The Lord loves us. He desires to bless us. And one of the best ways we can find those blessings is by studying His word as contained in the scriptures.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (casually known as the Mormons) has many resources to help you. I’ve referenced these before, but I’d like to take a deeper look at one particular resource: the Seminary Student Manuals.
You can find these online for free here or you can actually order one if you felt you wanted a hard bound copy. Either way, they are terrific compendiums of knowledge that will help you in your search and knowledge of the word of God and His ways.
- To peruse the student manual for the Doctrine and Covenants and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, click here.
- To peruse the student manual for the Old Testament and Pearl of Great Price, click here.
- To peruse the student manual for the New Testament, click here.
- To peruse the student manual for the Book of Mormon, click here.
They are prepared by the Church Educational System and then published by the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, based in Salt Lake City, Utah (for more information about the Church, simply click here).
What I love about these manuals is how rich the resources are within them. Each one first includes a general “How to Use This Manual” section. Within this part comes a handy diagram explaining how the manual is set up, and it also introduces the Seminary program – whether through a Home-Study set-up or through classroom learning.
One of the parts that excites me the most in these manuals is that which comes next. It is an extensive guide called Studying the Scriptures. Within this section it explains how to get the most out of your scriptures, especially the sets published by the Church with all the extra cross-references, Topical Guide, generous Bible Dictionary, Bible Maps etc.
The Seminary manuals also explore more than twenty different techniques or approaches to scripture study! These enliven the experience and bring the teachings home to you as you read the word of God.
A handy reading chart is included within the manual to help you keep track of your progress, placed just before the targeted content (for example, the manual in use this year in the seminary program is the Old Testament). Simply visit the links included above to print out the reading charts (found towards the beginning of each manual).
I invite you to explore these terrific aids to scripture study. They contain many wonderful helps to enliven and enrich your personal scripture study. Click here to select the one you are most interested in looking at!
