This episode explores the simple yet central question of why we need the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ and why is it not enough just to have the Bible.
This episode explores the simple yet central question of why we need the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ and why is it not enough just to have the Bible.
Why do we need the Book of Mormon?
Welcome to the Verbal Motivation podcast. Where we talk about the things that motivate our lives, our religion and our relationships. My name is Nathan Vail. If you would like to comment on this or other episodes, please leave me a voicemail at 530-876-4153.
This is episode number 12 called Why do we need the Book of Mormon?
As you may recall, during the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, there was a lot of interest in The Church. During that time, a local radio show did several interviews with members of the church, less active members and also a minister, who I know and respect. This minister was invited on to talk about the Church from a traditional Christian perspective. During that interview the host asked about the Book of Mormon and the minister explained that there was conflict between the teachings of the Book of Mormon and the Bible. The host, who is a fair minded person, asked for an example of a conflict between the two. The minister thought for what felt like a full minute and then he said, “baptism for the dead.” I was sitting in my car listening and I laughed out loud when he said that because there is no mention of baptism for the dead in the Book of Mormon. The only reference to it is in the Bible in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15:29
In fact, there is no conflict between the Book of Mormon and the Bible; but it does beg the question, why do we need the Book of Mormon? There are too many reasons to consider them all today, but let’s tackle a few that I think are the most central.
In marketing the word Noise is used a lot. The term Noise refers to any marketing efforts or information that distracts from a brand's overall message. 'Noisy' can refer to too many marketing emails, too many advertisements on social media or too many TV ads.
Similarly, I think it would be safe to say that there is a lot of spiritual noise surrounding the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is not a recent phenomenon. In the early 19th century the term "burned-over district" came about. Referring to the western and parts of the central regions of New York State, where religious revivals and the formation of new religious movements of the Second Great Awakening took place…
Consider this, at present, according to The Center for the Study of Global Christianity, there are over 45,000 different Christian religions all based on the Bible. In addition, according to Bible Project.com, there are over 900 different English translations of the Bible.
Yet, neither the Christian religions nor even the different Bible translations teach the same doctrine.
Just as an example, some major Christian religions teach that we should pray to the Virgin Mary for forgiveness (Catholics) and others teach that you need only to confess Jesus and you are saved no matter what else you do (Baptists).
In addition, the many Bibles are as different as the thousands of religions that follow them. This is the first paragraph in an article on bibleproject.com:
“Are you looking for a good, or maybe the best, Bible translation? On a Bible website or app, have you found yourself scrolling through abbreviations like NIV, NLT, NASB, ESV, NET, or CSB and wondering what the difference is between them? Since Tyndale’s English translation in 1526, translators and publishers have created approximately 900 different English Bibles, making it hard to know which to choose.”
Let me just give you an example of why this matters. I printed off a list of many of the most common English translations of the Bible. In the King James Version in Job 19:26 we read that all will be resurrected, but the American Standard Version seems to say that all will NOT be resurrected. Of the list that I made of just 34 of the major translations, 19 say we will be resurrected and 15 say we won’t.
My point is simple, if we pray and ask God if the Bible is true we will absolutely receive confirmation that it is. Because it is true. Yet, that confirmation would do almost nothing in directing you towards finding the true church of Jesus Christ; unless it doesn’t matter who we pray to for forgiveness, what if anything needs to be done after we confess Jesus, or whether or not we are resurrected after we die.
The simple and profound reason for The Book of Mormon is that when the Lord restored his true gospel to the Earth, it was necessary for him to also provide a way for his children to find it, amid the countless sea of other churches and theologians.
Because of the Book of Mormon, anyone who is willing to ask God with a sincere heart in the name of Jesus if it is true, can cut through all the religious noise and confusion and know that God has restored his true gospel to the Earth. No other church can make that claim because they all point to the same book for justification of their vastly different teachings and beliefs.
Just to be clear, these are good people learning and preaching what they believe to be the truth. But in the end, we always come to the same conclusion, which was encapsulated on a sign board in front of the Our Savior Lutheran Church in my hometown. It was so profound, I stopped and took a picture I took of it. It read, “If all religions are true, then no religion is true.”
I agree wholeheartedly. Because if everything is true, then there is no such thing as truth.
The only way for there to be truth, is if there are things which are not true. As an example, it cannot be true that we are all resurrected and at the same time be true that we are not all resurrected. One is true and by definition the other is not true.
I used to teach the Gospel Essentials class on Sunday and there was a gentleman there every week that was not a member of our Church. He apparently wanted to marry a member of our congregation and she told him that she would only marry him if he came to church. So he did. Every week, almost without exception.
And what a blessing he was to our class, because he was friendly but not shy with his opinions. So we had many opportunities to talk about things that we don’t normally talk about.
One day he raised his hand and said that it was offensive to him that we claim to be the only completely true church on the face of the earth.
I thanked him for his comment and asked him which church he felt was the true church. He responded, as many Christians do, with “all roads lead to heaven.”
