Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Quick Christian Guide to the Mormon Holy Book by Ross Anderson M.A.

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Mormons, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, form a growing population in both numbers and influence. Yet few people have more than a passing knowledge of the document that defines and drives this important movement—the Book of Mormon.

A former Mormon and an adult convert to Christianity, author Ross Anderson provides a clear summary of the Book of Mormon including its history, teachings, and unique features. Stories from the author and other ex-Mormons illustrate the use of Mormon scripture in the Latter-day Saint church. Anderson gives special attention to how the Book of Mormon relates to Christian beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible.

With discussion questions to facilitate group use and a focus on providing an accurate portrayal of Mormons beliefs, Understanding the Book of Mormon is an indispensable guide for anyone wishing to become more familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its most formative scripture.

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Table of Contents

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What Is the Book of Mormon?

As a teenager, it wasn't easy getting up at 6:00 a.m. to start the school day. I've never been a morning person, but every day at daybreak, before heading to my first period class at Tustin High, I went to the chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to attend a class on the Book of Mormon. During four years of early morning studies, we learned about other topics as well.

Growing up in an active LDS home, the Book of Mormon held a prominent place in my family's life. We admired its heroes and quoted from its inspiring passages. We modeled our actions on its stories and principles. Above all, the Book of Mormon verified everything we believed. We were convinced that Joseph Smith had received it from God and translated it by divine power. So for my family - as for Latter-day Saints today - the very existence of the Book of Mormon proved that Smith was God's prophet for our times and that the Church he founded was true.

Mormonism in the Spotlight

Since my teen years, the influence of Mormonism in American life has grown. Most people have seen clean-cut Mormon missionaries riding their bicycles through the streets. Television commercials highlight LDS family virtues. Internet pop-up ads promise to answer our deepest questions about life. Newsweek magazine featured a cover story on "The Mormons" just before the 2002 Winter Olympics, which showcased the Mormon heartland of Salt Lake City. Gordon B. Hinckley, as President of the LDS Church, was interviewed in Time magazine and on Larry King Live.

Mormonism appears frequently on the radar of popular culture through sports and entertainment figures like football Hall of Famer Steve Young, country music trio SheDaisy, R & B legend Gladys Knight, and comic actor Jon Heder. Likewise, Latter-day Saints make their mark in the highest levels of government, from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada to Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Ser vices. Of course, nothing has focused America's attention on Mormonism more than Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign.

But despite its expanding profile, myths and misconceptions about Mormonism abound. In public, LDS spokesmen downplay their Church's distinctive doctrines. Christian writers often recycle archaic and inaccurate portrayals of Mormon beliefs. The popular media focus on stereotypes of polygamy or the perceived quirks of LDS culture. Thus the story and message of the Book of Mormon are largely unknown to most Americans - despite its position as the central scripture of this growing faith and a powerful defining force in Mormon life. By 2001, the Book of Mormon was available in ninety-nine different languages. It is the second most widely distributed religious book in America - trailing only the Bible. More than 100 million copies have been printed, with over fifteen thousand added every day. Yet even informed Christians generally know little about the Book of Mormon.

The Astonishing Claims of the Book of Mormon

Latter-day Saints make some remarkable assertions about their foundational scripture. According to the LDS Church, the Book of Mormon is "a collection of writings and teachings of the ancient prophets and followers of Jesus Christ who lived in the Americas from approximately 590 BC to AD 421. The Prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by divine inspiration from gold plates that he received from the angel Moroni."

To begin with, the Book of Mormon is presented as an ancient account of the inhabitants of America - people who are considered to be descendants of Israel and "the principal ancestors of the American Indians." The Book of Mormon claims to be an abridgment of their records, engraved on plates of gold and buried in the ground for posterity. Thus to Latter-day Saints, the book does not merely tell a faith-promoting story, nor is it a simple chronology. It is a spiritual history comparable to the Bible: the story of God's people in the Americas, their response to God's prophets, and their cycles of wickedness and repentance. As spiritual history, the highlight of the Book of Mormon's plot is the appearance of Jesus Christ himself in America.

The Book of Mormon makes the further claim that the gold plates containing this ancient record "were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God." The plates were said to be inscribed in a script called "reformed Egyptian." Smith did not translate these engraved characters in a strict sense. Rather, Mormons believe that God showed him by supernatural means what the archaic words meant in English. Smith then dictated this "translation" to a scribe. Completed in just a few months, the Book of Mormon was published in 1830 in Palmyra, New York.

