The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (Official Edition) [Hardcover]

Joseph Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1981

The Book of Mormon is a volume of scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and 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 a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, the a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.

In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Sone of the living God and that all who will come unto him and obey the laws and ordinances of his gospel may be saved.

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" and "The Testimony of Eight Witnesses."

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and the to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3-5.)

Those who gain this divine witness from the holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

THE TESTIMONY OF THREE WITNESSES: Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld an! d bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.

Oliver Cowdery
David Whitmer
Martin Harris

THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES:

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.

Christian Whitmer
Jacob Whitmer

Peter Whitmer, Jun.
John Whitmer
Hiram Page
Joseph Smith, Sen.
Hyrum Smith
Samuel H. Smith --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 779 pages
• Publisher: Scriptureference; 1981 Edition edition (July 1, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967686555
• ISBN-13: 978-0967686554
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (957 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,181,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

161 of 187 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars analytical and bemused, December 13, 2004

By 

"Lament" "tal727" (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (Hardcover)

As a sociologist and member of the American Academy of Religion, I find most of the reviews of the Book of Mormon not be helpful, on the one hand, and kind of curious, on the other hand. Clearly, most are from partisans (either strongly for or against) and not about the text itself or as holy writ of a significant world religion to be accorded the kind of respect one would for sacred writings of other religions.
I am among those who (many years ago) received a free copy and read it, both as religious text and as literature. It is not the kind of reading one takes lightly or for fun (altho' apparently some read it for ridicule). But then, neither does one do so for the Bible or Upanshids or Koran, etc. As religious text I found it very interesting and worthy of study, as suggested by some major religious studies scholars, e.g., the eminent Jewish scholar Jacob Neusner and a prominent professor at Harvard Divinity (whose name escapes me for the moment). I found reading the Book of Mormon to be much more akin to the Bible than to such things as Calvin's "Institutes" and other systematic theologizing.
It is something one should read for oneself rather than decide on the basis of critics or supporters. It has many beautiful poetic passages and inspiring moral sermons, like some of the best sermons I have heard delivered by a few Protestant preachers.
Is it historically accurate? Is the Bible? Who knows? But the jury is still out on both of those. However, one should not read it as a history text but as a human story, as something that portrays principles about the human condition and human society as people pursue various values and beliefs.
What I do wish is that the publishers would provide a little more background for understanding its origin and its place in an expanding world religion and as part of global diversity of belief systems, not just the text itself.
Finally, I'm not sure why I would buy this particular edition rather than get another free copy from the Mormon Church.

"Lament"
Ithaca, NY

51 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Epiphany?, November 6, 2001

By 

mateo52 "invisible man" (State College, Pa.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (Official Edition) (Hardcover)

For the record, I read the entire text. But, as early as the middle of the book of I Nephi, which happens to be the very first, I realized my rating would be 5 stars. How does one rate the Christian bible, the Hebrew bible, the Qur'an, or any other book of theistic beliefs?

Ultimately, each interlocutor will be requested at some point - in most cases at several points - to take a leap of faith. Whether one is willing to take that step is dependent on a litany of factors, many of which may not hold as much meaning for another investigator. Yet, it seems to me the major consideration is to gain some minimal understanding of the diverse concepts that influence different groups at variable levels. It has been recently reported The Church of the Latter Day Saints is the fastest growing denomination of Christianity. That alone is justification enough for me to spend some time with the basic text to their belief system.

The Book Of Mormon is best understood with a conversational familiarity with the Christian bible. For the Mormon, it is Scripture, another testament of Jesus Christ. I am not sectarian, however even if I did subscribe to a specific religious theory, it would be difficult for me to dismiss another based exclusively on the premise at some point in time, the heavenly Father chose to terminate direct communication with his progeny. If the idea Noah could receive divine instruction to build an Ark offers concordance, it seems perfectly plausible alternative blueprints could be proffered to Nephi to cross the expanse of what we now know as the Atlantic Ocean. The New Testament is a new covenant, indicating God is susceptible to a modification of guidelines, who am I to state he didn't hedge his bets at a much earlier juncture?

The book is tedious but so is the Old Testament. It is shortsighted to criticize or dismiss without taking the time to explore. I may not agree yet this holy testimony deserves the same amount of respect and reverence as we typically offer to the wider held beliefs.

193 of 251 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book That Changed My Life, December 13, 2004

By 

Kathryn Knight (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (Hardcover)

The age-old adage, "Don't knock it 'till you've tried it," applies here. Many will post their disgruntled views here about why you shouldn't read the Book of Mormon. Only you can decide whether or not it is true or powerful in your life. I read the book for an assignment as a teenager and prayed about it with no heavenly response. I attended Stanford University and married. I attended law school. I had a child. I was very unhappy in my marriage and in life. I didn't know what I believed in anymore. I read the book again, but this time I did a "critical" reading in the literary sense. What was in those pages and could they help me? I had read the New Testament in high school and had come to love Jesus Christ. I needed more direction in my life than I had. I read the Book of Mormon searching for answers - not to criticize it, not to condemn it, not to judge it. When I finished the book, I put God to the test. I had such an overwhelming feeling of love, light and power come over me after that prayer that stayed with me for at least 20 minutes. In that period of time, I knew that the Book of Mormon was true and that Jesus Christ was alive and my personal savior. From that point in my life I committed to follow Him and help and bless as many people around me as I could. I am still on his path. There are remarkable conversions to the knowledge of Christ in the Book of Mormon, like Saul's conversion in the New Testament. I feel that I had one of those experiences; but, it required a real desire to know with a willing heart to believe what was written. The Book says that those who believe in Christ will believe in these words (the words of the Book of Mormon) because they are his words. I encourage you to read with a believing heart and put God to the test. He always keeps his word.