Articles in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism have been compiled into five soft-cover volumes available for a portion of the cost of the original encyclopedic set.

All of the 1,200 articles in the original encyclopedia are included in the new volumes except for one on Church demographics, which is outdated. An article about President Howard W. Hunter not in the original four-volume Encyclopedia of Mormonism has been added. There are no photographs in the new volumes.Besides being less-expensive than the original hard-cover set, the new books - each sold separately - enable teachers and speakers to have at their fingertips all articles on a given subject, within a single volume.

Titles of the five new books are Jesus Christ and His Gospel; Scriptures of the Church; Church History; Priesthood and Church Organization; and The Church and Society. The first three titles are now available, while the last two will be out within a few months.

The new volumes are published by Deseret Book Co. through a cooperative agreement with Macmillan Publishing Co., publisher of the original Encyclopedia of Mormonism.

"Any time a student of the gospel can go to one source and find the basic fundamental principles, doctrines and teachings in that one source, it makes it more convenient than if a person has to search through several volumes," explained Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve and chairman of the board of Deseret Book. "This effort takes the excellent articles in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, compiles them under these five general subjects and makes it as economical as possible for Church members to acquire them."

Daniel H. Ludlow, former director of correlation review for the Church and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, said the new publications complement rather than compete with the original encyclopedia.

"I don't see that having one would prevent the other," he noted. "Many Latter-day Saints would want to have both, and of course, nobody should feel they have to purchase either to study and fully understand the gospel. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism should still be in libraries and used for reference purposes, but the spin-off volumes will enable many more members of the Church to have access to the encyclopedia articles due to the new books' reduced cost and ease of use.

"For example, a gospel doctrine instructor giving a lesson on the Atonement would need three separate Encyclopedia of Mormonism volumes covering `atonement,' `grace' and `repentance' to prepare the lesson. And it would be a bit cumbersome to take all of those books with him or her to teach. On the other hand, those subjects and many more would all be included in the one spin-off volume, Jesus Christ and His Gospel. The teacher could use the one volume for research and preparation and then conveniently take it to class to have available as a resource."

Brother Ludlow pointed out that the new volumes each stand alone, allowing a person to acquire and use one at a time. A person will benefit from having and using any or all of the five.