WHAT DOES THE BOOK OF MORMON CLAIM?

Before deciding whether it is true, let's first ask what the book actually claims for itself.

Someone hands you a Book of Mormon.

What exactly are you being asked to believe?

That it contains some good religious ideas?

That it tells interesting stories about ancient people?

That it helps people think about Jesus?

No.

The claim is much larger than that.

The Book of Mormon presents itself as an ancient record, preserved by God, brought forth by God's power, and given as another witness that Jesus is the Christ. Its title page says the record was written on plates, preserved and hidden, and would later come forth “by the gift and power of God.” The Church of Jesus Christ

That is an extraordinary claim.

So before accepting it—or rejecting it—we ought to understand exactly what it claims.

1. WHAT DOES THE BOOK CLAIM TO BE?

Its title page identifies it as:

“An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi.”

It describes itself as an abridgment of records concerning the Nephites and Lamanites, together with material from another people called the Jaredites.

According to the book, these records were preserved, sealed, hidden, and eventually brought forth through divine power. The Church of Jesus Christ

Current LDS teaching describes the Book of Mormon as a sacred record of peoples in the Western Hemisphere covering roughly 2000 B.C. to A.D. 400. The Church of Jesus Christ

So this isn't merely presented as devotional literature.

IT CLAIMS TO BE HISTORY.

People lived.

Events happened.

Prophets wrote.

Records were preserved.

And those records eventually became the Book of Mormon.

That historical claim is important.

2. WHAT DOES IT SAY ITS PURPOSE IS?

The title page gives us the answer.

One major purpose is to convince both Jew and Gentile:

“that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”

Official LDS teaching continues to identify witnessing of Jesus Christ as the central purpose of the Book of Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ

That deserves to be stated fairly.

The Book of Mormon talks extensively about Jesus.

It teaches His death.

His resurrection.

Repentance.

Baptism.

Faith.

Judgment.

Salvation.

And it repeatedly calls people to come to Christ.

For example, Mormon 7 calls people to repent and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was killed and rose again, and that through Him comes resurrection and redemption. The Church of Jesus Christ

So it would be unfair to describe the Book of Mormon as a book that tries to lead people away from Jesus.

Its stated purpose is exactly the opposite.

The question is not:

DOES IT TALK ABOUT JESUS?

Obviously it does.

Our question must go deeper:

IS WHAT IT CLAIMS ABOUT ITSELF TRUE?

3. IT CLAIMS THAT JESUS APPEARED IN THE AMERICAS

This is one of the book's largest historical claims.

According to 3 Nephi, after His death and resurrection in Jerusalem, Jesus personally appeared to people in the land called Bountiful.

They saw Him.

They worshiped Him.

They examined the wounds in His body.

Jesus taught them.

He authorized baptism.

He appointed disciples.

And He delivered teachings remarkably similar to teachings recorded in the New Testament. The Church of Jesus Christ

Again, notice what kind of claim this is.

It isn't merely:

Jesus could have appeared somewhere else.

The claim is:

HE DID.

That means we are dealing with a claim about an event in history.

4. THE BOOK CLAIMS TO STAND BESIDE THE BIBLE

This is particularly important.

The Book of Mormon does not present itself as merely a commentary explaining the Bible.

Second Nephi anticipates people saying:

“A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible...”

and rejects the idea that God could speak to only one nation. The Church of Jesus Christ

The argument is essentially:

God spoke before.

God can speak again.

God spoke to Israel.

God can speak to other peoples.

Therefore, possessing the Bible does not mean God could not give additional revelation.

That argument deserves a fair hearing.

Simply saying:

“WE ALREADY HAVE A BIBLE”

doesn't prove that God could never reveal anything else.

The real question is different.

HOW WOULD WE RECOGNIZE A GENUINE ADDITIONAL REVELATION FROM GOD?

