Using the Book of Mormon ![]()
"When you get into the active operation of your proselyting program, this is a concept you absolutely must have. It has been our traditional course in days past, unfortunately all too frequently, to say, 'Here is the Bible, and the Bible says this and this, and therefore the Gospel has been restored.' Well now, there is no person on earth that believes the Bible more than I do. I read it and ponder its words. I know that what is in it is true. But let me tell you, it is not the Bible that brings people into the Church; it is the Book of Mormon and latter-day revelation. We can use the Bible to lay a foundation, and to point people's attention to Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, but until we get involved with latter-day revelation, the process of conversion does not begin to operate in any substantial degree in the heart of an investigator. The Lord said to Joseph Smith: 'this generation shall have my word through you..." (D&C 5:10). That is his decree. They either get it through Joseph Smith or they do not get it, and our whole perspective is: Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith." Bruce R. McConkie, Mission Presidents Seminar, June 21, 1975
"You know of my great love for the Book of Mormon. Sister Benson and I try to read it every morning, and we have a great love for that book. The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God has designed to 'sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out His elect unto the New Jerusalem.' This sacred volume of scripture has not been, nor is it yet, central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work." Ezra Taft Benson, Salt Lake City, Utah, 5 March 1987
"Would not the progress of the Church increase dramatically today with an increasing number of those who are spiritually reborn? Can you imagine what would happen in our homes? Can you imagine what would happen with an increasing number of copies of the Book of Mormon in the hands of an increasing number of missionaries who know how to use it and who have been born of God? When this happens, we will get the bounteous harvest of souls that the Lord promised. It was the "born of God" Alma who as a missionary was so able to impart the word that many others were also born of God. (See Alma 36:23-26.)
"The Book of Mormon is the great standard we are to use in our missionary work. It shows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It contains the words of Christ, and its great mission is to bring men to Christ. All other things are secondary. The golden question of the Book of Mormon is "Do you want to learn more of Christ?" The Book of Mormon is the great finder of the golden contact. It does not contain things which are "pleasing unto the world," and so the worldly are not interested in it. It is a great sieve. (See I Nephi 6:5.)
"The Book of Mormon must be the heart of our missionary work in every mission of the Church if we are to come out from under this condemnation (see D&C 84:56-57). And what a marvelous missionary tool it is! Already we see an increase in baptisms, which testifies to the power of this sacred volume." Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents Seminar, Provo, Utah, 25 June 1986.
"A missionary who is inspired by the Spirit of the Lord must be led by that Spirit to choose the proper approach to be effective. We must not forget that the Lord Himself provided the Book of Mormon as His chief witness. The Book of Mormon is still our most powerful missionary tool. Let us use it." Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 204
“Reading the Book of Mormon is one of the greatest persuaders to get men on missions. We need more missionaries. But we also need better-prepared missionaries coming out of the wards and branches and homes where they know and love the Book of Mormon. A great challenge and day of preparation is at hand for missionaries to meet and teach with the Book of Mormon. We need missionaries to match our message” Ezra Taft Benson, Regional Representatives Seminar, 4 April 1986
“There is a difference between a convert who is built on the rock of Christ through the Book of Mormon and stays hold of the iron rod, and one who is not. I promise you that you will have more and better converts in every mission of the Church if you will teach and inspire missionaries to effectively use the Book of Mormon as the great converter.” Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents’ Seminar, 25 June 1986.
"We need to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon." Ezra Taft Benson
"I counsel you, my beloved brothers and sisters and friends everywhere, to make reading the Book of Mormon a few minutes each day a lifelong practice. All of us need the uninterrupted association with the Spirit of the Lord. We need to take the Holy Spirit for our constant guide that we be not deceived. I am persuaded by my own experience and that of my loved ones, as well as by the statements of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that one can get and keep closer to the Lord by reading the Book of Mormon than by reading any other book. Dont be content with what someone else tells you about what is in it. Drink deeply from the divine fountain itself.
