Secure The Promised Messiah: The First Coming Of Christ Authored By Bruce R. McConkie Readable In Paperback

is no doubt that Bruce R, McConkie was incredibly intelligent and a brilliant scriptorian, This book was well researched and covered a lot of ground, It was, however, very difficult to get through, He repeated ideas frequently and used what Anne Shirley would have referred to as, "a lot of highfaluting mumbo jumbo, " He really could have used a good editor! I felt like I had to trudge through it and that's not the way that I want to feel when I am reading about my Lord and Savior.
I doubt I'll read the rest of the books in the series, took me a long time but I have great notes This was a very powerful book, I however struggled to finish this book as it was not a fast read by any means, There were many times that I was reminded of reading Jesus the Christ, I will admit that it required some real focus with the immense amount of information that was provided within the pages of this amazing book.
Whew! This was a tough one for me to get through, I actually started reading it a couple of months ago, just on Sundays and not for very long, My motivation for reading came when I told my husband I didn't feel I had a close enough relationship with Jesus Christ, He suggested I read this, He also suggested that I try feeling more grateful through developing a pattern of daily repentance, He was right. That's been helpful. Then I started regularly testifying of Jesus Christ to my daughter who has been struggling spiritually and in other ways, I started to feel closer to Him in general, not necessarily because I was reading this book,

I was slowly plodding through, and only about a tenth through this book, when about two weeks ago, I was asked to give a talk on Easter! I realized I needed all the help I could get.
So, I started to read this every day these past two weeks, I was hoping to finish it yesterday, but ended the day about twenty pages short, So, I got it done today,

The book is very thorough, I'm glad I read it, I do kind of like the more poetic parts, I learned more about Jesus Christ than I knew before, One of the things I hadn't thought about before was that He went through suffering and sacrifice not only for us, but also for Himself.
It was a necessary part of His own salvation process as well as for ours, That makes sense and is something I hadn't previously considered,

Even with my positive feelings about this book, I don't think I'll read the rest of the series, The author continually quotes scriptures, All his theorizing and organizing is a bit exhausting, Some of it is drawn out and repetitive, I think I prefer to read the actual scriptures, Excellent book of writing advice, I love Writers style. Highly recommend for other.
This was a longer read, but so much information, I love the last few chapters the best, about seeing the Lord, It's hard for me to read books like this because I could spend an hour on each page, . . that and I fall asleep, Lol. Good read. Although Elder McConkie has a tendency toward wordiness and running quotations, I have a hard time faulting someone for quoting so much scripture, I truly learned more of Christ by reading this book, I was not only motivated to come closer to Christ Elder McConkie actually teaches things we can do and expect in order to achieve that end.
This was a very rewarding, yet very difficult unnecessarily difficult, in my mind read, It took me a very long time to finish this book, but it was great as a study aid, as I focused on the individual topics discussed.


Two major drawbacks and why this book gets four instead of five: First, Elder McConkie's unnecessarily flowery, ornate, and repetitive writing style.
Elder McConkie really needed a good editor, Sometimes his sentence structure is unnecessarily complex, and the words he uses do not succinctly convey the message I believe he intended, "Sidereal heavens" How about "the sky"

Second, the internal structure and organization of the topics did not flow very well, He would promise to do something in a chapter and then fail to do it, He would also repeat something he had said earlier in the book, in just as much detail as he did the first time and without acknowledging that he had already covered the topic.


I would still recommend this book for anyone who has questions about whether the God of the Old Testament is the same God as the one in the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants.
Using only the scriptures themselves, Elder McConkie establishes very firmly if not succinctly that Jesus is Jehovah and that His Gospel has not changed but has remained the same from before the creation of the world.
This is a wonderful book it has opened my views of my Savior and strengthened my testimony of my Savior, This book has given me a renewed vigor to become more spiritual and to prepare myself to meet my Savior, I believe the Messiah series to be the most thorough exploration of Church doctrines outside of the scriptures, This book is a powerful and persuasive testimony of Jesus Christ and the reality that he is the Jehovah of the Old Testament and the Messiah that literally and perfectly fulfilled all of what the scriptures Bible and Book of Mormon foretold of his mortal ministry, and will yet fulfill all that remains to be fulfilled in his Millennial ministry.


Elder McConkie's writing style is much like his speaking style: bold and confident in the authority of the scriptures and of his authority to proclaim the gospel.
He is very thorough some might say repetitive in his treatment of the scriptures and the various nametitles and roles that in their totality define the Messiah and his role in the Plan of Salvation.
I appreciate his thoroughness and the clarity with which he expounds doctrine, I enjoyed reading the book, There were many times when his peculiar and unique way of wording things would cause me to smile and I could imagine his voice speaking the words aloud in my head as I read.
Elder McConkie's writing and testimony of the doctrine is deeply grounded in the scriptures and yet uniquely his at the same time, There is no way you can walk away from this book without knowing absolutely, positively,, that Bruce R, McConkie knew and preached and testified of Christ, and him crucified,

This book, as well as many of Elder McConkie's other sermons and writings, have really enriched my life and I am grateful for them and him.
Like all of Bruce R, McConkie's books this book is not light or easy reading, The subject matter is serious, the content is quite dense and rich with truth, and the book is best read slowly with adequate time to ponder, pray, and consider what is written.
Some parts are better written than others, Overall, it is a good book and reading it was a valuable part of my education in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ,

reread: rereading the bookyears later it is interesting how different parts of the book stood out to me than when I read it the first time.
Again, some passages were engaging and powerful and other sections felt a bit dry, slow, and tedious, Still overall a good book that teaches a lot of important and valuable truths, Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the quorum on the Twelve Apostles presented a living testimony of Alma:, He has searched the scriptures diligently that he might know the word of God to bear witness of Jesus Christ and His greatness,

The book is a thorough examination of the promised Messiah or the premortal Christ and Old Testament Christ, Examining scriptures with enough emphasis, Elder McConkie established that the man named Jesus was the Jehovah,

For me the organization of the book was confusing at times, I had a difficult time following why one chapter led to another, Yet there were moments where I could feel the power of what Elder McConkie

was thinking and how much he loved the Savior,

For me personally the most influential part of the book was chaptersthrough, or the conclusion, The book was worth all of the effort to read so I could understand those last three chapters,

Looking forward to beginning now Volumeof The Messiah series, having read Volumefirst to lay the foundation for who was the premortal and Old Testament Christ.
I love reading the writings of Bruce R, McConkie. He is so through, so complete, I will admit I do not always understand all that I read, but the thoughts are imprinted in my mind, I read this book as I studied the Old Testament in, This is a great, complete, doctrinal book about the God of the Old Testament, Now I am taking on thevolume set of the Mortal Messiah, And loving it. Wish me well in finishing, I really liked this book, There were some very interesting insights and doctrine inside it, It did get a little tiresome reading every single avenue McConkie pursued because each chapter started to seemed very similar to a previous one, But it is a good testimony builder if it is read carefully A long journey this book but worth every effort, I don't think I've taken more notes in any book I've read, I'm looking forward to reading his other books in this series, It may take me the better part of a year to year and a half to do so but I know they will add to my desire to know my Savior and learn of him.
I will most certainly be reviewing my extensive notes and pondering them in order to open the windows of heaven for some insights to the scriptures which talk about the Son of God.
The last two chapters were particularly good in coming to understand the possibilities of knowing God, his son and having one's calling and election made sure and receiving the second comforter in this life.
So glad to have read this book, .