5. THE BOOK MAKES ANOTHER CLAIM ABOUT THE BIBLE

First Nephi says that the biblical record originally contained the gospel clearly, but that after it went forth from the apostles, “plain and precious” things were removed.

The same chapter then says later records would establish the truth of the earlier record and make known things that had been lost. The Church of Jesus Christ

That is another very large claim.

Notice what is being said.

The Book of Mormon doesn't merely say:

“THE BIBLE IS TRUE.”

It also claims that important material was removed from the biblical record and that additional revelation would help restore what had been lost.

Now we have something we can investigate.

What evidence is there that these teachings disappeared from the biblical text?

Can we compare ancient manuscripts?

Can we examine early Christian writings?

Can we determine whether the supposedly missing doctrines were actually present earlier?

Those are legitimate historical questions.

6. INTERESTINGLY, THE BOOK ALSO SAYS THE TWO RECORDS AGREE

Mormon writes concerning the biblical record:

“this is written for the intent that ye may believe that.”
— Mormon 7:9

In other words, the Book of Mormon presents itself as supporting the biblical witness, not destroying it. The Church of Jesus Christ

First Nephi similarly says the later records would:

“establish the truth of the first.” The Church of Jesus Christ

That gives us an important test.

IF THE BOOK OF MORMON ESTABLISHES THE BIBLE, THEN WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO COMPARE THE TWO.

Not merely count similar words.

Not merely notice that both talk about Jesus.

We can compare their teaching.

7. WHAT GOSPEL DOES THE BOOK OF MORMON TEACH?

This becomes especially interesting.

In 3 Nephi 11, the resurrected Jesus appears and teaches the people.

He commands repentance.

He commands baptism.

He specifies immersion.

Baptism is performed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

The chapter then speaks of faith, repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. The Church of Jesus Christ

Much of that sounds very familiar to someone reading the New Testament.

Compare:

Matthew 28:19

Acts 2:38

Acts 8:35–39

Romans 6:3–4

There is considerable common ground.

And that raises an interesting question we should remember from our previous studies.

Where are some of the doctrines we have been examining?

Baptism for the dead?

Temple endowments?

Eternal marriage sealing?

Three degrees of glory?

Humans existing as God's spirit children before birth?

Those doctrines become important in the larger LDS system.

But we should carefully distinguish:

WHAT THE BOOK OF MORMON ITSELF TEACHES

from

WHAT LATER LDS REVELATION TEACHES.

That distinction matters.

8. HOW DOES THE BOOK ASK US TO TEST IT?

Near the end of the book, Moroni gives perhaps its best-known challenge.

He tells readers to remember God's mercy, ponder the record, and ask God sincerely whether it is true.

He says that if they ask with:

a sincere heart

real intent

and

faith in Christ,

God will manifest its truth through the Holy Ghost. The Church of Jesus Christ

This is commonly called Moroni's promise.

We should not ridicule that.

Prayer matters.

The Holy Spirit matters.

Seeking God sincerely matters.

But now we have to ask another question.

IS PRAYER THE ONLY TEST GOD GIVES FOR A CLAIMED REVELATION?

The Bible says more.

9. MOSES GAVE ISRAEL A TEST

Deuteronomy 13 describes a prophet or dreamer who might even produce a sign.

Yet if his message led Israel away from what God had already revealed, Israel was not to follow him.

That establishes an important principle:

A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE DOES NOT OVERRIDE PREVIOUS REVELATION.

The message itself must be tested.

10. JOHN SAID THE SAME THING

John wrote:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.”
— 1 John 4:1

Notice that carefully.

John didn't say:

If something feels spiritual, accept it.

He said:

TEST IT.

Why?

“because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

A claimed spiritual source must itself be examined.

11. PAUL GOES EVEN FURTHER

Paul gives us an astonishing test in Galatians 1:8:

“Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you...”

Stop there.

Paul specifically allows us to imagine:

AN ANGEL.

