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111-583: The Gadianton robbers ( / ˌ ɡ æ d i ˈ æ n t ən / ), according to the Book of Mormon , were a secret criminal organization in ancient America . Their use of murder and plunder to destabilize society and overthrow the extant government makes them similar to the Sicarii . The society was first founded around 52 BC or 51 BC by Nephite supporters of Paanchi , an unsuccessful candidate for chief judge. Paanchi had been executed for treason when he refused to accept

222-567: A "nonmainstream literary aesthetic". Narratively and structurally, the book is complex, with multiple arcs that diverge and converge in the story while contributing to the book's overarching plot and themes. Historian Daniel Walker Howe concluded in his own appraisal that the Book of Mormon "is a powerful epic written on a grand scale" and "should rank among the great achievements of American literature". The Book of Mormon presents its text through multiple narrators explicitly identified as figures within

333-593: A central message. Barnes argues that the Book of Mormon depicts Jesus as a "revolutionary new character" different from that of the New Testament in a portrayal that is "constantly, subtly revising the Christian tradition". According to historian John Turner, the Book of Mormon's depiction provides "a twist" on Christian trinitarianism, as Jesus in the Book of Mormon is distinct from God the Father—as he prays to God during

444-474: A collection of ancient writings was buried in a nearby hill in present-day Wayne County, New York , engraved on golden plates by ancient prophets. The writings were said to describe a people whom God had led from Jerusalem to the Western hemisphere 600 years before Jesus 's birth. Smith said this vision occurred on the evening of September 21, 1823, and that on the following day, via divine guidance, he located

555-557: A dialogue in which petitioners and deity engage one another in a mutual exchange in which God's contributions originate from outside the mortal recipient. The Book of Mormon also emphasizes regular prayer as a significant component of devotional life, depicting it as a central means through which such dialogic revelation can take place. While the Old Testament of the Christian Bible links revelation specifically to prophetic authority,

666-724: A group of Nephites once again resurrected the old oaths and secrets and re-established the Gadianton robbers. Over the course of the next 50 years, they spread all over the land and became extremely wealthy. The Gadiantons later united with the Lamanites, and the combined force completely wiped out the Nephites. Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement , first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by

777-455: A guided process of miraculous assistance. The Book of Mormon's "eschatological content" lends to a "theology of Native and/or nonwhite liberation", in the words of American studies scholar Jared Hickman. The Book of Mormon's narrative content includes prophecies describing how although Gentiles (generally interpreted as being whites of European descent) would conquer the Indigenous residents of

888-407: A messianic appearance at the book's climax. Furthermore, the Book of Mormon's "formal logic" criticizes the theological supports for racism and white supremacy prevalent in the antebellum United States by enacting a textual apocalypse. The book's apparently white Nephite narrators fail to recognize and repent of their own sinful, hubristic prejudices against the seemingly darker-skinned Lamanites in

999-602: A metal rim and attached to a breastplate. Beginning around 1832, both the interpreters and Smith's own seer stone were at times referred to as the "Urim and Thummim", and Smith sometimes used the term interchangeably with "spectacles". Emma Smith 's and David Whitmer 's accounts describe Smith using the interpreters while dictating for Martin Harris 's scribing and switching to only using his seer stone(s) in subsequent translation. Religious studies scholar Grant Hardy summarizes Smith's known dictation process as follows: "Smith looked at

1110-595: A nineteenth-century origin of the Book of Mormon . Various academics and apologetic organizations connected to the Latter Day Saint movement nevertheless argue that the book is an authentic account of the pre- Columbian exchange world. The Book of Mormon has a number of doctrinal discussions on subjects such as the fall of Adam and Eve , the nature of the Christian atonement , eschatology , agency , priesthood authority , redemption from physical and spiritual death,

1221-650: A post-resurrection visit with the Nephites—while also emphasizing that Jesus and God have "divine unity," with other parts of the book calling Jesus "the Father and the Son". Beliefs among the churches of the Latter Day Saint movement range between social trinitarianism (such as among Latter-day Saints) and traditional trinitarianism (such as in Community of Christ ). The Christian concept of God's plan of salvation for humanity

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1332-561: A prophet-historian named Mormon." Segments of the Book of Mormon provide an account of the culture, religious teachings, and civilizations of some of the groups who immigrated to the New World. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, identified in the book as the Nephites and the Lamanites . Some years after their arrival, the Nephites met with a similar group,

1443-465: A record from a much earlier people. There is a subsequent subplot describing a group of families who God leads away from the Tower of Babel after it falls. Led by a man named Jared and his brother , described as a prophet of God, these Jaredites travel to the "promised land" and establish a society there. After successive violent reversals between rival monarchs and faction, their society collapses around

1554-425: A seer stone placed in his hat and then dictated the text of the Book of Mormon to scribes". Early on, Smith sometimes separated himself from his scribe with a blanket between them, as he did while Martin Harris, a neighbor, scribed his dictation in 1828. At other points in the process, such as when Oliver Cowdery or Emma Smith scribed, the plates were left covered up but in the open. During some dictation sessions

