Jesus Christ lives. His Atonement blesses all people. Those are the central themes of the Book of Mormon, according to prophets and apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who bear witness of the book’s divinity. They promise that those who read this scripture “with a sincere heart, with real intent,” will receive a witness that the Savior lives and that His Atonement applies to them (see Moroni 10:3-5).
“The central purpose of the Book of Mormon is its testament of Jesus Christ,” President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles says. “Of more than 6,000 verses in the Book of Mormon, far more than half refer directly to Him.” Describing his first time reading the entire Book of Mormon, he says, “That was a life-changing event. After that, I never set the book aside.”
Plain and Precious Truths
The Book of Mormon “tells us of the plain and precious truths of the gospel,” says Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In its pages we learn of “the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for all mankind.”
Behind all of the writings in the Book of Mormon lie a primary purpose upon which we should focus our studies, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles teaches. “Study of the Book of Mormon is most rewarding when one focuses on its primary purpose—to testify of Jesus Christ.” He reminds us that the Book of Mormon is the “only book that the Lord Himself has testified to be true,” and that we can receive our own testimonies of its divinity when we prayerfully study it. “It will bring you closer to the Lord and His loving power,” he says. “[The Lord] has promised that those who live by the precepts of this book ‘shall receive a crown of eternal life.’”
Expand Vision, Enlarge Understanding
“[The] teachings of the Book of Mormon expand our vision and enlarge our understanding of the all-encompassing love of God and the universal effect of His Atonement for all men everywhere,” Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declares. “The Book of Mormon has come forth to remind us of the covenants of the Lord, to the convincing of all ‘that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.’”
Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles says that a testimony of the Book of Mormon leads to a testimony of the Savior and His work. “There has to be an explanation of that book you can hold in your hand. I know that you can receive a spiritual confirmation that it is true. You will then know that Jesus Christ lives, that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church. You will confirm that the Savior guides His Church through a living prophet.” This knowledge, he says, will be the foundation for a productive life.
Calling All to Come unto Christ
The Book of Mormon offers a safe harbor from despair, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles teaches, through the “power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times. ... That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to ‘come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.’” For us to receive the “fullest measure of peace and comfort,” he says, we must embrace “the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies.”
“The Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on earth because it centers upon the Truth, even Jesus Christ,” says Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “The Book of Mormon speaks to the spirit and to the heart of the reader like no other volume of scripture.”
“If you have not read the Book of Mormon, read it,” President Thomas S. Monson urges. “If you do so prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you.”