Since he and I had become friends and he was so comfortable with us in the class, I explored the topic further by reminding him that the week before we hosted an interfaith council at one of our local buildings and I met many Muslims that day who I felt were very good, God fearing people. And I asked him if in his opinion if all good people who are Muslims will also make it to heaven, by virtue of the all roads lead to heaven doctrine.
He responded without hesitation, no you have to accept Jesus Christ. I said, so all roads don’t lead to heaven. He said all Christian roads lead to heaven.
I then recited the oft quoted verse John 3:5 which says, “...Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
And then I asked if we have to be baptized. He agreed that we do, which excludes anyone who feels that just confessing Jesus is enough.
The more we talked about it, the smaller the road to heaven seemed to get.
In truth, the idea that all roads lead to heaven, collapses under its own weight because by definition that means that there cannot be any requirements. And if there are literally no requirements, then why are we here?
If there is no standard, there is no reason!
I’ll never forget one day in my youth I was helping my dad fix a lawn mower at our home in North Carolina and a very enthusiastic minister came by going house to house inviting everyone to his church. He was friendly and so my dad began visiting with him. I think now it may have been for my benefit, as he seemed to know how this conversation would go. During the conversation the minister mentioned being saved, as one of the reasons to come to his church. My dad asked him if once a person is saved does he go to heaven no matter what. He said yes. What if you are a murderer? He said yes. What if you are an adulterer? He said yes. My dad asked, what if you’re a Mormon? Shock came across his face and with some obvious restraint and with angry undertones in his voice, he said no not if you're Mormon.
There is no such thing as all roads lead to heaven. Every church under questioning will admit to acceptions.
And rightly so, Acts 4:12 says there is no other name nor way by which men can be saved. In other words, there is a road that leads to heaven and the pertinent question becomes, how do we find it?
The answer is also encapsulated in a picture I have here of a church sign board taken at a First Baptist Church in Texas. In full disclosure, I didn’t take this one myself, so take it as you will. It says, “Don’t pray about the Book of Mormon, that is how they get you.”
In fact, a loving Father in Heaven would not send us down here without providing a way for us to find the truth. If a person asks sincerely, without prejudice and with a willingness to accept the answer, they will also receive a confirmation that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. The beauty of that confirmation is there is no question thereafter which church is true or what doctrine we should follow. Again, no other church can make that claim. That is the power and one of the main reasons for the Book of Mormon.
It must baffle the scholars of the world that an uneducated farm boy translated a book of scripture that, like a stone that is cut without hands (Daniel 2:35) is rolling forth to cover the whole earth. The key words there are “cut without hands.” In other words, there is no author. No one to take credit.
When the Lord refers to his work in the last days, he also calls it a Marvelous work and wonder. (Isaiah 29:14) Would it be marvelous if a world renowned scholar had produced a book that had a wide reaching impact. I don’t think so. And that man would rightly be the hands that would take the credit.
One of the great pieces of evidence of the marvelous nature of the Book of Mormon is C.S. Lewis; who said that the Book of Mormon is “Chloroform in print.” In other words, from the standpoint of a secular professional, or worldly education, the writing does not meet the standard of entertaining. And yet, even without their endorsement, it has great power to change and influence lives.
It is estimated that C.S. Lewis has sold about 200 million books. A feat for which he is rightly attributed praise even posthumously. Many of his works have Christian undertones and to his credit are very entertaining to read. However, if it came to light that he was not a good person, his work product could crumble because its success is built entirely on him as an individual.
As a random coincidence, last week The Church of Jesus Christ announced the printing of the 200 millionth Book of Mormon. But there is no one to give its credit to. It’s like a book that was written without hands. It is indeed a marvelous work and a wonder.
I have heard, as I am sure many of you have also, the many encouraging stories about professors who know and understand history and language that point out the many things in the Book of Mormon that follow ancient customs, language and beliefs; all of which Joseph Smith could not possibly have known. I find those interesting, but not entirely relevant. Because logic or physical evidence will never lead to a testimony of the Book of Mormon or of Jesus Christ.
When I was younger I used to wonder why it is that we don’t have the Gold Plates? They obviously exist. Why were they taken back?
I realize now that I am older and more familiar with the ways of the world that if we had them, we would be carbon dating the metal, analyzing the handwriting and comparing the tools of the period with the thickness of the plates. In other words, we would be trying to decide logically whether or not the Book of Mormon is true.
It just doesn’t work that way.
I would submit to you that if the plates were here it would be a stumbling block because it would be a case study in looking beyond the mark; seeing everything except the words written on the pages. Yet, it is only the words that are valuable.
Jesus said, “for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) The same principle holds true of logic and testimonies. If our testimony is based in logic, it can be disproven by logic. But if it is based in study, practice and revelation, logic can have no effect on it.
There is no greater example of this than when Jesus asked Peter, “whom say ye that I am?” When Peter confessed that he was the Christ. “Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.“ Jesus himself was there performing miracles and teaching in a way that only he could. And yet, it was only by the power of the Holy Ghost that Peter knew he was the Savior of the world.
If that is true, then there would be no point in having the gold plates here, for us to examine. On the other hand, after feasting on the words that are written on them, “...if ye shall ask [God] with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.” Moroni 10:4
My name is Nathan Vail and this is the Verbal Motivation Podcast