The Book of Mormon begins in Jerusalem around 600 B.C. with a prophet named Lehi. The Lord commands Lehi's family to leave Jerusalem prior to the capture of Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The Book of Mormon details the family's flight through the wilderness, crossing the ocean, settling on the American continent, and their history, wars, preachings, and their near ultimate destruction. This history was written on metal plates by the prophets. Moroni, the last prophet among the people, buried the plates in a hill in western New York around 400 A.D.The climax of the Book of Mormon is Christ's visitation on the American continent following his resurrection and ascension. Here, you see the loving Savior minister among the people, organize His Church among them, and teach them what they must do to return and live with God after this life.
In 1823, this same prophet Moroni, as a resurrected angel, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith and instructed him where to find the plates. Joseph received these plates and translated them into the English language by the gift and power of God.
The Book of Mormon is an additional witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. It testifies of the doctrine of Christ and helps us understand that God loves all His children in the world and desires all to come unto Him and be saved.
To read the Book of Mormon online, click here. To request a free copy of the Book of Mormon to be delivered to your home, click here.
4 comments:
Hello Matt! Thank you very much for your compliments on my sourcing. It is always encouraging to hear that.
: )
As you read in my post, I tend to get frustrated with Mormonism because when they hit a theological wall (i.e., they can't answer a question) they say, "It's not about facts. You have to have faith. I have this feeling that it is true." That does not satisfy me. Feelings are often misleading.
So I put a question to you: why do you believe what you believe? What is your explanation for it?
Thank you again and I hope to hear from you soon.
Those are two great questions. Forgive me for the long response as I do my best to provide some answers.
First, why do I believe what I believe? I believe the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church of Christ because the Holy Spirit has testified to me that its teachings are true. The Spirit speaks to me through "the fruit of the Spirit" as Paul describes it in his letter to the Galatians. These feelings include "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, [and] faith" (Galatians 5:22). These do not come without effort nor all at once usually. For me, it required study, meditation, prayer, and a desire to know the truth. Little by little the Spirit whispered to me that it was true. I felt love, peace, and joy in my heart and my disposition changed. I had a desire to be good, a desire to repent of my sins, and a desire to share the "good news" with others. All of these personal experiences over the years have solidified within me a testimony that God lives, Jesus is my Savior, and that He has restored His Church on the Earth today through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I can conclusively say, "I know" these things are true.
Second, What is my explanation for it? Excellent question. I assume you are talking about logic and reasoning here. In other words, how do I explain the miraculous dealings of God with His children?
A testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ does not require perfect knowledge of how things are done, only that they were done. I will provide two examples to illustrate:
(1) Regarding miracles: I believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected following His crucifixion. That means, His physical body was reunited with His spirit--never again to be divided. Now, I am not a chemist; I do not know how to make a dead being become alive again. Not only that, I do not think any chemist at any university knows how to do it. But I still believe that Christ was resurrected because I believe He is all powerful. Likewise, when He tells us that we will all be resurrected someday--I believe Him.
(2) Regarding internal contradictions within a book of scripture: I believe the Holy Bible is the word of God. I love the Bible. That being said, it was written by inspired prophets and disciples who may have made minor mistakes in their recording of testimonies and experiences. But that does not change the fact that I believe it to be the word of God. For example, in recounting Saul's vision of the Lord, the New Testament records minor contradictions. These do not affect my testimony of the basic truth that Saul was visited by the Lord on the road to Damascus and was subsequently converted. We are only human, and humans sometimes make mistakes, even when acting under inspired direction. God, however, is perfect. His gospel and doctrines are perfect. Therefore, any question regarding specific doctrines should be answered by members of the Church.
Finally, I do not believe that God can be either "proved" or "disproved" by men. If so, faith would not be required. Rather, it is our duty, each one of us, to seek to know God for ourselves. This requires effort and hard work. It is OK to ask the difficult questions and seek answers--and perhaps, as Mormons, we should do a better job to try and articulate answers even to the hard questions. But in the end, true believers must all acknowledge that the Lord was right when He told Isaiah, "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8). Scientific evidence and logical reasoning do not need to be "thrown out the window" by believers--but we must recognize that they are not the true basis for a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you have any specific questions regarding the restored Church and its doctrines and how I would explain them, I would be happy to reply.
Hi Jamie,
I hope you don't mind me adding comments as well as Matt's on why I believe what I believe.
For me the church is true because I have put the gospel to the test. I have tried the teachings and have found them to be good, as Lehi and Nephi did. I believe the church is true through the promptings and power of the Holy Ghost. For me it also makes logical sense; I can see the symmetry in the church today as there was anciently.
Most importantly, I know that God loves me as His son and wants me to be happy. When I follow these things, I feel that love more.
I am sorry I am not as well able to answer as Matt did; he is much better at expressing this than I am, but I wanted to add that for me the explanation is in the logicalness of the organization.
As for me, I've always known that God lives, and harbored a knowledge of Jesus Christ's divinity. I remain united with the church because it is God's living church, restored in its true form. Its leaders received revelation from God, for all of us, as a whole. I have lived the gospel, obeyed the commandments, followed the teachings, and found them to be true through invaluable personal experience. All questions have answers. Not everyone can answer them, but when it comes to church doctrine, there is always rhyme, and reason. It tends to be available to those who search diligently.
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