Richard Cracroft —
In How Often Would I Have Gathered You: Stories from the Old Testament and Related Sources for Latter-day Saints (Edenwood Press; 380 pp.; $29.95), Val D. Greenwood (BS ’62) tells familiar Bible stories masterfully in a simple, straightforward style free of fictionalizing and embellishment and consistent with the Latter-day Saint perspective. Basing the stories on the King James Version, but with modernized language, he arranges them in chronological sequence, beginning with the Grand Council in Heaven (drawn from the Pearl of Great Price) and continuing through the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem. Greenwood included rich and carefully researched footnotes applying LDS scripture and the Joseph Smith Translation, as well as maps, a pronunciation guide, a chart of the kings, and a bibliography. Although these stories do not replace the scripture, they are exciting and clarifying retellings that bring new life to a scripture often weighed down by confusing language.
The Old Testament: understand it, love it!
