Do We Need Book Of Mormon

Why Do We Need the Book of Mormon?

Some people wonder why we need the Book of Mormon if we already have the Bible.  The Bible, they say, is the complete word of God.  However, the Bible never claims to be complete, and even today different churches use different Bibles.  The Catholic version of the Bible includes 14 books not found in the Protestant Bible, and Eastern Christian Churches have books not found in any Western Bible.

The Book of Mormon helps us more fully understand God’s teachings about Jesus Christ and about salvation through Him.  The title page of the Book of Mormon proclaims that its aim is to

• “Show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers.”
• “[T]hat they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever.”
• “And also to the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.”

The Book of Mormon validates and elucidates on doctrines found in the Bible, explaining some that are barely given mention in the Bible and clarifying others.  The Book of Mormon refers to some biblical stories that many consider fables, adding another testimony that they are true.  For instance, in the Book of Mormon is a record of the “Jaredites,” who were led to the Americas at the fall of the Tower of Babel.  They were blessed by the Lord not to have their speech confounded.  Thus, we have a second scriptural reference to a questioned event—the building and destruction of the Tower, and confounding of languages.

The book of Proverbs says:

Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he (Proverbs 29:18).

Without vision, or revelation, from God, people find their own meanings in scripture.  The Apostle Peter warned of this:

And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their destruction (2 Peter 3:15-16).

To wrest means to twist or distort, so Peter was warning his audience that some people were distorting the meaning of the scriptures.  The Book of Mormon helps to prevent this by elaborating on biblical messages.  Some examples include

• Very thorough and profound explanations of the relationship between Adam’s fall and Christ’s atonement.
• A thorough explanation of the relationship between the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ—how the Law of Moses is a type of Christ.
• A vision of Mary and verification of the virgin birth of Christ.
• A solid picture of the organization and ordinances of the Church.  The Book of Mormon peoples were visited by the resurrected Christ, and Christ established His Church among them.
• More promises of the gathering of Israel and last days’ prophecies.
• An explanation of the nature of evil, and the need for opposition.
• Thorough discussions of Godly qualities, such as faith, hope, charity, and the use of spiritual gifts.

The Book of Mormon also contains much information specific to our day through the messages of its prophets and the types contained in God’s dealings with the Book of Mormon peoples.  The Book of Mormon prophets were especially concerned with the future of the Americas, and many prophecies pertain to past, current, and future events occurring in America.  Settlement by gentiles from Europe was predicted, as well as the freedom that would be established.  Destruction and scattering of the Native Americans, as well as the restoration of Christ’s true Church were prophesied.

Through it all, the consistency of God’s dealings with man are apparent.  Wherever there is a remnant of people willing to serve Him, He is willing to protect and enlighten them.  As it says in 2 Nephi 29:11-13, 9:

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 I judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.