1665-544: A similar format and using a slightly revised version of the 1909 Reina-Valera translation, was published in 2009. Latter-day Saints in other non-English speaking areas may use other versions of the Bible. Though the Bible is part of the LDS Church's canon and members believe it to be the word of God, they believe that errors, omissions, and mistranslations are present in even the earliest known Biblical manuscripts. They state that

1776-465: A single binding called a quadruple combination and as a set of two books, with the Bible in one binding , and the other three books in a second binding called a triple combination . Current editions of the Standard Works include a number of non-canonical study aids, including a Bible dictionary , photographs, maps and gazetteer , topical guide, index, footnotes, cross references, and excerpts from

1887-442: A vision to Smith in 1827, revealing the location of the plates and instructing him to translate the plates into English. The more widely accepted view is that Smith authored the Book, drawing on material and ideas from his contemporary 19th-century environment, rather than translating an ancient record. According to Joseph Smith, in 1823, when he was seventeen years old, an angel of God named Moroni appeared to him and said that

1998-444: A wall" a prophecy of Lehi's posterity—described as descendants of Joseph—overflowing into the New World. Latter-day Saints also believe the Bible prophesies of the Book of Mormon as an additional testament to God's dealings with humanity. In the 1980s, the church placed greater emphasis on the Book of Mormon as a central text of the faith. In 1982, it added the subtitle "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" to its official editions of

2109-458: Is a frequently recurring theme of the Book of Mormon. While the Bible does not directly outline a plan of salvation, the Book of Mormon explicitly refers to the concept thirty times, using a variety of terms such as plan of salvation , plan of happiness , and plan of redemption . The Book of Mormon's plan of salvation doctrine describes life as a probationary time for people to learn the gospel of Christ through revelation given to prophets and have

2220-495: Is his own idea!" And if he says something that contradicts what is found in the standard works (I think that is why we call them "standard"—it is the standard measure of all that men teach), you may know by that same token that it is false; regardless of the position of the man who says it. English-speaking Latter-day Saints typically study a custom edition of the KJV, which includes custom chapter headings, footnotes referencing books in

2331-401: Is illustrated most thoroughly through intertextuality—the pervasive echoes, allusions, and expansions on the Book of Mormon text that appear in the early converts' own writings." Early Latter Day Saints alluded to Book of Mormon narratives, incorporated Book of Mormon turns of phrase into their writing styles, and even gave their children Book of Mormon names. Like many other early adherents of

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2442-573: Is not believed to be given by Joseph Smith. The Book of Abraham is rejected as scripture, as are the other portions of the Pearl of Great Price that do not appear in the Inspired Version of the Bible. Many Latter Day Saint denominations have also either adopted the Articles of Faith or at least view them as a statement of basic theology . (They are considered scriptural by the LDS Church and are included in

2553-504: Is plausible for Smith to have produced the Book of Mormon himself, based on his knowledge of the Bible and enabled by a democratizing religious culture. The style of the Book of Mormon's English text resembles that of the King James Version of the Bible. Novelist Jane Barnes considered the book "difficult to read", and according to religious studies scholar Grant Hardy, the language is an "awkward, repetitious form of English" with

2664-417: Is the Book of Third Nephi , which describes a visit by Jesus to the people of the Book of Mormon sometime after his resurrection and ascension; historian John Turner calls this episode "the climax of the entire scripture". After this visit, the Nephites and Lamanites unite in a harmonious, peaceful society which endures for several generations before breaking into warring factions again, and in this conflict

2775-614: The Book of Moroni . The book's sequence is primarily chronological based on the narrative content of the book. Exceptions include the Words of Mormon and the Book of Ether . The Words of Mormon contains editorial commentary by Mormon . The Book of Ether is presented as the narrative of an earlier group of people who had come to the American continent before the immigration described in 1 Nephi. First Nephi through Omni are written in first-person narrative, as are Mormon and Moroni. The remainder of

2886-631: The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible . The scriptural canon is "open" due to the Latter-day Saint belief in continuous revelation . Additions can be made to the scriptural canon with the "common consent" of the church's membership . Other branches of the Latter Day Saint movement reject some of the Standard Works or add other scriptures, such as the Book of the Law of the Lord and The Word of

2997-491: The King James Version of the Bible. The Book of Mormon has been fully or partially translated into at least 112 languages . According to Smith's account and the book's narrative, the Book was originally engraved in otherwise unknown characters on golden plates by ancient prophets; the last prophet to contribute to the book, Moroni , had buried it in what is present-day Manchester, New York and then appeared in

3108-487: The King James Version of the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the inspired word of God. Some Latter Day Saint denominations accept earlier versions of the Standard Works or work to develop corrected translations. Others have purportedly received additional revelations. The Community of Christ points to Jesus Christ as the living Word of God, and it affirms the Bible, along with the Book of Mormon, as well as its own regularly appended version of D&C as scripture for

