How is the Book of Mormon different from the Bible? How did Joseph Smith obtain the “golden plates” or Book of Mormon?
The Book of Mormon is another witness that Jesus Christ really lived, that He was and is God’s Son. It contains the writings of ancient prophets. One of these, Lehi, lived in Jerusalem around 600 B.C. God commanded Lehi to lead a small group of people to the American continent. There they became a great civilization.
God continued to call prophets among these people. The Book of Mormon is a collection of the writings of their prophets and record keepers.
In September 1823, Joseph Smith was visited by a heavenly messenger named Moroni - the last of these ancient prophets to keep the record - in the same way that angels often appeared to Church leaders in the New Testament (see especially the book of Acts). The Angel Moroni informed Joseph that God had a work for him to do. Moroni told Joseph that a record of the ancient inhabitants of the American continent was buried in a nearby hill and that the record contained the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In September 1827, Joseph received the record, which was written on thin plates of gold. We now know it was not uncommon for people from that era of ancient America to keep records on metal plates. Joseph translated the book into English by the inspiration of God. The book is called The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is named after Mormon, an ancient prophet who made an abridgment of the sacred records of his people.
The Book of Mormon was published in 1830. Since that time it has blessed the lives of millions of people through its powerful message about Jesus Christ and His gospel.
The book verifies, as another testament of Christ, the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ. These prophets knew about Heavenly Father’s plan for His children and the mission of Jesus Christ. They recorded that Christ appeared, after His Resurrection, to the people in America, taught them His gospel, and formed His Church among them. The book contains the teachings of Jesus Christ, testifying of His Atonement and His love. It supports and verifies the Bible. The Bible contains prophecies about these people in America (see Ezekiel 37:15-17, Isaiah 29:18).
The Book of Mormon concludes with a great promise that those who read it and sincerely pray about it can know by the Holy Ghost that it is true (Moroni 10:4).
The Book of Mormon is different form the Bible, because it is another witness and further evidence of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith obtained The Golden Plates because of a special messenger from God named Moroni. This messenger instructed Joseph on where they were and when he should obtain them.
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The Bible is a collection of ancient writings of prophets that lived in the Old World. The Book of Mormon is a collection of ancient writings of prophets that lived in the New World. One of the last of these prophets, Mormon, compiled the book on gold plates, and his son Moroni (after adding a few more words) buried the plates in a hill.
Centuries later, in 1823, this same Moroni---now a resurrected being---came down from Heaven to visit Joseph Smith, Jr. and tell him about the gold plates. Joseph was commanded to eventually retrieve the plates and, by the gift of God, translate the ancient writings to English.
Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God. They both contain writings of prophets that spoke with God. It is folly to believe that God would never reveal more scripture than just the Bible. The Bible itself is a testament that God has many times called prophets to walk among the people of the Earth and teach revealed truth. For those people, their ancient scripture was never enough for their guidance. They also needed living prophets. So did the people in the New World, which is why we have the Book of Mormon. So do we, which is why God has called prophets and apostles to lead His church today.
Every time a prophet speaks or writes the word of God, that is scripture. We need not limit it to one collection of holy writings that several men a long time ago decided to compile together.
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The Book of Mormon is a work of scripture comparable to the Bible. The Bible has been through many translations and changes, and because of them things may seem confusing or perplexing for doctrine and principles. The book of Mormon deals with the people of America in ancient times. it has been through on translation and is very helpful to clarifying and supporting the bible while also offering truth and light necessary to our salvation. It takes nothing away from the bible. I love the bible and the Book of Mormon dearly.
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The Book of Mormon is a collection of writings from many prophets...just like the Bible is a collection of writings from many prophets.
The difference is that the prophets in the Bible lived in the old world and around Jerusalem where the prophets in the Book of Mormon lived in the Americas around the same time frame. Both books of scripture contain eye witness accounts of Jesus performing miracles and setting up His church on both continents.
Shortly after the resurrection of our Savior in Jerusalem, The Book of Mormon testifies that He appeared to those ancient inhabitants living in the Americas and taught them His Gospel. He called 12 apostles amongst these people and we have their writings today! The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. It confirms as another witness, that the Bible is true and that Jesus Christ really is the Son of God and came into this world 2000 years ago.
