Light and Darkness

In Orson Whitney’s speech “Home Literature”, one of the topics he teaches is the importance of truth. He says that no matter where and who creates finds it, truth is truth.  God, or more specifically the Holy Ghost, inspires truth. In the history of the human race God has inspired men and woman to share truth with others through literature, music, oral tradition and other mediums.

What happens though, when there is so much truth in a book but it also has its flaws? Do we love it and revere it? Do we take the good without the bad? Can we truly understand the truthful part without the other part?

In Nephi Anderson’s Added Upon, as readers, we must make this distinction. This book is full of great imagery and excels in its ability to transport a reader to the premortal realm.  Anderson sheds light on what it may have been like to fight Lucifer in the battle of the minds.  The truth is that the children of God are mighty and fully capable beating evil.  In this life we are really in a battle of the minds.

In a world where the Adversary fights so hard for our souls, it is comforting that there are people who listen to the Spirit. I believe it is a way that the Lord is fighting against Satan and a way that the Lord intends to bring many souls back to Him.

“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God” (Book of Mormon)

I believe that there are many seeds of truth in the book Added Upon but we must be careful so that we do not accept everything. In short, take the light and leave the darkness!

Saturday's Warrior

Orson Whitney Quoted D&C 88:118 encouraging us to develop our faith through the reading of good books. I feel that Nephi Anderson’s intentions were good, and he talked about true doctrine, but it was muddled in the fairy tale cheese, that most secretly wish were true in reality.

I remember when I was young loving the song “Humble Way” from the very popular Mormon musical Saturday’s Warrior. I however didn't fully come to understand the messages that were being presented because I was so caught up in the music and wanting to grow up and be a missionary. Once I was mature enough to understand the major themes, I didn't agree with all of them.

Nephi Anderson’s Added Upon I felt has much in common with Saturday’s Warrior. Each takes a look at the plan of salvation, and I feel that both are too cheesy to effectively reflect the importance and grandeur of this plan. The largest being the way that both of these address the topic of agency.

Agency was being highlight as important however it didn't change much of the expected outcome and was overshadowed by “destiny” or “predestination”. All of the characters had the ability to choose things for themselves, but despite that they would always end up finding and being with the people that they were with in the pre-earth life.

Will the Plan of Salvation always have a perfect fairy tale ending? I don’t think so. We are in control of our own destiny. This doesn't mean that things can’t end well, but instead no matter what life may bring, if we use our agency to follow what the Lord has asked, he will make it possible for things to work out. Things could turn out similar to the way Nephi Anderson set them up, but that would be a rare case compared to the majority of situations. Otherwise agency wouldn't even be necessary. 

Added Upon-A Rough Foundation

Signe and Rupert were not characters ‘after the manner of the world', and at first that bothered me. They are underdeveloped and didactic, and their lives are interconnected to such an extent that it’s almost amusing. It would be easy to dismiss Added Upon as a literary failure. However, when viewed in light of Orson F. Whitney’s exhortations in his speech "Home Literature", it does provide the rough foundation, and the roots, for greater works to come.

How does one preach to all in pure and powerful literature without rebranding or drawing from established literary forms, as Whitney encouraged? Well, Nephi Anderson started with compelling doctrines that speak to the soul. Then he intertwined a simple and insufficiently developed plot. In the end, the orthodoxy of his work is its defining factor rather than its originality; his work is more pure than it is powerful.

Despite all this, Added Upon is a work that gives pause for thought, and the opportunity for growth. Some of the most distracting and irritating characteristics of the book are also some of its strengths. Take, for example, the division between the first and second sections of the book. This disjointed format (which never feels entirely resolved) serves to help us realize the temporary nature of life, and the relative brevity of our existence on earth from the perspective of the Almighty. It is in analyzing these weaknesses that we find that Nephi Anderson’s work is foundational, and indeed helped set a precedent for lofty goals in LDS Literature.