The Book of Mormon: Introduction

The Introduction has four parts that I’m aware of.

1. The Official Introduction
2. The Testimony of Three Witnesses
3. The Testimony of Eight Witnesses
4. The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith

Let’s take these one at a time.

The Official Introduction does what any book’s introduction does: it introduces the Book of Mormon.  The first three paragraphs sum up the content of the book, along with an assertion that the Book of Mormon is a work of scripture that is very like the Bible, the main purpose of which was to testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ.  The next paragraph summarizes how we came to have this ancient record in today’s modern world and how it was translated. Here, too, we are told of Joseph Smith’s assertion that the Book of Mormon was “the most correct of any book on earth and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”  Finally, it mentions the next three sections and invites you to continue reading, promising a testimony of your own if you read the book and pray faithfully to know if the book is true or not.

Let’s look at this comment of Joseph Smith’s about the Book of Mormon being the keystone of our religion.  First of all, what’s a keystone?  Have you ever seen an arch?  It looks sort of like an upside down letter “U,” right?  If you look at the part of that arch right at the top of the bend.  That’s the keystone, right there. If that were removed, the entire arch would collapse.  What’s interesting is that many religious leaders and ex-Mormons know this about the Book of Mormon.  That being the case, they’ve spent a great deal of their time and money trying to disprove the truth of the book, to dislodge that keystone and bring us down.  Judging by the rate of growth the church has shown over the years, though, I’m not sure they’ve been particularly successful.

Next comes the Testimony of Three Witnesses.  These witnesses were Oliver Cowdery, who had served as the scribe to Joseph Smith Jr, David Whitmer, whose father provided the Smiths with a place to live while they were being persecuted, and Martin Harris, who provided a great deal of money to aid in publication of the work.  I won’t go so far as to recap their testimony, but I will say that they never changed their stories as long as they lived, even though two of the three, namely Cowdery and Whitmer, eventually left the Church.

Third, we have the much shorter Testimony of Eight Witnesses.  Again, I won’t recap the testimony for you.  However, I do know that Christian, Jacob, John and Peter Whitmer Jr were all sons of the Whitmer that gave the Smiths lodgings.  Joseph Smith Sr, Hyrum and Samuel H. Smith were his father and two of his brothers. Hiram Page was one of the elder Whitmer’s sons-in-law. 

Last, but certainly not least, Joseph Smith Jr’s account of how he came to have the plates is given.  Which details the series of visions he had one night wherein an angel calling himself Moroni appeared to him and directed him to a certain hill where, in due course, he might obtain the above mentioned plates.  Smith tells us that, as these visions took up the entire night, the following morning found him completely exhausted and unable to function.  Then, as he was attempting to return home for, I suppose, a nap, the angel appeared to him yet again, repeating everything he had said the previous evening and commanding him to tell his father.  I could go on, but I probably shouldn’t.  I want you to read it for yourself.  Suffice it to say that Smith tells about how he eventually got the plates and how a good deal of persecution and deception were used to try to take them from him once people learned that he had them.  Especially once people learned that the plates were supposed to be made of gold.  I’m told that many people in the area referred to them constantly as “Joe Smith’s gold book.”  At one point, Joseph was even dragged from his home so that the house could be searched, to no avail. 

As have people before me, I invite you to read the book and learn for yourself if it’s true or not. Tomorrow we will delve into the Book of Mormon itself when we tackle First Nephi chapter one.