The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon. What is it? Do we even need it? Where did it come from? These are some of the many questions that come about when The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is brought up. So what exactly is the Book of Mormon? It is exactly what the title says, another testament of our Savior Jesus Christ. It says in the Introduction, " the Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel." It is so important that we don't look at the Book of Mormon as "another Bible" or that it is adding or taking away from the Bible. It is used so that we can better understand and apply the principles in the Bible. Joseph Smith said, "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” That right there is a pretty bold statement, and as we disect what he said it all really makes sense. The Bible has been translated so many times either from its original or from the translated that there have been errors made and then you have people who purposely change things in the Bible. The Book of Mormon has been translated from it's original once, and every other translation is based off of the English, so that no or few translation errors can occur. It is the keystone of our religion because without the Book of Mormon there are very few things that lead us to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. It also helps us to gain a clearer understanding of our doctrines. So without the Book of Mormon, everything in our church crumbles. And of course, last but not least, if we abide by the principles in the book we can draw closer to God. The same thing happens when we follow what the Bible says to do, and it is only the teachings of Jesus Christ that can draw us closer to God. It says in the Book of Mormon, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi 25:26). It also says, "And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness" (2 Nephi 33:10-11). As we listen to the words of Christ, we can only come closer to him. There is a promise given to us from the prophet Moroni, he is the last prophet in the Book of Mormon, and he tells us, "Behold, 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). It says in Galations 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." That is how we can know if the Book of Mormon, or anything for that matter, is true. That is what the scriptures tell us. We all need to find out for ourselves.