New Scripture Editions For 2013?

[David T]

Distribution centers are apparently not backstocking more copies of the scriptures, with an indication a new edition is in the works for late 2013. I've heard this independently from more than one source.

Does anyone know any more details about this?

Edited October 5, 2012 by David T

[Duncan]

no, but I wonder what changes they would have in them

[Saints Alive]

I think they are probably overstocked because of all the people using digital versions.

[sethpayne]

no, but I wonder what changes they would have in them

OD3?

jk

[Duncan]

maybe with the advent of digital scriptures, they'll discount the printed ones

[mapman]

I don't know how extensive the changes might be, but I think it would be awesome if they updated them to be formatted like modern Bibles. Hopefully they will say something about it at conference.

[Scott Lloyd]

Distribution centers are apparently not backstocking more copies of the scriptures, with an indication a new edition is in the works for late 2013. I've heard this independently from more than one source.

Does anyone know any more details about this?

In the on-line version of the scriptures, there have already been a number textual changes in some of the study aids, such as the chapter synopses and, most prominently, the introduction to the Book of Mormon, where the phrase "principal ancestors" was changed to "among the ancestors."

I suspect any new print edition of the scriptures will contain these changes already made in the on-line version. I will be surprised if there is anything more extensive than this.

[Scott Lloyd]

I don't know how extensive the changes might be, but I think it would be awesome if they updated them to be formatted like modern Bibles. Hopefully they will say something about it at conference.

What do you mean by "formatted like mondern Bibles"? Are you suggesting the Church might drop the King James Version?

[mapman]

What do you mean by "formatted like mondern Bibles"? Are you suggesting the Church might drop the King James Version?

I just mean with paragraphs and poetry laid out in lines. I think that people would find that easier to read, especially for converts who are used to reading Bibles formatted that way.

[David T]

I just mean with paragraphs and poetry laid out in lines. I think that people would find that easier to read, especially for converts who are used to reading Bibles formatted that way.

Like Grant Hardy's fantastic reader's edition.

Full paragraphing, narrative headers rather than chapter summaries, notations of when a scriptural text is being explicitly quoted, poetry in poetic lines, etc. It's quite a revelation in and of itself reading his formatted edition, which does not alter the words of the base text.

Edited October 5, 2012 by David T

[Blah]

What do you mean by "formatted like mondern Bibles"? Are you suggesting the Church might drop the King James Version?

I think he means a single column format, paragraphed, poetry set as poetry, use of quotation marks, etc.

I doubt that's the reason, though. I was under the impression they were going to start using different types and/or colors of leather.

[Blah]

Like Grant Hardy's fantastic reader's edition.

Love that edition. I have barely touched my official edition the last few years. It gives me a headache.

[David T]

I doubt that's the reason, though. I was under the impression they were going to start using different types and/or colors of leather.

Which is, really, a lot more likely. Is this an indication you received from Distribution?

Edited October 5, 2012 by David T

[Blah]

Which is, really, a lot more likely. Is this an indication you received from Distribution?

Indirectly, yes.

[Scott Lloyd]

Love that edition. I have barely touched my official edition the last few years. It gives me a headache.

I've heard of Hardy's edition, but I'm not familiar with it.

Does it include, the footnotes, cross references to the other standard works, Topical Guide references, chapter synopses and other study aids? If not, it would be of limited usefulness to me.

[Scott Lloyd]

Indirectly, yes.

Well, for those of you still using hard-copy editions of the scriptures, I'm happy for you.

I haven't touched one for years and am not likely to so long as i have my iPod touch and the Church's "Gospel Library" app installed on it.

[sethpayne]

I've heard of Hardy's edition, but I'm not familiar with it.

Does it include, the footnotes, cross references to the other standard works, Topical Guide references, chapter synopses and other study aids? If not, it would be of limited usefulness to me.

Hi Scott,

It does contain footnotes and references but not the same ones as are in the official version. For example, Grant may point a reader back a few chapters in Mosiah as its narrative concludes. With all of the interlocking narratives in Mosiah this is extremely helpful.

May be a good version for you if you want to simply *read* the Book of Mormon. It is, after all, "a Reader's Edition" so Hardy formatted things in such a way as to make the text more accesible for simply reading the book...

[swfarnsworth]

Well, for those of you still using hard-copy editions of the scriptures, I'm happy for you.

I haven't touched one for years and am not likely to so long as i have my iPod touch and the Church's "Gospel Library" app installed on it.

At a stake conference about a year ago, one of the speakers (who was also a bishop of one of the wards in that stake) said that we should leave electronic scriptures at home because other apps on our devices might distract us from feeling the spirit, or something to that effect. When the stake president spoke later in the session, he had to look up a quote.

It was on his phone.

Needless to say, everyone who was using electronic scriptures before that bishop's talk continued using them afterword. I sort of feel sorry for the bishop, because his point would be valid if it was directed only at those needing to hear it.

[Blah]

I've heard of Hardy's edition, but I'm not familiar with it.

Does it include, the footnotes, cross references to the other standard works, Topical Guide references, chapter synopses and other study aids? If not, it would be of limited usefulness to me.

No, it doesn't.

Part of the appeal (for me, at least) is that there are very few footnotes cluttering the page. The few that there are are mostly to clarify the narrative. Hardy doesn't interfere with the doctrinal aspect (and he doesn't need to. I think the Book of Mormon speaks for itself quite well in this regard).

[David T]

No, it doesn't.

Part of the appeal (for me, at least) is that there are very few footnotes cluttering the page. The few that there are are mostly to clarify the narrative. Hardy doesn't interfere with the doctrinal aspect (and he doesn't need to. I think the Book of Mormon speaks for itself quite well in this regard).

