Book of the Law of the Lord – James J. Strang – 1 Star

Book of the Law of the Lord – James J. Strang – 1 Star

Title: The Book of the Law of the Lord

Author: James J. Strang

Publisher: Self-Published/Reprint/Online

Year: Original 1856 – Reprint 1948 - Online

Rating:  1 Star

Price and Purchasing Options: This book is surprisingly hard to find.  With that being said, you could find some terrible print on demand copies at Amazon, but your best bet is just to read a copy online – which you can find at www.strangite.org for free. 

If you are like me and need the book for the shelf you will find some difficulties.  It was originally printed in 1856, and wasn’t reprinted again until the second edition in 1948 which was a reprint of the 1856 edition.  Since then for the most part it hasn’t been printed again.  This is probably due to the lack of influence and popularity the book carries with it.  There is more detail below.  If you are curious just read it online.  A first edition will run you $3-5k, and you wouldn’t want to read it; and a second edition retails from $300-500.

Review: This was one of the biggest disappointments I have ever read!  My initial recommendation is to just ignore that this book even exists.

Let me give you some background first, then I will go into details of my expectations, and then what actually happened.

For a little bit of background:  After the death of Joseph Smith there were a number of people claiming succession rights to the “kingdom of God” and a gentleman by the name James Jesse Strang was one of them.  He claimed to have a letter with the signature of Smith stating he was to take over (that document is another discussion).  Shortly after that, various sects (not moving west) started to form and one of them followed Strang – which he eventually moved to Voree, Wisconsin and eventually to an island called Beaver Island. 

A little known fact about this period of time is that the publication of the Book of Mormon was in short supply, and many of the break-off sects were struggling to survive as a result of scripture drought.  Around this time, Strang claimed to have been given the plates of brass and translated the original “Law of the Lord” that was contained in them from Moses.  Yes, these were the same plates of brass that Nephi acquired – which would have had the Law of the Lord on them (supposedly).  He published that translation as The Book of the Law of the Lord (first in a pamphlet in 1851, then as a book in 1856), and successfully tried to justify his own prophetic mantle, and resolve the scripture drought in one step. 

(For another conversation, the Book of Mormon wasn’t able to be published in the US for copyright reasons – which is the reason why the Utah branch of Mormonism printed all of their copies in Liverpool England until 1871; using the copyright Young acquired when he printed the Book of Mormon in 1841 in England under the direction of Smith.  The 1841 Edition of the Book of Mormon is arguable the second most important edition ever printed – as it gave Young the right to continue to print it after the death of Smith.)

As a fan of church history (all of it), I have always been somewhat interested in these sects that broke off.  Also as a fan of world religion, I also generally have a positive attitude towards those who seek to help others gain a better perspective of eternity.  For the most part, regardless of the full degree of truth they carry with them, I tend to believe they are coming from a good place with good intentions.  With that in mind, I was excited to get a second edition copy of the Book of the Law of the Lord and give it a read.

Here are my impressions. 

With all due respect, and a part of me hates to be so brutal to a sacred work of scripture for a denomination, but from an LDS perspective the book is a fraud.  For something that supposedly would supersede the Book of Mormon, it carries with it nothing of interest, nothing of spirituality, and nothing but reiterating the basic laws in the OT.  There are moments where you read and clearly see the philosophy and thought process of man – but never do you hear, see, or feel divinity in the process.  It literally feels like a step back into a lesser law.

Through the short “translation” most of the pages are filled with inserted commentary to justify the translation.  Strang seeks to defend himself and his thoughts even before anyone questions it.  Where Smith would unapologetically translate, reveal, and than walk away from divine criticism – Strang seems to lean into to expecting the challenge.  There is commentary in there that makes you think he is trying to convince himself with grand thoughts and interpretations of his own translation. 

For those who are used to something greater in their scriptures of the restoration – there is so much to be desired here – and a complete absence of the spirit.  From there it is too easy to conclude that Strang was not only a fraud, but desperately trying to lead people astray for his own purposes (whatever those may be).

This was an extremely disappointing read.  Please don’t read this text –not even if you are interested, it will be a complete waste of time.  Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think it will “trick you” into apostasy.  If you read it, you will clearly walk away with no temptation – it just will be a huge waste of time. 

After reading this book you begin to get perspective as to why the movement struggles to survive even today – albeit one of only three remaining sects of Smith’s Mormonism today.

  

Suggestions:  Skip it – without giving it a second thought.  If you are considering it, jump on the strangite.org website and start reading it yourself, and in a few short minutes you will lose interest.

I hope you have enjoyed this review, and I encourage you to follow this blog as I update more reviews in the coming days, weeks, months, etc.  Please feel free to also follow my YouTube page – however, I enjoy writing more than being on camera!

Review #40

Tags: 1 Stars, Church History, Sacred Scripture, James J. Strang, Book of the Law of the Lord, LDS Book Review, Ryan Daley