read all of them. I am in Jeremiah right now. OT is obviously good, but by far the hardest one for me to read. I think I've read Genesis to Numbers like 10 times and then stopped and started reading one of the other standard works.

DesertWonderer · Post by **DesertWonderer** » June 26th, 2017, 3:33 pm

Yahtzee wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2017, 11:16 pm Still working on the OT. Slogging through it a little every year. I would probably be done if I didn't feel so compelled to read the BOM all the time, ha ha!

The BoM is that the OT was supposed to have been.

Which of the standards works have you actually read entirely?

Which of the standards works have you actually read entirely, word for word?

Which of the standards works have you actually read entirely?

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