Messages assembled by
Dennis B. Horne
In his “Closing
Remarks” of the October 2019 General Conference, President Russell M.
Nelson invited members to ask themselves questions about what their life and
their world would be like without the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ
and the major events that attended it. One example he gave was this: “Our
course of study for next year in Come, Follow Me is the Book of Mormon.
You may wish to ponder important questions such as, ‘How would my life be
different if my knowledge gained from the Book of Mormon were suddenly taken
away?’”
As it
happens, President Nelson has himself asked and answered this very question. It
seems he has not asked the membership of the Church to do something he himself
has not done, and we might also conclude that he found the exercise so valuable
that he felt inspired to invite others to do likewise. Even though Pres. Nelson
indicated we could and should come up with our own questions, I would suppose
that it could not but help to review and study his insightful questions
and answers. He did this in an address to the Church not long before he became
its president.
At the
bottom of President Nelson’s General Conference talk The
Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?, is (the below)
information that is not found in the talk as delivered (in 2017) and
constitutes something of an appendix to his message—counsel that he continues
to promote as President of the Church.
All of the
text below is from President Nelson. The bold headings and the bullet points
are from the above named and linked General Conference talk, briefly
summarizing items we would miss without the Book of Mormon. The listed items
with dashes serving the same purpose as bullet points are from a marvelous
address President Nelson gave to new mission presidents being trained in 2016,
titled: “The
Book of Mormon: A Miraculous Miracle.” In his presentation, he expanded on
many of these items, teaching them with greater detail and insight than is possible
at the end of a Conference address. I have attempted to integrate and correlate
by category the statements Pres. Nelson makes in his lists for readers’
convenience. Readers would of course be best served to read and study both
talks closely.
Readers may
notice some (of what I consider to be) new doctrine, or at least doctrine I had
not heard before, explaining reasons why America is the promised land, a land
choice above all other lands. As far as I know, his teachings on this
particular subject are not commonly known in the Church.
There is
also wording clarifying that Alma 13 is indeed talking about foreordination in
the pre-mortal existence, and not something
else as some have theorized.
God be
thanked and praised for a prophet that shares such inspiration:
The Book of Mormon is:
- Another
testament of Jesus Christ. Its major writers—Nephi, Jacob,
Mormon, Moroni—and
its translator, Joseph Smith, were all eyewitnesses of
the Lord.
- A
record of His ministry to people who lived in ancient America.
- True,
as attested by the Lord Himself.
-The Book of Mormon is the great
clarifier of doctrine. It refutes many myths. At the same time, it affirms
truths previously obscured and reveals many glorious facts of the doctrine of
Christ that were lost or previously unknown.
The Book of Mormon affirms:
- The
individual identity of Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
- The
necessity of the Fall of Adam and the wisdom of Eve, that men might have
joy.
-Resoundingly, the Book of Mormon
affirms the existence of a living and loving Father in Heaven.
-It affirms the nature of our
Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation, happiness, and mercy.
-It declares, as another testament,
the generation and divinity of Jesus the Christ.
-It teaches of His mission and His
ministry.
-The Book of Mormon stands as a
global beacon of eternal truth. The Lord said: “The testimony of two nations is
a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another.
. . . And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two
nations shall run together also.”
-The Book of Mormon affirms the
supreme status of man’s moral agency and sets forth eternal standards of
accountability and responsibility for our choices.
-It affirms the reality and
inevitability of our impending judgment, which will be done with a perfect
blending of the justice and mercy of God.
-The Book of Mormon affirms that
the people on the Western Hemisphere were among the “other sheep” to whom Jesus
had earlier referred.
-And it affirms the existence of
other societies to whom Jesus would minister—those we know as the lost tribes
of Israel.
-It affirms the reality of
premortal life.
-It reaffirms the sanctity and the
necessity of the sacrament, as taught in the Bible.
The Book of Mormon refutes notions that:
- Revelation
ended with the Bible.
- Infants
need to be baptized.
- Happiness
can be found in wickedness.
- Individual
goodness is adequate for exaltation (ordinances and covenants are needed).
- The
Fall of Adam tainted mankind with “original sin.”
Let us mention a few myths the book
refutes.
-The Book of Mormon refutes the
concept of predestination.
-It refutes the idea of the
creation ex nihilo—“out of nothing.”
