Why We Need the Book of Mormon

We all need to learn why we need Christ, to become more like little children, and to feel the power of the word. This can happen if we will use the Book of Mormon properly. We can't read the book as if it were a novel. We must use consistency and intensity to uncover its treasures.

“Why We Need the Book of Mormon” is excerpted from Life Lessons from the Book of Mormon, edited by Jack R. Christianson and K. Douglas Bassett

As we strive to live the gospel of Jesus Christ, our roots will grow deep and take hold. (See Alma 32.) Our foundation will become a “sure foundation.” (Helaman 5:12.) Then, with a secure root system and a sure foundation, when the storms of life descend, as they do in each of our lives, and “when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which you are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” (Helaman 5:12.) In other words, when the heat of the day falls upon us, we will not wither and die. (See Matthew 13:1-9.) The sure foundation is, of course, Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer. As was mentioned in a previous chapter, he is not only the rock upon which we must build, but he is also “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6.) He is the light and the life of the world. (See John 8:12.) He is the Messiah, the “Holy One of Israel.” (2 Nephi 9:41.)

Elder M. Russell Ballard taught it this way: “By focusing on and living the principles of Heavenly Father’s plan for our eternal happiness, we can separate ourselves from the wickedness of the world. If we are anchored to the correct understanding of who we are, why we are here on earth, and where we can go after this mortal life, Satan cannot threaten our happiness through any form of temptation. If we are determined to live by Heavenly Father’s plan, we will use our God-given moral agency to make decisions based on revealed truth, not on the opinions of others or on the current thinking of the world.” (Ensign, May 1995, p. 24.)

What, then, happens to us as we move through our lives? Why does the innocence of our childhood leave? Why do we so often become hardened to the finer sensitivities of the Spirit? As we mature, shouldn’t we increase in faith and righteousness rather than decrease? In our childlike innocence we are meek; we love Jesus, and we love to hear stories about him. What happens to that faith? Do we, in our “intelligence” and wisdom, lose sight of why we need him so desperately? Or is it that disappointment and reality slap us so hard in the face that we question not only our need for him but also his very existence? If he exists, and if his gospel is one of gladness, happiness, and joy, why then is there so much suffering, pain, and sorrow in the world around us?

The answers to these and other questions are the essence of why we need Christ. Let me illustrate. Many years ago when our oldest children were small, I took the opportunity to tuck our second daughter into bed one night. She asked me to tell her many stories. Her five-year-old mind was intensely inquisitive. She asked if I would turn on the light and read her a story from the Friend. As we thumbed through the magazine together, she noticed a picture of Nephi standing over Laban’s drunken body with his sword raised to cut off Laban’s head. She let out a cry: “Daddy! Read that one. I love this story.”

I remember thinking how strange it seemed for a five-year-old girl to be excited about Nephi cutting off Laban’s head. Nevertheless, I read the story. When I finished, there was a long pause. You could almost see a video going on in her head. She looked at me as if she were embarrassed. She said, “Dad, I really like this story out of the Friend, but I like it a lot better out of the Book of Mormon.”

I didn’t quite know how to respond. After holding her in my arms and secretly praying that she would feel that way when she was a teenager, I asked her why she felt the way she did. All she said was that it felt different when it was read from the Book of Mormon. Though she didn’t understand everything when we read from the scriptures, in her innocence and childlike faith she could feel the Spirit. She knew that the Lord had commanded Nephi to slay Laban; therefore, it was okay to do it. Her faith was sweet and profoundly simple. She was experiencing what all may experience if they will spend sufficient time “feast[ing] upon the words of Christ.” (2 Nephi 32:3.) She understood what the Lord has said: “These words [the scriptures] are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man; for it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them; wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words.” (D&C 18:34-36.)

I believe that my daughter, in her innocence and purity, could recognize the voice of the Savior when the scriptures were read to her. That’s why it was “better” when we read from the scriptures themselves.

Since then, I have often thought of Parley P. Pratt’s experience with reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. He wrote, “I read all day; eating was a burden, I had no desire for food; sleep was a burden when the night came, for I preferred reading to sleep.

