Mormon Church

The Book of Revelation is the last book in our modern copy of the Bible. The following scripture from this book is often quoted to “prove” there can’t be a Book of Mormon:

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: (Revelation 22:18)

If you read this carefully, you’ll notice it doesn’t say “add unto the Bible.” This is because the Bible didn’t exist when the Book of Revelation was written. It wasn’t until long afterwards that various documents were gathered together and a group of people decided which ones were going to be included in the Bible. Catholics disagree with some of the choices that were made by the committee, and so there is more than one version of the Bible.

However, since the Bible didn’t exist and no one had, as of yet, decided which books were going to become the Bible (in fact, it’s likely no one had even decided to compile a Bible yet), the scripture clearly doesn’t mean you can’t add to the Bible.

In addition, there is another verse in the Old Testament that says the same thing:

1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. (Deuteronomy 4 in the King James version of the Bible)

No Christian wishes to do away with everything after Deuteronomy, especially since that would require us to abandon the New Testament entirely. These scriptures have been misused in an attempt to discredit the Book of Mormon.

These scriptures only mean we can’t add to God’s word or take away from it. Of course, God can add to it at any time. The first recorded information we have from God is found in the book of Genesis, but that was not God’s final word. Additional scripture continued to be written throughout the Old and New Testament. This alone demonstrates that there is no restriction on additional scripture. Otherwise, Genesis would be all we have to work with.

Mormons believe it is not man’s privilege to tell God He is no longer allowed to speak to His children. God can do anything, and that includes speaking whenever He chooses to do so. Those who love Him long to hear more of His teachings, to find out more about His will, and to learn from Him and the mouth of His prophets what He wants us to do in the last days.

This is why the Mormons are thrilled to have the Book of Mormon, which gives additional insights into God, Jesus Christ, and our responsibilities in the last days. Although it was written in ancient days-times paralleling the Bible-it was written for our time. The prophets of that civilization kept the records and added to them regularly, but their people did not have them. They weren’t written for that time. They were written for us and those reading it will find many parallels to our time.

The Book of Mormon contains the story of a prophet named Lehi, who lived in the time and place of King Zedekiah. He, like many other prophets called at that time, warned Jerusalem of impending danger unless they repented. Jerusalem was to be destroyed and its people taken captive. Lehi fared no better than the other prophets however, because the people had no desire to repent. When his life was threatened, God instructed him to leave behind his wealth and home and to flee into the wilderness with only his family and the essentials for survival. In time, Lehi was led to the American continent. He and his family and a few others who came with them joined with others who were already on the continent, but formed their own civilization, most likely intermarrying or converting some others along the way.

This family divided into two groups after Lehi’s death. The two oldest brothers, Laman and Lemuel, were wicked and they threatened the lives of their younger brother Nephi, chosen by God to become the next leader when their father died. Nephi and those of his family and friends who supported him moved away from the older brothers. This formed the foundation for the remainder of the book, with the two groups in conflict.

The people of the Book of Mormon knew of Jesus‘ impending birth, knowing more, perhaps, than the Jewish people who remained in Jerusalem, because they had visions which showed the virgin birth and that Jesus’ ministry would be a spiritual one, not a political one. When He was born, they received signs of His birth. They also received signs of His death, and when the frightening signs ended, Jesus came to them for a few days, to teach them, help them to establish His church, and to heal and give them blessings. This is the focus of the Book of Mormon, and its purpose. The title page says:

“Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever-And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations” (Book of Mormon Title Page)

The Book of Mormon is yet another proof that Jesus was not just a rabbi or an ordinary man. It testifies, as does the Bible, that He was the Savior. Second Corinthians tells us: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” The Book of Mormon is the second witness of the Savior’s divinity and a second witness of the Bible itself.

The Mormon Bible is the King James Bible, but the Book of Mormon stands beside it as a witness that God lives and Jesus is the Christ. In the words of a great Book of Mormon prophet:

26 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)

Personal Response by Lance

I have known for a long time that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, but only in the last couple of years, while serving as a Mormon missionary, was I finally able to put into words the way that my answer came. There is a promise given by Moroni at the end of the Book of Mormon that if a person reads, ponders, and prays to know the Book of Mormon is true, the truth will be manifest to them by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3-5)

I read the Book of Mormon a few times growing up and I always felt that it was true, but I could never clearly express how I had come to that knowledge. I could honestly say that I knew by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, but I couldn’t describe what that meant. It was more than just a simple feeling. It was a strong conviction.

As a missionary I came across people who had highly varying beliefs about the Holy Ghost and the way that the Holy Ghost affects us. This caused me to search even more to find a way to clearly explain how I had received a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. I was reading in the Book of Mormon one day and I found my answer. (more…)

Personal Response by Steven

While serving as a Mormon missionary, I was often questioned as to whether or not we, as Mormons, were Christians. At first I did not understand why people would question the Christianity of a religion that bears the name of Jesus Christ in its title. I realized that we as members of the Mormon church, are quite different than members of most Christian churches in two main ways. We believe in a separate book of scripture to go along with the Bible (the Book of Mormon), and we believe that God continues to work through prophets in our time, beginning with Joseph Smith. I came to the conclusion that people must think that we are not Christians mainly for those two reasons. I wish to share a personal experience to show how these two beliefs led me to a strong belief in Jesus Christ.

When I was 14 years old, I was a pretty average boy involved in a few of the follies of the world. I would go to church every week with my family, but wouldn’t necessarily live the things I learned the rest of the days of the week. One week I was on a family vacation, and I just happened to open the Book of Mormon and start reading (this was not a common practice to me as a 14 year old). However, in the midst of my reading I came across a scripture that sunk deep into my heart. (more…)

Personal Response by Lance

On the first weekend of April and the first weekend of October, the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes casually referred to by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon” Church or the LDS Church), including the modern prophet and Twelve Apostles, speak to the world in what is known as general conference. From the Conference Center in Salt Lake City the words of the prophet, the apostles, and other leaders are carried via TV, radio, satellite, and the Internet to more than eighty countries and translated into more than eighty languages. We invite everyone, regardless of religious belief, to join with us in watching or listening to general conference.

The reason I love general conference is best described by the opening words of one of the Church hymns, “Come, listen to a prophet’s voice, And hear the word of God” (“Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice,” Hymns [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985], no. 21). (more…)

Personal Response by James Faulconer

Developing faith requires that one have faith, but how does it come in the first place? Answering that question requires us to remember that the word “faith” means primarily “trust.” The question of how to have faith is the question of how to learn to trust God.

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The Book of Mormon is a record of the Savior’s teachings to His “other sheep”–the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. it is a volume of scripture that God prepared for over a thousand years to come forth in our day, and it is a second witness, or testament, of Jesus Christ. It includes the spiritual history of the descendants of a prophet, Lehi, who lived at the time of Zedekiah’s rule in Jerusalem. Lehi was warned of God that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and was told to flee the land. The Book of Mormon includes a moving account of the Savior’s literal appearance on this continent after His resurrection. The record was translated by Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God. It stands as a second witness, with the Bible, of Christ’s love, divinity, sacrifice, and teachings.
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