What is The Book of Mormon?

The Book of Mormon.

I get a lot of questions about it.

So here are some answers.

The Book of Mormon is sacred scripture.

As Latter-Day Saints, we believe that the Book of Mormon is sacred scripture in addition to the Bible. The Bible, which is sacred scripture written in ancient times, covers the history of the eastern world before, during, and shortly after Christ's life. The Book of Mormon covers the history of the western world, the Americas. It begins with a family from Jerusalem. Lehi and his family (along with another family and a tag-along) are told by the Lord to leave Jerusalem before it is destroyed. After many trials in the wilderness, being instructed by God to build a ship, and crossing the ocean, they eventually arrive in the Americas. From there, the Book of Mormon is written upon plates, which were buried until the proper time to bring to earth the fullness of the Lord's gospel. "The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 BC, and afterwards 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...After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians" (Introduction to the Book of Mormon). 

Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.

When Joseph Smith was just 14 years old, he was living in a time in the United States when there were many different churches within his town, all teaching different doctrine. Concerned about his eternal salvation, young Joseph went to ask God which church was teaching the correct doctrine, which church was the true church for him to join. After prayerful study of both churches and the Bible, he remained confused about which church to join, so he went out into the woods to vocally pray to God. God answered him through a vision, and said no church on Earth had the Lord's full gospel, and that the Lord was going to use Joseph Smith to restore His church and gospel in its fullness to the earth. Eventually, this led to the translation of the buried plates through the power and gift of God.

The Vision
The vision of God and Christ in the words of Joseph Smith:
"I saw a pillar of light, exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other, 'this is my beloved Son, hear him!'"

Angel Moroni
Moroni was a Nephite, the son of Mormon, the prophet-historian responsible for abridging the Book of Mormon. Moroni was the last known living Nephite, prophet, and writer of the Book of Mormon. He is also the one who buried the plates, and the man the Lord chose to reveal those plates to Joseph Smith. So, just over three years after the First Vision in the Sacred Grove, the Angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith one night as he was praying to help prepare Joseph to bring forth the Book of Mormon. In this visit he explained the trails that laid ahead in his calling, along with the blessings and the importance of such a calling. He also later visited with Joseph on an annual basis at the place where the plates laid, to instruct him in his calling as a prophet of the Lord.

Snippets from the Book of Mormon
"Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know yet not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also." (2 Nephi 29: 7-8)


"And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and He hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good." (2 Nephi 33: 10)


"And He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; And this that the word might be fulfilled which saith He will take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people. And He will take upon Him death, that He may loose the bands of death which bind His people; And He will take upon Him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that He may know according to the flesh how to succor (come to the aid of) His people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:11-12)


Jesus appears to the people of Nephi after He has been crucified and resurrected: 

Jesus Christ visiting the Nephites

"Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name - hear ye Him. And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and He was clothed in a white robe; and He came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon Him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them. And it came to pass that He stretched forth His hand and spake unto the people, saying; Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning." (3 Nephi 11: 7-11)