3219-631: The Mulekites who left the Middle East during the same period. An older group arrived in America much earlier, when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel . This group is known as the Jaredites and their story is condensed in the Book of Ether . The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of Jesus Christ among Nephites soon after his resurrection . This account presents

3330-549: The New Testament , re-emphasizes salvific baptism, and introduces the ritual consumption of bread and wine "in remembrance of [his] body", a teaching that became the basis for modern Latter-day Saints' "memorialist" view of their sacrament ordinance (analogous to communion). Jesus's ministry in the Book of Mormon resembles his portrayal in the Gospel of John , as Jesus similarly teaches without parables and preaches faith and obedience as

3441-556: The Revelations of James J. Strang . An additional work, called The Book of the Law of the Lord, is also accepted as inspired scripture by the Strangites. They likewise hold as scriptural several prophecies, visions, revelations, and translations printed by James Strang, and published in the Revelations of James J. Strang . Among other things, this text contains his purported " Letter of Appointment " from Joseph Smith and his translation of

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3552-556: The Ten Lost Tribes , the Book of Mormon actively rejects the hypothesis; the peoples in its narrative have an "ancient Hebrew" origin but do not descend from the lost tribes. The book ultimately heavily revises, rather than borrows, the Hebraic Indian theory. The Book of Mormon may creatively reconfigure, without plagiarizing, parts of the popular 1678 Christian allegory Pilgrim's Progress written by John Bunyan . For example,

3663-587: The Voree plates . The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) accepts the following as scripture: the Inspired Version of the Bible (including the Book of Moses and Joseph Smith–Matthew), the Book of Mormon, and the 1844 edition of the D&;C (including the Lectures on Faith). However, the revelation on tithing (section 107 in the 1844 edition; 119 in modern LDS Church editions) is emphatically rejected by members of this church, as it

3774-419: The "Testimony of Eight Witnesses " which appeared in the original 1830 edition and every official Latter-day Saint edition thereafter. The books from First Nephi to Omni are described as being from "the small plates of Nephi". This account begins in ancient Jerusalem around 600 BC, telling the story of a man named Lehi , his family, and several others as they are led by God from Jerusalem shortly before

3885-421: The "utter inadequacy of his or her rac(ial)ist common sense". Adherents of the early Latter Day Saint movement frequently read the Book of Mormon as a corroboration of and supplement to the Bible, persuaded by its resemblance to the King James Version 's form and language. For these early readers, the Book of Mormon confirmed the Bible's scriptural veracity and resolved then-contemporary theological controversies

3996-462: The Adam and Eve story contributes to the Book of Mormon's emphasis "on the importance of human freedom and responsibility" to choose salvation. In the Book of Mormon, revelation from God typically manifests as a dialogue between God and persons, characterizing deity as an anthropomorphic being who hears prayers and provides direct answers to questions. Multiple narratives in the book portray revelation as

4107-663: The Americas (imagined in the Book of Mormon as being a remnant of descendants of the Lamanites), this conquest would only precede the Native Americans' revival and resurgence as a God-empowered people. The Book of Mormon narrative's prophecies envision a Christian eschaton in which Indigenous people are destined to rise up as the true leaders of the continent, manifesting in a new utopia to be called "Zion". White Gentiles would have an opportunity to repent of their sins and join themselves to

4218-473: The Bible did not seem to adequately address, such as the appropriate mode of baptism, the role of prayer, and the nature of the Christian atonement. Early church administrative design also drew inspiration from the Book of Mormon. Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith, respectively, used the depiction of the Christian church in the Book of Mormon as a template for their Articles of the Church and Articles and Covenants of

4329-461: The Book of Mormon as "the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of [the] religion". Although Smith quoted the book infrequently, he accepted the Book of Mormon narrative world as his own. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) accepts the Book of Mormon as one of the four sacred texts in its scriptural canon called the standard works . Church leaders and publications have "strongly affirm[ed]" Smith's claims of

4440-438: The Book of Mormon as its narrative). Whether or not View influenced the Book of Mormon is the subject of debate. A pseudo-anthropological treatise, View presented allegedly empirical evidence in support of its hypothesis. The Book of Mormon is written as a narrative, and Christian themes predominate rather than supposedly Indigenous parallels. Additionally, while View supposes that Indigenous American peoples descended from

4551-468: The Book of Mormon by gift and power of God through a set of interpreters, later referred to as the Urim and Thummim . Eleven witnesses signed testimonies of its authenticity, which are now included in the preface to the Book of Mormon. The Three Witnesses testified to have seen an angel present the golden plates and to have heard God bear witness to its truth. Eight others stated that Joseph Smith showed them

