Why the Book of Mormon Is Worth Studying Even if You Aren’t a Mormon
If you want to know what the Book of Mormon is, you might do what many of us do when we want to
know about something unfamiliar: take a look at Wikipedia. Here is what it has
to say:
“The Book
of Mormon is a sacred
text of the Latter-day Saint movement, which adherents believe contains
writings of ancient prophets
who lived on the American continent from approximately 2200 BC to AD 421. It was first
published in March 1830 by Joseph
Smith as The Book of
Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the
Plates of Nephi.
According
to Smith's account and the book's narrative, the Book of Mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown
characters referred to as "reformed
Egyptian" engraved
on golden plates. Smith said that the last prophet to contribute to the book, a man
named Moroni,
buried it in a hill
in present-day New York,
then returned to earth in 1827 as an angel, revealing the location of the book to
Smith, and instructing him to translate it into English for use in the restoration of Christ's true church in the latter days.
The Book of Mormon is the
earliest of the unique writings of the Latter-day Saint movement, the denominations of which typically regard the text primarily as scripture, and
secondarily as a historical record of God's dealings with the ancient
inhabitants of the Americas.
The Book of Mormon is divided into smaller books, titled after the individuals
named as primary authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters and
verses. It is written in English very similar to the Early Modern English linguistic style of the King James
Version of the Bible,
and has since been fully or partially translated into 108 languages. As
of 2011, more than 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon have been published.” (Wikipedia, The Book of Mormon)
Believe it Or Not, It’s Good Stuff
There you have it. As a result of its fantastic claims, The Book of Mormon is taken very
seriously only by Latter-day Saints, and is largely ignored by everyone else,
except some few who have devoted themselves to debunking it! I will make no
effort whatsoever to prove the authenticity or the historicity of the text;
that is much better left to more qualified individuals. My approach in this course will be to examine the Book
of Mormon as a work of literature as well as a book of scripture, and to
try to mine from it some of the nuggets of wisdom that have made it precious
and important as a sacred text to millions of people, including myself. After
all, even Wikipedia admits that there are some interesting things in the Book of Mormon:
“The Book of Mormon has a number of original
and distinctive doctrinal discussions on subjects such as the fall of Adam and Eve, the nature of the Atonement, eschatology, redemption from physical and spiritual death, and the organization
of the latter-day church. The pivotal event of the book is an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas shortly after his
resurrection.”
A Complement to the Bible
As I have taught our community Bible
class over the last two years, I have been continually inspired by the number
of beliefs we have in common as Christians; these seem so much more important
than the doctrinal issues that divide us. I have used the Book of Mormon as a Bible commentary many times in our classes, and
simply invite those who are not of our faith to enjoy the insight offered if it
appeals to them, and reject it if it does not. Our sessions have virtually no
doctrinal disputation; we’ve been much more concerned about our own relation to
the teachings of Jesus than various points of doctrine. The Book of Mormon (though often referred to) has never been a
point of discussion beyond this blanket disclaimer.
Nevertheless, I personally feel that the Book of Mormon, whether one accepts it as divinely inspired or not,
stands on its own as a great work of literature, based on its character
development, its complex plotting, and its remarkable collection of authors,
each uniquely different in tone and voice. In addition, I contend that it also stands
as a great work of sacred scripture, based on the remarkable and original views
it espouses on a number of topics, from human nature to the mission of Christ
to the apocalypse. Along with the Bible, I feel that it merits its own course
of study.
As we progress together through each of the fifteen books in the Book of Mormon, I hope you will begin to
appreciate the tremendous wealth of knowledge and insight (particularly about
the role of Jesus Christ in our individual lives) that is available in this
very unique text. Many modern
challenges, from class warfare to feminism to personality disorders, are dealt
with in its pages. If you are not a Latter-day Saint and do not accept the
church’s claims about the origin of The
Book of Mormon, it is my hope that this study will open your mind to
its value as a sacred text, and will add to your own understanding of your own
spiritual quest as a result. If you are a Latter-day Saint and do accept this
as a standard work, I hope that this commentary will enrich your appreciation
of its timeliness and relevance to your daily dilemmas.
It's All About Jesus
In any case, our goal in this course is that same as the stated goal of the Book of Mormon itself,
namely, to act as another witness of Christ. As Mormon (the brilliant editor
and redactor of the book) states in the closing chapters, there is one sure way
to judge the value anything that comes into our purview:
“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he
may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every
thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent
forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect
knowledge it is of God.”
(Moroni
7:16)
For me, the Book of Mormon has offered a significant
addition to my knowledge and understanding about Jesus, which is the most
important information I possess. Anything that adds to that part of my life is
welcome and wonderful to me. I’m grateful for what I have learned from its
pages, and I’m excited to journey through them together with you. So let’s get
started!
