Good basics of LDS Gospel. Language is a little cumbersome though. ( )

Un gran tratado de la doctrina de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos delos Ultimos Dias, desgrana paso a paso los 13 artículos de fe, en lo que los miembros de esta iglesia creen. ( )

Great doctrine, very boring parts though ( )

Talmage takes each of the LDS Church's Articles of Faith and goes through the doctrine behind each one. The book was based on a series of lectures Talmage gave while teaching. The Church then asked if Talmage would collect these into a book, which was first published in 1910, I think.

My biggest problems with the book were first, that it wasn't clear who the intended audience was. If it was for members of the church like myself, then the basic doctrines don't need so much explanation. I know who Joseph Smith is. If it is intended more for others to learn about what we believe, as I think it was the basic intent, then I think there is too much detail. I just can't see many outsiders picking this up for a little casual reading to learn more about the Mormons.

The other problem I have is that it is so old. For instance, when talking about the gathering of Israel, the modern nation didn't exist yet. The Church was still somewhat officially calling everyone to migrate to the West. The only temples were in Utah. So much of that has changed.

All that said, I did learn a lot from this book. One of the most interesting parts was about how and why the Bible is organized the way it is. I had never heard that before. I also really enjoyed the part about the 11th Article of Faith, which is about religious tolerance. I liked this quote, although the wording is old-fashioned:

"Happiness is foreign, liberty but a name, and life a disappointment, to him who is denied the freedom to worship as he may desire. No person possessing a regard for Deity can be conent if restricted in the performance of the highest duty of his existence. Could one be happy, though he were housed in a palace, surrounded with all material comforts and provided with every facility for intellectual enjoyment, if he were cut off from communion with the being whom he loved the most?"

I'm not sure who I would recommend this for. Members of LDS Church would surely learn a lot from it, but it is a little out of date. Those not of our faith and wanting to learn what we believe would be better off just reading the articles themselves. My rating might be a little high, but I did enjoy this book. It was just a little dense at times.

For those who are interested, here is a link to the Articles of Faith under discussion:
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/a_of_f/1/ ( )