Understanding the Signs of the Times – Donald W. Parry – 4 Stars

Understanding the Signs of the Times – Donald W. Parry – 4 Stars

Title: Understanding the Signs of the Times

Author: Donald W. Parry

Publisher: Deseret Book    

Year: 1999

Rating:  4 Stars

Price and Purchasing Options: This book is easily found at any Deseret Book or LDS book store for full retail price.  It wasn’t as popular as Parry’s other works, and so you probably won’t see if very often in second hand stores.  I would recommend just planning on getting this at a retail store next time you see it.

Review: I really enjoyed this book.  A lot!

In the typical format of Parry’s “Understanding” books - it focuses on the source scriptures, but does carry a slightly different format.  In his other books with the same theme and set up, Parry uses blocks of scripture as source and then goes into great detail on the meaning, interpretation, and connections within the text.  Although he does the same thing here, the topic requires a slightly different feel.  Because there is not single source material for “the signs of the times” he pulls nearly every scripture that seems to address the topic, include them as source, and then begin to walk through them on an individual level.

This book is probably the single best source for this topic.  This is because it is both comprehensive, and approachable.  It covers the topics of the signs of the times using every relevant reference, and does it in a way that the reader can understand its message, place, and timeline – but it still maintains its future use as a reference books as well, being easy to source back to later.

Other books on similar topics, will piece together the relevant scriptures into a narrative, which helps the reader understand how it “might” be, but makes it impossible to source back to after the fact and allow the various scriptures to stand for themselves if necessary.  This book is different in that way – it not only allows the scriptures to be pieced together into a narrative by the reader, it also allows the scriptures to stand for themselves out of context if necessary. 

I have always appreciated Parry’s “Understanding” books, and the format they have taken – but with this topic being so spread throughout the standard works, and even words of the Prophets, Parry really shows his acumen – and again his approachability.  He is not only concerned with relaying a concept, he is genuinely concerned with the readers understanding of it.

I give this book 4 stars – as it is currently the best book that I could recommend on the topic to anyone and everyone!

 

Suggestions:  If you are at all curious about the signs of the times, or think it would be helpful to have a reference book on the topic – get this book!

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Review #46

Tags: 4 Stars, Reference, Understanding the Signs of the Times, Signs of the Times, Donald W. Parry, LDS Book Review, Ryan Daley