About the Book of Mormon

About the Book of Mormon

(Based in part on the Church of Christ document by the same name)

Introduction
What is it?
Where did it come from?
How did we get it? - p.2
What does it teach? - p.2
Is it a history, and if so, of whom? - p.2
Do we need it? - p.3
Is it "a bible" or should it replace the Bible? - p.3
Summary and Conclusion - p.3

Introduction

It should be noted that the Holy Bible does not present the works of God as being done in an ordinary or commonplace manner. The reverse is usually true. So when we encounter the "unusual" in this analysis of the Book of Mormon, you should bear in mind that such was common in God's dealings with man throughout history. Think of the strange manner in which Moses was called to be a leader of Israel: the burning bush. The drying up of the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through was certainly not commonplace. The means by which God brought his own Son into the world was a most unusual event. Added to this, we find the works of God being called "strange" in the following text from Isaiah 28:21-22: "For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers ...."

Bear these thoughts in mind and please proceed with an open mind and prayerful attitude. Furthermore, the wise counsel from the pages of the book itself is most significant to any honest search of this page:

"I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam, even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; And if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things." -- Moroni 10:3-5

What is the Book of Mormon?

Like the Bible, it is a "book of books" by various authors. It is the sacred story of the ancient inhabitants of America who were of the house of Israel and so heirs to the promises made to Abraham. It also tells of a people who came to America from the Tower of Babel when, as the Bible tells, God scattered the people from thence to all parts of the world and confounded the languages (Genesis 11:8-9). It therefore covers a period from over two thousand years before Christ to over four hundred years after Christ. That America was so inhabited in ancient times by an enlightened population is now amply proven by the sweat and toil of modern day archaeologists. These tangible evidences were not discovered until at least 80 to 90 years after the time the Book of Mormon was translated from the ancient records in the 1820's.

"The lowering of the waters of a lake in Arizona exposed the ruins of a city thousands of years old, in which was an 'apartment house' larger than any on Park Avenue in New York. In the Nevada desert is a buried city, six miles long, more ancient than the tomb of Tutankhamen. One of the most glorious of civilizations once flourished on our continent. Fifteen centuries ago the Maya Indians in Mexico and other parts of Central America reached a stage of culture which we might now envy ....

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"Tradition has held variously that the cradle of the human race was in Egypt, in Asia, in Europe. But all these discoveries make us realize that America is a very old place, too." -- Women's Home Companion, February 1933.

For further information about tangible evidences of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, visit the publications page. Look for the book, A Book of Mormon Companion, or the free tract entitled, "Evidences of the Book of Mormon."

What does it have to do with the Utah "Mormons"?

When the Church of Christ was "restored," in the early 19th century, the location of the ancient records mentioned in this document was revealed to Joseph Smith and the work of recording the text into English was underway. This "book" was to be called the Book of Mormon. Several years later, 1844 to be exact, Joseph Smith was assassinated and there soon arose a division in the church. The largest portion of the membership at that time left the church and headed west to eventually settle in what is now called Salt Lake City, Utah. Their leader was Brigham Young. They remain, to this day, the largest group having originally been part of the Church of Christ that was restored in 1830. They have become known to most of the world as the "Mormons," although their real name is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Although they broke away from the original restored church to start their own church in 1844, they nevertheless still believe the Book of Mormon is a divine record of God's dealings with the peoples of a tribe of Israel other than Judah.

So, who is Mormon?

Mormon, quite simply, was a righteous man of God and spiritual leader of the next to last generation of people mentioned in the book. Mormon was directed by God to compile and abridge all the records up to his day and is the primary reason the book bears his name. Before his death, he passed on this responsibility and the records to his son, Moroni, who was the last living person from the last generation of righteous people described in the book. Moroni is the one who eventually buried the ancient records of his people on the hillside described below - long before it came to be called New York.

Where did it come from?

At the time the kingdom of Judah was being carried away captive to Babylon 600 years before Christ, a family of the tribe of Manasseh (one of the two sons of Joseph who was sold into Egypt) was commanded by God to build a ship (I Nephi 5:70) in order to take his family to a choice land across the great seas. The land was indicated as being very special in Deuteronomy 33:13-17 and Genesis 49:22-26. Another text refers to "Joseph's" land as being: "A land shadowing with wings." -- Isaiah 18:1-2. Only America (North and South America being the "wings") meets this physical description. Thus we find the descendants of Joseph migrating to that land, according to the Book of Mormon story.

This family consisted of Lehi and his wife, Sarah, and four sons. The four sons married the four daughters of Ishmael, another descendant of Manasseh, thus combining two families and the servant of Laban, still another descendant of Manasseh, and from whom they obtained the records of their forefathers clear back to the creation. This family and their descendants were custodians of the records, and continued the records from the time they left Jerusalem to the time that Moroni, the son of Mormon, buried the records around 421 A.D.

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