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4662-408: The Book of Mormon is written in third-person historical narrative, said to be compiled and abridged by Mormon (with Moroni abridging the Book of Ether and writing the latter part of Mormon and the Book of Moroni). Most modern editions of the book have been divided into chapters and verses. Most editions of the book also contain supplementary material, including the "Testimony of Three Witnesses " and

4773-471: The Book of Mormon universalizes Christian salvation as being accessible across all time and places. By implying that even more ancient peoples were familiar with Jesus Christ, the book presents a "polygenist Christian history" in which Christianity has multiple origins. In the climax of the book, Jesus visits some early inhabitants of the Americas after his resurrection in an extended bodily theophany . During this ministry, he reiterates many teachings from

4884-440: The Book of Mormon's portrayal democratizes the idea of revelation, depicting it as the right of every person. Figures such as Nephi and Ammon receive visions and revelatory direction prior to or without ever becoming prophets, and Laman and Lemuel are rebuked for hesitating to pray for revelation. Also in contrast with traditional Christian conceptions of revelations is the Book of Mormon's broader range of revelatory content. In

4995-492: The Book of Mormon, figures petition God for revelatory answers to doctrinal questions and ecclesiastical crises as well as for inspiration to guide hunts, military campaigns, and sociopolitical decisions. The Book of Mormon depicts revelation as an active and sometimes laborious experience. For example, the Book of Mormon's Brother of Jared learns to act not merely as a petitioner with questions but moreover as an interlocutor with "a specific proposal" for God to consider as part of

5106-443: The Book of Mormon. Ezra Taft Benson , the church's thirteenth president (1985–1994), especially emphasized the Book of Mormon. Referencing Smith's 1832 revelation, Benson said the church remained under condemnation for treating the Book of Mormon lightly. Since the late 1980s, Latter-day Saint leaders have encouraged church members to read from the Book of Mormon daily, and in the twenty-first century, many Latter-day Saints use

5217-447: The Church . The Book of Mormon was also significant in the early movement as a sign, proving Joseph Smith's claimed prophetic calling, signalling the "restoration of all things", and ending what was believed to have been an apostasy from true Christianity. Early Latter Day Saints tended to interpret the Book of Mormon through a millenarian lens and consequently believed the book portended Christ's imminent Second Coming . And during

5328-602: The Church, who, when he does, will declare it as revelation from God, and it will be so accepted by the Council of the Twelve and sustained by the body of the Church." There are several instances of this happening in the LDS Church: When a doctrine undergoes this procedure, the LDS Church treats it as the word of God, and it is used as a standard to compare other doctrines. Lee taught: It is not to be thought that every word spoken by

5439-570: The English Bible issued by the church and commonly used by Latter-day Saints contains cross-references to the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), as well as an appendix containing longer excerpts from it. Excerpts that were too long to include in the Bible appendix are included in the Pearl of Great Price as the Book of Moses (for Genesis 1:1-6:13) and Joseph Smith-Matthew (for Matthew 23:39-24:51 and Mark 13). LDS Church members, and others in

5550-467: The English manuscript of the Book of Mormon was produced as scribes wrote down Smith's dictation in multiple sessions between 1828 and 1829. The dictation of the extant Book of Mormon was completed in 1829 in between 53 and 74 working days. Descriptions of the way in which Smith dictated the Book of Mormon vary. Smith himself called the Book of Mormon a translated work, but in public he generally described

5661-510: The First Presidency announced in 1992 that the KJV was the church's official English Bible, stating: "[w]hile other Bible versions may be easier to read than the King James Version, in doctrinal matters latter-day revelation supports the King James Version in preference to other English translations." In 2010, this statement was written into the church's Handbook , which directs official church policy and programs. A Spanish version, with

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5772-484: The Gadianton band. The murder was announced and the culprit identified by Nephi the son of Helaman . Nephi's knowledge of the event was believed by many to be evidence of his prophetic powers. When a famine struck the area a few years later, the people believed that God was behind it, and they reacted by repenting and cracking down on the Gadiantons. The society was completely eradicated, and their secret plans were buried in

5883-441: The Gadianton robbers among them. The Nephites, in contrast, began to join the band in larger and larger numbers until most of them were members. Members swore to protect one another and identified one another by means of secret signs and secret words. By 24 BC, the entire Nephite government was under the control of the Gadiantons. Around 20 BC, Chief Judge Seezoram was murdered by his brother, Seantum ; both of them were members of

5994-525: The General Authorities is inspired, or that they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost in everything they speak and write. Now you keep that in mind. I don't care what his position is, if he writes something or speaks something that goes beyond anything that you can find in the standard works, unless that one be the prophet, seer, and revelator—please note that one exception—you may immediately say, "Well, that

6105-595: The Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi . The book is one of the earliest and most well-known unique writings of the Latter Day Saint movement. The denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement typically regard the text primarily as scripture (sometimes as one of four standard works ) and secondarily as a record of God's dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas . The majority of Latter Day Saints believe

