FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Origin of the Book of Mormon
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Contents
Origin of the Book of Mormon
=Church response
==The Book of Mormon is the word of God, like the Bible. It is holy scripture, with form and content similar to that of the Bible. Both books contain God’s guidance as revealed to prophets as well as religious accounts of different civilizations. While the Bible is written by and about the people in the land surrounding Israel, and takes place from the creation of the world until shortly after the death of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon contains the history and God’s revelations to the people who lived in the Americas between approximately 600 BC and 400 AD. The prophets in the Book of Mormon recorded God’s dealings with His people, which were compiled by a man named Mormon onto golden plates.
The faithful Christians among them died out, but not before their record was safely hidden away. Joseph Smith obtained these gold plates in 1827, and with the Lord’s help Joseph was able to translate the ancient writing into what we have today. The Book of Mormon, along with the Bible, testifies that Jesus Christ is our divine Redeemer and that by living according to His gospel we can find peace in this life and eternal happiness in the life to come.
—The Book of Mormon, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Topics
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Overview of secular authorship theories for the Book of Mormon
Summary: Latter-day Saints believe that the Book of Mormon was revealed by the "gift and power of God." Critics, however, must account for its existence, and entertain a number of authorship theories.