Review
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Title: Learn of Me: History and Teachings of the New Testament
Editors: John Hilton III and Nicholas J. Frederick
Publisher: The Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Deseret Book
Genre: Biblical Scholarship
Year Published: 2022
Number of Pages: 472
Binding: Hardback
ISBN10: 1950304337
ISBN13: 978-1950304332
Price: $29.99
Reviewed by Carl J. Cranney for the Association for Mormon Letters
Learn of Me: History and Teachings of the New Testament is a timely re-print of a variety of different articles or chapters from different Latter-day Saint scholars on themes relevant to the New Testament. Released at the end of 2022, the book seeks to capitalize on the 2023 study calendar for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If one is looking for an entry-level introduction to scholarship on the New Testament from Latter-day Saints, this fulfills that task admirably, if not exhaustively.
Learn of Me is divided into three broad categories: (1) background, (2) the gospel accounts, and (3) Acts to Revelation. Within each category are a number of different essays on themes relevant to that section. This is both a strength and a weakness of the book. While seeing a variety of approaches and topics helps give the reader a multi-faceted view of the New Testament, the downside is that some possible subjects are left unexplored.
Of note in the background section is the first full essay in the book, a reprint of Chad H. Webb’s “We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ,” first given in a training broadcast for employees and volunteers for the Church Education System. Beginning the book with such a bold and non-scholarly essay signals to the readers that the purpose of the book is not scholarship on its own but scholarship in the service of discipleship. While the rest of the chapters generally adhere to more scholarly standards, the overall tone and objective of the volume is clear.
Several articles stood out in service to this objective, though all were clearly selected to meet that end. Gaye Strathearn’s “Teaching the Four Gospels: Five Considerations” was a highlight of the volume. Dr. Strathearn carefully outlines the broad scholarly consensus on the different authors and agendas of the gospel accounts, and then uses those points to move into a discussion of what such scholarship might mean to the average Latter-day Saint, whether studying the New Testament on their own or preparing to teach in some Church setting. She does not shy away from some of the difficulties in teaching the four gospels faithfully with regard to their idiosyncrasies but is able to weave a faith-affirming throughline as she does so.
Eric Huntsman’s chapter “The Occasional Nature, Composition, and Structure of Paul’s Letters” also does a good job of combining the best of biblical scholarship with Latter-day Saint considerations, neither overwhelming the lay reader, nor boring the scholar. Though he does not delve deeply into the ins and outs of the study of the Pauline corpus, he does ask good questions that cannot help but enlighten one’s study of those portions of the New Testament.
I have highlighted these two articles, but if one is looking for more devotional writings, that can be found in the chapters by Frank F. Judd, Jr. John Hilton III, Hank R. Smith, and Terrance D. Olson. If one is looking for theology, that can be found in the chapter by Robert L. Millet. If one is looking for meditations on Christ, that can be found in the chapters by Keith J. Wilson and Jennifer Lane. Feminist considerations are presented in chapters by Camille Fronk Olson and Catherine Gines Taylor. And if all the articles seem to only scratch the surface of what good scholarship can draw forth from the words of the New Testament, the appendix by Thomas A. Wayment serves as a springboard to further study of biblical scholarship if one wishes to read further.
In the end, the variety of articles in Learn of Me will likely mean that there will be at least a few of interest to everybody, while others might only be worth a cursory scan depending on one’s tastes and interests. But as a whole, they certainly will help the target audience come to a more full understanding of the New Testament and thus fulfill the purpose of selecting the myriad articles for reprint in a single volume in time for 2023’s “Come, Follow Me” study for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.