Elder Nelson's Book of Mormon Blog

[Hagoth]

The church's most recent mass emailing includes a link to this blog by Elder Nelson that asks the question, "What would your life be like without the Book of Mormon? https://www.lds.org/blog/what-would-yo ... 917_CTA10
It includes Elder Nelson's list of reasons the Book of Mormon is so important and necessary. He tries really hard to find Mormon doctrine in the BoM but I think he mostly shows that it isn't there. Here's his list with some of my comments in bold:

My Book of Mormon Lists

The Book of Mormon Is:
-Another testament of Jesus Christ. Its major writers—Nephi, Jacob, Mormon, and Moroni—and its translator, Joseph Smith, were all eyewitnesses of the Lord.
-A record of His ministry to people who lived in ancient America.
-True, as attested by the Lord Himself.


The Book of Mormon affirms:
-The individual identity of Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. (but not nearly to the degree that it affirms the trinity)
The necessity of the Fall of Adam and the wisdom of Eve, that men might have joy. (i.e. denies all scientific evidence of the age and evolution of the human race)


The Book of Mormon refutes notions that:
Revelation ended with the Bible. (a common theme in burnedover preaching)
Infants need to be baptized. (19th century protestantism)
Happiness can be found in wickedness. (only an ancient American prophet could come up with something like that!)
Individual goodness is adequate for exaltation (ordinances and covenants are needed). But the BoM doesn't actually include those ordinances - Elder Nelson is sneaking that in there to make it sound like the BoM actually talks about them. It only has baptism for the remission of sins)
The Fall of Adam tainted mankind with “original sin.” (more anit-science)


The Book of Mormon fulfills biblical prophecies that:
“Other sheep” shall hear His voice. (misreading of biblical reference)
God will do “a marvelous work and a wonder,” speaking “out of the dust.” (kinda not too specific)
The “stick of Judah” and the “stick of Joseph” will become one. (misreading of biblical reference)
Scattered Israel will be gathered “in the latter days” and how that will be done. (misreading of biblical reference)
The land of inheritance for the lineage of Joseph is the Western Hemisphere. (Elder Nelson should take this up with Simon Sutherton)


The Book of Mormon clarifies understanding about:
Our premortal existence. (actually, it doesn't say anything about it. He's talking about Brother of Jared seeing the godly finger)
Death. It is a necessary component of God’s great plan of happiness. (what would be really interesting would be if it gave you an option besides death)
Postmortal existence, which begins in paradise. (does it really say this anywhere?)
How the resurrection of the body, reunited with its spirit, becomes an immortal soul. (19th century protestantism)
How our judgment by the Lord will be according to our deeds and the desires of our hearts. (19th century protestantism)
How ordinances are properly performed: for example, baptism, sacrament, conferring the Holy Ghost. (19th century protestantism)
The Atonement of Jesus Christ. (19th century protestantism)
The Resurrection. (19th century protestantism)
The important role of angels. (pretty much believed by everyone in an Abrahamic tradition)
The eternal nature of priesthood. (what? I don't think the BoM even mentions priesthood. Alma just baptized because he wanted to. It does say a lot about priestCRAFT though)
How human behavior is influenced more by the power of the word than the power of the sword. (e.g Laban?)


The Book of Mormon reveals information previously unknown:
Baptisms were performed before Jesus Christ was born. (unless it was written in the 19th century)
Temples were built and used by people in ancient America. (no actual evidence of this)
Joseph, 11th son of Israel, foresaw the prophetic role of Joseph Smith. (hmmm, I wonder how that might have gotten in there?)
Nephi (in 600–592 BC) foresaw the discovery and colonizing of America. (unless it was written in the 19th century)
Plain and precious parts of the Bible have been lost. (convenient)
The Light of Christ is given to each person. (19th century protestantism)
The importance of individual agency and the need for opposition in all things. (is this news?)
Warnings about “secret combinations.” (like secret swearing to masonic oaths?)

