Jeffrey R. Holland (1940–2025)

Christ and the New Covenant by Jeffrey R. Holland contains Elder Holland’s insights into the imperative role of Jesus Christ in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by reviewing Christ’s role throughout The Book of Mormon. Some chapters had a “devotional talk” feel (and in fact were expansions of Elder’s Holland’s previously given addresses) and other chapters felt more like his personal notes and understandings of the scriptures. In both cases, I enjoyed reading Elder show more Holland’s testimony of Christ and of The Book of Mormon, and his writing style was easy to read and absorb, as it normally is.

Elder Holland includes many extensive quotes from The Book of Mormon, and while he makes it clear that is not a substitute for personal scripture study, it was a nice book to read with my husband each evening (over the past six months).

Because it is written for a strictly Mormon audience, it probably holds little interest to those who are not Mormon. In fact, if you are not a believer of Mormonism, Christ and the New Covenant is probably not the place to start, only because Elder Holland’s purpose seems to be to inspire, more than to teach.

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A wonderful offering of hope and comfort to mothers (particularly young mothers in the thick of raising children). I especially liked how Elder Holland recognizes the contradictions that often come with mothering in this world - we know what we're doing is important, but the world often demeans or belittles the work of mothers.

I heard most of these as BYU speeches. I love Pat Holland's talks and find it interesting, as I look at her talks and his, to see the softening or maybe molding that has taken place over the years. As he became a general authority he became more closed about his private life but here, as they both speak and try to convey their love for the students, you get a more personal touch. You see the influence that they have had on each other and the way that continues today.

I picked this book up on a whim last week and the "times of trouble" spoken of came, as you may have observed.

This was a book full of lovely thoughts, easily read and short enough to fit in to the nooks and crannies of your time. But my favorite part was the last chapter.

I'm glad I had this book for these times. Troubled or not, it reminded me of a peace that I don't often take time to feel.