Book of Mormon Month - Day 25: Fires of Faith

Without the Christian martyrs who helped bring forth the King James Version of the Bible, the Book of Mormon would be a lone witness to the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Put together with the Bible, both become an irrefutable testimony that Jesus lives and will save us from our sins if we put our faith in Him.

To pay tribute to the noble people who gave all to preserve scripture, BYU TV presents the "Fires of Faith" series. In three parts, this documentary walks us through the history of how the King James Version of the Bible was gathered, compiled, and published over centuries, and how it has influenced our world today.

You can watch the first two "Fires of Faith" episodes right this moment!

Trailer
Part 1: Martyrs For A Book
Part 2: Yearning For The Word (also airs Wednesday, October 26: 9:00 p.m. and midnight eastern daylight time/7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. mountain daylight time)
Part 3: Fires of Faith: The King James Bible airs Sunday, October 30: 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. eastern daylight time/6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. mountain daylight time as well as Wednesday, November 2: 9:00 p.m. and midnight eastern standard time/7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. mountain standard time.

Once all "Fires of Faith" episodes have aired, you can watch them on demand.

Related articles

• The Christian Church is Celebrating the KJV...what is the Adventist Church Celebrating and Dedicating? (thebiblerunner.wordpress.com)

Book of Mormon Month - Day 24: Who are the Mormons?

While it is not the purpose of this blog to engage in debates about politics, you will be hearing a lot about Mormons in the coming year. More than that, if a Mormon happens to be elected to the highest office in the land.

There are a lot of poorly constructed opinion pieces out there that try to define what a Mormon is and believes, but their descriptions are only gleaned from the worst of the anti-Mormon web sites. One would rightly ask whether such treatment of a Jewish, Hindu, or Buddhist, or Sikh candidate's religious beliefs would be acceptable.

It is better to balance out one's knowledge of another's religion with what that religion actually says about itself, is it not? With that in mind, I present to you, "Who are the Mormons?".

Related articles

• Wash Post: Will Romney's Mormonism hurt him in the GOP primaries (americablog.com)
• Why is it OK to to be prejudiced against Mormons? (csmonitor.com)
• Brandon Flowers Touts Membership in the Mormon Church: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
• Anti-Mormonism Is the New Racism (newser.com)
• Vast Majority Of Americans Have No Problem Voting For A Mormon (outsidethebeltway.com)

Book of Mormon Month - Day 23: Adam and Eve Gave Us the Gift of Choice

You may know the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but did you know it was they who paved the way for the rest of us to come to earth, make choices, and become like our Heavenly Father? The Book of Mormon explains more about their mission as the first husband and wife on Earth.

As we know, Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan’s temptations to eat the fruit and disobeyed God who had commanded them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As a consequence, they were separated from God’s presence physically and spiritually—an event we refer to as the Fall. They became mortal—just as we are—subject to sin, disease, all types of suffering, and ultimately death. But it wasn’t all bad because they could now feel great joy. “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:25) But as they were obedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christ Adam and Eve were able to receive God’s inspiration, revelation, and even visits from heavenly messengers.

Once out of the garden, they were able to progress and learn to become more like our Heavenly Father. In addition, they could have children, which meant the rest of God’s spirit children (all of us) could come to Earth, experience physical bodies, and be proven by our daily choices. Just like Adam and Eve, there are consequences to all our choices, good or bad. Lasting happiness and progression come from choosing to do what God wants us to do. The key word is “choosing.” Generally God does not step in and prevent us from making the poor choices Satan tempts us to make. He will, however, offer his love, divine guidance, and warnings when we open our heart to Him.

Book of Mormon Month - Day 22: The Book of Mormon Draws People Closer to God

Some descriptions of God make Him sound abstract and unapproachable, or angry and vengeful, but we learn in the Book of Mormon that “God is mindful of every people” (Alma 26:37) and that like the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi, we can be “encircled about eternally in the arms of his love” (2 Nephi 1:15).

Book of Mormon Month - Day 21: Weights and Measures

Weighing and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon

Midway through one of the most heart-wrenching accounts in the Book of Mormon, when Alma and Amulek were on trial for their lives and Amulek's faithful women and children were put to death by fire, the story is interrupted with an explanation of King Mosiah's system of weights and measures (see Alma 11:3–19). It is a strange interruption, a mundane hiatus, but at least a relieving diversion as the tension mounts in Alma and Amulek's showdown with Zeezrom and the legal officials in Ammonihah. Why would one bring up these incidental economic nuts and bolts at such a point in the record?

Several reasons might explain why this information was included at this point in the Book of Mormon. For one thing, these short metrological details are not only intertwined with the debate between Amulek and Zeezrom (see Alma 11:21–25), but they alsoprovide an important building block in Mormon's grand narrative. By abusing the justice system and misusing the lawful weights and measures, the wicked people of Ammonihah effectively opened the floodgates of God's judgment upon themselves, a pattern that would apply later to Nephite civilization as a whole.

