A Twelve Chapter - Twelve Month Study
What I hope to provide through this series of works, is perspectives, perceptions, insights and additional information as to how the Book of Mormon fits into the world of reality. This world includes the book's relationship to and place within the Bible arena of events, beginning with the Old Testament writings out of which it's roots begins, to the New Testaments writings concerning Jesus Christ which the Book of Mormon is an additional witness and testament to. This world includes the relationships of the temporal with the eternal from the pre-existence to the forever after. This world includes the historical world or physical reality of places, names, persons, and historical events and relationships. This world includes the entire doctrinal plan of salvation and exaltation of man. A fictional story often fits well into it own small limited self defined world of existence and structured fantasy. The Book of Mormon is not such a fiction, it fits into the real world of reality and has complex crossing patterns of relationship with the real world within which it evolved. These perspectives, perceptions, insights, and bits of information, provided throughout this set of works, is designed so that what is a highly condensed abridged account can be related to the expanded complex world in which it does fit. Every attempt will be made to honestly consider and determine just how the truth of the Book of Mormon, its story and content, fits into the truth of the world in which it existed and does not exist in. As such, it is a path of discovery, and on the one hand it builds these perspectives, perceptions, and insights line upon line. Yet on the other hand, since this is a reality, it will cross reference back and forth as the new 'information' inter relates and consists of having relationships back and forth just as does exist in the real world.
Searching and studying the scriptures is not merely a continual rote rereading over and over of the same thing. True studying and searching does expands the understanding and sphere of knowledge with each such occasion. This has been my observation as to how truth evolves and works. It grows, develops and fits together. Where falsehood fights to find relationships with which it attempts to build a coherent picture, the truth tends to fit together light to light, as the coming together of a puzzle piece by piece thus exposing the enlarged further expanded picture of revealed reality as it does so. When the pieces of precept fit, the images appear and the little added here and the little added there build to a total perceptive view where each piece plays to portray the greater image.
Not that this set of works ought to be considered as being of a prophetic nature or anything near the absolute Word of God on the matter. But they are an honest study and attempt to learn and gain knowledge by such scriptural study. And when line upon line, precept upon precept, seem to present a coherent portrait, the resulting image should at least be worth viewing and considering. May this work increase anyone's appreciation of the Book of Mormon who reads it. For that is its intent. It is not to replace, but to study the scriptures and to share what is obtained from such study of the scriptures of God for interaction of consideration with others.
One final note of preface, this set of volumes is not designed to be consumed at an accelerated rate and in a time consuming manner which would preempt normal daily scripture study. It should be consider as merely supplemental in nature to such study of the scriptures. Therefore it will be noted that each chapter of these volumes are denoted by months. While some readers will cruse through the chapters at a more rapid rate, the labeling is but a reminder that daily normal scriptural study should and does take precedence over the concentrated study of such as these volumes are. They are only supplementary to such prescribed study of the scriptures.
~ Don R. Hender