Avatar4321 Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 When was the last time you read the Book of Mormon? What did you learn? Thought it might be a fun discussion
Popular Post Doctrine 612 Posted November 27, 2016 Popular Post Posted November 27, 2016 after talking with a bunch of anti's who said the Book of Mormon teaches a works base faith I read it thru focusing on the doctrines of grace and I found that the Book of Mormon is a book of grace. 7
Tacenda Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 (edited) 20 hours ago, Doctrine 612 said: after talking with a bunch of anti's who said the Book of Mormon teaches a works base faith I read it thru focusing on the doctrines of grace and I found that the Book of Mormon is a book of grace. The Book of Mormon, I've read, has a more 19th century Protestant feel to it. And probably why the missionaries mainly pass them out vs. the other books of scripture such as the D&C etc. Edited November 28, 2016 by Tacenda 3
Calm Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 42 minutes ago, Tacenda said: The Book of Mormon I've read, has a more 19th century Protestant feel to it. And probably why the missionaries mainly pass them out vs. the other books of scripture such as the D&C etc. How much 19th century Protestant material have you read, Tac. Serious question, not baiting.
waveslider Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 I first read it just before my mission. That is when I gained my testimony. Before that I didn't even know if God was real or not. It is the reason I even went on a mission at all. Prayerful reading is key though. I had a friend who read it without any sort of prayer and didn't gain anything from it at all. He remains an atheist still. 1
rpn Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 The time I read it straight through cover to cover aloud (with a group of teens -27 1/2 hours), I understood the stories a lot more clearly. I think everyone should do that once. And reading the doubleday edition also gives different perspective. 1
rodheadlee Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 11 hours ago, Avatar4321 said: When was the last time you read the Book of Mormon? What did you learn? Thought it might be a fun discussion Do you mean read the whole book through? or study from it?
JLHPROF Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 Read portions - all the time. Read it as a novel - not in years. I do believe there is much context to be gained by reading the narrative and seeing the total picture of those civilizations. But I tend to read it for spiritual and doctrinal teachings, studying subjects or a chapter here and there. Cover to cover is challenging. 1
Tacenda Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 12 hours ago, Calm said: How much 19th century Protestant material have you read, Tac. Serious question, not baiting. Sorry for the way I worded that Calm, I mean't that I've read online that the BoM has a Protestant feel. So I can't tell you where in the BoM it comes off as that, because I'm not well read on Protestantism.
Garden Girl Posted November 27, 2016 Posted November 27, 2016 As I've mentioned here previously... fortunately for me, as a 17 year old seminary student. I read the BoM through during our year of study... and I accepted Moroni's challenge to pray about it's truthfulness. As I knelt I received such a strong spiritual witness of it's truth that I really can't describe it because it was soooo much more than a "fuzzy feeling." So much so that that witness stayed with me through the many years that I was inactive beginning at age 20, and helped me when I finally reactivated in 1995 at the age of 55. Since that time I've read it through a couple of times... but I'm "in" it every day as part of my scripture study. GG 2
waveslider Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 17 hours ago, waveslider said: I first read it just before my mission. That is when I gained my testimony. Before that I didn't even know if God was real or not. It is the reason I even went on a mission at all. Prayerful reading is key though. I had a friend who read it without any sort of prayer and didn't gain anything from it at all. He remains an atheist still. Oops, I just glazed over the initial question. I read it everyday, and have read it cover to cover so many times I can't even count. When I read, "I bid you all farwell......" The next day I will be reading, "I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents......" This is every morning, and then there is my scripture study which I don't limit to how much, or of what I read. And that isn't even mentioning reading the other standard works daily as well. I must have been tired last night when I wrote my response. I thought it said, "When was the first time you read the BOM....." 1
Bernard Gui Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 19 hours ago, Tacenda said: The Book of Mormon I've read, has a more 19th century Protestant feel to it. And probably why the missionaries mainly pass them out vs. the other books of scripture such as the D&C etc. You must have a different edition than mine. Maybe Zondervan Press did a special Protestant version? 2
Bernard Gui Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 21 hours ago, Avatar4321 said: When was the last time you read the Book of Mormon? What did you learn? Thought it might be a fun discussion Sister Gui and I are reading it as we speak. We studied all the references to "going back to the presence of God" and discussed how that reflects on the Plan of Salvation and that the doctrine of the pre-earth life is plainly taught in the Book of Mormon.
Tacenda Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Bernard Gui said: You must have a different edition than mine. Maybe Zondervan Press did a special Protestant version? Like I told Calm, I worded that wrong, it should say I've read that it has a Protestant feel to it. https://wheatandtares.org/2015/07/21/richard-bushman-on-mormonism/ Bushman: The Book of Mormon has a lot of nineteenth-century Protestant material in it, both in terms of theology and of wording. I am looking for an explanation of how and why it is there. I don’t think it is enough to say JS absorbed it from his environment. It is too complex and to far beyond his cultural range. But it is there, and we need to explain why and how. Right now it seems possible that the Joseph gave us exactly what he got by his inspiration, but that what was given him went beyond what the Nephite prophets wrote on the plates. The text was augmented in some way. Question: Can you expound on the “nineteenth-century Protestant material”? Examples? Bushman: Ah, you catch me unprepared. I said in another post you should not challenge standard belief without evidence in hand. All I can say here is that while reading Alma in the Book of Mormon I began to google long phrases from the sermons, and they came up in sermons in very much the same doctrinal context. All the talk about Jesus in the Book of Mormon, its glory we would say, has a 19th century ring to it. In my opinion, we should become the experts on this material and figure out what it tells us about translation and the nature of the text. Me: Then someone on reddit found the link below to back up Bushman.....he found from reading this site.... https://web.archive.org/web/20151128043011/https://everythingbeforeus.wordpress.com/19th-century-sources-for-mormon-concepts/ Edited November 28, 2016 by Tacenda
churchistrue Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 It's an interesting exercise to do Google advanced book search pre 1830 for various book of mormon phrases. Infinite atonement, plan of redemption, song of redeeming love, state of happiness, restored to state of, spiritual death, temporal and spiritual, chains of death, etc. Even stuff like the Sacrament prayer, baptism age, etc. It helps broaden the understanding of the religious environment of Joseph's day. I don't think this takes away from appreciation of the BOM btw.
