Commentary on the Book of Mormon: Introduction and Testimony

Introduction

While I was serving in Brazil between 2012 and 2014, I received the impression that I should start commenting on the Book of Mormon more in my studies and that I should perhaps analyze a little deeper than I previously had. This impression came as a strong crystal clear urge to me, and whether this was meant to be mostly of benefit to me or to others, I do not know, but I know that I had it and that in following that prompting I have been inspired to see and understand things that otherwise would have gone unrecognized and unknown. Many of these things became extremely useful in answering people's questions about the Book of Mormon while I was on my mission. These questions were mostly questions of doubt, or questions seeking answers that usually are unknown, yet still hold significant importance to the person asking - questions like "If God truly loves us, then why does He...?" or "What happens to someone (after this life, in the final judgement, etc.) if they...?".

The answers to these questions have also been important and life-changing to me as I have had my own share of doubts and questions arise in my mind. But with subtle, swift, and crystal clarity, the Book of Mormon inevitably clears up any doubts and reveals the true nature of God the Father, bringing to light the many beautiful truths of the gospel that enhance the principles that we already know. And so, I have begun this project simply as a submission to a prompting, but will be finishing it with the desire to know more and understand more, and to be able to help others to do the same.

I've been reading the Book of Mormon all my life. Most of my young life even up until I went on a mission, I didn't give enough importance to reading the Book of Mormon as I should have, doing as I have heard most do, starting in 1 Nephi 1, and getting lost either in the Isaiah chapters or in Alma, then waiting until the next "Book of Mormon challenge" came up to start it all over again.

But on my mission, there was a great need for the truths that were taught there, and I set about reading it from cover to cover. This time, instead of simply blowing through it without absorbing anything, I took careful notes, writing my own summary and interpretation of each and every chapter, then compiling this list into an even smaller list, a quick set of points that outline the entirety of the Book of Mormon on no more that small notebook page. This "summary of a summary" gave me a fantastic comprehension and memory of the stories and doctrines, and where they are written in the book.

This gave me great confidence to begin the next, and much longer leg of my journey: The commentary.

The goal of the commentary is to go through the Book of Mormon and write out my expanded insights of individual phrases and verses, the contexts of the stories surrounding them, the possible and/or clearly obvious feelings of the writers and involved persons in the stories, and the doctrines that the stories teach or upon which the stories are based, all the while making plentiful connections to other verses of scripture, comparing and contrasting the words and experiences of all the people involved in the stories and speeches given. It is quite the hefty goal, and while I was on my mission, after a year I had only arrived at 1 Nephi 15 with almost 20 pages filled to the brim with small print notes. I realized that this project would not be a simple or swift writing project, but something that would potentially take me the entirety of my life time to accomplish if I did not dedicate decent amounts of time to the study and writing involved.

But here I go anyway.

My Testimony

My study of the Book of Mormon and its contents have led me to a very simple conclusion: This Book is Exactly what it claims to be.

This conclusion is the result of many, many testimony building aspects, those that are evidences within the text itself (linguistically, contextually, doctrinally, etc.), evidences found outside the text (clear concordance with the Bible, archeological evidence of places, names, and literature, and more), and first and foremost the spiritual confirmation of the truth of the Book of Mormon that came after many years of putting the word of God to the test, and asking the question presented to us by Moroni in Moroni 10.

Now, this does not mean that I have, of a default, ignored the many "evidences" against the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I have looked many of them over, and I have very little to say in regard to them, as most of them completely avoid answering the one question upon which every single one of them totally depends: If the Book of Mormon was not written by multiple prophets, over the course of a thousand years, then translated by the gift and power of God by the prophet Joseph Smith, then how did it come about?

So far, every single alternate explanation has fallen flat against the mountains of historical, eye-witness, archeological, stylistic statistics, literary, linguistic, cultural, and spiritual evidence. Spiritual evidence alone would be enough, but for those who are insensitive to such things, or have become insensitive to such things through the frequent and repetitive indulgence in sin and other inappropriate behavior, God has also revealed the other evidences that satisfy even the carnal mind in regards to the truthfulness of the proclaimed authorship of the Book of Mormon.

To those who have such doubts I invite you to read it and pray about it. You will know.

To those who desire to attack the Book of Mormon, I leave with you the challenge to do as God similarly challenged in regards to the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 67):

 4 - And now I, the Lord, give unto you a testimony of the truth of these commandments which are lying before you.

 5 - Your eyes have been upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and his language you have known, and his imperfections you have known; and you have sought in your hearts knowledge that you might express beyond his language; this you also know.

 6 - Now, seek ye out of the Book of Commandments, even the least that is among them, and appoint him that is the most wise among you;

 7 - Or, if there be any among you that shall make one like unto it, then ye are justified in saying that ye do not know that they are true;

 8 - But if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation if ye do not bear record that they are true.

In short: If you can falsify a book similar to the Book of Mormon, one that can survive over 150 years of close inspection by the world's most prominent linguists, scholars, archeologists, and historians, one that can't be testified against even by those who were part of the process of its production and are now your enemies, then maybe, just maybe, you can attempt to claim that the Book of Mormon was falsified. And that's not including all the other miraculous requirements that the Book of Mormon fulfilled in spades.

But I digress. I do not wish to spend my time defending this marvelous book against the wasted breaths of its enemies. I instead, now intend to address another more prominent problem: The fear of believing.

Yes it is hard to believe, for belief requires action. If the Book of Mormon is true and by consequence Joseph Smith is indeed a prophet of God, then that means that the commandments must be kept, covenants must be made, habits must be changed, and work must be done. Things in our lives must be changed to be in accordance with what the truth is, and that is hard for all of us, but must be done.

We must be careful that we are not intentionally ignoring, or worse, avoiding the truth so that we can comfortably live in the bliss that is ignorance, doing as we please, and being held accountable to no one (or at least thinking that we are). To do so is to put one's self in danger of being lost to the void that is meaninglessness, being swallowed up in whatever destructive habits and passions we throw ourselves into.

I will be the first to admit that even I have had some issue with the requirements of belief, and avoiding these evils, but I eventually reached a point in my life where I needed to know the truth and decided that I would follow it no matter what it was, even if the truth was that there was no hope of life after this one.

To my pleasant and very grateful astonishment, I discovered that not only is there hope after this life, but that there is a God who does indeed love us and has given us all the instructions that we need to return happily to Him. This answer came after not just a lot of study and thought, but a lot of putting the words of the Book of Mormon to the test, and finally praying about them to receive a confirmation. This confirmation that I received is a most precious gift that I hold dear, and am extremely grateful for.

And so I plead with you to try out the Book of Mormon and the gospel it teaches in your life. I assure you that it is true, and that if you sincerely seek the truth and are willing to abide by it whatever it may be, you will find it, and God will reveal it to you.

Moroni 10:2-5:

1 - Now I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me good; . . .

 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.

 5 - And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I testify, amen.


And now, onto the contents of my commentary. I do hope that you will be forgiving of the many mistakes and personal interpretations that will probably be scattered throughout, in light of the thought and inspiration that they may provoke. If you find that there is an error in my studies, or if I have misquoted or misconstrued any of the text, I would encourage you to let me know, and I will give your input very careful consideration.

After all, this book is currently still in progress and will probably go through many editing phases before I feel it is complete or cleared of errors enough to be published, so any input is appreciated.

My many thanks to my parents, for their undeviating faithfulness to the gospel in raising me and my brothers and sisters. Their words and parental guidance have been a great source of strength in leading me to the truths of the gospel.

And finally I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Sincerely,
Steven