As some members of this list know, I am not a member of the Church, only a very interested outsider who has immersed himself in all things Mormon. Non-membership has its benefits -- a certain objectivity that comes with distance, an open mind that comes with freshness, etc. It also has its disadvantages -- most notably the lack of a frame of reference within which to judge the completeness of a book such as this.

One need spend little time in Mormon circles before the name James E. Talmage comes up. If nothing else, his works "Jesus the Christ" and "The Articles of Faith" have been elevated, perhaps not to the level of scripture, but to something just short of that. While works like BRM's "Mormon Doctrine" have, de facto, become to many authoritative Mormon texts, only Talmage's two works have, de jure, the air of authority just below scripture.

"The Essential James E. Talmage" brings us a little closer to why this man has had such an influence in the Church.

The book is arranged into forty titled sections. Although there does not seem to be an overall plan to the sequencing of the sections, each section focuses well on the stated theme, and presents, in Talmage's own words, his view on the issue.

Some sections are more interesting than others (my own opinion, of course). Those that were most interesting to me where those that reflected the creative, independent thinker that Talmage was. (It is with some irony that, the day after receiving the book for review, I found an old copy of BYU Studies focusing on Hugh B. Brown. Now THERE'S an interesting contrast!)

I fear Talmage would find it difficult to fit in to contemporary Mormonism. I learned that Talmage experimented with hashish, in order to determine the nature and extent of its effects. It seems he didn't like it. Such experimentation would likely be frowned upon these day.

I also learned that an entire article on polygamy was written for inclusion in "The Articles of Faith," but was never printed. The article is reproduced in this book.

Several things come across very clearly:

1. Talmage was, if nothing else, a bold and original thinker. He wasn't afraid to let his mind travel in unique directions, knowing that he had nothing to fear from examining and evaluating truth.

2. Talmage was a clear thinker -- his systematic presentations were very attractive to me, and gave his thoughts great credibility.

Harris stays in the background as much as possible. An introduction of more than 20 pages summarizes Talmage's life and thought, and provides a useful starting-point for the remainder of the book.

I liked this book, and recommend it to anyone interested, not just in the subject of James E. Talmage, but also to anyone interested in a glimpse at a major thinker, a major figure in Mormon history.

... nfx v3.1 jeff.needle@general.com