“As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists. My joy was now full, as it were, and I rejoiced sufficiently to more than pay me for all the sorrows, sacrifices and toils of my life. I soon determined to see the young man who had been the instrument of its discovery and translation.” (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, p. 32.)

Perhaps our problem as we grow older is that we try to think, to intellectualize, so much in our approach to spiritual matters that we become “past feeling.” (1 Nephi 17:45.) We then begin to rely on ourselves and forget why we need Christ. Remember President Benson’s teaching: “Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ.

“No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind. And no other book in the world explains this vital doctrine nearly as well as the Book of Mormon.” (A Witness and a Warning, p. 33.)

One major reason for studying the Book of Mormon daily is so we can learn why we need Christ! As we learn why we need him, we will desire to follow him and be even as he is. (See 3 Nephi 27:27.) President Harold B. Lee said, “If one wants to get close to God, he can do it by reading the Book of Mormon. “You . . . can do nothing better to whet your spiritual appetites and to maintain your spiritual tone than to read and reread year by year the precious things as taught in the Book of Mormon.

“If you want to fortify students (children and families) against the apostate teachings, the so-called higher critics that are going to challenge their faith in the Bible, give them a fundamental understanding of the teachings of the Book of Mormon. Review it again and again.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, pp. 62-63.)

Remember, the title page of the Book of Mormon testifies that one of the book’s major purposes is “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.” There is a power that comes from daily searching in the Book of Mormon that can come in no other way. It not only gets us nearer to God and teaches us why we need Christ, but as President Benson taught, there is something more: “There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called `the words of life’ (see D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.” (Ensign, Nov. 1986, p. 7.)

When Nephi had heard his father’s teachings concerning the tree of life, his desire was great not only to see what his father saw but also to hear and know these teachings for himself. He was not satisfied just to hear his father speak of these things, because he knew that he could have the same testimony as Lehi: “After I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God—and the Son of God was the Messiah who should come—I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him.” (1 Nephi 10:17.)

Nephi then put his faith to work in order to fulfill his great desire to “see,” “hear,” and “know.” He did the three things each of us can do to have the same type of experience: “After I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord.” (1 Nephi 11: 1, italics added.)

Nephi desired, he believed, and he took the time to sit pondering in his heart! He paid the price to find out for himself what his father, who was also his priesthood leader, was trying to teach and get his people to understand! Have we caught the vision of what the Lord’s messengers in our day are trying to teach us? Do we feel what they feel? Do we see what they see? Do we know what they know? Are we following Nephi’s example? Do we desire to know? Do we believe we can know? Do we take the time to ponder in our hearts, not only their words but also the words of the holy scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon?

President Gordon B. Hinckley, in sharing his vision of the importance and truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, has taught us this:

As if [the First Vision] were not enough to certify to the personality and the reality of the Redeemer of mankind, there followed the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Here is something that a man could hold in his hands, could “heft,” as it were. He could read it. He could pray about it, for it contained a promise that the Holy Ghost would declare its truth if that witness were sought in prayer.

This remarkable book stands as a testimonial to the living reality of the Son of God. The Bible declares that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established” (Matthew 18:16). The Bible, the testament of the Old World, is one witness. The Book of Mormon, the testament of the New World, is another witness.

I cannot understand why the Christian world does not accept this book. I would think they would be looking for anything and everything that would establish without question the reality and the divinity of the Savior of the world. (Ensign, Nov. 2002, pp. 80-81.)

And I cannot understand why we as members of the Church, for the most part, do not take full advantage of having this glorious second witness of Christ by drinking deeply from its living waters every day of our lives. How can we catch the vision? Do we have the same vision as President Ezra Taft Benson when he taught:

The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to “sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect.” (Moses 7:62.) This sacred volume of scripture needs to become more central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work. . . .

The time is long overdue for a massive flooding of the earth with the Book of Mormon for the many reasons which the Lord has given. In this age of electronic media and mass distribution of the printed word, God will hold us accountable if we do not now move the Book of Mormon in a monumental way. We have the Book of Mormon, we have the members, we have the missionaries, we have the resources, and the world has the need. The time is now! My beloved brothers and sisters, we hardly fathom the power of the Book of Mormon, nor the divine role it must play, nor the extent to which it must be moved.

