This morning I logged on to Facebook to find an interesting post by a friend. It was a statement about the Book of Mormon. It basically called the Ideas a Moron and It was very hard of me to not let my blood boil. So This is were my inspiration for today's blog came from. We have touched on this briefly but I figured it needed a special post.
So Big question....What is the Book of Mormon and Why do you read it? We have already covered the situation with the Bible and the Article of Faith regarding the accuracy of translation. So here is the skinny on the Book of Mormon.
Everyone knows that the American Continent use to be inhabited by Aztecs Mayan and Incan civilizations as well as various Native American Tribes. These People all share a great number of common practices and religious views. One of which is the stories of the White god. Many People believe this is the stories of the First conquistadors. However if you study much of what is found in the ruins you realize these stories are Much older. The LDS view is that the White God was Christ. He talked many times to the Jews of 'Other Sheep'. We believe that those sheep were the people of the American Continents.
The Book of Mormon Starts with a Man named Lehi who is commanded to leave Jerusalem. Jerusalem went through a period of wickedness several hundred years before Christ. We know this from scripture and historical information regarding the area. Lehi took his family and braved the ocean's. He landed on the American continents. Where exactly is not known but we do know that he brought his son's and that over time his family spread out. He had a son named Nephi and one named Lamon. Over time the Children of these Brothers became the Nephites and the Lamonites. (very possibly Mayan's and Aztecs) We know that one tribe of people was righteous (the Nephites) and one was wicked (Lamonites) Eventually this changed and the rolls were reversed. The Book of Mormon follows the history of these people and the stories of their faith and struggles.
We also have evidence not only in the Book of Mormon but in the Ruins, that these people had Jewish Cannon available to them and shared many traditions. They had many temples and many practices that parallel the Jewish traditions at the time in Israel. I can hear your thoughts now..What about the human sacrifice? well Sacrifice is unfortunately a key roll in history. Even among the Jews. We do have evidence that eventually the Human Sacrifice did end among these people and it was only a short period of their history. This would correlate with the Book Of Mormon and the Stories that Christ came and visited them. Through Christ's Death the Law of Moses was Fulfilled so there was no longer a need for additional Sacrifice. This would very much relate to the History of these People.
We have ruins and Places of these people left to visit and study. While part of Scripture is having the faith to believe it. It is a wonderful gift for us in these Latter Days to be able to see the actual places these people walked just like having the places in Jerusalem where Christ walked.
Simply put The Book of Mormon is a history of the people on the American Continent, it shares their life, their faith and their struggles. It tells of Christ's visit to the America's after his Resurrection and it does not take anything away from the Bible. If anything through study and prayer it makes many things in the Bible clear. This book is Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
Anyone is welcome to a free copy of the book and I encourage you to read it in full and take up the Challenge at the end. (The Challenge is to pray with an open heart if the things of the book are true.) If you do this you will know if it is true or not. It is for each person to determine and I hope you take the time to do this. I will warn you it is not all flowers and good stories there is a great number of wars and battles in the book, but honestly that makes it even easier to read. Enjoy and Please do not make comments about something you dont really understand until you have taken the time to learn and understand your self.
So many people will argue that the Bible says in the Book of Revelation that "nothing shall be added unto it." If you know your history, and your scriptures for that matter, you would know that the Bible is a compilation, and not all of it is in chronological order. Some books have even been lost or destroyed by ancient churches for various reasons. In Deuteronomy it states the same thing about adding to it. Both of these statements refer to that particular book, not the Bible as a whole. If it did, the Bible would be only 3 books long, and there would be no New Testament.
ReplyDeleteChrist himself taught that His word would be spread by two or three. Most people think of this as missionary work: sending 2-3 people at a time to preach the Word, which is true, but it also means the scriptures as well. That's why the Book of Mormon is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ."
The Bible makes so much more sense when you pair it with the Book of Mormon (especially the Book of Isaiah!). Pure and simple truths are revealed to those with an open and humble heart.