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 →
What Is A Contrite Spirit?
Contrite means "crushed." The English word descends from the Latin word contritus, which means literally "worn out" or "ground to pieces" ("contrite," Online Etymology Dictionary). When the word appears in the King James Version of the Bible, it is a translation of one of three different Hebrew words: dakka' (דַּכָּא), meaning crushed or pulverized (Psalm 34:18,... Continue Reading →
What Can We Learn About Coming Unto Christ from the Brother of Jared?
The Book of Mormon tells the story of a family who traveled across the ocean to the American continent just after human languages were confounded at the Tower of Babel. The family was led by a man named Jared and by his brother, who is simply called "the brother of Jared" throughout the narrative. The... Continue Reading →
How Does the Savior Invite Us to Come Unto Him?
I mentioned yesterday that the phrase "come unto Christ" appears only five times in the scriptures. In contrast, the Savior says "come unto me" 39 times in the scriptures: once in the Old Testament, six times in the New Testament, four times in the Doctrine and Covenants, and 28 times in the Book of Mormon.... Continue Reading →
What Is the Urim and Thummim?
Shortly after the Lord confounded the language of people at the tower of Babel and scattered them "upon the face of all the earth" (Genesis 11:9), a group of people led by a man named Jared and his brother traveled to the American continent. As they prepared to board barges to cross the sea, the... Continue Reading →
He That Will Not Believe My Words Will Not Believe Me – Ether 4:12
12 And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe... Continue Reading →
When Ye Shall Rend That Veil of Unbelief… – Ether 4:13-15
13 Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief. 14 Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation... Continue Reading →
That Veil of Unbelief – Ether 4:13-15
13 Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief. 14 Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation... Continue Reading →