subject: The Importance Of Book Of Mormon Study [print this page] Mormons believe that the Book of Mormon is one part of restoring the original teachings of Jesus Christ. In the nineteenth century, this book was translated from an ancient record and published by Joseph Smith. According to Smith, prophetsin the Western Hemisphere (including Mormon and his son Moroni) inscribed the contents of the book on golden plates and then hid them up to keep them safe from enemies who sought to possess and destroy them. In the 1820s, Moroni returned to earth as an angel and revealed to Joseph Smith where the book was located and provided the means by which he could translate it.
The Book of Mormon occupies a very important place among Mormons because it serves as physical evidence of the veracity of Joseph Smiths calling as a modern prophet of God. Mormons believe that Smith was incapable, as an uneducated farm boy in the early 1800s, of producing such a profound work in such a limited period of time (approximately six months). Mormons invite others to read the book and judge for themselves whether it is a Godly work or a fraud. The narratives in the Book of Mormon refer to the lives and works of Gods children in the Western Hemisphere, just as the Bible records similar things for the peoples of the Middle East. The book also functions as Another Testament of Jesus Christ because of its record of a visit to the Western Hemisphere by the resurrected Christ.
The LDS Church teaches that Joseph Smith was ordained, with others, as a modern apostle, under the hands of the resurrected Peter, James, and John, thus receiving full authority to lead Christs church on the earth in these latter days. Mormons also believe that the ministry and atonement of Jesus Christ was well known to ancient prophets from the time of Adam and Eve, and on the Western Hemisphere as well as the Eastern world.
A Book of Mormon study guide provides an organized way to read and understand the narratives and teachings contained in the Book of Mormon, and the other principles of the restoration that have accompanied its coming forth.
This includes the idea that apostles of Christ have been given the divine authority to act in our own time. When those apostles act, they act on behalf of God and according to His will. Joseph Smith is believed to be one of those apostles, and the man through whom that authority was then transmitted to others. Thus, an on-going lineage of priesthood authority has been established, and others, if proven worthy, can receive that same priesthood in order to perform ordinances such as baptism.