-It refutes the false notion of
original sin. It refutes the adequacy of individual goodness alone without
exalting ordinances.
-It refutes the practice of infant
baptism.
-It refutes methods of baptism
other than that of immersion by one bearing proper authority.
-It refutes the notion that
revelation from God ended with the Bible.
The Book of Mormon fulfills biblical prophecies that:
- “Other
sheep” shall hear His voice.
- God
will do “a marvelous work and a wonder,” speaking “out of the dust.”
- The
“stick of Judah” and the “stick of Joseph” will become one.
- Scattered
Israel will be gathered “in the latter days” and how that will be done.
- The
land of inheritance for the lineage of Joseph is the Western Hemisphere.
The Book of Mormon clarifies understanding
about:
- Our
premortal existence.
- Death.
It is a necessary component of God’s great plan of happiness.
- Postmortal
existence, which begins in paradise.
- How
the resurrection of the body, reunited with its spirit, becomes an
immortal soul.
- How
our judgment by the Lord will be according to our deeds and the desires of
our hearts.
- How
ordinances are properly performed: for example, baptism, sacrament,
conferring the Holy Ghost.
- The
Atonement of Jesus Christ.
- The
Resurrection.
- The
important role of angels.
- The
eternal nature of priesthood.
- How
human behavior is influenced more by the power of the word than the power
of the sword.
The Book of Mormon reveals information previously
unknown:
- Baptisms
were performed before Jesus Christ was born.
- Temples
were built and used by people in ancient America.
- Joseph,
11th son of Israel, foresaw the prophetic role of Joseph Smith.
- Nephi
(in 600–592 BC) foresaw the discovery and colonizing of America.
- Plain
and precious parts of the Bible have been lost.
- The
Light of Christ is given to each person.
- The
importance of individual agency and the need for opposition in all things.
- Warnings
about “secret combinations.”
-It reveals the state of the soul
between death and resurrection.
-It reveals the endless nature of
the priesthood of God and the foreordination of choice spirits called and
prepared from the foundation of the world for leadership in these latter days.
From the Book of Mormon we know that each of you has been reserved,
foreordained, and foredetermined to
come forth at this particular time to accomplish the mighty work you have been
called to do.
-The Book of Mormon reveals what
the term gospel truly means. The Lord declared, “This is the gospel which I
have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father,
because my Father sent me.”
-The Book of Mormon reveals the
important interrelationships between the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement.
One cannot fully comprehend the Atonement without first understanding the Fall;
and the Fall of Adam cannot be fully understood without first understanding the
Creation. These three great doctrinal pillars sustain each other in God’s
eternal plan.
-The Book of Mormon reveals that
Joseph, the son of Jacob who was once sold into Egypt, foresaw the Prophet
Joseph Smith and his day and noted that there would be many similarities in
their lives. Centuries later, the Prophet Joseph stated, “I feel like Joseph in
Egypt.”
-The Book of Mormon reveals that
the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, was not forgotten when land was
distributed to the tribes of Israel, as promised in the Abrahamic covenant.
Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. It was choice
not because of beauty or wealth of natural resources, but choice because it was
chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the
Book of Mormon would one day come. It was choice because it would eventually host
the world headquarters of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter
days. And it was choice because it is a land of liberty for those who worship
the Lord and keep His commandments.
-The Book of Mormon reveals that
Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary, is literally the Son of God. No book of
scripture bears more solemnly the weighty burden of that testimony than does
the Book of Mormon. Its pages contain nearly 4,000 references to the Christ,
using more than 100 different titles for Him. His holy name is mentioned on the
average of once every 2.8 verses. No wonder this book has been designated
“Another Testament of Jesus Christ.”
-The Book of Mormon teaches of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. While the word atone in any of its forms appears in
the King James translation of the New Testament only once, in the Book of
Mormon atone in any of its forms appears 39 times. And if chapter headings were
included, the grand total would be 55 times! No wonder this book contains the
fulness of the gospel. It explains the Atonement of Jesus Christ!
There are some things the Book of
Mormon is not.
-It is not a textbook of history,
although some history is found within its pages.
-It is not a treatise on ancient
American agriculture or politics.
-It is not a record of all former
people of the Western Hemisphere, but only of particular groups.
No comments:
Post a Comment