Summary Of Unlocking The Sacred Text By Marilyn Arnold

We live in a time unlike any other. The earth is flooded with information and technology, things to learn and ways to learn; however, our world is also completely inundated with chaos and confusion. Most of us have some hard questions in the back of our minds — the kind that no one else can really answer for us. More than ever in the history of the world, people desperately need to unlock and use the direct messages from Heavenly Father. These messages are contained in the words of the prophets; however, is imply reading the scriptures is not enough! So how then can a study of the Book of Mormon be most effective? Mortimer Adler and Marilyn Arnold help to answer this question for us. Utilizing their suggestions regarding discovering motives,

Marilyn Arnold points to the idea that literary studies and religious faith are inseparably connected. She illustrates through personal experience how certain skills acquired through studying non-sacred texts helped her t wo more successfully study The Book of Mormon. She claims that The Book of Mormon, above everything she has ever read, has impacted her the most. She puts forward that there are three central transitioning points that need to be made in order for The Book of Mormon study to be most effective. Her first point is that a concerted and concentrated energy must be put into a study of the book of Mormon. There needs to be an investment not only of time but of focus and dedication in the reading in order for it to be most effective. Her second point is that the intensive study must be accompanied by the ability to utilize the Holy Spirit as a study guide. For the Book of Mormon to become plausible and foundational it must be accompanied by a constant and intense utilization of the

He expresses the difference between owning a book and "owning" a book. In order to fully o w n a book and not just possess a book one must internalize the information that it contains. In order to fully internalize a book, he describes several ideas. He insists that marking a book and making it personal with notes and colors helps to make the information sink into our minds and hearts. He says that marking the book is indispensable to this type of personal learning. He says that marking a book will help keep you awake, make reading feel more active, and help the reader better remember ideas and impressions from the reading. In turning basic reading into active reading, Rich ideas and the hidden beauties of a book become visually perceptible to the readers. He expresses the ideal that reading a book should become more like a conversation between the reader and the author. Analysis In comparing Marilyn Arnold’s article to Mortimer J. Adler’s it’s very interesting to note that both deal with the very serious topic of how learning through reading can be improved using different techniques and tools. Arnold uses a very specific example of reading, for her it was reading the Book of Mormon and Adler speaks of books