“Few men on the earth,” said Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “either in or out of the Church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him of whom it is a new witness. . . . The Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all its peoples will have been influenced and governed by it. . . . There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modern times than this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men?” (Millennial Messiah, pp. 159, 170, 179.) We testify that it is. (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1988, pp. 4-5.)

President Benson also suggested that because we have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should, our homes are not as strong as they could be, our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings, our missionaries are not as effective, our church classes are not as Spirit filled, and our nation will continue to degenerate. He further counseled, “Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life. There is a difference between a convert who is built on the rock of Christ through the Book of Mormon and stays hold of that iron rod, and one who is not.” (Ensign, May 1975, p. 65.) These statements leave us asking some serious questions as to whether we are using the Book of Mormon as it was intended. Each of us must resolve really only two questions when it comes to religion, whether we are Church members or not. Is there a God? Is the Book of Mormon true? Upon those two questions hangs the balance of religious truth. Elder Bruce R. McConkie said it this way:

“These are deep and solemn and ponderous matters. We need not think we can trifle with sacred things and escape the wrath of a just God. “Either the Book of Mormon is true, or it is false; either it came from God, or it was spawned in the infernal realms. It declares plainly that all men must accept it as pure scripture or they will lose their souls. It is not and cannot be simply another treatise on religion; it either came from heaven or from hell. And it is time for all those seeking salvation to find out for themselves whether it is of the Lord or of Lucifer.” (Ensign, Nov. 1983, p. 73.)

We must find out for ourselves! In order to do that, we must read it with a sincere heart, ponder its pages, and ask the Lord if it is true. (See Moroni 10:4-5.) He will let us know. I am convinced that he wants us to know the truth. He knows that life eternal is to know the true nature of God and his Son whom he has sent. (See John 17:3.)

As President Benson has suggested, “We must flood the earth with the Book of Mormon—and get out from under God’s condemnation for having treated it lightly.” (Ensign, Nov. 1988, p. 5.)

What is this condemnation that the entire Church is under? Why did the Lord use such powerful language as the Brethren returned from their missions in 1832? He said: “Your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written.” (D&C 84:54-57.)

Concerning these verses Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles tells the story of being called into President Ezra Taft Benson’s office shortly after Elder Nelson’s call to the Quorum of the Twelve. The prophet expressed his deep concern to Elder Nelson that members of the Church did not fully appreciate the value of the Book of Mormon, and he quoted the preceding verses from section 84 with emotion in his voice. Elder Nelson then related, “I shall never forget that lesson. Since then, President Howard W. Hunter, President Gordon B. Hinckley, and many other leaders of the Church have continued to extol the Book of Mormon to people throughout the world. I would like to add my testimony of the divinity of this book.” (Ensign, Nov. 1999, p. 69.)

Certainly we must do better in sharing the Book of Mormon with the world. Certainly part of the condemnation is that our families are not as strong as they could be. It also includes a loss of spiritual light. But is this all that the condemnation consists of? I think not. Robert Millet, former dean of the College of Religious Instruction at Brigham Young University, said this of the condemnation we are under:

In a broader sense, I believe the condemnation that rests upon the Latter-day Saints is a loss of spiritual power, a loss of blessings, a loss of perspective about eternal possibilities. Perhaps we have not enjoyed the revelations, the divine direction, the sweet promptings of the Spirit, that might have been ours. We have not been the recipients of the fruit of the Spirit—”love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23)—as we could have been. Surely we have not enjoyed the understanding, the light and truth, the lens of pure intelligence, that is so readily accessible. In too many cases our minds and hearts have not been shaped and prepared by the Book of Mormon, by its lessons and logic, testimony and transforming power, and thus too often the judgment and discernment so essential to perceiving the false doctrines of the world, and even the irrelevant, have not been as strong as they might have been. Because we have not immersed and washed ourselves in those living waters that flow from the Book of Mormon, we have not enjoyed faith like the ancients, that faith which strengthens resolve and provides courage and peace in a time of unrest. So much of the stress and fear and apprehension and exhaustion that now exist in society is so very unnecessary; ours could be the right to that lifting and liberating Spirit that produces hope and peace and rest. Though the light of the fulness of the everlasting gospel has begun to break forth into a world of darkness (see D&C 45:28), yet too often we walk in darkness at noonday, or at least we traverse the path of life in twilight when we might bask in the bright light of the Son. (The Power of the Word: Saving Doctrines from the Book of Mormon, p. 303)

