Podcast: 10 Tips from BYU Religion Professors to Deepen Your Book of Mormon Study

To enhance your Come, Follow Me study of Book of Mormon in 2024, learn 10 study techniques from BYU religion professors Joseph M. Spencer (BA ’04) and Daniel L. Belnap (BA ’96, MA ’99). Whether you’re studying the Book of Mormon individually, as a family, in a seminary or institute class, or in Sunday School, Spencer and Belnap suggest we “zoom in and out” as we read, looking at the scriptures on both a micro and macro level.
Technique 1: Investigate the social and cultural context.
Technique 2: Think about Mormon’s editorial choices.
Technique 3: Apply what you read to your own life.
Technique 4: Look at each book as a whole.
Technique 5: Read sermons of individual prophets and look for themes.
Technique 6: Analyze (and even act out) individual stories.
Technique 7: Focus on one verse and ask specific questions.
Technique 8: Remove the punctuation and then add it back in yourself.
Technique 9: Look up meanings of individual words.
Technique 10: Read the entire Book of Mormon in a short period of time.
Articles and Resources by Dan Belnap: rsc.byu.edu/author/belnap-dan...
Articles and Resources by Joseph Spencer: rsc.byu.edu/author/spencer-jo...
This is episode is based on the article “Slow Down Your Book of Mormon Study,” a Q&A with Spencer in the winter 2024 issue of Y Magazine: magazine.byu.edu/article/slow...
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[@brandonl2555]

I am obsessed with improving my study and getting more out of it, and the last few years have been a struggle especially in finding new ways to study. It seems like techniques/advice from church sources is very surface level advice. I actually started following a few evangelical UA-camrs and applying how they study the Bible, to my study of the scriptures.
With that said, this is the first video I’ve seen from a member of our faith that’s been filled with great insight on how to get more from your study. Thank you for putting it together and I hope to hear more!

[@byumagazine]

We're so glad it was insightful!

[@denyapalmer5728]

I loved the suggestion about reading sermons of individual prophets and looking for themes. Sometimes I forget that prophets from the scriptures are similar to our modern prophets in many ways.

[@kevinball3967]

This was helpful. Thank you!

[@byumagazine]

So glad!

[@hulemarj]

The link for the survey is only partially there. Help?

[@byumagazine]

Thanks for the heads up! We fixed it in the description, and here's the direct link: byu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aaAtJvGe5fXyroq. Thanks for sharing your feedback!