Mormon Direction

A new update to Mormon Messages entitled, Book of Mormon: An Introduction, narrated by Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, spoke about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, stating that this book are the words of ancient prophets of God, spoken by the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation.

Can we believe this?- The answer is Yes, it is believable, as it is also believable that the Bible is the word of God.

The Book of Mormon is as believable as the Bible.

Many outside the Church, even those who disaffected from the Church would deny my statement that the Book of Mormon is as believable as the Bible. Those that doubt or deny will claim that the Bible is clearly the word of God, but not the Book of Mormon, but have they really thought about it?

Many who read and believe the Bible do so by their personal choice. Many have not researched the Bible or read history or seek historic evidence of its existence in past centuries, but they still believe. They have not sought out physical proof that Jesus lived on this earth and died on the cross, yet they simply believed it when they read it. They may believe the words spoken by others, by a local pastor or friend who speaks to them about their local Christian church. For a large number of these people, what it comes down to for them, is they simply believe. An act of mind and heart that is no different for those who simply believe the Book of Mormon.

Some may claim that the Bible is backed up by historic fact, proven that it was written by ancient people, but none of these temporal claims can prove it is the word of God.

Please read that last sentence again, it said that no historic evidence can prove the Bible to be the word of God and no historic evidence can prove the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

For anything to be the word of God must be proven by the Holy Spirit, not by historic evidence.

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Has anyone noticed in general, there are many people who cannot act well on their own, have problems making good choices and decisions and in general have a poor sense of spiritual direction? Do these people find their way, spiritually, all by themselves? This, of course, shows that no one is perfect and no one has the ability, by themselves and by their own personal beliefs to return to God.

For the least people, God provides direction and leadership. This is the very pattern God set up in all the scriptures in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. When God cares for his people, if they have not fallen badly to corruption and wickedness, God provides by giving them leadership. This is called a prophet and in all cases in the scriptures throughout time, there has always been a prophet directing, teaching, supporting, caring and loving the faithful people of God. Only when the people abandon God, has God left them to their abandonment, to again later, reclaim them by and through his prophet.

Why then is it that many Christians in this world reject the idea of a prophet for God? – Well the answer is they are not faithful as they could be.

Without leadership and a structured religious organization, God’s faithful would get lost and fall to many follies. This example is seen many times within the scriptures, in particular the New Testament. Many times God’s Apostles had to address false (Greek influenced) beliefs and doctrines in the early Christian Church. How many times in the Old Testament people ignored God, resulting in the loss of the Church, their faith and spiritual direction? Of course, the number is far too many.

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I have read the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. I learned the importance of their content and what it means for my spiritual life with God. How I came to realize this was over time, through many experiences with the scriptures and in life.

I experienced positive changes when I properly studied the word of God. I have found that the key to gaining spiritual awareness, a heightened state of heart and mind, depends on whether I am sincere and humble when reading and studying the word of God. When I leave these books and stop reading them, the heightened change slowly diminishes and I begin to feel “less spiritual”. This showed me that a spiritual state, a “heightened state” (and peaceful) state of mind depends on my focus and involvement with the word of God. It showed me that things in this world are temporary and to maintain something, requires continued attention and diligence. It is just like staying fit, exercise must continue else the “fit state” diminishes.  

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