The Book of Mormon: From God or the Devil?

     Lately I've been thinking about a talk that a General Authority of the Church gave in General Conference in October of 2011. The talk was given by Elder Tad. R. Callister and the title of his talk is The Book of Mormon- a Book from God. This talk was one of my favorite talks and most of my information from this blog comes from his talk.

     Elder Callister begins by telling of an experience his great-great grandfather had. While reading the Book of Mormon for the first time, his great-great grandfather said, "That book was either written by God or the devil, and I am going to find out who wrote it." He then read through the Book of Mormon twice in the next10 days and declared, "The devil could not have written it—it must be from God."

     There is no middle ground with the Book of Mormon, it is either written from God, or not. Ultimately it is up to the person deciding who its from to actually read it for themselves and find who it truly came from.

Let me tell you more from Elder Callister used in his talk to demonstrate how the Book of Mormon relates to the Bible which proves it is in fact of God. First Elder Callister poses a question. "But why is the Book of Mormon so essential if we already have the Bible to teach us about Jesus Christ?"

He then gives us the answer, "Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian churches in the world today when they obtain their doctrines from essentially the same Bible? It is because they interpret the Bible differently. If they interpreted it the same, they would be the same church. This is not a condition the Lord desires, for the Apostle Paul declared that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). To help bring this oneness about, the Lord established a divine law of witnesses. Paul taught, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1)".

He continues, "The Bible is one witness of Jesus Christ; the Book of Mormon is another. Why is this second witness so crucial? The following illustration may help: [now pay attention to this analogy] How many straight lines can you draw through a single point on a piece of paper? The answer is infinite. For a moment, suppose that single point represents the Bible and that hundreds of those straight lines drawn through that point represent different interpretations of the Bible and that each of those interpretations represents a different church.

What happens, however, if on that piece of paper there is a second point representing the Book of Mormon? How many straight lines could you draw between these two reference points: the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Only one. Only one interpretation of Christ’s doctrines survives the testimony of these two witnesses."
 

     The Book of Mormon, like the Bible, only testifies of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. The Book of Mormon provides warnings against the devil and his temptations and testifies against him. Why would the Satan provide a book that completely goes contrary to his plan? He would not do that! Therefore, the Book of Mormon has to be from God. I know it is because I have read it and have been brought closer to my Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ. You too can know for yourself whether or not the Book of Mormon is from God or not. The only way for you to know that for yourself is to read from its pages.  Like Elder Callister's great-great grandfather, I know the devil could not have written the Book of Mormon, it must be from God.

Death and the Atonement

     The next part in the Plan of Salvation is the most important and central to the whole plan. This part is the act of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This act is easily the most important thing that has ever occurred and will ever occur on earth. The suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ is probably one of most complex topics to discuss and to understand fully. Yet, it is the most rewarding if we understand the basics and apply it into our own lives. The Atonement makes the whole Plan of Salvation possible. There would be no plan if it wasn't for Christ, that is why He is central to the plan.
     "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..." Our Father in Heaven was willing to let His Son be sacrificed "...that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).  From the beginning, (Pre-earth life) Jesus was willing to step forward and fulfill the role of a Savior, as our Father in Heaven asked. When Jesus came to earth, He lived a perfect life, obeying ALL of the Father's commandments, so when it was time to take our sins upon Him, He was ready and willing.

     The Atonement of Jesus Christ three main parts. First, His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is where Jesus suffered for all of our sins, and infirmities, where He prayed to the Father saying, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26: 39).  I love this quote by a church leader when talking about Christ's suffering.  "Jesus Christ entered a garden called Gethsemane, where He overcame sin for us. He took upon Himself our sins. He suffered the penalty of our wrongs. He paid the price of our education. I don't know how He did what He did. I only know that He did and that because He did, you and I may be forgiven of our sins that we may be endowed with His power. Everything depends on that" (Lawrence E. Corbridge, "The Way," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 35). What immense amount of love Christ had for all of us, to suffer so much incomprehensible pain, even to bleed at every pore!

 

       After Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was bound, and sentenced to be crucified by His own. He was beaten nearly to death and was hung on the cross to die. Again we see the amount of love Christ must have for each and every person when referring to the Roman soldiers He says, "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23: 34). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was beaten, spit upon, scourged, and crucified. As horrible as that sounds, good news is yet to come.

