The Book of Mormon as Another Testament
As taught in the Latter-day Saint tradition
How Latter-day Saints receive the Book of Mormon as a second witness to Jesus Christ.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose modern organisation traces to Joseph Smith, Jr. in upstate New York in 1830, holds among its most defining and most contested convictions that a second body of scripture stands alongside the Bible: the Book of Mormon, which the church subtitles "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." Latter-day Saints describe the volume as an abridged record of ancient peoples in the Americas, kept on metal plates, sealed up by a prophet-historian named Moroni, and brought forth in the nineteenth century "by the gift and power of God" through Joseph Smith as translator. On this reading the Book of Mormon does not replace the Bible but joins it as a companion witness to Jesus Christ.
By the end of this lesson
- Explain how Latter-day Saints understand the Book of Mormon as 'Another Testament of Jesus Christ' whose stated purpose, on its title page, is 'the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST,' and contrast this with the mainstream confession of the Bible as the unique written word of God.
- Describe the Latter-day Saint doctrine of an open canon as set out in 2 Nephi 29 ('ye need not suppose that it contains all my words'), and identify the precise point at which it diverges from the historic confession of a closed biblical canon.
- Show how the tradition reads Ezekiel 37:15-17 as the joining of two written records (the Bible as Judah's, the Book of Mormon as Joseph's) and summarise the mainstream reading of the passage as the political and covenantal reunion of the kingdoms.
- Explain the Book of Mormon's own internal interpretation of John 10:16 in 3 Nephi 15:21-22 and of Isaiah 29 in 2 Nephi 27, and distinguish this self-interpretation from the mainstream readings of 'other sheep' and of Isaiah's sealed-book oracle.
- Identify the tradition's primary attesting sources - the title page attributed to Moroni, the Testimony of Three Witnesses (Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris), and the Testimony of Eight Witnesses - and the role each plays in the Latter-day Saint account of the book's origin.
- State fairly and without flattening where the Latter-day Saint position on scripture differs from historic creedal Christianity - on the canon, on continuing revelation, and on the reception of an additional testament - and explain the principled basis each side gives.
Scripture
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