A Study of the Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 11:2-5 The Spirit asks Nephi what his desires are. That is a probing question that reveals Nephi's personal objective. Of course, it does. After he states that he wants to see the things which his father taught, the Spirit asks him if he believed that his father actually saw what he said he saw. This is akin to a personal testimony interview -- similar to the temple recommend questions. Do I really believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, as he said he did? Nephi's response does two things: confirms his belief in his father's words or testimony and acknowledges the omnipotence of the Being with whom his is conversing. "Thou knowest that I believe" ( vs. 5 )

1 Nephi 6:3-6 Now that I've spent the last three days focused on the first two verses of this chapter, I've almost overlooked the purpose in Nephi's choosing not to include a more detailed genealogy. He says in verse 3, "For I desire the room that I may write the things of God. " This is even more clearly understood as he goes on in the next verses. The genealogical evidence that would have been facilitated through Nephi rendering a full account of his ancestry was not a priority. In fact, he was deliberately choosing to not included anything that would offer worldly evidence of the book's origin. "The things which are pleasing to the world, I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world." (verse 5) Additional Supporting Scripture: John 20: 30-31 - Though Christ did many things that were not recorded in the Scriptures, the events that are recorded are given that we may believe in Him. Galatians 1...

1 Nephi 2:1-4 Chapter two, verse one validates what we discussed yesterday about Lehi's faith requiring him to do something. The Lord has now again appeared unto him in a dream and calls him "Blessed" because of the things which he did. We also learn that he went and prophecied before the people because the Lord had commanded him to. Because of Lehi's faithfulness to the commandments, the people now sought his life. Therefore the Lord gave him a commandment to protect him. Commandments are protection. Nephi felt it important to point out that his father was obedient to the commandments, and that is why he fled with only his family away from Jerusalem. Motives are important. Lehi was not fleeing out of fear. He was leaving out of obedience.

As is the case with the two previous testimonies, the Prophet Joseph's testimony of the Book of Mormon also deals with the origins of the book and the events that he deemed most important in the book's coming forth. With that in mind, the bulk of his testimony deals with the ministering visits of the Angel Moroni. Perhaps the bulk of the first paragraph which describes the angel's appearance, could have been fabricated, if we wanted to approach it from that angle. But there are specific descriptions in the second that seem to be beyond fabrication. Essentially, Joseph saw an angel in the 1820's and was reflecting back to that occasion in 1838 when he made his record of the events. Joseph describes the angel's countenance as lightning. I don't quite know how to envision a countenance as lightning except that it had the effect of being striking. The angel's mode of teaching is notable. Four visits: three at night, one the next day. In the first visit, Moroni ...