Or, how to “feast upon the word” without getting indigestion.
So you are finally going to do it!
After all that Church leaders have said about reading the Book of Mormon, your conscience has moved you to action. Or perhaps the missionaries are urging you to read the book to find out if their message is true. Or maybe you’ve heard so much about the musical that you are curious about the book itself. Whatever the case, the task can seem daunting. The book has 531 pages, not counting the introduction. It’s written in old English, much like the King James Version of the Bible. It says things like “thou hast” and “thy” instead of the more familiar “you have” and “your.” When I first tried reading it as a twelve-year-old, I didn’t get far before I put it aside. I thought it was boring! In this digital age, many of us don’t read much of anything anymore. It’s certainly not what most of us choose to do for fun. So why does the Book of Mormon itself urge us to “feast upon the words of Christ”? (2 Nephi 32:3.) Isn’t that like telling a child that Thanksgiving dinner will consist only of spinach and will be really yummy? Or what moved the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah to say, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart”? (Jeremiah 15:16.) What did he know that we don’t?
The truth is that the Book of Mormon really is delicious, despite my premature conclusions decades ago. But you have to know how to find the flavor and sweetness in it. One wouldn’t enjoy filberts if his only experience with them were swallowing them unshelled with a glass of water. Similarly, there are secrets to “cracking open” the Book of Mormon and enjoying the meat of it. Perhaps some of the following thoughts will help.
What is the Book of Mormon?
The Book of Mormon is the translation of a record kept on metallic plates by prophets in Ancient America. It details God’s dealings with them, much as the Bible does of His people in the Old World. Joseph Smith, a modern prophet, translated it with divine help and first published it in 1830. The Book of Mormon stands as a second witness, with the Bible, that God lives and loves us. It testifies that blessings come here and hereafter from following His recipe for happiness.
Why should I read the Book of Mormon?
- Your faith in God and your gratitude for His blessings will increase. You will learn of the visit of the resurrected Jesus Christ to Ancient America. You will know more certainly that God loves His children equally in every land and in every age.
- Through the Book of Mormon, you can come to know that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God.
You will therefore know that the church organized through him is God’s true church on earth today. You will learn that the Church is led by modern prophets and possesses God’s authority. Once you are convinced that is true, you can be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
You can then enjoy all the blessings of membership, including:
a. Peace, joy, comfort, and gifts of personal inspiration beyond anything you have thus far experienced.
b. Additional modern scriptures and teachings and guidance from living prophets.
c. Fellowship with a family of believers in a local congregation (“ward”)
d. Opportunities for service. The Church has a lay (non-professional) ministry, and we all help teach and serve each other
e. An assurance that through the blessings offered in Latter-day Saint temples you and your family can be joined together forever. God never intended that marriage last merely until “death do you part.” Through the temple ceremonies you can look forward to an eternity of joy, learning, and growth as a couple. You can likewise have eternal relationships with your parents, siblings, and children.
3. Book of Mormon prophets testified that they saw our day. They recorded those items which would be of most help to us in facing our unique latter-day challenges. The book is as current as today’s newspaper.
How should I read the Book of Mormon?
1. Begin with prayer that God will help you understand what you are reading and know if it is true.
2. You can start anywhere, but it may be easiest to understand the story if you start at the beginning.
3. Recognize that the Book of Mormon really is much easier to understand than the Bible. That’s likely one reason God brought it forth through a young farm boy rather than a Ph.D. Though God inspired the translation, He allowed Joseph Smith to record it in his own vocabulary. It really doesn’t take long to get used to the “biblical” language. Some of our own children read the book in its entirety before they turned seven. They all did so before they turned eight. They may not have understood everything, but they understood much of it. They expressed great satisfaction with having completed it. They were all ahead of their father, who didn’t have the same experience until twice their age!
4. The scriptures themselves never say we should merely “read” them. Rather, they say we should “search” them or “feast upon” them. Don’t just mindlessly read the Book of Mormon as if the goal were to get it over with. Rather, take time to chew on it, savor it, and digest it. Stop and think about what you are reading. Underline parts that you find especially meaningful. Think about the implications of what you are reading and its applications in your own life.
5. Don’t worry if you don’t understand every word. For example, the book of 2 Nephi quotes several difficult chapters from the Biblical prophet Isaiah. You may wish to just skim through them and keep going. It gets easier again. In short, look for what you can understand, and don’t worry about what you don’t. Think of the book as somewhat of a buffet. To “feast” upon it, you don’t have to eat everything in the restaurant!
6. If listening is easier than reading for you, consider downloading the free Gospel Library app and listening to the Book of Mormon. It’s harder to underline that way, but it may be easier to understand. You could even do both. The app could read the book to you, while you follow along. You could stop to underline or meditate any time you wanted.
7. Recommendation: Download the ScripturePlus app for either your IOS or Android device.
It is a wonderful resource for understanding and appreciating the Book of Mormon more fully. The following is a summary of its features, taken from the ScripturePlus.org website:
The ScripturePlus app is a fully-interactive scripture study app designed to help learners engage in the word of God more fully.
We hope you find this app rewarding and spiritually invigorating as it is designed to facilitate pondering God’s word in a rich digital environment. Developed by Book of Mormon Central, whose mission is to build enduring faith in Jesus Christ by making the Book of Mormon accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world, this app contains the 2013 edition of Latter-day Saint scriptures with compelling enrichment material.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints granted a license to Book of Mormon Central in 2016 to build this mobile app and provides ongoing encouragement of our efforts since the granting of the license.
Included are multiple versions of the text, formatting with sub-headings, red lettering to highlight words and names of deity, author/speaker identification, questions and answers, quotations from General Authorities and reliable scholars, charts, images, and Book of Mormon Central’s signature KnoWhys. The app also includes hundreds of videos from some of the best faithful YouTube channels online.
8. Don’t expect to receive that assurance until you have read most, if not all, of the book. Some do receive their answer sooner, but that is rare. You wouldn’t expect to recover from an infection after taking just one antibiotic pill from a prescription of thirty. The doctor would insist you take the entire dose. Nor would you expect to suddenly have ideal health after eating just one carrot. Similarly, despite what some eager missionaries have been known to suggest, one is unlikely to get a testimony after reading just one chapter. Moroni’s promise, after all, is in the last chapter of the book, not the first!
9. Ponder the testimony of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses at the beginning of the book. Ask yourself if what you are reading could have been fabricated by a young man with a third-grade education. Consider whether it has the feel of an imposter trying to deceive you. Or notice if you come to feel a warm assurance in your heart that it is all it claims to be. Don’t expect to hear an audible voice or see an angel. The witness of the Holy Ghost comes as clarity of thought in the mind and feelings of certainty in the heart. It is accompanied by feelings of love, joy, and peace. When you feel that, you can be confident you are beginning to receive your answer.
10. Pray, asking God if the book is true. Note that in Moroni 10:3-5 is an oft-quoted promise to those who read with a sincere heart and real intent. It tells them they will come to know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the book is true. This is the real test. If one read according to those instructions and didn’t get the promised assurance, he could reasonably conclude that the book’s claims were false. But “real intent” would seem to include an openness to accept the implications of whatever answer you might receive. If you hope it’s not true, because of the implications for your lifestyle, a merciful God won’t force you to believe. But to those who read with sincerity and act with real intent, the answer will come!
11. While you wait for that conviction, start doing the things you would do had you already received an affirmative answer. Try it out. Go to church. Participate in its activities. Pray individually and with your family. Keep the commandments as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jesus promised that “if any man will do his [God’s] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” (John 7:17.) That promise still works today!
Happy feasting!
