THE ANNOTATED EDITION OF THE BOOK OF MORMON
Page v, vii, ix, and 585
THE OLD TESTAMENT:
“I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them.” (Jeremiah 23:3)
THE NEW TESTAMENT:
“I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd.”
(John 10:14-16)
THE BOOK OF MORMON:
“And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: ‘Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd.’” (3 Nephi 15:21) “…for behold, I know My sheep and they are numbered.” (3 Nephi 18:31)
Featured Painting Above: Lost Lamb
by Del Parson
Above: Christ Appears to the Nephites in North America
by Kendra Burton
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.
(Moroni 10:32)
ND He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions
and temptations of every kind;
and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith,
‘He will take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people.’
And He will take upon Him death,
that He may loose the bands of death which bind His people;
and He will take upon Him their infirmities,
that His bowels may be filled with mercy,
according to the flesh,
that He may know according to the flesh how to succor His people
according to their infirmities.
(Alma 7:11–12; see Isaiah 53:4)
The Book of Mormon—a Book from God
Elder Tad R. Callister Oct 2011(Emphasis Added)
But why is the Book of Mormon so essential if we already have the Bible to teach us about Jesus Christ? 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).
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: 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.
Again and again the Book of Mormon acts as a confirming, clarifying, unifying witness of the doctrines taught in the Bible so that there is only “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” For example, some people are confused as to whether baptism is essential for salvation even though the Savior declared to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). The Book of Mormon, however, eliminates all doubt on that subject: “And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, … or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 9:23). https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/the-book-of-mormon-a-book-from-god?lang=eng
“Holy One of Israel by Ken Corbett www.kencorbettart.com
Book of Mormon References to Deity
by Charles D. Tate
In a day when many claim that the “Mormon Church” is a cult and certainly not a Christian church, it is interesting to note that the Book of Mormon has 476 references to the Lord Jesus Christ by name. With 531 pages in the text of the 1981 LDS edition, that averages nearly one reference per page. Of all the other Christian scriptures, only the Gospels, which abundantly use the name Jesus because they present synopses of his life, have more references to him by name.
Lee Crandall and Susan Easton Black did studies on the frequency of all references to Deity in both the Book of Mormon and the New Testament. They found that even with 1,349 fewer verses than the New Testament, the Book of Mormon makes 108 more references to the Lord. (Because Jehovah was actually the premortal Christ, and because the Savior directs the affairs of the world, most of the references to Deity in the Book of Mormon refer to Jesus Christ.)
I, too, had long known that almost every page of the Book of Mormon refers to Deity. In my Book of Mormon classes I would have the students let their copies of that scripture fall open randomly to any page. We would see how many times the books would fall open before we found one of the few pages that did not contain a specific name of God. Pronoun references did not count.
We learned a great lesson—the Book of Mormon is a Christ-oriented book. I had heard estimates that there are fewer than 50 of the 531 pages in the Book of Mormon on which a name of God does not appear. Not satisfied with guesswork, I set out to count the pages that did not contain a name of Deity.
To my delight, I found that only 30 of the 531 pages contain no specific name reference to Deity. Furthermore, many of those 30 pages make references to God without using names.
For instance, two pages record catastrophes and “a voice heard among all the inhabitants of the earth” (3 Ne. 9:1), but the source, Jesus Christ, is not identified by name until the third page.
Two more pages describe Lehi’s vision of the tree of life. (1 Ne. 8:1–35.) Nephi later tells us that the tree and the rod of iron in the vision are the love of God and the word of God. (1 Ne. 11:21–22; 1 Ne. 15:23–24.)
To those who say Latter-day Saints don’t respect Christ or don’t worship him, we need simply point to the Book of Mormon. If they read only the book of Moroni, they will encounter 215 references to him in its thirteen and one-half pages. Page 519 alone has 26 references to Deity. The Book of Mormon is a volume of scripture that centers on God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. It records the Lord’s dealings with the Nephites and witnesses to the world that the Bible is true, that Jesus is the Christ, and that God still speaks from the heavens.
Charles D. Tate, professor of English, Brigham Young University, https://www.lds.org/study/ensign/1992/04/research-and-perspectives-book-of-mormon-update?lang=eng
Names of Christ in the Book of Mormon
By Susan Ward Easton
Even statistically, he’s the dominant figure of the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon was preserved to come forth in these latter days to convince “the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.” Its purpose is to verify the divine Sonship of the Nazarene to those who “ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ.” (Moro. 10:4.)
The divinity of Christ is proclaimed by prophets in the Book of Mormon. They had a conviction of his divinity because the Holy Ghost had revealed it unto them.
Through the instrumentality of the Holy Ghost, these prophets also knew that their writings were to bear testimony that Jesus is the Christ. This they solemnly did, more than I had ever realized. In a word-by-word study, I have found some form of the Lord’s name mentioned an average of every 1.7 verses in the Book of Mormon. (See Table 1.)
I have found that the Savior is referred to by one hundred different names—from the first reference to him as “Lord” in 1 Nephi 1:1 [1 Ne. 1:1] to the final reference to him as “the Eternal Judge” in Moroni 10:34. [Moro. 10:34] (See Table 2.) Each of the one hundred names signifies a different attribute or characteristic of the Lord and was used appropriately to convey the prophets’ recognition of who he is and what his mission represents. For example, “Savior” means that Christ came to save his people from their sins. “Holy One” signifies that he is holy and without sin, being perfect in all things. “God of the Whole Earth” reflects his universal interest in all men and their redemption. “Lord of Hosts” indicates that Christ is a God of battles. And “Lord Omnipotent” means that Christ is the Lord of all, possessing all power. The names given to our Lord take on new significance when they are approached through a thoughtful and sensitive study of their meanings. His profound character, his singular mission, and his divine relationship to man are thereby more clearly revealed.
Further understanding of man’s relationship to Christ, the central figure of the Book of Mormon, occurs through a study of the periods of apostasy, contention, and war. Fewer references to Christ are made during these periods of darkness, probably because his influence is lessened due to the unrighteous actions of man. (See Alma 50–59, for example.) During periods of peace, joy, and prosperity, which come through man’s keeping the commandments, the names of Christ are used profusely, indicating the abundant presence of his Spirit. (See 4 Ne. 1, for example.) Thus, the righteous actions of the people brought the influence and blessings of Christ among them.
Being aware of the number of references to Christ, having an understanding of the meanings for each name, and knowing when his influence can be greatest upon the earth can inspire reverential awe for our Savior. The witness of his divinity, however, must come personally to each of us—we cannot rely exclusively on the testimonies of others. The conviction that Jesus is the Christ occurs only when God, the Eternal Father, manifests the truth of it “by the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Moro. 10:4.) To the prayerful and the sincere, the Book of Mormon bears a powerful testimony that “Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.” https://www.lds.org/study/ensign/1978/07/discovery/names-of-christ-in-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng
Charts adapted from Susan Easton’s
2 Nephi 25:26
“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
Below: He Truly Was the Son of God
by Clark Kelley Price
Yea, even so He shall be led, crucified, and slain,
the flesh becoming subject even unto death,
the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.
And thus God breaketh the bands of death,
having gained the victory over death,
giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—
having ascended into heaven,
having the bowels of mercy,
being filled with compassion towards the children of men,
standing betwixt them and justice,
having broken the bands of death,
taken upon Himself their iniquity and their transgressions,
having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.”
The Prophet Abinadi
(Mosiah 15:7-9)
