The Book of Mormon
Latter-day Saints consider The Book of Mormon as a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It contains a record of God’s dealings with the prophets and ancient inhabitants of the Americas. The introduction to the book asserts that it "contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting gospel. The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon."
Segments of the Book of Mormon provide an account of the culture, religious teachings and civilizations of groups who immigrated to the New World. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, identified in the book as the Nephites and the Lamanites. Some years after their arrival, the Nephites met with a similar group, the Mulekites who left the Middle East during the same period. An older group arrived in America much earlier, when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites and their story is condensed in the Book of Ether. The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of Jesus Christ among Nephites soon after his resurrection. This account presents the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and offers men peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come. The latter segments of the Book of Mormon details the destruction of these civilizations, as all were destroyed except the Lamanites. The book asserts that the Lamanites are among the ancestors of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
According to his record, Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the Book of Mormon by gift and power of God through the Urim and Thummim. Eleven witnesses signed testimonies of its authenticity, which are now included in the preface to the Book of Mormon. The Three Witnesses testified to having seen an angel present the gold plates, and to having heard God bear witness to its truth. Eight others stated that Joseph Smith, Jr. showed them the plates and that they handled and examined them.
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