6216-411: The Indigenous remnant, but if white Gentile society fails to do so, the Book of Mormon's content foretells a future "apocalyptic reversal" in which Native Americans will destroy white American society and replace it with a godly, Zionic society. This prophecy commanding whites to repent and become supporters of American Indians even bears "special authority as an utterance of Jesus" Christ himself during

6327-610: The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible state that "the Songs of Solomon are not inspired scripture," and therefore it is not included in the LDS Church's canon and is rarely studied by its members. However, it is still printed in every version of the KJV published by the church. Although the Apocrypha was part of the 1611 edition of the KJV , the LDS Church does not currently use the Apocrypha as part of its canon. Joseph Smith taught that while

6438-613: The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, preferring to use only the King James Bible and the Book of Mormon as doctrinal standards. The Book of Commandments is accepted as being superior to the D&Cs as a compendium of Smith's early revelations but is not accorded the same status as the Bible or the Book of Mormon. The Word of the Lord and The Word of the Lord Brought to Mankind by an Angel are two related books considered to be scriptural by Fettingite factions that separated from

6549-526: The Latter Day Saint movement consider the Book of Mormon an authentic historical record, translated by Smith from actual ancient plates through divine revelation . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest Latter Day Saint denomination, maintains this as its official position. The Book of Mormon as a written text is the transcription of what scholars Grant Hardy and William L. Davis call an "extended oral performance", one which Davis considers "comparable in length and magnitude to

6660-399: The Latter Day Saint movement hold that the Book of Mormon fulfills numerous biblical prophecies by ending a global apostasy and signaling a restoration of Christian gospel. The Book of Mormon is divided into smaller books — which are usually titled after individuals named as primary authors — and in most versions, is divided into chapters and verses. Its English text imitates the style of

6771-409: The Latter Day Saint movement, Smith referenced Book of Mormon scriptures in his preaching relatively infrequently and cited the Bible more often. In 1832, Smith dictated a revelation that condemned the "whole church" for treating the Book of Mormon lightly, although even after doing so Smith still referenced the Book of Mormon less often than the Bible. Nevertheless, in 1841 Joseph Smith characterized

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6882-478: The Latter Day Saint movement, consider the Book of Mormon a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It contains a record of God's dealings with the prophets and ancient inhabitants of the Americas . The introduction to the book asserts that it "contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting gospel. The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by

6993-501: The Lord Brought to Mankind by an Angel . Canons of various Latter Day Saint denominations reject some of the Standard Works canonized by the LDS Church or have included additional works. For instance, the Bickertonite sect does not consider the Pearl of Great Price or D&C to be scriptural. Rather, they believe that the New Testament scriptures contain a true description of the church as established by Jesus Christ, and that both

7104-521: The Nephites and Lamanites united and declared war on the Gadiantons. The Gadiantons initially had the upper hand in the war, and in AD 16, the Gadianton leader, Giddianhi , sent a letter to the Nephite governor Lachoneus demanding surrender. In AD 21, however, the Nephites defeated the Gadiantons, killing both Giddianhi and his successor, Zemnarihah , and the society was again destroyed (3 Nephi 4). Around AD 245,

7215-410: The Nephites are destroyed while the Lamanites emerge victorious. In the narrative, Mormon, a Nephite, lives during this period of war, and he dies before finishing his book. His son Moroni takes over as narrator, describing himself taking his father's record into his charge and finishing its writing. Before the very end of the book, Moroni describes making an abridgment (called the Book of Ether ) of

7326-510: The Pearl of Great Price.) At times, the Articles of Faith have been adapted to fit the respective belief systems of various faith communities. The D&C teaches that "all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church". This applies to adding new scripture. LDS Church president Harold B. Lee taught "The only one authorized to bring forth any new doctrine is the President of

7437-654: The Spalding manuscript source hypothesis debunked since 1945, when Fawn M. Brodie thoroughly disproved it in her critical biography of Smith. Historians since the early twentieth century have suggested Smith was inspired by View of the Hebrews , an 1823 book which propounded the Hebraic Indian theory , since both associate American Indians with ancient Israel and describe clashes between two dualistically opposed civilizations ( View as speculation about American Indian history and

7548-497: The Standard Works, and select passages from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. Though the KJV was always commonly used, it was officially adopted in the 1950s when J. Reuben Clark , of the church's First Presidency , argued extensively that newer translations, such as Revised Standard Version (RSV) of 1952, were of lower quality and less compatible with LDS Church tradition. After publishing its own KJV edition in 1979,

7659-533: The Temple Lot church. Both books contain revelations said to be given to former Church of Christ (Temple Lot) apostle Otto Fetting by an angelic being who said he was John the Baptist . The latter title (120 messages) contains the entirety of the former's material (30 message) with additional revelations (90 messages) said to be given to William A. Draves by this same being, after Fetting's death. Neither are accepted by