[oliver_denom]

The Book of Mormon refutes notions that:
Revelation ended with the Bible. (a common theme in burnedover preaching)
Infants need to be baptized. (19th century protestantism)
Happiness can be found in wickedness. (only an ancient American prophet could come up with something like that!)
Individual goodness is adequate for exaltation (ordinances and covenants are needed). But the BoM doesn't actually include those ordinances - Elder Nelson is sneaking that in there to make it sound like the BoM actually talks about them. It only has baptism for the remission of sins)

Of these, the line about individual goodness is probably one of the most damaging. It's the one doctrine which ties people to the institution of the church and makes them reliant on its authority regardless of any decisions that the church or its leaders make. It wouldn't matter if the entire church were in apostasy and corrupt to the very core, actively harming people or seeking personal gain. It wouldn't matter if the institution were the very worst of the worst, because they would still hold the only authority on earth to save people, and we would owe it our obedience to gain salvation.

It's not enough to be a good person. It's not enough to live the gospel according to scripture. It's not enough to sincerely seek god and do all you can to do right. Without the approved ordinances found only in the LDS church, without correctly answering a set of recommend questions, and without having a bishop who approves of your answers, you're a lost soul.

This is among the exact doctrines which brought about the protestant reformation, the same reformation which made Mormonism possible.

A god who sets up a system like this is pretty arbitrary with salvation and it calls into question what the purpose of a rewards system is to begin with. If all the good people end up in the lower kingdoms while the celestial is filled with people who never learned to make their own decisions, then what's the point? You can be the worst sort of racist or abuser and still follow all the rules in order to get your ordinances. If you're in a predominantly Mormon community, then all that's required for salvation is not being brave enough to rebel or curious enough to ask questions.

[John G.]

It's not enough to be a good person. It's not enough to live the gospel according to scripture. It's not enough to sincerely seek god and do all you can to do right. Without the approved ordinances found only in the LDS church, without correctly answering a set of recommend questions, and without having a bishop who approves of your answers, you're a lost soul.

This is among the exact doctrines which brought about the protestant reformation, the same reformation which made Mormonism possible.

A god who sets up a system like this is pretty arbitrary with salvation and it calls into question what the purpose of a rewards system is to begin with. If all the good people end up in the lower kingdoms while the celestial is filled with people who never learned to make their own decisions, then what's the point? You can be the worst sort of racist or abuser and still follow all the rules in order to get your ordinances. If you're in a predominantly Mormon community, then all that's required for salvation is not being brave enough to rebel or curious enough to ask questions.

So true! I grew up in the 80’s Utah when the Curse of Cain was openly discussed!

“Joseph, 11th son of Israel, foresaw the prophetic role of Joseph Smith. (hmmm, I wonder how that might have gotten in there?)”

Funny!

[EternityIsNow]

Nice, here are some additions:

The Book of Mormon Is:

-Another testament of Jesus Christ. Its major writers—Nephi, Jacob, Mormon, and Moroni—and its translator, Joseph Smith, were all eyewitnesses of the Lord. (Nephi/Lehi and Mormon/Moroni appear to be fictional analogs to Joseph Smith Jr/Joseph Smith Sr, Jacob is perhaps Hyrum? And the whole 'another testament' idea comes from the 20th century, did the NT ever say further testaments were needed?)

-A record of His ministry to people who lived in ancient America. (A ministry nearly identical to NT accounts, complete with direct quotes, mixed with the OT shenanigans of a vengeful Jehovah)

-True, as attested by the Lord Himself. (Via feelings consistent with activation of the vagus nerve, which we know can be manipulated by singing, prayer, fasting, meditation, love bombing (positive social interactions), elevated state (reading emotionally-charged literature), deep breathing, mindful exercise (endless missionary tracting/bicycling?), and all variety of conditioned responses to our own thoughts, that can be strongly programmed into the brain after thousands of hours of religious devotion...)

Every time the brethren talk about how we have to keep reading the scriptures followed by praying for testimony if at first one does not come, I just think to myself, yup, that is exactly how we train the vagus nerve to respond to thought stimuli.