The Book of Mormon is a sacred text in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Like many other aspects of my religion, as well as other faith traditions, it is often misunderstood and misrepresented. For example, the popular musical The Book of Mormon distorts and takes many teachings/beliefs from the Book of Mormon, as well as other teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, out of context. This misrepresentation has led to many misunderstandings of my faith and the teachings we believe in, especially the Book of Mormon. So, what exactly is the Book of Mormon? Where does it come from? What purpose does it serve? To provide some accurate information, here is a brief crash course to answer these questions!
The Book of Mormon is a record of God’s interactions with His children on the ancient American continent and another testament of Jesus Christ. It was written through revelation and prophecy by ancient prophets, who engraved their words on gold plates that were passed from prophet to prophet. Before the plates were buried under God’s direction, a prophet named Mormon quoted and compiled the writings to form an abridged version of the plates. Those plates were later shown to the prophet Joseph Smith, who by the power of God, translated them into the first English edition which was published in 1830 as “The Book of Mormon.”
The central purpose of the Book of Mormon is to show all who may read it the tender mercies of God and to convince all that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. In my religion, the Book of Mormon complements the Bible and helps to further explain its teachings, as well as to provide a “fulness of the everlasting gospel” by telling all “what they must do to obtain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.” We read both the Bible and the Book of Mormon as two separate testaments of Jesus Christ and His teachings.
For me personally, the Book of Mormon has been instrumental in helping me to learn about Jesus Christ and develop my faith in Him as well as God’s plan for His children. It is my favorite book and one I turn to daily to find inspiration and peace. I often read through the stories and return to passages that have become meaningful for me, reflecting on what is taught, and applying these principles in my personal experience. I consider it a handbook of instructions for my life that helps me to draw closer to my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ on a daily basis.
This brief description obviously does not capture all the details that can be shared in regards to the Book of Mormon, but it does provide an accurate and basic description of what the Book of Mormon is, while also touching on its origin and purpose. Is there anything sacred or of great importance to you that is often misunderstood or misrepresented by others?
Hello, Bryce! Thanks for sharing and clarifying what the Book of Mormon is and what it means to you. I find it really lovely to see how much peace, guidance, and comfort it brings you – how nice to know that there’s always something you can turn to when you’re feeling down or lost! What you’ve described definitely makes me want to read the Bible, a core religious text we share, in more depth and see what sort of wisdom and guidance I can personally glean from it.
Hi Bryce, I appreciate you sharing about your knowledge and experience with your religious text. Your view of the text as a handbook of instructions for how to live one’s life struck me as something that is shared among religions. The importance of religious texts and their origins to respective religions is very interesting. Possibly over the next semester we could explore this topic more in our discussions.
Hello,
I found your post so interesting and educational. It was great to hear about the Mormon religion from a follower of the faith. As a Muslim, in Islam, our book is the Quran and often gets misrepresented especially when verses are taken out of context. It was interesting to hear even more about your religion and what the text means to you!
Hi Bryce!
This was a really interesting blog post. I tried reading the Book of Mormon a little one time in a hotel room, but I didn’t really understand what was going on. This post was a great overview and definitely made me understand a little better! I like how you focused on the goal/theme of the Book of Mormon, as well as the characters and the story. I think a lot of times, people tend to focus on other religions having “weird stories,” especially if the stories are similar to their religion, but not quite the same. So like if Jews or other Christians are reading the Book Mormon, they might get stuck on there being different stories but with the same characters we’re used to, rather than focusing on how at the end of the day, the stories are trying to get at similar ideals that we all share.
Hi Bryce!
I loved your article and thought you shared some incredible insights into your beliefs! Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Bryce,
Thank you for sharing. I found the story about the plates interesting. Have the buried plates been found?
Hi Bryce,
Thank you for informing us on the origin and purpose of your sacred text! I think Mormans tend to be misunderstood by a lot of people so I was wonderful to hear your explanation and relationship to the Book of Morman.