GingerRed Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 (edited) Reading it now, with a small group of friends! We hold our own Skype BOM study group once a week, using the book "My Book Of Mormon Study Guide, diagrams, doodles & insights, VOL I, by Shannon Foster we all bought from Deseret Book. We are in 1 Nephi chp 19 at present. We're just going chapter by chapter. We do the doodles in the study guide and its so funny to show our drawings to each other! Its so much fun! Its really cool to be able to grasp better understanding doing this together ( we are all LDS single gals, Facebook friends, and living in different states) than reading it alone. Red Edited November 28, 2016 by GingerRed 3
sjdawg Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 I read it last year. Although I don't believe in the LDS Church I have tried to be open minded about the possibility I may be wrong. 1
CMZ Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 If the BofM has such a 19th Century Protestant feel to it then I wonder why 19th Century Protestants were so against it. (Continuously reading The Book of Mormon. It's not a novel.) 2
Bernard Gui Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 (edited) 3 hours ago, CMZ said: If the BofM has such a 19th Century Protestant feel to it then I wonder why 19th Century Protestants were so against it. (Continuously reading The Book of Mormon. It's not a novel.) Well, could it possibly be that 19th century American Protestantism was not that far off the mark? Quote It does not mean we believe that most of the doctrines in Catholic or Protestant Christianity are false or that the leaders of the various branches of Christianity have improper motives. The Prophet Joseph Smith stated: “The inquiry is frequently made of me, ‘Wherein do you differ from others in your religious views?’ In reality and essence, we do not differ so far in our religious views, but that we could all drink into one principle of love. One of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism’ is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.”[1]“Have the Presbyterians any truth?” he asked on another occasion. “Yes. Have the Baptists, Methodists, etc., any truth? Yes. . . . We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true ‘Mormons.’”[2] President George Albert Smith thus declared to those of other faiths: “We have come not to take away from you the truth and virtue you possess. We have come not to find fault with you nor criticize you. We have not come here to berate you. . . . We . . . say to you: ‘Keep all the good that you have, and let us bring to you more good. https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/witness-restoration/church-history-and-doctrine/joseph-smith-and-only-true-and-living Edited November 28, 2016 by Bernard Gui 2
bcuzbcuz Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 19 hours ago, rpn said: The time I read it straight through cover to cover aloud (with a group of teens -27 1/2 hours), I understood the stories a lot more clearly. I think everyone should do that once. And reading the doubleday edition also gives different perspective. 27 ½ hours, with a group of teens? No thanks.
bcuzbcuz Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 Last time I read the BofM, cover to cover, (with much prayer and consultation with my bishop)? 1985. Right after reading S.H. Goodwin's "Mormonism and Masonry" (1920), while trying to reconstruct my testimony.
Boanerges Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 I have not read it cover to cover in several years. I read from it almost daily as part of my topical scripture study. Sometimes that study is only one verse or a line or more rarely just a word because part of my study is also pondering. I'm currently studying justice, and the BoM seems to talk much more about the topic than any other book of scripture (which I find interesting). The study of justice will be followed by a study of mercy. Like someone else said, it's not a novel. Despite a challenge from our stake president at last stake conference to read it cover to cover I have a hard time doing that and find grater value in doing it the way I do.
CV75 Posted November 28, 2016 Posted November 28, 2016 On 11/26/2016 at 10:13 PM, Avatar4321 said: When was the last time you read the Book of Mormon? What did you learn? Thought it might be a fun discussion I'm reading it now. The most recent thing I've learned is that Alma 7 has a wonderful message for the Christmas season, and Alma 5 has a wonderful lesson for the post-election Christmas season.
BlueDreams Posted November 29, 2016 Posted November 29, 2016 (edited) Through? A while. I was working through it in Spanish and got somewhere in Mosiah before I got waylaid by other readings more pertinent to my needs. I enjoyed the slight differences in word choices and phrases. I like the use of guardar over keep in the phrase "keep the commandments." I like the idea of protecting or guarding the words and commands that the Lord had given us. I also like that to bear children is more closely interpreted in Spanish as to give the light (or something like that). Of course, it didn't hurt my Spanish comprehension either. I usually topic study and read by personal search. It inevitably will lead me to the BoM at some point. So I read it daily on that note. The last time I had a very personal answer from Moroni 7:27-32. Previously these verses were nice theoretically, but they touched and answered a consistent concern I've been having of late. With luv, BD Edited November 29, 2016 by BlueDreams 4
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