Review
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Title: The Heart of the Gospel: Explorations into the Working of the Atonement
Author: Richard D. Gardner
Publisher: Eborn Books
Genre: LDS Theology
Year Published: 2013
Number of Pages: 192
Binding: Softcover
ISBN10: 1890718688
ISBN13: 978-1-8907-1868-8
Price: $14.95
Title: God’s Organizing Power: Explorations into the Power and Blessings of the Priesthood
Author: Richard D. Gardner
Publisher: Eborn Books
Genre: LDS Theology
Year Published: 2014
Number of Pages: 196
Binding: Softcover
ISBN10: 1890718831
ISBN13: 978-1890718831
Price: $14.95
Reviewed by Greg Seppi for the Association for Mormon Letters
Dr. Richard D. Gardner, a professor of biology at Southern Virginia University, was profoundly influenced by his mission to Brazil in the 1980s, if this two-volume set of books on the Atonement and the priesthood, published by Eborn Books, are any indication. He notes in his introduction to the first book, “Heart of the Gospel” (hereafter “Heart”) published in 2013, that the book came from his mission gospel study and his musings about the temple and the Atonement as a graduate student (“Heart,” p. ix). While this review will primarily focus on the more recently published “God’s Organizing Power” (Eborn Books, 2014; hereafter “Power”), Gardner suggests beginning with his first volume before reading the second, and since I had a review copy of “Heart,” it seemed appropriate to combine the reviews.
The market for LDS books on the priesthood has become quite crowded of late. A second edition of Robert L. Millet’s “Magnifying Priesthood Power” was recently released, as well as a short pamphlet by David J. Ridges, “Unlocking the Power of Your Priesthood” and his upcoming book “Priesthood Power Unlocked,” also address the topic of what the priesthood is and how it works. Is there any difference between any of these books? Ridges’ books seem geared to a practical discussion of what should be done with the priesthood; Millet’s work seems closer to an older LDS Priesthood manual; and Gardner’s “God’s Organizing Power” is what once might have been termed natural philosophy, meaning it is an attempt to establish a theoretical basis for how or why a thing works the way it does.
Before reviewing any book, I always enjoy doing a little background research on the author. In Gardner’s case, I found some online student reviews for his introductory biology course at Southern Virginia University (an LDS-related private university). The reviews reflect the students’ view that, while he is just about the nicest person in the world, his head is sometimes in the clouds. While I can’t comment on his kindness, I found these books to be quite grounded; they did not suffer from the esoteric, overbearing and often impersonal style of something like an Institute teacher’s manual. Indeed, while I imagine the market for the personal theological musings of a biology professor is rather narrow, I found these books to be surprisingly handy compilations of teachings from various LDS prophets, apostles and other prominent LDS figures on the Atonement and the priesthood, respectively.
In particular, “Heart” includes a chapter on various analogies used to describe the Atonement that mentions all of the common ways to describe the Atonement, from the model of Christ covering us with His image to shield us from the vengeance of the Father, to Stephen Robinson’s “Parable of the Bicycle,” to Boyd K. Packer’s debtor-creditor-mediator analogy. With eleven models and some additional sub-models, perhaps a teacher looking for a way to teach the Atonement to a class might find this section valuable. Certainly I can see it being useful as a reference text for writing a Sacrament Meeting talk for an LDS congregation.
Readers interested in a critique of LDS theology or practice will find little help here. This volume is entirely focused on the religion and theology of the Latter-day Saints as understood by “Brother Gardner,” as he calls himself in his author bio. While I did not find either book to be controversial or notice any odd doctrine, I do wish that Gardner had sometimes asked slightly harder questions—James Faulconer’s “The Book of Mormon Made Harder” is an example of an approach that I personally appreciate—but Gardner’s explicit purpose is to compile his gospel study notes, not to challenge his readers (beyond the implicit suggestion that we can all do better to live the sacred truths of the gospel).