The lack of “faith like the ancients.” “Much of the stress and fear and apprehension and exhaustion that now exist in society!” Could drenching ourselves in the living waters of the Book of Mormon actually do all that? Could it help with such practical matters? Of course!

Could part of the condemnation we are under also be that we do not have all the scriptures the Lord would like to bless us with? Could many if not all of the difficult questions that trouble so many be answered if we had the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, the records of the lost tribes of the house of Israel, or the record of the vision of the Brother of Jared? Remember, Mormon wrote that he did not even write “a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people.” (3 Nephi 26:6.)

Each year of teaching usually brings with it the same questions raised by inquiring students. They generally want to know about the Creation, organic evolution, the Second Coming, and, of course, where the dinosaurs came from if there was no death of any living creature before the fall of Adam and Eve. They generally believe they can find answers about the Creation, evolution, and the Second Coming in the Book of Mormon, but they’re certain there is nothing about dinosaurs. Now, I’m not sure about all the theories concerning dinosaurs, but I know dinosaurs were on the the earth, and I know that they’re old! I’ve been to Vernal, Utah. I’ve seen that evidence. So, I tell the students, “Let’s turn to the Book of Mormon to answer your inquiries about dinosaurs and other difficult questions.” Looks of surprise cover their faces. Many have read the book previously, and their questioning looks reveal that they do not remember reading about dinosaurs.

We first turn to 2 Nephi 27:6-8, 10, a teaching from the prophet Isaiah. It reads, “The Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered.

“And behold the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.

“Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them. . . .

“But the words which are sealed he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.”

Evidently the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon contains a history of “all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof”—even the answer to the nagging question about where the dinosaurs came from! Again, all the questions can be answered if we can lift the condemnation and receive all the teachings the Lord desires us to have.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught a group of religious educators this:

When, during the Millennium, the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon is translated, it will give an account of life in preexistence; of the creation of all things; of the Fall and the Atonement and the Second Coming; of temple ordinances in their fulness; of the ministry and mission of translated beings; of life in the spirit world, in both paradise and hell; of the kingdoms of glory to be inhabited by resurrected beings; and many such things (see, e.g., Ether 1:3-5).

As of now, the world is not ready to receive these truths. For one thing, these added doctrines will completely destroy the whole theory of organic evolution as it is now almost universally taught in the halls of academia. For another they will set forth an entirely different concept and time frame of the Creation, both of this earth and all forms of life, and of the sidereal heavens themselves, than is postulated in all the theories of men. And sadly, there are those who, if forced to make a choice at this time, would select Darwin over Deity. (Sermons and Writings of Bruce R. McConkie, p. 277.)

After this stunning statement by an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, the students are doing some thinking that most have not done previously. Interest is piqued, and a desire to learn more generally settles on the class. We then turn to 3 Nephi 26:3. The Savior, as a resurrected being while visiting the Americas, “did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away.”

The Nephites and the Lamanites of a.d. 34 knew everything about the Creation! They knew everything from the beginning to the end of the earth. Then Mormon makes a comment that he has written only the lesser part of the things Jesus taught the people, declaring that he has written them “to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles . . .

“And when they shall have received this [the Book of Mormon], which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.

“And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.” (3 Nephi 26:8-10.)

If we do not use the portions of the Book of Mormon that are now in our possession, it will be “unto [our] condemnation!”

Mormon desired to make everything available to us that Jesus taught. He said, “Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.” (3 Nephi 26:11.) Mormon knew the answers to my students’ questions, and he made it clear that we of the latter days would not know until we use the Book of Mormon properly! Perhaps this is one of the reasons the prophets continually ask us to read and reread the book and to flood the earth with it!

