Where Science Meets the Book of Mormon: Come Follow Me Lesson: December 16-22; Moroni 10
Moroni tells us in the final chapter of the Book of Mormon, in Moroni 10:1-7, “Now I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me good; and I write unto my brethren, the Lamanites; and I would that they should know that more than four hundred and twenty years have passed away since the sign was given of the coming of Christ.
2 And I seal up these records, after I have spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you.
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask 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.
6 And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.
7 And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.”
This post will be like no other I have put out this year. Having spent the year looking at Science and the Book of Mormon, I have found my testimony of this remarkable scripture to have grown more than at any time other than when I was on my mission and immersed myself in the Book, having read it cover-to-cover for the first time, and six times in those two years. As I did then, I testify now that the Book of Mormon is the word of God given by ancient prophets and by Jesus Christ himself when he visited the descendants of Israel on this continent. I testify that the Book of Mormon, as we have it now, was transcribed onto Gold Plates, which were given by the Angel Moroni — the same Moroni who presented the challenge written above — to a young Joseph Smith, Jr. That Joseph dictated the words that we now have as the Book of Mormon, often-times without even looking at the plates upon which the record itself was written — but always in the company of the plates. I do not know how this happened, but I testify that it did happen.
I further testify that the purpose of the Book of Mormon is not to state the geography of the Book of Mormon setting, how many Lamanites were among what we now call Native Americans, whether there were horses and wheels in pre-Columbian America, or where grapes might have been found for making wine. The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to stand as another witness of the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ and of His visit to the ancient inhabitants of the American continent. Of this I testify. Amen.
Trent Dee Stephens, PhD
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