Review
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Title: Hearing the Voice of the Lord: Principles and Patterns of Personal Revelation
Author: Gerald Lund
Publisher: Deseret Book
Genre: Non-Fiction/Doctrinal
Year Published: 2007
Number of Pages: 392
Binding: Hard
ISBN: 13:978-1-59038-893-8
Price: 22.95
Reviewed by Andrew Hamilton
Ever since Joseph Smith walked out of a grove of trees in 1820, revelation has been one of the most important tenets of the LDS religion. However, revelation, and especially the limits and definition of personal revelation, are also among the most debated and misunderstood doctrines within the Church. This discussion started within six months of the Church’s founding, when Hiram Page began receiving revelations he wanted to give to the Church from a seer stone (see D & C 2
, and continues to this day.
In “Hearing the Voice of the Lord: Principles and Patterns of Personal Revelation,” Elder Gerald Lund attempts to explain the doctrines and principles involved in receiving and understanding personal revelation. In the first chapter, under the bold heading “So Many Questions,” he states, “It is abundantly clear that God has promised to speak to His children. He has given the faithful the promise ‘that they may always have his Spirit to be with them’ (D&C 20:77). That seems like such a simple and straightforward concept. And yet even those who have spent a lifetime in the Church sometimes wrestle with questions about personal revelation. Almost always the questions boil down to one issue: "How do I know for sure when it is the Lord speaking to me?” (p. 6)
Over the next several pages he poses a number of questions that are often wrestled with by Latter-day Saints. A few examples: “How can we tell the difference between a premonition from the Spirit and just our own natural tendency to worry? Can Satan give us false revelation? When he seeks to deceive and confuse us about the voice of the Lord, what does it feel like? How can we discern when it is his influence and not the Lord's?...What does it feel like when the Lord is speaking to me? What is a stupor of thought, and what does it feel like? Can I really just forget something I have been struggling over for months? What is the burning in the bosom? What does it feel like when it comes? Am I entitled to get revelation for my adult children after they are married? Who is entitled to receive revelation for me? What if I receive a revelation for my family, but my spouse doesn't agree with me? Why do some people get premonitions that miraculously save them from danger or death, while others who seem equally faithful are caught in such tragedies? My boyfriend has received a revelation that we are to marry. I don't feel like he is the best person for me, but if it is a revelation, am I obligated to accept it?” (pages 7-9)
Elder Lund ends the first chapter with this statement, “The purpose of this book is not just to define the process we call revelation, or even to state its importance in both our temporal and spiritual lives. What we will attempt to do in these pages is to answer the questions we have about how revelation works, what it feels like, and what we can do to make sure we receive it, as well as to recognize it when we do receive it.” (p. 10)
The book is organized into five sections, each attempting to answer a major question about revelation. The five sections/questions are: “1. What Is Revelation?” “2. How Does Revelation Come?” “3. What Principles Govern The Giving And Receiving Of Revelation?” “4. Is There False Revelation and How Do We Recognize It?” “5. How Do We Increase The Likelihood Of Receiving And Recognizing Revelation?”
One of the book's strengths is that Elder Lund is very thorough and organized. Each chapter starts with a question. As he tries to answer the question and explain the various principles and doctrines involved in receiving and understanding revelation, he quotes heavily from the scriptures and General Authorities, shares many intimate, personal experiences, as well as experiences gleaned from friends, neighbors, and Latter-day Saints from around the world. To try and make his ideas more clear Elder Lund utilizes charts, graphs, bullet pointed lists, sample dialogues, and side by side comparisons.
In an unusual editorial choice Elder Lund includes “sidebar” style statements on a number of pages. These statements, all quotes by LDS General Authorities, are offset from the rest of the text by lines at the top and bottom, and end with a citation to their original source. These quotes generally add further insight, information, or opinion on the subjects discussed on the pages on which they are found. At first they annoyed me; the more common procedure for an author who wants to add further information would be to use footnotes or endnotes. I must admit however that their usefulness began to grow on me, and by the time I finished the book, they no longer bothered me. I am guessing that Elder Lund figured that the “average” LDS book reader would not be accustomed to reading a heavily footnoted book, and felt that this way of including additional information would be more accessible to them.
So then, does Elder Lund succeed in fulfilling his stated purpose? Does the reader come away with a better understanding of how personal revelation works, what it feels like, and what they can do to receive and recognize it? I realize that the answer to this question will depend to some extent on personal feelings and beliefs, but I believe that he has. Because he is so thorough and detailed, because of the sheer number of scriptures and statements by prophets and apostles, I think that most readers will learn something from this book. It is possible that some readers may feel that he is “institutionalizing” or “correlating” revelation, and that this book distances modern Latter-day Saints from the grand, often large scale spiritual experiences of Mormon history. I think, however, that most who read it will have at least some of their questions about revelation answered, and will come away with a greater understanding of the purpose and place of personal revelation in LDS doctrine, as well as in their own lives.