7770-532: The ability to translate and that Moroni had taken back the plates to be returned only after Smith repented. Smith later stated that God allowed him to resume translation, but directed that he begin where he left off (in what is now called the Book of Mosiah), without retranslating what had been in the lost manuscript. Smith recommenced some Book of Mormon dictation between September 1828 and April 1829 with his wife Emma Smith scribing with occasional help from his brother Samuel Smith, though transcription accomplished

7881-602: The angel and plates. Smith and his family reminisced that as part of what Smith believed was angelic instruction, Moroni provided Smith with a "brief sketch" of the "origin, progress, civilization, laws, governments   ... righteousness and iniquity" of the "aboriginal inhabitants of the country" (referring to the Nephites and Lamanites who figure in the Book of Mormon's primary narrative). Smith sometimes shared what he said he had learned through such angelic encounters with his family as well. In Smith's account, Moroni allowed him, accompanied by his wife Emma Hale Smith , to take

7992-411: The book in private devotions and family worship. Literary scholar Terryl Givens observes that for Latter-day Saints, the Book of Mormon is "the principal scriptural focus", a "cultural touchstone, and "absolutely central" to worship, including in weekly services, Sunday School, youth seminaries, and more. Standard works The Standard Works are printed and distributed by the LDS Church both in

8103-411: The book to be a record of real-world history, with Latter Day Saint denominations viewing it variously as an inspired record of scripture to the linchpin or " keystone " of their religion. Independent archaeological, historical, and scientific communities have discovered no evidence to support the existence of the civilizations described therein. Characteristics of the language and content point toward

8214-551: The book's own narrative. Narrators describe reading, redacting, writing, and exchanging records. The book also embeds sermons, given by figures from the narrative, throughout the text, and these internal orations make up just over 40 percent of the Book of Mormon. Periodically, the book's primary narrators reflexively describe themselves creating the book in a move that is "almost postmodern" in its self-consciousness. Historian Laurie Maffly-Kipp explains that "the mechanics of editing and transmitting thereby become an important feature of

8325-491: The book's place in a causal chain which held that if the Book of Mormon was "verifiably true revelation of God," then it justified Smith's claims to prophetic authority to restore the New Testament church. Latter-day Saints have also long believed the Book of Mormon's contents confirm and fulfill biblical prophecies. For example, "many Latter-day Saints" consider the biblical patriarch Jacob 's description of his son Joseph as "a fruitful bough   ... whose branches run over

8436-436: The book's significance to the faith. According to the church's "Articles of Faith" —a document written by Joseph Smith in 1842 and canonized by the church as scripture in 1880—members "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly," and they "believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God," without qualification. In their evangelism, Latter-day Saint leaders and missionaries have long emphasized

8547-407: The burial location of the plates on this hill and was instructed by Moroni to meet him at the same hill on September 22 of the following year to receive further instructions, which repeated annually for the next three years. Smith told his entire immediate family about this angelic encounter by the next night, and his brother William reported that the family "believed all he [Joseph Smith] said" about

8658-718: The church. While it publishes a version of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible—which includes material from the Book of Moses—Community of Christ also accepts the use of other English translations of the Bible , such as the standard King James Version and the New Revised Standard Version . Like the Bickertonites, the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) rejects the D&C and the Pearl of Great Price, as well as

8769-423: The classic oral epics, such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey ". Eyewitnesses said Smith never referred to notes or other documents while dictating, and Smith's followers and those close to him insisted he lacked the writing and narrative skills necessary to consciously produce a text like the Book of Mormon. Some naturalistic interpretations have therefore compared Smith's dictation to automatic writing arising from

8880-462: The contemporary edition of the Apocrypha was not to be relied on for doctrine, it was potentially useful when read with a spirit of discernment . Joseph Smith translated selected verses of the Bible, working by subject. His complete work is known as the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible , or the Inspired Version . Although this selected translation is not generally quoted by church members,

8991-478: The doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and offers men peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come. The latter segments of the Book of Mormon detail the destruction of these civilizations, as all were destroyed except the Lamanites. The book asserts that the Lamanites are among the ancestors of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas . According to his record, Joseph Smith translated

9102-559: The early 400s CE. On its title page, the Book of Mormon describes its central purpose as being the "convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations." Although much of the Book of Mormon's internal chronology takes place prior to the birth of Jesus, prophets in the book frequently see him in vision and preach about him, and the people in

9213-502: The earth. In 12 BC, a group of disaffected Nephites recovered the secret plans and re-established the Gadianton Robbers. This time, instead of infiltrating mainstream Nephite society, the group established bases in the mountains and the wilderness and periodically raided Nephite and Lamanite cities by guerrilla warfare . This continued to increase their power, and by AD 13, their raids and pilfering had caused so much destruction that