Some readers will be irritated by Gardner’s chapter on women and the priesthood in “Power,” but I was mostly just glad that he refused to reduce the complexities of the question to “women = babies, men = power and authority in the church,” as a less sophisticated writer might have done. It’s important to remember that the LDS Church has built a significant theological framework around the concept that only men can receive the priesthood. Again, some readers will be troubled by Gardner’s argument that while women perform worthwhile service outside of the home, their highest calling is to serve in the home. I found myself wondering why he would even say it. Study after study has suggested that a two-parent home is generally the best environment to raise a child in; any arrangement that fails to recognize the responsibility that an LDS father has to build up his children at least as much as his wife is faulty in my mind. Additionally, is it really proper to reduce the service of someone like a Mother Teresa (just to pick a totally unfair example), which was entirely outside of the home, to second place? Certainly it would be just as unfair to say that service outside of the home has greater value than service inside of the home, but why put a gender on what is in fact an essential obligation on both parents, as Gardner does here? Yet these books are simply compilations of notes; while “Power” has more narrative content from Gardner than the first volume, it is still simply a compilation with supporting commentary of what has been said by LDS thinkers and leaders over the last 184 years, not an effort to re-think official LDS statements on gender.
I found it curious that Gardner did not include any content on blacks and the priesthood. Given the importance of the 1978 revelation granting the priesthood to all worthy males in the history of the LDS Church and its theology, I expected Gardner to comment on the history of the ban on black priesthood holders, and the process of revelation that overturned roughly 130 years of LDS practice—it’s a fantastic example of priesthood in action, God’s hand in His church, and an important aspect of our understanding of the priesthood today.
Gardner is fastidious in his use of endnotes, and both volumes have indexes and bibliographies, which makes them useful as reference sources for statements on various gospel topics from an LDS perspective. I suspect “Heart” might be surprisingly useful for a less experienced LDS seminary or institute teacher looking for a basic source for quotes, references and examples to illustrate the purpose and meaning of the Atonement. “Power” is not as strong overall, due to the flaws mentioned above, but the volume pulls together many scriptures and quotes, and discusses women and the priesthood in a way that some readers may appreciate, since Gardner avoids using a simplistic rationale to justify restricting women from priesthood ordination.
Gardner’s style is eminently readable; he writes in “Heart” that he “has a very scientific mindset, and wanted to know how different parts of the gospel fit together,” and both books are generally straightforward and to the point in their presentation of LDS beliefs (p. ix). Both books carefully lay out examples of LDS positions on the priesthood and the Atonement in a way that I feel reflects mainstream LDS beliefs, which makes the books useful for an audience curious about the background of current LDS views on these topics. Perhaps these books will appeal only to a narrow subset of religious theorists and LDS teachers. I could, however, also see these books being genuinely useful for someone curious about what the LDS Church is actually all about, beyond General Conference talks, Family Home Evenings, and door-to-door missionary work—they capture the ideas behind these practices, in other words. I would especially recommend “Heart of the Gospel,” as Gardner shows a greater willingness in that text to occasionally confess a lack of knowledge about the exact workings of the Atonement—one gets a sense of his appreciation for the mystery of the Atonement and its central place in Church doctrine. God’s Organizing Power is more didactic and, unfortunately, demonstrates less intellectual curiosity about the priesthood. I would be more hesitant to recommend that text, though it is an extension of the first, and I would certainly recommend it to someone who is not a member of the LDS Church who is curious about what Latter-day Saints mean when they use the term priesthood, which has a far different connotation in LDS culture and theology than it does outside of the Church.
To sum up, both books are useful reference texts and would likely be informative for someone not familiar with current/traditional LDS teachings on the priesthood and the Atonement. I felt that “Heart of the Gospel” was a more useful book overall. Readers with a scientific mindset may especially enjoy these books, coming as they do from an author with a Ph.D. in Biology. Readers who lack any sort of scientific background may appreciate them as a change-of-pace from more typical LDS portraits of the Atonement and the priesthood.