While I like the idea of the Gospel Principles manual the fact is you already get lessons from that in gospel essentials. Why not change things there.

What I’d much rather see is a serious rethinking of how Gospel Doctrine class is taught. Now that is one peolecstruggle with – far more than the PH manuals of late.

A skilled teacher doesn’t think, ‘What shall I do in class today?’ but asks, ‘What will my students do in class today?’; not, ‘What will I teach today?’ but rather, ‘How will I help my students discover what they need to know?’

By reducing the amount of material in each chapter, there is a good chance that teachers will talk less and instead spend more time encouraging participation from their students.

I noticed that Julie M. Smith wished that “more penetrating, thought-provoking questions had been included.” I actually think we are being tested with the sparse lesson material: will our teachers rise to the challenge and, with the guidance of the Spirit, generate and ask good questions?

The thing that probably excites me the most about these new manuals is the unparalleled opportunity they provide for us to study discrete gospel topics in a holistic manner. With each new lesson, we will no longer be limited to what just one prophet said about the particular principle. We will be able to dive into the scriptures and prophetic teachings and then pull together what has been said and revealed for each doctrine. Perhaps the big test will be to see whether we really have a theology or merely an assortment of loosely-connected statements and scriptural passages. And as we try to fit the pieces together, and probe the meanings and applicability of our sacred texts, I can’t wait to see what my students and I can learn from each other.