Just as God appeared to Moses and gave him instructions/commandments in the Old Testament, God appeared to a young man by the name of Joseph Smith in 1820 and called him to be a Prophet. A few years later, an angel appeared to him and commanded him to translate an ancient record of scripture that we now know as The Book of Mormon.
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The Bible is a collection of writings from prophets like Moses and apostles like Paul. They wrote their witness and the truths that God taught them as they lived in the ancient Middle East and Mediterranean. Because God is the father of all mankind, he also taught his truth to righteous apostles that lived in other parts of the world. The Book of Mormon is the collection of inspired writings from the prophets that lived in North and South America. One of these prophets was named, "Mormon." The book teaches the same gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ and invites people to come unto Him.
The Bible and Book of Mormon work together to teach God's truth. For example, the story of Christ's baptism is my son's favorite Bible story. In the Bible, the apostles wrote the words of the voice from heaven saying, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The people living in the Americas were not able to witness this miracle, so God revealed the story and to the prophets in the Americas and the revelation is included in the Book of Mormon.
For hundreds of years, more revelations and history of the Christians in the Americas was written and eventually compiled on metal plates and buried. God wants us all to know the story of these ancient American Christians, so he sent an angel in 1823 to show Joseph Smith where they were hidden. God blessed Joseph Smith to translate the plates and the printed translation is called, "The Book of Mormon."
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We believe that both the Bible and Book of Mormon are ancient books of scripture. The main difference between the two is that the Bible primarily takes place in Europe and Asia, whereas the Book of Mormon takes place in North and South America. They each contain the writings of prophets and a record of God's dealings with the people. The Bible has been translated over the years several different times by several different people into several different versions. The Book of Mormon was translated once through a modern day prophet from the 19th century named Joseph Smith. We believe that Joseph was led to the ancient record by the angel Moroni, who was the last author of the Book of Mormon that originally buried the plates. The book's truth affirms whether Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet and whether this church is true. Having both books of scripture help clarify much of the doctrinal confusions in Christianity.
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The Bible is a record written by prophets and apostles who lived in the Eastern world. The Book of Mormon was written by prophets who lived in the Western world. The reason why I love this concept is that, to me, it is logical that God, who is the God to the whole world, likely gave guidance to more than just his children who lived in the Eastern part of the world. In American culture, we give credit to Christopher Columbus for discovering America, when in fact it's clear that there were people living in the Americas long before he ever arrived. The Book of Mormon teaches the same true principles of Christ's gospel as the Bible teaches. Of course the stories and names are different because the people are different, but the message of believing that Jesus Christ would come and redeem the world is the same.
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The wonderful lessons we learn from Joseph Smith are all connected to the Bible. We love reading about how he was guided to the plates. These are sacred records from ancient people. Who loved their families and wanted freedom, they wanted the same as Noah and Moses and Abraham, to have a family and care for one another. They loved Heavenly Father and wanted to obey his commandments. They taught their people and sometimes they would listen and sometimes they wouldn't. They all bore strong testimony of Jesus Christ and his divine mission on earth. The Book of Mormon tells the same lessons of love of God, love of family, living the gospel and obey the commandments. We know that there were people here in the America's as well as the middle east too. We didn't have cell phones or satellite dishes to communicate so we had to have help with letting people know the one and true God. That is why the Book of Mormon is so important. The words are the same as the prophets from ancient times. They both bear testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, He lives and loves us to the end. We are grateful to Joseph Smith for bringing forth the second testimony of Jesus Christ.
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The only differences between the Bible and the Book of Mormon are where each takes place and the people in them. The Book of Mormon is a record of God's dealings with people here in the Americas while the Bible is a record of God's dealings with the people in Jerusalem and the Middle East. Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon testify and prophecy of Jesus. The Book of Mormon, like the Bible declares that the only way we can obtain eternal life is through Jesus Christ and his teachings. One of my favorite passages from the Book of Mormon is in the very last chapter of the book. It says, "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." Everything depends on Christ and our relationship to Him and the Book of Mormon will help to strengthen that relationship and our faith.
Joseph Smith was a prophet just like Moses, Elijah, and the other prophets from the Bible. He received revelations directly from God as well as through angels. One of the revelations he received was where to find the plates the Book of Mormon had been written on and how to translate the records into English.
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