Even an angelic appearance does not settle whether a message comes from God.

The gospel already revealed becomes the standard by which the new message is judged.

That gives us one of the most important principles in this entire series:

THE MESSAGE TESTS THE MESSENGER.

Not the other way around.

12. THE BEREANS DIDN'T ACCEPT EVEN PAUL WITHOUT EXAMINATION

Acts 17:11 praises the Bereans because they received Paul's teaching eagerly but:

“searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

Think about that.

This was an apostle.

Paul was preaching Christ.

Yet examining his teaching against Scripture was considered noble.

Therefore examining the Book of Mormon isn't hostility toward Latter-day Saints.

Neither is examining Protestant teaching.

Or Catholic teaching.

Or our teaching.

EVERYTHING GOES BACK TO THE TEXT.

13. WHAT ABOUT MORONI'S PROMISE?

Here we need to be especially careful.

A Latter-day Saint may say:

Read it. Pray sincerely. Ask God whether it is true.

There is nothing wrong with praying for wisdom.

James 1:5 tells us to ask God for wisdom.

But suppose two people pray sincerely and reach contradictory conclusions.

One believes God confirmed the Book of Mormon.

Another believes God showed him that it is not divine revelation.

Both experiences cannot establish opposite propositions as objectively true.

So subjective conviction cannot be our only test.

We need something outside ourselves.

Something we can examine together.

THE TEXT.

14. THAT MEANS WE CAN ASK HISTORICAL QUESTIONS TOO

If the Book of Mormon claimed only to be an inspired parable, archaeology wouldn't matter very much.

But that isn't its claim.

It describes peoples.

Migrations.

Cities.

Wars.

Languages.

Political systems.

Geography.

Metal records.

And centuries of history in the Western Hemisphere.

Therefore historical questions are fair questions.

Not because archaeology can prove every biblical event.

It cannot.

But when a book makes historical claims, those claims can legitimately be investigated.

That deserves its own study, rather than squeezing the whole argument into this page.

15. WE SHOULD ALSO ASK ABOUT THE MAN WHO PRODUCED IT

Eventually we must examine Joseph Smith.

But not yet.

That is important.

If we begin by attacking Joseph Smith, we may never fairly examine the book.

Instead we should first establish:

WHAT DOES THE BOOK CLAIM?

Then:

DOES ITS MESSAGE AGREE WITH PREVIOUS REVELATION?

Then:

DOES ITS CLAIMED HISTORY WITHSTAND INVESTIGATION?

And finally:

WHAT EVIDENCE SUPPORTS JOSEPH SMITH'S CLAIM THAT GOD GAVE HIM THIS RECORD?

That seems a much fairer order.

16. SO WHAT DOES THE BOOK OF MORMON CLAIM?

Quite a lot.

It claims to be:

an ancient record

written by prophets

preserved on plates

brought forth by God's power

a witness that Jesus is the Christ

a record of God's dealings with peoples in the Western Hemisphere

an additional witness alongside the Bible

a means of restoring truths said to have been lost

and

a revelation whose truth can be known through the Holy Ghost. The Church of Jesus Christ

Those aren't small claims.

And because they aren't small claims, neither unquestioning acceptance nor casual dismissal is enough.

They deserve examination.

17. PERHAPS THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

Suppose someone sincerely believes the Book of Mormon.

That doesn't prove it true.

Suppose someone sincerely believes it false.

That doesn't prove it false either.

Sincerity isn't the final test of truth.

So we return to the same principle we have been using throughout these studies:

READ FIRST.

TEST CAREFULLY.

THEN CONCLUDE.

The Book of Mormon asks us to take its claims seriously.

We should.

But taking a claim seriously means being willing to test it seriously.

And Scripture itself tells us to do exactly that.

WHAT DOES THE TEXT ACTUALLY REQUIRE US TO BELIEVE?

TEXT B4 TRADITION

Read First. Conclude Later.

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