"I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity - the pure love of Christ - will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness." Marion G. Romney, "The Book of Mormon," LDS General Conference, April 1980"And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received— Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written— That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father's kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion." D&C 84:54-58
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I came unto mine own, and mine own received me not. I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not. I am he who said—Other sheep have I which are not of this fold—unto my disciples, and many there were that understood me not. And I will show unto this people that I had other sheep, and that they were a branch of the house of Jacob; And I will bring to light their marvelous works, which they did in my name; Yea, and I will also bring to light my gospel which was ministered unto them, and, behold, they shall not deny that which you have received, but they shall build it up, and shall bring to light the true points of my doctrine, yea, and the only doctrine which is in me. And this I do that I may establish my gospel, that there may not be so much contention; yea, Satan doth stir up the hearts of the people to contention concerning the points of my doctrine; and in these things they do err, for they do wrest the scriptures and do not understand them." D&C 10:57-63
"the Book of Mormon...contains a record of a fallen people, and the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews also; Which was given by inspiration, and is confirmed to others by the ministering of angels, and is declared unto the world by them— Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true, and that God does inspire men and call them to his holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old; Thereby showing that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Amen. Therefore, having so great witnesses, by them shall the world be judged, even as many as shall hereafter come to a knowledge of this work. And those who receive it in faith, and work righteousness, shall receive a crown of eternal life; But those who harden their hearts in unbelief, and reject it, it shall turn to their own condemnation— For the Lord God has spoken it; and we, the elders of the church, have heard and bear witness to the words of the glorious Majesty on high, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." D&C 20:9-16
"And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal. And it speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil. I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell." 2 Nephi 33:4-6
"Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews? 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 ye 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. And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever. Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written. For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it." 2 Nephi 29: 6-12
"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. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness." 2 Nephi 33:10-11
"Remember that that which cometh from above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit; and in this there is no condemnation, and ye receive the Spirit through prayer; wherefore, without this there remaineth condemnation." D&C 63:64
"Because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book [the Bible], which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God - because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them." 1 Nephi 13:29
"And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he [Jesus] taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken. And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them." 3 Nephi 26:8-9
"The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man that can not read them."Mark Twain
I like to substitute passages from the Book of Mormon for the Bible whenever possible in the discussions and in teaching. No one gains a real testimony from only the Bible verses. It is important to use scriptures from the Book of Mormon because they are clear and powerful. Missionaries should remember that investigators may already have a testimony of the Bible so now they need one of the Book of Mormon. Missionaries who teach primarily from the Bible (or, more commonly, who use few scriptures besides those built into the discussions) in attempts to build on common ground should be warned that this technique, while it may soften rejection, is less effective in gaining members and those who are taught frequently do not have a full testimony of the Book of Mormon. When individuals are baptized, the vestiges of this unfortunate technique often surface later when individuals begin to question their testimony.
Let me with Brother McConkie express my great love for the Bible. I have read it many times. I have read it in eight languages and continue to read and ponder its truths daily. Yet, as Elder McConkie states, it is not the Bible that converts.
It is generally better technique to find an appropriate Book of Mormon scripture in answer to a question rather than to answer in one's own words. This way, investigators and members will realize that they can find their own answers by reading the scriptures and develop a greater desire to study the Book of Mormon regularly.
As Bruce R. McConkie points out, many members and missionaries attempt to use the Bible to lay the foundation for acceptance of the Book of Mormon. Long experience has taught me the truth of Elder McConkie's words that this simply doesn't work, at least not nearly as much as using the Book of Mormon itself. Even the Book of Mormon teaches that one of the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to convince people of the truth of the Bible, and not the other way around:
"And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles [the Book of Mormon], shall establish the truth of the first [the Bible], which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved." 1 Nephi 13:40
The Book of Mormon points out that the Gentiles stumble exceedingly and that Satan has strong power over many because of the plain and precious truths that were taken out of the Bible (1 Nephi 13:34), but often our approach is to attempt to prove the Book of Mormon by the Bible. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons we are under condemnation for taking the Book of Mormon lightly, as President Benson has said. Yet so often, well-meaning members and missionaries get the approach backwards. The basic problem with using the Bible, as Joseph Smith points out, is that "if Mormons believe in the Bible, we are the only people on earth who do, for there are none of the other sects of the day that do." The bible has undergone so many changes over the course of centuries through ignorant translators and conniving priests that even for the sincere men and women of other faiths it can be difficult to understand which of a number of interpretations of any given Bible passage is correct without another foundation -- the Book of Mormon.
In many other churches, frankly, the idol of the Bible is worshipped instead of Jesus Christ. On the one hand, ministers proclaim that the Bible contains the final word of God and is all-authoritative, and on the other hand they explain away its tenets and constantly change their interpretations. We must avoid the sin of "Bible-worship" and instead direct peoples' attention to the source of Bible writings: the Savior and his divine, ongoing revelations to mankind.
Yet so often, we think that those without modern revelation understand and appreciate the Bible the same way we do. The fact is that numerous biblical passages are routinely explained away by sectarian preachers who state that such and such is just and allegory, or was not intended to be understood literally. Studies have shown that even large numbers of sectarian ministers do not believe in the literal resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, let alone in other fundamental doctrines of the Bible. Let me state plainly that when we attempt to teach from the Bible without using the Book of Mormon as the basis, we are building on the a sandy foundation rather than on the rock of divine revelation. Once the foundation of Divine Revelation is laid, the Bible can be a powerful tool.
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