The Divine Origins (and Inspired Purposes) of the Book of Mormon

I’ve chosen to do my paper on the divine origins of the Book of Mormon, and, with its origins being divine, a little about the inspired purpose behind that. No true in-depth discussion of the Book of Mormon, I’ve discovered, is complete without a discussion of its origins. No book, or work of art, or anything, is created in a vacuum. From an outside perspective, Joseph Smith’s account of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is bizarre. Why this book when another would do, it can be asked, or in other words, why claim to translate the book from ancient records when it would be easier in writing this new work of scripture to claim to receive the revelations directly? Joseph did receive many revelations this way, as canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants, but the Book of Mormon’s claim to be an ancient record is crucial to its identity as a work of scripture, in my personal view:

Joseph Smith could have just received one or more revelations detailing the rise and fall of the Nephite people, but we get the words from their own pens, sealed the records up in perfect faith that the records would come to light, written for our day as one speaking from the dust. A testimony of Joseph Smith either way would lead to belief of the validity of the book—its identity as a work of scripture is critical to Joseph Smith’s claims to prophecy and seership, and the validity of the entirety of the Mormon religion—but with the book as a historically accurate external narrative, belief in it leads to belief in the Prophethood of Joseph Smith and the truth of the Latter-Day church.

President James E. Faust of the First Presidency said that a confirming testimony of the Book of Mormon “convinces ‘that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God’ and also spiritually verifies the divine calling of Joseph Smith and that he did see the Father and the Son. With that firmly in place, it logically follows that one can also receive a verification that the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are true companion scriptures to the Bible and the Book of Mormon” (“The Keystone of Our Religion,” Ensign, Jan. 2004.) Testimony of the Book of Mormon causes logically testimony of our religion, and our works of scripture, not only our newer additions to canon but also of the Bible: “this is written for the intent that ye may believe that,” Mormon writes (Mormon 7:9.)

The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion, this religion whose fundamental principle is, as the Prophet Joseph attested, “the testimony of the apostles and prophets concerning Jesus Christ, ‘that he died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended up into heaven;’ and all other things are only appendages to these, which pertain to our religion” (Elders’ Journal 1, July 1838.) In other words, the purpose of the Book of Mormon is “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations” (Title Page to the Book of Mormon.)

I’m not sure the grounds of the Christianity of other churches, why they have their belief system over any others, when other religions can believe just as fervently as Christians can. Historical mainstream Christianity discounting the existence of revelations and visions in these days eliminates any confirmation as miraculous as the witness of the Spirit. Not even the historical existence of Christianity can be invoked; the only contemporary accounts of the existence of Jesus of Nazareth are of course Christian sources, who would hardly be impartial historians. The Bible as a source, by itself, is fallible. The Book of Mormon corroborates the historicity and truth of the Bible, though, and its own truth is itself easily testable through the witness of the Holy Ghost, and a doctrine that such confirmations are not only possible nowadays but can be commonplace.

The founding doctrine of the Church is the doctrine of revelation, in a sense. Elder Marion G. Romney of the Council of the Twelve stated: “the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the gospel rest upon the same two fundamentals: first, the reality of modern revelation, and second, the fact that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. These two verities are inseparably connected in their relationship to the Book of Mormon and the restored gospel. To accept one of them is to accept the other” (Conference Report, October 1970.) It follows in natural progression, all testimonies once again hinging on this one; the Book of Mormon proves Joseph Smith was a prophet and revelation does exist in our day.

Not only does the existence of the Book of Mormon a proof of doctrine, but, remember, the Book is also a work of sacred scripture. “We … should know the Book of Mormon better than any other book…,” President Ezra Taft Benson exhorted us. “If we really do our homework and approach the Book of Mormon doctrinally, we can expose the errors and find the truths to combat many of the current false theories and philosophies of men” (“Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations,” Ensign, Dec. 1988.) “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth,” Joseph Smith reports, as recalled in the introduction to the Book of Mormon, “and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

It always struck me how Joseph Smith is the one who called the Book of Mormon the keystone of our religion. We usually think of the Book of Mormon’s keystone state in terms of how it proves that Joseph Smith is himself a prophet, but if he’s the one who first designated it a keystone then there has to be more to it than that. In fact, President Benson said, in his October 1986 Conference address, “The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion,” that there are three ways in which the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. “It is the keystone in our witness of Christ. It is the keystone of our doctrine. It is the keystone of testimony.”

It is only this last keystone, the one of testimony, that we typically think of when we think about how the Book is a keystone—though, with the other sects still having the Bible, though translating or mistranslating it how they may, the keystone of testimony is the only one unique to our branch of Christianity, and thus the most important keystone for the Book to function as. “Just as the arch crumbles if the keystone is removed,” President Benson states, “so does all the Church stand or fall with the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The enemies of the Church understand this clearly. This is why they go to such great lengths to try to disprove the Book of Mormon, for if it can be discredited, the Prophet Joseph Smith goes with it. So does our claim to priesthood keys, and revelation, and the restored Church. But in like manner, if the Book of Mormon be true—and millions have now testified that they have the witness of the Spirit that it is indeed true—then one must accept the claims of the Restoration and all that accompanies it.”

            “For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history,” Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testifies in his October 2009 General Conference address, Safety for the Soul. “And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died—from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, [George Q Cannon,] who said simply enough, ‘No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.’”

In simple unequivocal terms, the book is scripture, given us by a loving Heavenly Father as an additional witness of His Son and our Brother, Jesus Christ. It is the most correct book on the earth. I’m not sure how to end this paper, but it doesn’t feel wrong to say, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.