Review
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Title: Doctrinal Insights to the Book of Mormon Vol. III: Helaman Through Moroni
Author: K. Douglas Bassett
Publisher: Cedar Fort/CFI
Genre: Non-Fiction/Commentary
Year Published: 2008
Number of Pages: 231
Binding: Soft
ISBN: 978-1-59955-056-5
Price: 24.99

Reviewed by Andrew Hamilton

Every year starting around the end of November LDS bookstores begin celebrating two seasons, the Christmas season and the “New Gospel Doctrine Commentary” season. Such was the case this last Christmas when I was working as seasonal help at a local LDS bookstore. Between the time I started in early November, and the time I quit at the end of January, the main category of books that we were asked to sell were Book of Mormon commentaries. The main type of books that customers usually asked about were the commentaries. In fact, I would say that at least 60 percent of the customers who approached me asked, “What are we studying in Gospel Doctrine next year?,” “Where are your Book of Mormon commentaries?” or “Which commentary do you recommend?”

There are many Book of Mormon commentaries out right now by numerous authors. Many of them have good, even great qualities, but when asked which I would recommend I would almost always try to steer people towards K. Douglas Bassett’s new three volume series “Doctrinal Insights to the Book of Mormon.” The first book in the series, covering First and Second Nephi, came out in November, the final book in the series and the subject of this review, covering Helaman through Moroni, was released in mid-February.

There are several reasons why I find this series useful. First, many of the commentaries that are out right now quote at least a part, and in some cases all of the Book of Mormon text they are commenting on. I personally find this to be a waste of space and resources. I all ready own a Book of Mormon. I am willing to guess that any one interested enough in the Book of Mormon to buy a commentary on it also owns one. So reprinting what I all ready have is to me a costly waste of space. The books in this series have no quotations from the Book of Mormon in them. All of the space is given to the commentary.

The second reason I would recommend this book is that its formatting makes it very easy to use. Bassett, who is an LDS Institute teacher, has set up his series in much the same fashion as the CES Institute manuals. The books are divided up into sections/chapters based on the books in the Book of Mormon. The first chapter in “Volume Three” is Helaman, the second is Third Nephi, and so on. The text of the book is laid out in double columns. The blocks of scripture being commented on are referenced in a bold type face heading which includes a brief description of the subject covered. Some samples from the Helaman chapter include “Helaman 1:11-12;2:7,13:622-24;7:4-5 – Secret Combinations,” “Helaman 3:4-11 – Ancient Cement,” “Helaman 3:24-25 – Prosper,” and “Helaman 3:35 – Yielding Their Hearts Unto God.” After the bold heading comes the commentary. These commentaries are always in the form of quotations followed by citations of the original source.

The number of quotes and amount of commentary per block of scripture varies; the shortest one gets one sentence, the longest gets several pages. While many of the headings are followed by a quotation from one author, the commentary for “Helaman 10:1-4 –You’re Not Alone,” gets quotations by 14 different authors. The average number of quotes per scripture block is three to four.

A third reason I often recommended this series is its composition. A common question customers asked when I was at the book store was, “Can I trust this author?” or, “Are this author’s views in line with the Brethren?” Bassett wrote nothing new for this book. While he does occasionally quote some of his previous publications (he does this five times in the first 75 pages), most of his quotes come from LDS General Authorities. A check of the first 75 pages of the book, which covers up to 3 Nephi 14, contains the following: quotes by LDS Church Presidents, 179; quotes by Counselors in the First Presidency or Apostles, 113; quotes by other General Authorities and Officers, 45; quotes by other LDS writers, 38 (the two most quoted non-General Authority writers were Hugh Nibley and Daniel Ludlow); quotes by non-LDS writers 19 (these included, among others: C.S. Lewis, Mother Theresa, Arun Ghandi, Chief Seattle, Thomas Jefferson and Herbert Hoover). I didn’t count the remaining pages of this book or the rest of the series as closely, but as I read through the rest of Volume three, this ratio seemed to hold out.

Because of this format I would highly recommend this book to those looking for “spiritual” or “official” insights to the Book of Mormon. Those who want a more “scholarly” approach will be disappointed and will want to look elsewhere.

The books do have features that some may see as drawbacks. The series is only available in paperback. I prefer the durability and look of hard bound books. The size formatting of the series is 8 1/2'” x 11”, making them the same size as the Institute and Sunday School Manuals. I found that their size made them somewhat awkward to carry around, but this large size format can be useful in teaching situations. Another small annoyance for me was that there are several times where he quotes somebody who is quoting somebody else. For instance, at one point he quotes Matthew Cowley who was quoting George Albert Smith’s personal creed. I feel that when possible, it is best to quote the original source.

These weaknesses however do very little to detract from an otherwise great series. In the preface Brother Bassett states that this book was compiled “‘old school’ in that it involves just reading books and talks with no Internet searches or computer-assisted programs…it is simply the way I study.” I greatly appreciate his efforts and think that most people who give this series a chance will feel the same way.