Grant Hardy

Approaches "The Book of Mormon" from a literary standpoint, setting aside the question of authorship to concentrate on structure and composition. Posits that Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni display different methods of both, disclosing different motives and distinct personalities.
Builds an impressive case for the deliberate use of sophisticated compositional techniques.
In the process, creates a very useful cross-referencing tool for study of "The Book of Mormon" as scripture.
I don't accept all of show more his psycho-bio conclusions, but they are interesting and well-argued.

(Reread 2015-05-05 to 2015-06-14)
This was my second reading (read library copy in 2013).
Hardy based his analysis on the research he did to write his "Book of Mormon: Reader's Edition" (some of the footnotes include information related to that work).
He presents the LDS Scripture as a literary endeavor, without judging who actually wrote it, but rather accepting the internally identified authors at face value, and evaluates their literary style and authorial ambitions from that viewpoint. show less

An absolute gem.

Professor Grant Hardy masterfully covers philosophy and religion from ancient India to the shores of Japan and everything in between. The course navigates through thousands of years of thought that weary travelers spread through the Silk Roads.

I have listened to other audiobooks that mention Eastern philosophy but this course was on another level. Each lecture is about 45 minutes long and Professor Hardy explains the intricacies of Buddhism, Daosim, and Legalism; he covers show more Hinduism and the ancient texts the Vedas and the Upanishads; we're introduced to Confucius and Laozi and we meet Sima Qian and Ban Zhao -- great Chinese thinkers and historians, respectively -- and Hardy walks us through all of this material marvelously.

I began to read The Analects by Confucius and plan on picking up other works mentioned in this course because of how much I enjoyed it. I also plan on reading more deeply about Buddhism and look forward to reading the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore. I will continue to read on Eastern intellect before heading into Western thought. I like it here. show less

Hardy is not the smoothest lecturer you'll see in the Great Courses, but he is immensely likable and shows a deep knowledge and cultural understanding that allows him to present these sacred texts in a highly informative and open manner, looking for common threads and things we can learn from each of them. A Mormon himself, he has a B.A. in Ancient Greek and a Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature. His descriptions of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism in particular, are very informative, show more and throughout the course, the lectures are well-organized and coherent. In fact, all the sacred texts are well described, including providing some sense of the core Hindu sacred texts (there are so many texts in the entire Hindu canon.) His treatment of the Quran is also well done. Some may think he devotes too little time to the Christian Bible (there are separate lectures on the Hebrew Bible), and certainly more could have been said, but there are so many other Great Courses that cover the New Testament in great depth. Toward the end of the course, Professor Hardy looks at the US Constitution as a sacred text, and this very interesting lecture helps him draw together various ways of identifying and defining sacred texts. Within the course of these 36 lectures, he succeeds in covering an immense amount of material in a clear manner, and he often provides recommendations for further reading, both texts and websites. Hardy, for instance, introduced me to Robert Alter's translations of the Hebrew Bible. In the concluding episode, he makes the case for why we should study various religions, even if we have a strong belief in our own religion (or no religion) and recommends starting points for most of the sacred writings covered in this courses. This episode could almost stand by itself for those who don't have a lot of time--but if you have time to actually start exploring these texts, you should have time for the 18 or so hours needed to listen to Dr. Hardy's lectures. Highly, highly recommended. show less

This is absolutely the most interesting book I have ever read concerning the Book of Mormon. Grant Hardy brings the text of the book of Mormon some of the tools used in the analysis of historical and literary texts. Specifically, Hardy is examining the work of the three editors of the Book of Mormon: Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. Each of these three individuals had various texts available to them which they abridged and crafted into what is now the Book of Mormon (this according to the Book of show more Mormon itself). Grant's result is some most interesting insights into the minds of these men. I must admit that I felt the text grew tedious in the final sections examining Mormon's contributions, but otherwise Grant's analysis was very engaging. show less