Exactly. It's not designed for prooftexting, it's designed to let the Book of Mormon's narrative and narrators best speak for itself. I think it makes a huge difference. The minimal footnotes are to clarify sources for references and events, not generally to interpret doctrinal standards.

I use the app for quick in-Church (or otherwise) references, but only use the Reader's Edition for devotional reading.

Edited October 5, 2012 by David T

[Duncan]

I still use the printed version of the scriptures, I don't own a cell phone or an ipad or wizard box or whatever they are called!!! I figure i'll get one when I get a girlfriend!

[Scott Lloyd]

At a stake conference about a year ago, one of the speakers (who was also a bishop of one of the wards in that stake) said that we should leave electronic scriptures at home because other apps on our devices might distract us from feeling the spirit, or something to that effect. When the stake president spoke later in the session, he had to look up a quote.

It was on his phone.

Needless to say, everyone who was using electronic scriptures before that bishop's talk continued using them afterword. I sort of feel sorry for the bishop, because his point would be valid if it was directed only at those needing to hear it.

This is hilarious!

I say it was not this bishop's place to be making such directives from the pulpit, and if I had been in that congregation, I would definitely be among those blatantly ignoring him on what strikes me as paternalistic nonsense.

It bothers me when I hear from or about would-be church Nazis such as this author who is calling for "some protocols developed to encourage the polite use of these devices before they follow the dubious trail of the cell phone."

Such pronouncements as this strike me as a remedy in search of a problem. What reliable evidence is there that the quiet use of electronic devices in Church meetings is causing any real harm? If it's a matter of observers getting upset when they see people in church using electronic devices, they need to look to their own spiritual welfare and perhaps focus on something more worthwhile than judging (or misjudging) what their fellow congregants are doing during the meeting.

As for the users of the devices, isn't it best to leave it to the user to determine for himself whether his device unavoidably distracts him from feeling the Spirit?

Edited October 5, 2012 by Scott Lloyd

[rongo]

My wife and I prefer to read the photocopy edition of the 1830 Book of Mormon. We have also shared it with other members (like during BoM reading challenges), and they have uniformly agreed with us that it reads much more smoothly. I read very fast, but there's something about the chapter and versification in the current 1981 edition that makes reading much more slow. Not that speed is the name of the game ---- not at all ---- but, the Book of Mormon reads much more smoothly in the original chapter divisions without verses.

I included some images from the original edition in a handout for a stake fireside we put on (my primary president presented, and I answered questions in Q&A. We had around 130 non-members attend our three part series) about criticisms of the Book of Mormon:

http://www.fillthenet.com/BoM_fireside_handout.pdf (page 11)

I am also a real low-tech guy, and always smile when predictions are made that paper books will be obsolete by ________. They will have to pry my books from my cold, dead fingers. I chose to discuss, among other things, during a combined RS/PH on a 5th Sunday the issue of tech use in Church. My ward is not different than others, and most adults (and most youth, now) seem to have their hymn books and scriptures on their devices. It's been a major problem with youth, and we don't allow them to have them out in class, but it's also a problem with adults, too. Many are web-surfing and checking email during sacrament meeting and class. I joked about spending $500 on a jammer that would cover our building's square footage and render any wireless or internet devices out of commission (can you imagine the outrage and torches and pitchforks?).

One thing we frankly talked about was whether the trend and habit to have all scriptures and books in e-format is reducing actual gospel scholarship among members. I think that with most people, it gives an illusion of gospel scholarship (anyone can key word search or find a chapter from a pull-down menu, but how many of these adults can find Habakkuk in their paper Bible?) because of the technology, while reducing people's affinity to actually study and get to know scriptures and books on their own terms. You see this with many people whose default setting is to find material on the internet for a talk, rather than sitting down and writing a talk out of their own resources and Gedankengut.

I've also noticed an over-reliance/dependency on the indexes and topical guides for finding information, which replaces actual familiarity with the scriptures. There are sometimes key references and items that cannot be found by key word searches or in the topical guide ---- gems that are only known and apparent to those who pay the price the hard/old-fashioned way. For example, D&C 46 (gifts of the Spirit) lists the first as knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, and the second as believing those who know, *that they also might have eternal life.* There are two other passages that support and expand on this in the D&C, but they are not searchable *at all* through key word searches or using the index or topical guide. They can only be found if someone knows they are there.

I think of what B.H. Roberts or Hugh Nibley did and produced with good old-fashioned notes, reading, and memory ---- and how inferior our results are with vastly superior techonological aids ---- literally with the sky being the limit.

[Scott Lloyd]

Exactly. It's not designed for prooftexting.

I don't see that the study aids in the LDS editions of the scriptures are for "proof-texting" either. Rather, they are meant to facilitate a deeper and broader understanding of the gospel by helping the reader unify their content in his study. To ignore them is to miss out on a wonderful tool that the Lord has placed in our hands through the diligent work of those who were called to it.

In 1985, not long after the LDS editions of the scriptures were introduced, Elder Boyd K. Packer said:

I have the conviction that in the generations ahead the publication of the new editions of the standard works, with all of the resource helps they now contain, will emerge as one of the most important events in the Church that we shall witness in our lifetime on the earth.

With the passing of years, the scriptures will produce successive generations of faithful Latter-day Saints who know the Lord Jesus Christ and are willing to obey his will.

That said, I don't mean to discount the value of Hardy's reader's edition, for which I have seen nothing but praise.

Edited October 5, 2012 by Scott Lloyd

[DBMormon]

I think the GA's caught wind of my spin on the topic "Grace" and they are preparing to implement it into the church worldwide.