Of the return of these records, Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote, “Today we carry convenient quadruple combinations of the scriptures, but one day, since more scriptures are coming, we may need to pull little red wagons brimful with books.” (A Wonderful Flood of Light, p. 18.)

How exciting! With the invention of laptop computers, Palm Pilots®, and other technological devices, perhaps we won’t need the wagons after all. As memory in these devices increases, regardless of the number of pages contained in the writings, all the records will be instantly brought up on a screen before our very eyes.

It’s also fun, if time permits, to take the students to Ether 3:25-26 and Ether 4:7 as a third witness of all the truths we’ve just covered. As we use the Book of Mormon as the Lord intended, the day will come when we receive these other records. Then, certainly, the condemnation will begin to be lifted, and we will begin to know all things.

The Book of Mormon, this glorious treasure, has changed my life forever. I read it in seminary in the ninth grade; however, I did so only to fulfill my assignment and didn’t give it much thought. At age eighteen, I left home to enter the world of college football. At the time I hadn’t decided whether I would serve a mission. I wanted to play football. I thought of little else. One night after a home game, I went with some of my teammates to an activity in a nearby city. We arrived home about 8:30 the following morning. It was Sunday, and priesthood meeting started at 9:00. I showered and walked to church at the institute of religion across the street from our dormitory. As I walked in, the bishop greeted me. He asked me a few questions, and then we went to his office to talk. I don’t remember all we talked about, but I remember going back to the dorm determined to read the Book of Mormon, pray, and find out if it was true!

When I arrived back at the dorm, I pulled my scriptures from the shelf. The scriptures were a high school graduation gift from my parents. The previous year in seminary I had not missed a day of reading the Doctrine of Covenants, but I had not read for the entire summer.

I opened the Book of Mormon and began reading. Before long some of my teammates walked in and began giving me a hard time. After that, I decided to read in private. Every morning I got up early to read and pray. To this day I can remember finishing Moroni 10 and applying the magnificent promise found in verses 4 and 5.

That day I discovered that the book is true, and I needed to share that knowledge with others. Doing so, however, was not easy. I was on scholarship and was committed to play football. I felt that my decision had been made. I would stay and play football and be a missionary by my actions.

Thanksgiving vacation came, and I returned home. After talking with my family, I went to visit my good friend Taylor Manning. Again, I thought my decision was made—that is, until I walked into Taylor’s kitchen and saw him, with a missionary haircut, sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. “What happened to you?” I asked.

He responded, “I’m going on a mission, Ed!” (He always called me Ed for some reason.) He told me that he knew the Book of Mormon was true, and he wanted to serve his Father in Heaven. I knew it was true as well. But give up a football scholarship? I was stunned. However, it didn’t take long before my testimony of the book, and Taylor’s testimony, won the battle.

When I went back to school, I talked with my coach, and we worked out arrangements for my return in two years. I served in the New Mexico and Arizona Mission. Taylor went to the Netherlands. Neither of us would be where we are today had we not read and prayed about the Book of Mormon.

After coming home, I was able to play football for three more seasons. However, these last three seasons were focused on far more than just how far or how accurately I could throw a football. I had found out, to some extent, why I needed Christ. I had come to realize that the Book of Mormon and the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was the answer to the world’s problems. I have since learned that what President Boyd K. Packer has taught is true: “The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has the nourishing power to heal starving spirits of the world.” (Ensign, Nov. 2001, p. 64.) I have also learned that this healing power of the scriptures is taught in the Book of Mormon by Jacob the brother of Nephi. He taught, “It supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul.” (Jacob 2:8.)

We all need to learn why we need Christ, to become more like little children, and to feel the power of the word. By doing so, we can bring our lives under the infinite reaches of the Atonement and become not only alive in Christ but also consumed in Christ. This can happen if we will use the Book of Mormon properly and help lift the condemnation. We can’t read the book as if it were a novel. We must use consistency and intensity to uncover its treasures.