The Book of Mormon - Have you read it?

[Hacker]

I try reading it anyways... I understand the no time statement, I just purchased the Tao Te Ching, I have a Qur'an at home and some other texts and I have no clue where I'm going to get that all in -- all with my regular scripture study

LOL, you go girl!

 

[Bishka]

LOL, you go girl!

Thanks!

 

[[email protected]]

And for anyone else who has ready the Book of Mormon, what were your thoughts about it and why did you read it?

Many years ago I read the Book of Mormon all the way thru. This was around the same time that I was trying to prove if the Bible is God's word. I was checking the sacred literature of many religions, and I was specifically looking for prophecies that were later fulfilled in history in such a way that it would prove that the prophecies were inspired. I found several such prophecies in the Bible but none in the Book of Mormon. Other than that, I do not remember much about the Book of Mormon.

 

[Katzpur]

Many years ago I read the Book of Mormon all the way thru. This was around the same time that I was trying to prove if the Bible is God's word. I was checking the sacred literature of many religions, and I was specifically looking for prophecies that were later fulfilled in history in such a way that it would prove that the prophecies were inspired. I found several such prophecies in the Bible but none in the Book of Mormon. Other than that, I do not remember much about the Book of Mormon.

The problem, as I see it, with looking for such prophesies in the Book of Mormon is that it was not published until 1830. There were actually quite a number of prophesies in the book, but most people disregard them since they had been fulfilled prior to this date. For example, 1 Nephi 13 specifically refers to the discovery and colonization of the Americas by people from the eastern hemisphere. Had these events been mentioned in the Bible, you would probably have considered them to be inspired. Since they are in the Book of Mormon, the obvious assumption by non-believers is that Joseph Smith just made them up after the fact. I'm not saying that, if I were in your position, I would have come to a different conclusion, but the fact remains that the comparison really isn't valid, in my opinion.

I'm curious, though, as to what prophesies you found in the Bible that were later fulfilled. Would you mind commenting?

 

[[email protected]]

I'm curious, though, as to what prophesies you found in the Bible that were later fulfilled. Would you mind commenting?

There are a number of things I have found. Each one by itself could be explained as coincidence perhaps but in combination they seem unlikely enough to have happend by chance that I am convinced that they indicate that the Bible was inspired by God. The chronology of the ages of men and events given in the Bible up till the time that secular history can be matched up with biblical events indicates a time of about 6,000 years from the creation of Adam till now. There is a statement in Revelation that Christ will rule the earth for a thousand years after He returns, and statements by Peter that with God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. At the time of creation, God instituted the seven day week, six days of work followed by a day of rest. This suggests a 7,000 year plan of God, with the first 6,000 years of man ruling himself followed by 1,000 years of peace ahd happiness under the rule of Christ. At the end of Daniel is a prophecy that at the time of the end knowledge will increase and men will run to and fro, and just in the last couple of hundred years, at the very end of 6,000 years, there has been an explosion in scientific and technical knowledge and transportation such as would not have been dreamed of by man when the Bible was written.

There are also prophecies pertaining to the sons of Joseph that I believe have been fulfilled by the United States and British Commonwealth nations in the last 200 years in a way that I could not explain as coincidence.

If you are curious and want more detail, if you go to my profile or to the Religious Books and Scriptures forum, you can find a site I reference that includes a book that covers this in chapter one. You can browse the book online or download it, and it goes into more detail that I can cover here.

 

[geoexplorer]

I want to read it to learn more about the tenants of the religion. I have friends who are Mormon and are great people. I would love to see what makes them tick!

 

[earlwooters]

Read half of it. Very boring and uninspiring. But I'm a very boring and uninspiring person.

 

[Relentless]

I have been reading it katz, but to be honest i find it hard going. It's the language i think, makes me feel sleepy, lol, if there were a version written in modern english i think i'd fare better. It's interesting though.

If memory serves, it was Mark Twain who said that the Book of Mormon is equivalent to chloroform in print.

I've found the best way to approach the Book of Mormon is in piecemeal. If you tackle it like a novel, you'll probably never finish.