The Truth, the Way, the Life: An Elementary Treatise on Theology

by B.H. Roberts and Stan Roberts, B.H.; Larson

Book Overview

Less than ten years before his death in 1933, B. H. Roberts, one of the most influential Mormon writers of the twentieth century, began work on "the most important book that I have yet contributed to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0842523146
• ISBN13: 9780842523141
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Byu Studies
• Length: 607 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Theologist's Masterpeice

This book gives some of the deepest insights to the foundational elements of the gospel, bringing logic and sound reason to the stage of faith. It leads the reader by the hand through the unexplored areas of the mind, introducing them to concepts that have eternal effects when understood. A must read for any Christian!

Wonderful

As always, BH Roberts knows his stuff...he has a wonderful understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation, as well as science and philosophy. A classic.

This is the readable version of the long-lost book.

This is one of two versions of Elder B. H. Roberts' masterwork of theology. The other edition being published by Brigham Young University Studies. I have both, so I will be comparing and contrasting them later in the review.The story behind TWL is a little complex. Elder Roberts (1857-1933) was a prolific writer, theologian, thinker and a scrapper. Near the end of his life he produced a manuscript called "The Truth, The Way, The Life," which was to be a compact summation and extension of his theological thought. The manuscript was reviewed by a blue-ribbon committee, but was never published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints primarily for his advocacy of "pre-Adamites," and also speculation about God's progression in knowledge among other things. In the late 1960's, President Hugh B. Brown photocopied the manuscript and gave it to one of his grandsons, Edwin B. Firmage, with the instruction to preserve the book. Mr. Firmage donated the manuscript copy to the University of Utah, and then curator stand Larson decided to publish the book.The copyright of the book, along with the three manuscripts of the book were owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so it was thought that they could publish a joint version, but the talks broke down, so Larson published with Smith Research Associates, and BYU Studies published their own version, with photo-static reprints of the three manuscripts.The book itself follows the outline set by the title: Truth, Way, Life. Elder Roberts begins with a dissertation on the truth, and then goes into cosmology, with then-current (1925) science. He relied heavily on Spencer's "First Principles" for much of his metaphysics. He then discusses the nature of humanity, the Intelligences described in Latter-day Saint theology. He has a section that surveys ancient religions, with special emphasis on the Hebrew Religion. He concluded the first section with a discussion of creation.The second section focuses on the Way. It covers the creation of Man, the fall, and then the history of the earth from Adam to Christ. The second half of the second section is a lengthy elaboration of Christ's atonement. This is probably the best part of the whole book; since the Atonement is the heart of Christian doctrine.The Life is the third part of the book., and this section focuses on the "Sermon on the Mount," and the Christian's character. It concludes with a chapter on celestial, or eternal marriage, which is peculiar to the Church of Jesus Christ.This book is really a condensed version of Elder Robert's "Seventies Course in Theology," and frankly I prefer the "Seventies Course in theology" to this one-volume version simply because TWL lacks the depth and detail that "Seventies Course in Theology" has. Roberts covered more ground and looked into the implication of things Mormon better than he did in the TWL. The only advantage TWL has is that it is more streamlined, focused, and refined in many ar