Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Book of Mormon: Title Page

Usually, when I begin my study of the Book of Mormon, I skip over all the introductory materials at the front and start off at First Nephi.  However, I noticed that the Church tends to start with the intro stuff.  So, for a blog on the scriptures, I figure that I should start there as well.

So, let’s start with the title page.  As with any ordinary book, we start off with the title of the work, “The Book of Mormon.”  Beneath that, we find the name of the person who, at least, did the largest amount of work on the book, namely Mormon.  Generally, in books that are a compilation of works or like that, you’ll find the name of the person or corporation that did the compiling listed on the title page of the book in the place of an author.  This title page is much the same.  After that, we learn that this book was originally written on metal plates.  This means that this book, before it was translated, was written entirely by hand.

Now we come to the meat of the title page.  In the first sentence of the first paragraph, we learn that this work is an abridgment of records kept by the people of Nephi (Nephites) and Laman (Lamanites).  You’ll find a pronunciation guide in the back of most copies of the Book of Mormon if you’re in any doubt as to how to say those names.  Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary tells us abridgment means “a shortened form of a work retaining the general sense and unity of the original.”  That seems to indicate that the information contained in the Book of Mormon was once much larger and more detailed.  Given that the book was originally hand-written on metal plates, that would tend to make the book rather cumbersome, at best.  Making an abridgment would, at the very least, make the book much more portable than leaving it in its original form might.

The writer of the title page next tells us that the book is meant, in part, for the Lamanites, “a remnant of the house of Israel.”  Merriam-Webster defines remnant as “a small surviving group.”  That means that the Lamanites are some of what’s left of the scattered Israelites mentioned in the Bible.  It has long been held that the Native American tribes have a distinct connection with the mentioned Lamanites.  It is not the purpose of this blog to either prove or disprove this idea.  Other websites have done both and I leave you to read them and decide for yourself.

Moving onward, we learn that the Book of Mormon was also written in particular to the peoples known colloquially as “the Jews” and “the Gentiles.”  Gentile is a Hebrew term meaning someone who isn’t Hebrew.  So, basically, this book has been prepared for… us, all of us.

The writer continues, stating that this book has been compiled and abridged “by way of commandment.”  That basically means that the Lord told them to do it.  Furthermore, it was also abridged “by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation.”  All that means is that the Lord told them how to abridge the work so that the general sense (see the above definition of abridgment) and unity were retained.

We are then told that, following the writing and abridgement of the book, it was hidden “that it might not be destroyed.”  That raises questions all over the place for me.  Why did the book’s abridgers fear that the book might be destroyed?  Perhaps some group of wicked people had heard that a record was being kept and made it their business to find and destroy it.  We aren’t told.  What we are told is that the work is expected to be brought forth by the power of God, so that it can be interpreted.  The name of the person who has hidden the record is given as Moroni.  It is assumed that this is the person who has prepared the title page.  Finally, we are told that the interpretation of this work is given “by the gift of God.”  That, to my mind at least, means that this book can only be translated with God’s help.

Moving right along, the second paragraph begins by adding that an abridgement of the “Book of Ether” has also been added.  The Book of Ether is described succinctly as a record of the “people of Jared” scattered from the tower of Babel.  The writer informs us that this is meant to show the remnant previously mentioned how well the Lord has taken care of their ancestors as well as to give them knowledge of the covenants of the Lord, so they’ll have a chance to be redeemed with everyone else. 

Finally, we are told that the book is meant to convince everyone (Jew and Gentile) that Jesus is the Christ.  If you don’t know already, Christ, here, is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which, roughly translated, means “Savior.”  We are enjoined that this work was compiled by people, who are, at best, flawed.  So, if it has mistakes, they are man-made, and not from God.  We are asked to refrain from condemning the works of God and, thus, avoid condemnation ourselves.

Then the name of the translator (Joseph Smith, Jr) and the publisher (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is given.

From what I understand, the main reason the Book of Mormon has such a long and detailed title page is to make it fully clear what the purpose of the book is, who it’s intended for and where it came from.  In a way, it is as though the ancient writers are offering us this book and saying, “Here! Read this!  It has vital information in it for you.”  I leave you with this same suggestion.  As far as I know, you can obtain a copy of the Book of Mormon at most bookstores or, if you’d rather, you can get a free copy for the small price of having a couple of Mormon missionaries visit you.  Who knows?  You might even be able to get a copy from a Mormon friend, if you have one.  If not, simply visit lds.org.  The entire book is available online at that site.  Tomorrow we’ll delve further into the Introductory materials and, hopefully, I won’t be quite so long-winded.

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