The Essential B. H. Roberts (Classics in Mormon Thought Series) Rating :
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Roberts, Roberts Roberts!
By Kendal B. Hunter
The title of this book is a bit misleading, since I'm not sure that we can find the essence of a man as broad as B. H. Roberts. Moreover, the selection of entries has an emphasis on his quote-unquote "controversial" works, which I think is more of a reflection of the publishing house than the man. Roberts himself wrote a summery of this thought called "The Truth, The Way, the Life," but as for finding a B. H. Roberts quote book, one does not exist.
This book is compilation of several talks and writings over his long and turbulent life. Several of the entries are from his Autobiographical notes. Admittedly, Roberts led quite a turbulent life, and being a General Authority with a strong drive (Madsen calls him a "scrapper"), he was always in the midst of things and events. This book then is a reflection not only of the man, but also of his times.
Roberts has a powerful rhetorical style that shines through the dry ink on the dead page. I wish we had a recording of his voice, since it must have been powerful. He had a gift of expression, and so many inadvertent Shakespearian allusions creep in, showing how well read he was. You are always concerned about a man's ideas and his testimony, and this book covers both exceptionally well.
The last chapter is the much discussed journal entry where he gives several frank statements, especially about the book of Mormon. There are several logical traps that we can fall into by making hasty generalizations from one journal entry. We are not sure if this was a real concern, or if he was just letting off steam. Several of the archeological issues raised couldn't have been answered in his day, but that is more of a criticism of haphazard archeology than the Book of Mormon. The nature of archeology, which isn't a science, is more "luck of the draw" in studying what survives than intelligent design and intelesis. It is interesting to note that the discussion occurred in August 1933, and six years later Hugh Nibley finished his doctorate, and was able to answer many of Roberts' concerns.
Moreover, there is more to the Book of Mormon than archeology. Its greatest asset is its theological and spiritual evidence, which most people ignore since it is unassailable. Moreover, as Nibley points out, the book itself is a problem since it had to come from somewhere, and no one else has ever done anything like, "Dianetics" notwithstanding!
I am surprised at the rise of all things Roberts since the publication of "The Truth, The Way, The Life." What is unusual is not so much the concern for the man, as is the concern for the image of the man. People want him to be unconventional and fringe. However, his writings and discourses don't bear this out. Truman G. Madsen's biography "Defender of the Faith" I think best approaches the man as I have studied him.
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On one occasion Roberts defended the traditional Mormon view of the godhead—perfected men who “eat, drink … and procreate” as exalted mortals; another time he seemed less comfortable imposing limitations on a God who cannot be fixed to a single location, for whom Jesus was a mortal incarnation, and for whom the term “trinity” seemed more eloquent than the “presidency of heaven.”
His most famous and penetrating analysis focused on the Book of Mormon. In this collection Roberts discusses the mode of its translation, while stopping short of saying that God, who speaks to humans in their own language, could have authored the inconsistent grammar that appeared luminously in Joseph Smith’s seer stone. Instead he credits this to Smith’s own linguistic contribution, thereby preserving for God a fitting transcendence. Later Roberts went so far as to question the Book of Mormon’s historicity.
A final example of Roberts’s complexity: He proclaimed in public the perfect unity and harmony found at church conferences, but he privately castigated his colleagues for what he considered to be obstinance. He once asked what additional, irrational proposal “may occur to some genius” in the Quorum of the Twelve.
A paradox still, this feisty president of the church’s Seventies continues to provoke mixed and heated feelings, as expressed by a Scottish immigrant working in the First Presidency’s office who one day said to Roberts: “Aye, mon, the frankness of it. How dare you do it, mon?” But for those who are sincere and secure in their faith, Roberts can provide a delightfully rewarding journey. Consider just the following four, short excerpts from this compilation—two are originally from Roberts’s published works and two are from his personal letters:
“It is not given to mortal man always to walk upon that plane where the sunlight of God’s inspiration is playing upon him. Sometimes the servants of God speak merely from their human knowledge, influenced by passions; influenced by the interests of men, and by anger, and vexation. When they so speak, that is not likely to be the word of God. In any event it must be allowed by us that many unwise things were said in times past that did not possess the value of scripture, or anything like it; and it was not revelation.”
“What has become, in the church, of the principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed? Will it be enough to say that the consent of the governed can come later when nominations have been made by leaders? The procedure may be so, and the quorums thus ignored may silently submit, and the matter going on in a dull, gray, and sullen manner; but you will have no esprit de corps in the quorums; and young men of active minds will grow restive. Why not regard them as having some judgment, and right to have a voice in nominating those with whom they are to work?”
“So I say that when the churches turn to secular government to enforce religious doctrines and discipline, they abandon their legitimate sphere and enter one wholly repugnant to their principles. When churches thus abandon their confidence in the power of truth, they play havoc with their own authority.”
“My dear Bishop Nibley, let me commend you for the delicacy with which you can tell the poor ‘theorist’ to ‘get off the earth.’ I know not if you were born with such delicacy or have acquired it, but in either event it challenges one’s admiration. You write that ‘You (myself) are a theorist, while he (Senator-Apostle Smoot) is needed and has a place in the economy of things.’ That is decidedly good. There is but one thing more you could have suggested to my advantage; you might have indicated the particular location in oblivion where you would be willing for me to sit.”
Brigham Henry Roberts was born in England in 1857. Among his other achievements, he was president of the LDS First Quorum of Seventy and Assistant Church Historian. His numerous books include: (historical) A Comprehensive History of the Church, Joseph Smith: The Prophet-Teacher, The Life of John Taylor, Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, and (theological) A New Witness for God, the Mormon Doctrine of Deity, and the Seventy’s Course in Theology—all of which are considered authoritative, and for which Roberts earned the epithet, “Defender of the Faith.” He died in 1933.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3003029 in Books
- Published on: 2000-02-15
- Original language:English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.19" h x6.26" w x1.38" l,1.56 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 350 pages
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