Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: hall@vice.ico.tek.com (Hal Lillywhite) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Book of Mormon Message-ID: Date: 6 Aug 90 00:15:49 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR. Lines: 63 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article chrisdu@uunet.uu.net (Chris Durham) writes: >I just saw a TV commercial from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day >Saints, otherwise known as the Mormons. In it, a woman describes something >in the Book of Mormon which caught my fancy. She says the Book of Mormon >shows that Jesus appeared to ancient America after he ressurected? Is this >true? What other things does this book have to say? Where does it come from? Yes, the Book of Mormon does indeed describe the visit of Jesus to the Western Hemisphere after his resurrection. That part (the book of 3rd Nephi beginning with chapter 11) also includes many of his teachings here beginning with a sermon similar to the sermon on the mount. A brief synopsis of the main part of the book is: 600 BC, during the time of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and some other prophets, this is one of the darker times in Jewish history as Jerusalem is about to fall to Babylon. (If you want a real downer, read Jeremiah. It's all full of doom and gloom.) A man named Lehi living in the vicinity of Jerusalem listens to the prophets, prays, and sees a vision. As a result he not only repents of his sins but also preaches to the people. His reception is similar to that given the other prophets and eventually he must flee for his life. Guided by the Lord they cross the Arabian peninsula and eventually come to the Americas. Lehi also has family problems. He has 4 sons (2 more are born after he leaves Jerusalem) and they split down the middle, 2 following him and the other 2 rebeling. This eventually leads to a split in his descendents with the Nephites (after one son, Nephi) generally being the "believers" while the Lamanites (after Laman, the eldest son) generally being non-believers. This is used throughout the book as a warning to believers - they are repeatedly told that individual righteousness and repentance are required, membership in the "right" group is not enough. Whenever the Nephites forget this the Lamanites are there to start a war and remind them of their dependence on the Lord. The book emphasizes the mission of Jesus Christ throughout. Even before His birth it indicates that, although it was necessary to live the Law of Moses, salvation was only through Christ and that the purpose of the Law was to point to Him. The climax of course is His visit to the Americas mentioned above. After Jesus visit there is a period of peace for about 200 years before apostacy again begins to creep in. Political divisions, pride, greed etc. take over and eventually the Nephites and Lamanites engage in a war resulting in the anihilation of the former about 420 AD. During the last part of this time a prophet named Mormon (hence the name Book of Mormon) makes an abridgement of the records of his people which he gives to his son Moroni. Moroni hides it from the Lamanites who want to destroy it. This abridgement is what is known as the Book of Mormon today. I cannot do justice to the book within the constraints of my time and network bandwidth. I suggest that you read it for yourself. You can probably get a copy by calling the number listed in the TV ad or you can almost certainly find a copy in your local library. If all else fails, email me and I will do something to see that you can get a copy. Hal Lillywhite