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Book of Mormon Month - Day 20: Common Questions about the Book of Mormon

1. What is the Book of Mormon, and how does it compare to the Bible? 
• The Bible and the Book of Mormon
• Discrepancies Between Translations: Book of Mormon, King James Verson, Joseph Smith Translation
• Behind the Mask, Behind the Curtain: Uncovering the Illusion
2. Who wrote the Book of Mormon? 
• Authorship and Evidences
• Common, Debunked Theories of Book of Mormon Authorship
3. What happened to the original record—the golden plates? 
• Why don't you have the Gold Plates?
• How Witnesses Described the Gold Plates
4. Who else saw the golden plates? 
• Attempts to Redefine the Experience of the Eight Witnesses
• True to the Book of Mormon—The Whitmers
5. Is there physical evidence that the Book of Mormon is true? 
• Archaeology and the Book of Mormon
• Geography and the Book of Mormon
6. How can I know the Book of Mormon is true? 
•  How the Book of Mormon Changed My Life
• A Fire Burning Within Me
• If You Really Want to Know, You Will Know
7. I’m confused by Revelation 22:18–19, which tells us not to add anything to the word of God. 
• Is the Bible the Only Word of God?
• Mormonism and the Bible/"Adding to" or "Taking Away from"
• Open Canon vs. Closed Canon
8. I have heard that changes have been made to the Book of Mormon since it was first published. What was changed and why?
• Changes in the Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon Month - Day 19: To Every Tongue and People

To Every Tongue and People

Internet and Mobile Editions

The Book of Mormon can now be read on the Internet (scriptures.lds.org) and on mobile devices (mobile.lds.org). Currently, 21 languages are available online with more soon to come. Online cross-referencing and search features make it possible to study the scriptures in a different way, resulting in new insights.


Audio Editions
Currently, there are audio editions of the Book of Mormon in English, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. You can download the recordings from scriptures.lds.org at no cost or purchase CDs through Distribution Services (store.lds.org). Select chapters are also available on audiocassette in Cakchiquel, Mam, Navajo, Quiche, and Tzotzil. Work is under way to produce audio editions in other languages.

Other Editions

Featuring colorful illustrations and simplified text, Book of Mormon Stories emphasizes visual learning for those who are learning to read. It is printed in more than 70 languages. Book of Mormon Stories is also available online at scripturestories.lds.org.

Also available through Distribution Services are a set of DVDs in American Sign Language, a large-print version (in English, Portuguese, and Spanish), and an English Braille edition.

The first edition of the Book of Mormon had a print run of 5,000.

As translation work moves forward, members around the world, such as Lea and Flora Lotrič in Slovenia, experience the joy of holding for the first time a copy of the Book of Mormon in their own language.

After a translation is completed, Church members who speak the language are asked to review the text.

Book of Mormon Month - Day 18: How the Book of Mormon Changed My Life

Where Could I Find Answers?

Olga Ovcharenko, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia

"I had been raised in the predominant religion of my country, but I had lots of unanswered religious questions. The missionaries and the members of their Church had answers to questions that no one in the past had been able to provide to my satisfaction." Read More or Listen

I Felt a Fire Inside

Claudia Williams, Florida, USA

"I set the book on top of the TV and went to bed. But in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a strong feeling I later recognized as the Holy Ghost. I felt prompted to start reading, so I read for an hour and a half before returning to bed. A short time later, I reawakened with the same feeling, so I read some more." Read More or Listen

The Book of Mormon Spoke to Me

Gina Baird, Utah, USA

"On our first visit to the hospital for a checkup after returning home, doctors again found leukemia cells in Amanda’s blood. The transplant had failed. Hearing the news, I felt as though I were sinking right through the floor. Our family had been through a lot of worry, work, separation, and difficult times. Now we would lose our daughter anyway. I returned home that afternoon to my two sons. While we waited for my husband to come home from work, we got out our copies of the Book of Mormon and began to read. We were in 2 Nephi 9." Read More or Listen

I Put Moroni’s Promise to the Test

Francesco Ferraresi, Lombardy, Italy

"One day in June 1995 while I was alone at home, I knelt at the foot of my bed and asked Heavenly Father, “Is the Book of Mormon true, and if so, when should I be baptized?” Suddenly I felt in my heart and in my mind a clear voice that told me, “The Book of Mormon is true.” I then had a clear impression when to be baptized. A week later I prayed again and received the same answer. My heart was bursting with joy. I now knew that God had spoken to me: the Book of Mormon was inspired of God and Joseph Smith was a true prophet." Read More or Listen

Book of Mormon Month - Day 17: A Fire Burning within Me

On Day 17, read "A Fire Burning within Me" and the true story of a Eduardo, who had a miraculous encounter with the Book of Mormon...even though he couldn't read.

With a prayer in his heart, Eduardo sat down one hot summer day in a shady spot in the backyard of his home. “There,” he says, “I determined to make the attempt.”

María says she never would have imagined what happened next. As she worked in the kitchen, she listened off and on as Eduardo attempted to sound out letters and words. “Suddenly I heard him speaking rapidly,” she says. “I listened and realized that he was reading—fluently. Less than half an hour had passed, and he was reading!”

Eduardo was so immersed in his attempt that he hadn’t realized he was reading. But as he read, he recalls, “I felt a fire burning within me.” Frightened and surprised, Eduardo called to his wife, “Mami, what is happening to me?”

Read More or Listen

Book of Mormon Month - Day 16: If You Really Want to Know, You Will Know

If You Really Want to Know, You Will Know

By Elder Walter F. González
Of the Presidency of the Seventy

I feel everlasting gratitude for the Book of Mormon. It changed my life forever, and I know it can change yours.
I was 18 years old when I became a member of the Church. The Book of Mormon played a key role in my conversion. At the time, I was searching for new ideas that could explain the world around me. I remember my college professors taking very materialistic approaches in their teaching. I started to lean toward agnostic ideas about the existence of God.

One day I noticed a sky-blue book that a couple of missionaries had left in our home about six years before. It was the Book of Mormon. Along with the book, they had left a pamphlet about the Prophet Joseph Smith and also some instructions about how to pray to God.

I started reading the Book of Mormon. I was only a few verses into the book, in 1 Nephi, when I felt something different. I began to debate between my feelings and my intellect. So I decided to ask God in prayer.
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