Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi.[1][2]
This article is about the religious text. For the 2011 musical comedy, see The Book of Mormon (musical). For the third-to-last internal book of the Book of Mormon, see Book of Mormon (Mormon's record). For other uses, see Book of Mormon (disambiguation).
The book is one of the earliest and most well-known unique writings of the Latter Day Saint movement. The denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement typically regard the text primarily as scripture (sometimes as one of four standard works) and secondarily as a record of God's dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas.[3] The majority of Latter Day Saints believe the book to be a record of real-world history, with Latter Day Saint denominations viewing it variously as an inspired record of scripture to the linchpin or "keystone" of their religion.[4][5] Independent archaeological, historical, and scientific communities have discovered no evidence to support the existence of the civilizations described therein.[6] Characteristics of the language and content point toward a nineteenth-century origin of the Book of Mormon. Various academics and apologetic organizations connected to the Latter Day Saint movement nevertheless attempt to argue that the book is an authentic account of the pre-Columbian exchange world.
The Book of Mormon has a number of doctrinal discussions on subjects such as the fall of Adam and Eve,[7] the nature of the Christian atonement,[8] eschatology, agency, priesthood authority, redemption from physical and spiritual death,[9] the nature and conduct of baptism, the age of accountability, the purpose and practice of communion, personalized revelation, economic justice, the anthropomorphic and personal nature of God, the nature of spirits and angels, and the organization of the latter day church. The pivotal event of the book is an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas shortly after his resurrection.[10] Common teachings of the Latter Day Saint movement hold that the Book of Mormon fulfills numerous biblical prophecies by ending a global apostasy and signaling a restoration of Christian gospel.
The Book of Mormon is divided into smaller books — which are usually titled after individuals named as primary authors — and in most versions, is divided into chapters and verses.[11] Its English text imitates the style of the King James Version of the Bible.[11] The Book of Mormon has been fully or partially translated into at least 112 languages.[12]
Editions[edit]
Chapter and verse notation systems[edit]
The original 1830 publication had unnumbered paragraphs (and no verses) which were divided into relatively long chapters. Just as the Bible's present chapter and verse notation system is a later addition of Bible publishers to books that were originally solid blocks of undivided text, the chapter and verse markers within the books of the Book of Mormon are conventions, not part of the original text.
The format of the Book of Mormon stayed the same, with citations noted by book and page number,[253] (Book of Alma, page 262) or just the page number (page 262). As more editions were made, the references were noted by the edition.[254] In 1852, Franklin D. Richards integrated numbered paragraphs for easier reference.[255]
In 1876, Orson Pratt revised the Book of Mormon, and while doing so, created smaller chapters comparable in length to the Bible, and changed the previous numbered paragraph system into a more granular verse numbering system similar to the Bible's. In 1908, the RLDS Church revised their edition. While doing so, they added versification similar in breaks to the 1876 edition, but opted to use the original longer chapters.
Most modern editions use one of the two, based on their heritage. The editions published by the Community of Christ (1908/AV & 1966/RAV), the RCE, and the Temple Lot edition use the 1908 Authorized Version Versing. The LDS Church uses the 1876 Orson Pratt versing.
Distribution[edit]
The LDS Church distributes free copies of the Book of Mormon, and it reported in 2011 that 150 million copies of the book have been printed since its initial publication.[292]
The initial printing of the Book of Mormon in 1830 produced 5000 copies.[293] The 50 millionth copy was printed in 1990, with the 100 millionth following in 2000 and reaching 150 million in 2011.[293]
In October 2020, the church announced it had printed over 192 million copies of the Book of Mormon,[158] and by December 2023 it had distributed over 200 million copies.[294]