9324-503: The election of his brother Pahoran II to the judgment seat and then tried to incite a revolution. One of his supporters, Kishkumen ( / k ɪ ʃ ˈ k uː m ə n / ), assassinated Pahoran in retaliation. Kishkumen and his associates entered into a pact to keep the assassin's identity a secret. A man, Gadianton, became the leader of Kishkumen's secret group. He arranged for Kishkumen to assassinate Chief Judge Helaman II by promising that if Gadianton were made chief judge, he would appoint

9435-439: The errors in the Bible have led to incorrect interpretations of certain passages. Thus, as Joseph Smith explained, the church believes the Bible to be the word of God "as far as it is translated correctly". The LDS Church teaches that "[t]he most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations". The manuscripts of

9546-540: The fall of that city to the Babylonians . The book describes their journey across the Arabian peninsula , and then to a "promised land", presumably an unspecified location in the Americas, by ship. These books recount the group's dealings from approximately 600 BC to about 130 BC, during which time the community grows and splits into two main groups, called Nephites and Lamanites , that frequently war with each other throughout

9657-441: The golden plates and that they handled and examined them. The LDS Church's D&C is a collection of revelations, policies, letters, and statements given to the modern church by past church presidents . This record contains points of church doctrine and direction on church government. The book has existed in numerous forms, with varying content, throughout the history of the church and has also been published in differing formats by

9768-475: The larger Temple Lot body of believers. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) considers the Bible (when correctly translated), the Book of Mormon, and editions of the D&C published prior to Joseph Smith's death (which contained the Lectures on Faith ) to be inspired scripture. They also hold the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible to be inspired, but do not believe modern publications of

9879-485: The martyr narrative of Abinadi in the Book of Mormon shares a complex matrix of descriptive language with Faithful's martyr narrative in Progress . Some other Book of Mormon narratives, such as the dream Lehi has in the book's opening, also resemble creative reworkings of Progress story arcs as well as elements of other works by Bunyan, such as The Holy War and Grace Abounding . Historical scholarship also suggests it

9990-448: The movement's first years, observers identified converts with the new scripture they propounded, nicknaming them "Mormons". Early Mormons also cultivated their own individual relationships with the Book of Mormon. Reading the book became an ordinary habit for some, and some would reference passages by page number in correspondence with friends and family. Historian Janiece Johnson explains that early converts' "depth of Book of Mormon usage

10101-439: The narrative in his own words. Early observers, presuming Smith incapable of writing something as long or as complex as the Book of Mormon, often searched for a possible source he might have plagiarized. In the nineteenth century, a popular hypothesis was that Smith collaborated with Sidney Rigdon to plagiarize an unpublished manuscript written by Solomon Spalding and turn into the Book of Mormon. Historians have considered

10212-404: The narrative worship Jesus as "pre-Christian Christians." For example, the book's first narrator Nephi describes having a vision of the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus, said to have taken place nearly 600 years prior to Jesus' birth. Late in the book, a narrator refers to converted peoples as "children of Christ". By depicting ancient prophets and peoples as familiar with Jesus as a Savior,

10323-411: The narrative. In their pride, the Nephites repeatedly backslide into producing oppressive social orders, such that the book's narrative performs a sustained critique of colonialist racism. The book concludes with its own narrative implosion in which Lamanites suddenly succeed over and destroy Nephites in a literary turn seemingly designed to jar the average antebellum white American reader into recognizing

10434-451: The narratives" of the Book of Mormon for several years by making outlines, whether mental or on private notes, until he began dictating in 1828. Smith's oral recitations about Nephites to his family could have been an opportunity to work out ideas and practice oratory, and he received some formal education as a lay Methodist exhorter. In this interpretation, Smith believed the dictation he produced reflected an ancient history, but he assembled

10545-418: The nature and conduct of baptism , the age of accountability , the purpose and practice of communion , personalized revelation, economic justice, the anthropomorphic and personal nature of God, the nature of spirits and angels, and the organization of the latter day church . The pivotal event of the book is an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas shortly after his resurrection. Common teachings of

10656-570: The opportunity to choose whether or not to obey God. Jesus' atonement then makes repentance possible, enabling the righteous to enter a heavenly state after a final judgment . Although most of Christianity traditionally considers the fall of man a negative development for humanity, the Book of Mormon instead portrays the fall as a foreordained step in God's plan of salvation, necessary to securing human agency, eventual righteousness, and bodily joy through physical experience. This positive interpretation of

10767-513: The other members of the band to positions of authority. Kishkumen was apprehended and killed by one of Helaman's servants, and Gadianton and his followers, fearing the same fate, fled into the wilderness. Within 25 years, Gadianton's band had grown into a large criminal organization known as "Gadianton's robbers and murderers", with both Nephites and Lamanites among its members. In 26 BC, the Gadianton robbers assassinated Chief Judge Cezoram and his son. The Lamanites made every effort to eradicate

