欧宝娱乐

Wow. This book demanded a lot from me but, boy did it deliver.
It's definitely not a book you'd want to read for Family Home Evening. It portrays the early Mormon pioneers and church leaders as humans with passions and weaknesses. To faithful members of the church, this may seem jarring and at times even blasphemous.
Although there are a few things I would've done differently had I been editing the book, I felt on the whole it was tastefully done. It made the characters real to me and helped me understand that a man can still be a prophet and still have human frailties. But it doesn't focus on those weaknesses it focuses on their everyday struggles to keep the church together, keep families safe and happy, and seeking out the Lord's will and accomplishing it.
Of most worth to me was the understanding I gained about the law of polygamy, why the early church practiced it, how it worked, and why it ended. His research is phenomenal.
Card argues that all church records and journals should be made public regardless of whether they might injure the church. His reasoning is that the church is true, so in the long run, the truth will out.
I believe the church is right to simplify and "clean up" the church history because so many members are just finding their faith. If they had to wade through raw history and every little thing that Joseph Smith supposedly did wrong, focus would be taken off the Book of Mormon and the absolute truth of the gospel.
The gospel is simple. Church history, not so much. I love the understanding this book afforded me (and yes it even strengthened my testimony of the church) but I would be careful with it.
I would recommend this book to non-Mormons wondering about polygamy and the strange ways of the church, and also to those members whose testimonies won't be swayed by a little raw realism.
Take this novel with a large grain of salt and I don't think you'll be disappointed.