Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Book of Mormon; Mormons--Essays; Mormons--Addresses; Mormons; Mormon Church; Mormons--Religious life
"Sometimes you want to speak directly, clearly, passionately," says award-winning author Orson Scott Card about nonfiction writing. In this collection of essays and speeches, the acclaimed storyteller addresses a variety of topics related to the gospel and to Mormon life, displaying not only his engaging wit but also the passion and honesty that reflect his firm commitment to the ideals of Zion.
Broad in scope and eloquently expressed, these essays and speeches will delight and challenge both those readers already familiar with the author's fiction and those who are not. Particularly outstanding is the author's trail-breaking piece on the Book of Mormon in which he draws upon his background as a world-class science fiction writer to demonstrate the impossibility of that ancient record's being an 1820s fabrication.
Readers will discover, however, that whether he is analyzing the Book of Mormon, spoofing our sometimes hypocritical treatment of nonmenbers, or discussing how we can strengthen our families through the arts, the author's underlying theme throughout the book is that we Latter-day Saints need to put first things first—Zion over Babylon, the gospel way over the world's way.
Thus he helps us to see that the danger Latter-day Saint artists often face is the same one we all face in one form or another: the temptation to become "assimilationists" who "long to reconcile the world and the Church by changing the Church to fit the world." Zion cannot be built on such a foundation; and on that score, readers will find that the author's fresh perspectives on what living in Zion ought to be like will excite and motivate them to do their part in making that gospel ideal a reality. [from dust jacket]