"A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible!"

In the middle of the Sixth Century B.C., the Lord warned the prophet Nephi that someday, when the record he was making was returned to the world, that people would cry out, "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible!" (2 Nephi 29:3)

This record is the Book of Mormon, and as a missionary, I can say that the Lord was certainly right about this! So, what is the Book of Mormon, and why need we have another book of scripture?

First and foremost, the Book of Mormon's full title is the "Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ." Pretty straight-forward. In the introduction of the Book of Mormon, it reads that the book is "holy scripture comparable to the Bible... and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel."

Well, the warning that people would one day claim, "We have got a Bible" isn't exactly disputed by this, but it's a starting place.

So, to answer the real question, why do we need more scripture if we already have the Bible? Paul answered this question to the Corinthians in 2 Cor 13:1, where he wrote, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." This was echoed to Moses in Deuteronomy 19:15. Christ himself actually said the same thing in Matthew 18:16!

See, we need multiple witnesses that Jesus is the Christ, the divine Savior of the world! The Book of Mormon's title page, written by Moroni, reads that the book is written for just that, for "the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God."

And before anyone tries to cite Revelations 22:18, please read Revelations 1:11. What book is John referring to here, the Bible or just the Revelation of John? My guess is the verse right after the warning in verse 18 is right, where it calls the book "the book of this prophecy." Otherwise, Deuteronomy 4:2 makes the rest of the Bible quite a waste...

Really, though, I think God has the best answer to why we need the Book of Mormon. A few verses later in 2 Nephi 29, this time in verses 7 and 8, the Lord tells Nephi:

"Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea... and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore, murmur ye, because ye shall receive more of my word?" (Emphasis added)

The Lord loves us. If that isn't clear to you, we have a looooot to cover. But if you understand that, then how can you not understand that the Lord would want His gospel, the very source of our souls' salvation, to be heard by all of his children? Would it make sense that Heavenly Father would want some of his children to return with Him and not others?

I invite you all to just try to read the Book of Mormon. Please! I can personally testify to you that no combination of books can bring us closer to our Redeemer than the Bible and the Book of Mormon. If you don't know how to get ahold of one, just comment on this post, and I will personally take care of it for you. I love you all, and I love my Savior, and I would love for you both to become better acquainted with each other.