10878-565: The plates by holding or moving them wrapped in cloth, although without seeing the plates themselves. Their accounts of the plates' appearance tend to describe a golden-colored compilation of thin metal sheets (the "plates") bound together by wires in the shape of a book. The manuscript was completed in June 1829. E. B. Grandin published the Book of Mormon in Palmyra, New York, and it went on sale in his bookstore on March 26, 1830. Smith said he returned

10989-474: The plates on September 22, 1827, four years after his initial visit to the hill, and directed him to translate them into English. Smith said the angel Moroni strictly instructed him to not let anyone else see the plates without divine permission. Neighbors, some of whom had collaborated with Smith in earlier treasure-hunting enterprises, tried several times to steal the plates from Smith while he and his family guarded them. As Smith and contemporaries reported,

11100-403: The plates to Moroni upon the publication of the book. Multiple theories of naturalistic composition have been proposed. In the twenty-first century, leading naturalistic interpretations of Book of Mormon origins hold that Smith authored it himself, whether consciously or subconsciously, and simultaneously sincerely believed the Book of Mormon was an authentic sacred history. Most adherents of

11211-407: The plates were entirely absent. In 1828, while scribing for Smith, Harris, at the prompting of his wife Lucy Harris , repeatedly asked Smith to loan him the manuscript pages of the dictation thus far. Smith reluctantly acceded to Harris's requests. Within weeks, Harris lost the manuscript , which was most likely stolen by a member of his extended family. After the loss, Smith recorded that he lost

11322-399: The process itself only in vague terms, saying he translated by a miraculous gift from God. According to some accounts from his family and friends at the time, early on, Smith copied characters off the plates as part of a process of learning to translate an initial corpus. For the majority of the process, Smith dictated the text by voicing strings of words which a scribe would write down; after

11433-452: The rest of the narrative. Following this section is the Words of Mormon , a small book that introduces Mormon , the principal narrator for the remainder of the text. The narration describes the proceeding content ( Book of Mosiah through to chapter 7 of the internal Book of Mormon ) as being Mormon's abridgment of "the large plates of Nephi", existing records that detailed the people's history up to Mormon's own life. Part of this portion

11544-545: The scribe confirmed they had finished writing, Smith would continue. Many accounts describe Smith dictating by reading a text as it appeared either on seer stones he already possessed or on a set of spectacles that accompanied the plates, prepared by the Lord for the purpose of translating. The spectacles, often called the "Nephite interpreters," or the " Urim and Thummim ," after the biblical divination stones, were described as two clear seer stones which Smith said he could look through in order to translate, bound together by

11655-429: The subconscious. However, Ann Taves considers this description problematic for overemphasizing "lack of control" when historical and comparative study instead suggests Smith "had a highly focused awareness" and "a considerable degree of control over the experience" of dictation. Independent scholar William L. Davis posits that after believing he had encountered an angel in 1823, Smith "carefully developed his ideas about

11766-533: The text are accurate. Other portions of the Pearl of Great Price, however, are not considered to be scriptural—though are not necessarily fully rejected either. The Book of Jasher was consistently used by both Joseph Smith and James Strang , but as with other Latter Day Saint denominations and sects, there is no official stance on its authenticity, and it is not considered canonical. This sect likewise holds as scriptural several prophecies, visions, revelations, and translations printed by James Strang , and published in

11877-473: The text". Barnes calls the Book of Mormon a "scripture about writing and its influence in a post-modern world of texts" and "a statement about different voices, and possibly the problem of voice, in sacred literature". The Book of Mormon is organized as a compilation of smaller books, each named after its main named narrator or a prominent leader, beginning with the First Book of Nephi (1 Nephi) and ending with

11988-400: The time that Lehi's family arrive in the promised land further south. The narrative returns to Moroni's present ( Book of Moroni ) in which he transcribes a few short documents, meditates on and addresses the book's audience, finishes the record, and buries the plates upon which they are narrated to be inscribed upon, before implicitly dying as his father did, in what allegedly would have been

12099-521: The uncovered golden plates and, in some cases, handle them. Their written testimonies are known as the Testimony of Three Witnesses , who described seeing the plates in a visionary encounter with an angel, and the Testimony of Eight Witnesses , who described handling the plates as displayed by Smith. Statements signed by them have been published in most editions of the Book of Mormon. In addition to Smith and these eleven, several others described encountering

12210-409: The various Latter Day Saint denominations. When the church chooses to canonize new material, it is typically added to the D&C; the most recent changes were made in 1981. The Pearl of Great Price is a selection of material produced by Joseph Smith and deals with many significant aspects of the faith and doctrine of the church. Many of these materials were initially published in church periodicals in

12321-576: Was limited. In April 1829, Oliver Cowdery met Smith and, believing Smith's account of the plates, began scribing for Smith in what became a "burst of rapid-fire translation". In May, Joseph and Emma Smith along with Cowdery moved in with the Whitmer family, sympathetic neighbors, in an effort to avoid interruptions as they proceeded with producing the manuscript. While living with the Whitmers, Smith said he received permission to allow eleven specific others to see

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