What we see depends on who we are. At the end of a sermon on faith, hope, and charity, Mormon encourages his listeners to pray that God will fill them with His love "that ye may become the sons of God, that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see... Continue Reading →
What Do We Know About the Jaredite Plates?
Like a play within a play, the Book of Mormon, an ancient record translated by the power of God, contains a story of another ancient record which was translated by the power of God. The first mention of this record appears in the Book of Omni, near the end of the Small Plates of Nephi.... Continue Reading →
What Is the Sealed Portion of the Book of Mormon?
Isaiah described a "sealed book" which would confound a "learned man." He would be asked to read it and would say in frustration, "I cannot; for it is sealed" (Isaiah 29:11). An unlearned man would then protest that he could not read the book because of his lack of education. In Nephi's paraphrase of this... Continue Reading →
What’s Wrong with Seeking Signs?
The prophet Zenos foretold a sign which would coincide with the Savior's death hundreds of years later. Some members of the house of Israel, who would be living on "the isles of the sea," would experience three days of darkness (1 Nephi 19:10). Just five years before the Savior's birth, a prophet on the American... Continue Reading →
Why Is Firsthand Spiritual Knowledge Important?
After the first prophet in the Book of Mormon, Lehi, described a dream or a vision which he had experienced, one of his sons—Nephi—wanted to have the same experience. He tells us that he wanted "to see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost" (1 Nephi 10:17). Later,... Continue Reading →
Is It Possible to Know Something but Not to Know That You Know It?
In 1880, a young church leader, Heber J. Grant, was challenged by Joseph F. Smith, one of the apostles. Heber had just stated in a sermon that he "believed" the gospel was true. Following the meeting, Joseph asked him, "Don't you know absolutely that the gospel is true?" "I do not," was Heber's reply. The... Continue Reading →
What Is the Relationship Between Faith and Knowledge?
The authors of the Book of Mormon were comfortable declaring their knowledge of the truthfulness of their message: In the first chapter of the book, Nephi says, "I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge" (1 Nephi... Continue Reading →
What Should I Do When There Are Questions I Can’t Answer?
Knowledge does not exist in a vacuum. Concepts and facts relate to one another, and understanding a concept in isolation is likely of limited value. Isaiah taught that some knowledge has prerequisites: Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from... Continue Reading →
Lessons from the Savior’s Visit to the American Continent
I finished the year of studying types of content in the Book of Mormon by studying the visit of Jesus Christ to the American continent following His death and resurrection as recorded in 3 Nephi. I learned the following principles from my study this month: 1. We must choose to receive the gifts God offers... Continue Reading →
He Did Loose Their Tongues – 3 Nephi 26:14-16
14 And it came to pass that he did teach and minister unto the children of the multitude of whom hath been spoken, and he did loose their tongues, and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even greater than he had revealed unto the people; and he loosed their tongues that... Continue Reading →