     The third and final part of the Atonement process, ended with Christ's glorious resurrection! On the third day, Christ rose again from the dead as He had promised. The words of our beloved Prophet, Pres. Thomas S. Monson, truly hit home with his comment regarding Christ's resurrection. He says,
"No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when, on the first day of the week, they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord. Spoke the angel: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? “He is not here, but is risen.” (Luke 24:5–6).

Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place—the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed." 

Christ's body and spirit were reunited once again, only this time, to never be separated again! He is risen!

      Why is this important? Why did Jesus do this for us? He went through this process because He loves us! Christ knew God's plan was to enable us to return back to His presence.  Because of the fall of Adam He knew we couldn't make it there on our own, so He by going through the Atonement process, He can help us make it back to God's presence! Everyone in this life will all eventually die, that's is just the fact of life. But, because of Christ's resurrection, we will all be resurrected too! That is a free gift! Also, because Adam, transgressed, we will all sin and come short of the glory of God, however, because Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins, He over came sin, and because He overcame sin, each and every one of us can over come our sins and mistakes, and we do that through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, or in short, by following the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can be saved through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

"And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall^ctake upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else" (Alma 11: 40).
     I know that the Atonement is real and that Christ suffered for me, so I can overcome my faults and weaknesses. I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for my Savior and His Atonement. I know He suffered for me, so He can comfort me in my times of trial and I can gain strength to overcome temptation through Him. I know that my sins can be forgiven through His atonement if I will humble myself and repent! I know Christ lives and I will live again someday too!

Up next in the Plan of Salvation:

The Spirit World

Earth Life: Why am I here?

     One of the blessings of Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is that all of us who are on the earth now, were able to come here. What a sweet blessing! I know I'm grateful that I was able to get my chance on earth because that was one of the main parts of God's Plan, for us to have to opportunity to come to earth and gain a physical body.

    Now that we are here and have our bodies, why are we here? What is the purpose of life?  That is a very good question which many people have. That question is one of the big questions of life! I am happy to say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the answer to that question. First, lets go to the Book of Mormon. There is a scripture in the Book of 2 Nephi, Chapter 2, verse 25, which reads. "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." Right there is tells us what the purpose of life is. Joy. Adam became mortal, so all other men could "be" or come to earth. Men are here on earth, to have "joy". Heavenly Father didn't call His Plan the Plan of Sadness or Plan of Misery. He calls it the Plan of Salvation, I don't know about you but isn't Salvation supposed to be happy? God also calls His plan the Plan of Happiness, therefore, His purpose for us being here is to ultimately have joy! Simple as that.

      See this priceless picture of this happy family. They look like they are having a good time and enjoying themselves. That is exactly how God wants each and every one of us to be. We are all a part of God's Family, and He has given us a family on earth to live in so we can learn and grow together and come closer to Him and our Savior Jesus Christ. God's whole plan is to enable us to reach it back to Him with our families because that is how He wanted it to be. I am so grateful to have a family so I could learn about my Heavenly Father and come to know His plan for me. Families are so important and they are central in fulfilling God's Plan of Happiness.

     

      

 

     As previously mentioned, the purpose of life is to have joy, personally and with our families. How do we find that joy in life? By making choices. We were all given our agency or ability to choose for ourselves. God has given us commandments to follow during this life, and if we do our part to follow them, we will be received into God's presence when we go out of this life. In other words, we need to learn and follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ during this life in order to find true happiness and qualify for eternal life in God's presence. Yes, we do have to do perform good works while here on earth, there is a purpose for being here or else why would God even allow us to come here? The book of Alma in the Book of Mormon says, "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors (Alma 34:32).  Clearly that scripture says that we are to prepare to meet God, NOW, and we do that by performing labors or good works while in this life. Let us choose the good path of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

     "Come follow me". That was the Savior's invitation to His Apostles and ultimately is His invitation to each and every one of us. All He requires of us is to believe in Him and have faith, repent, be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by His proper authority, and then endure to the end. That's all. It may seem tough, but He has promised that He will help us along every step of the way. I know that God's purpose for us in this life is to have joy and prepare ourselves to meet Him by following His Beloved Son and His gospel. I hope we will all take the Savior's invitation to heart and choose to follow Him.