In the earliest years of Mormonism, it was known by proponents and detractors alike as the "Gold Bible." Certainly its language is reminiscent of and draws heavily from the Bible. But this title reflects its most fundamental claim: that the Book of Mormon, like the Bible, is the Word of God.

"A Marvelous Work and a Wonder"

Another assertion made about the Book of Mormon has to do with its grand significance in God's plan. The appearance of the Book of Mormon is seen by Latter-day Saints as a great work of God ushering in the final era of history. Mormonism teaches that the original Church founded by Jesus fell into apostasy. Foundational truths were lost and confused. The organization and authority established by Jesus were forfeited. As a result, God chose Joseph Smith as a prophet to restore original Christianity. The appearance of the Book of Mormon serves as a harbinger of this restoration and of Christ's subsequent return to earth. For example, when God predicts: "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder" (Isaiah 29:14 KJV), Latter-day Saints believe that the Book of Mormon is in view.

It follows, then, that claims for the Book of Mormon are intertwined with claims about Joseph Smith. The book's introduction asserts that "those who gain a testimony of its truth and divinity" will also gain the knowledge from God "that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth." Thus the Book of Mormon functions as a sign validating Smith and his work. If the Book of Mormon is true, then Smith is God's appointed prophet and the Church he founded is the only true agent of God's kingdom. In fact, the LDS strategy for gaining converts is to urge people to read the Book of Mormon and pray for a personal revelation from God. This positive inner feeling constitutes the person's "testimony of its truth and divinity." For that individual, the experience authenticates the divine origin of the Book of Mormon and everything the book represents.

Joseph Smith certainly claimed an exalted status for the Book of Mormon. In his journal he once wrote: "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." In Smith's account of how he received the Book of Mormon, he claimed that an angel appeared to him one night.

He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from which they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants.

To outsiders, it seems extravagant to assert that this book is the most accurate or truthful on Earth, that it trumps all others in spiritual value, or that it contains "the fulness of the everlasting Gospel." Claims like this explain why opinions about the Book of Mormon are so polarized. The book itself leaves little room for middle ground.

A Controversial Book

Since my teenage years, I have changed my opinion about the Book of Mormon. As a young adult, I discovered a wide spectrum of views about this unique book. When it was first published, newspapers near Joseph Smith's home treated it as a contemptible superstition. Others have seen the book as the product of Smith's religious imagination. Perhaps the most famous and colorful critique of the Book of Mormon comes from Mark Twain, who called it "chloroform in print." In 1831, Alexander Campbell wrote a critique of the Book of Mormon denying any inspired origin: "This prophet Smith, through his stone spectacles, wrote on the plates of Nephi, in his book of Mormon, every error and almost every truth discussed in N. York for the last ten years." Critics see the Book of Mormon as a pious fraud reflecting nineteenth-century America rather than any ancient civilization, or as the result of some mystical or psychological experience.

Nevertheless, many early readers found something compelling about the Book of Mormon. Parley P. Pratt wrote: "As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true.... This discovery enlarged my heart, and filled my soul with joy and gladness." To faithful Latter-day Saints, now as then, it seems impossible that a rustic, semiliterate farm boy living in the 1820s could have produced the Book of Mormon without divine power. To them, it can only be an authentic ancient scripture of great spiritual significance. A Mormon leader recently bore witness that "the Book of Mormon is one of the greatest sources of spiritual power given to men and women on earth to guide us on our quest for eternal life."

Can Twelve Million People Be Wrong?

Believing the Book of Mormon to be from God, millions of Latter-day Saints read the book diligently. They use it to train their children in moral and spiritual principles. They seek to live its ideals. Mormon scholars vigorously advocate reasons to accept the Book of Mormon as ancient scripture on par with the Bible. Most of the thousands of people who convert to Mormonism each year claim a special experience of divine revelation upon reading the Book of Mormon. They gain a compelling testimony of its truth and thus of the truth of the LDS Church. As a result, former LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley said: "I cannot understand why the Christian world does not accept this book."

What is the basis for these beliefs and practices? Why does historic, biblical Christianity deny a divine origin for the Book of Mormon? As we begin to evaluate this exceptional book and the claims associated with it, let's start by taking a closer look at the basic story the Book of Mormon tells.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Understanding the book of Mormon by Ross Anderson Copyright © 2009 by Ross Anderson. Excerpted by permission.
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