SUGGESTED LIST OF BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
The following named books of reference will be especially useful in the present year's course of study. It is not expected, of course, that all our Seventies will be able to secure the entire collection suggested, but it would be well for our members to purchase so many of them as they can afford to buy as the beginning of a small personal library. The books recommended will not only be useful for the present year's lessons, but are standard books that will be useful in all the courses of study yet to be prescribed. Inasmuch as individuals may not be able to purchase these books, we suggest that it would be well for each quorum to take under consideration the propriety of the quorum as a body obtaining this complete list as the foundation of a quorum reference library, that might be available to all for preparation.
1. "The Seventy's Indispensible Library:" This consists of the Cambridge Bible, the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, (bound in one volume) and the Richards-Little Compendium; price, post-paid, $9.00.
Webster's New Standard Dictionary of the English Language, adapted for High School, Academic and Collegiate Courses; price, $1.50.
The Works of Flavius-Josephus, in one volume, by William Whiston, A. M., David McKay, Publisher, 23 South Ninth Street, Philadelphia, $1.50.
Dictionary of the Bible (Dr. William Smith's). The most desirable edition of this work is the four volume edition of Prof. H. B. Hackett, D. D., published by Houghton-Mifflin & Co., Boston. It is a very valuable work and contains, "by universal consent, the fruit of the ripest biblical scholarship of England, and constitutes a library of itself, superceding the use of many books otherwise necessary." The price in leather binding, $25.00. The Seventies individually may not be able to purchase this edition, but where quorums unite for the purchase of books this is the edition that should be secured.
There is, however, a one volume edition of this work, known as
Smith's Smaller Dictionary of the Bible, published by Fleming H. Revell Co., New York and Chicago, $1.25, post-paid.
Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, edited by John Kitto, two volumes, S. W. Green's Son, Publishers, 74, 76 Beekmen St., New York. If Smith's Dictionary is not secured then the work next in value is the one here named.
"A Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Old and New Testament," Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, S. S. Scranton & Co., Hartford, Publishers. This is a very excellent work, and frequently quoted in the references and also in the notes of the present year's course of study. As remarked in one of the notes, the Elders who make up our ministry may not accept the doctrinal interpretation of this or any other commentary, yet its historical and critical treatises are among the most recent and valuable.
The Old Testament History, by William Smith, Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York; price, $2.00. This work is designed by the compiler and editor as a manual in relation to Hebrew history and on a par with the histories of Greece and Rome, generally used in our best schools. As a digest of Biblical History, it is a most valuable work.
Dr. Smith's New Testament History, with introduction, connecting the history of the Old Testament with the New, Harper Brothers, New York. This work stands in the same relationship to the New Testament History that the previously mentioned work does to the Old.
"Illustrated Bible Treasury," edited by William Wright, D. D. To those who may have neither Cambridge or Oxford or Nelson Bible Helps, we recommend this as a very valuable collection of material, including a Concordance, a Dictionary and Maps, and upwards of 350 illustrations, on Bible subjects; price, post-paid, seventy-five cents.
As helps in the study of the Book of Mormon we recommend:
Reynolds' Dictionary of the Book of Mormon.
Y. M. M. I. A. Manuals, Nos. 7, 8 and 9, containing Elder Roberts' treatise on the Book of Mormon, including a consideration of External and Internal Evidences, price twenty-five cents per number.
Defense of the Faith and the Saints (just out from the press), price $1.50.
Y. M. M. I. A. Manual, No. 10; subject, Modern Revelation, especially valuable in the study of the Doctrine and Covenants; price twenty-five cents. Manuals can be obtained from the Era office, Templeton Building, Salt Lake City.
The Book of Abraham. Its Authenticity as a Divine and Ancient Record, (Elder George Reynolds).
The Improvement Era, organ of the Seventies and Y. M. M. I. Associations, for current literature, comment and special articles on subjects of first year's Seventies' work, price $2.00 per year, in advance.
The Seventy's Course in Theology.
FIRST YEAR.
PART I.
Outline History of the Seventy.
LESSON I.
THE SEVENTY IN THREE DISPENSATIONS.
| ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES. |
| I. The Seventy in the Mosaic Dispensation.1. The Seventy Chosen. 2. Their Spiritual Powers. 3. Was the Sanhedrin a perpetuation of the Seventy. | Exodus xxiv:xi; Number xi:16, 25. Note 1. |
| II. The Seventy of the Christian Dispensation. 1. Organization of Quorums. 2. Commission and Spiritual Powers. | Luke x:1–24, Smith's Bible Dictionary[1] Art. "Seventy Disciples."[2] Edersheim's "Jesus the Messias," Vol. II, Chap. v. Eccl. Hist., Eusebius, Chap. xii. Students' Eccl. Hist. pp. 17, 18. Notes 2, 3. |
| III. The Seventy in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. 1. The Organization of the First Quorum. 2. First Report to the Prophet. 3. Blessed in Kirtland Temple. 4. They lead Zion's Camp to Missouri. 5. Increase in the number of Quorums in Nauvoo and the West, Present Status. | Notes 4, 5, 6, 7. Also History of the Church. Vol. II, 180–2 and notes; Ibid. Chap. xiii and notes. Ibid, p. 221, and note; Ibid, p. 346 (First Report of to the Prophet). Notes 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. |
SPECIAL TEXT: "God could not organize His kingdom with twelve men to open the gospel door to the nations of the earth, and with seventy men under their direction to follow in their tracks, unless he took them from a body of men who had offered their lives, and who had made as great a sacrifice as did Abraham. Now the Lord has got his Twelve and
