A Marvelous Work and a Wonder is a 1950 book by LeGrand Richards on the history and doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The book was intended as a missionary tool and is traditionally cited as the best-selling Mormon book of all time (not including the standard works).[1][2] As of 2001, it was said to have sold over three million copies.[3]
 First edition | |
| Author | LeGrand Richards |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Deseret Book |
Publication date | 1950 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | xvi, 376 |
| 289.3 | |
| LC Class | BX8635 .R45 |
In 1937, as president of the LDS Church's Southern States Mission, Richards wrote a document entitled "The Message of Mormonism" to assist missionaries in presenting Mormon teachings. In 1950, as presiding bishop of the church, Richards expanded his document into a full-length book, which he named after a phrase used in the King James Version of Isaiah 29:13–14; Richards identified the teachings of the LDS Church as the wonder referred to.[4] The book was published by Deseret Book, a publisher owned by the LDS Church.
Richards donated all proceeds of the sale of the book to the missionary funds of the LDS Church.[1] The book is considered a Mormon classic and for several years was among the few non-scriptural works that full-time LDS Church missionaries were asked to study. However, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder is no longer part of the "approved missionary library."[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Lucille C. Tate, "LeGrand Richards: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder", Tambuli, February 1983.
- ^ Gary Gillum, "Out of the Books Which Shall Be Written ...", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 12 (Summer 1979):99 at 101.
- ^ Lawrence R. Flake, "LeGrand Richards" Archived December 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine in Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2001), pp. 489–91.
- ^ LeGrand Richards, "What the Gospel Teaches", Ensign, May 1982.
- ^ Preach My Gospel, Intellectual Reserve, 2004, p. viii
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