What is the Book of Mormon?

Q: What is the Book of Mormon?

A: The Book of Mormon is a volume of scripture 531 pages long in English. It was written by prophets of God who lived between 600 B.C. and 421 A.D. The progenitors of these prophets and the forbearers of their civilization came from Jerusalem in the Old World shortly before the city was destroyed by the Babylonians. The Lord brought these faithful people who fled Jerusalem across the deserts of the Near East and the vast ocean to the “promised land,” which today we call North and South America.

The purpose of the book is not to give a complete history of the civilization they built in the Americas, but rather to record the marvelous works of God that were done among them and to show that the Lord takes an active role in the lives of His people, and more especially in the lives of those who keep His commandments and seek to do His will. The overarching purpose of the book, however, is to testify to the reality of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the entire world and of His mighty power to save and deliver us if we have faith in Him and repent.

The original book was engraved on plates of metal ore so it would not decay, was ultimately buried in a safe place—which we now know was a common practice among religious communities in ancient times—and then after centuries of lying hidden from the world and those who would have destroyed it, was brought forth under heavenly direction in 1827 and translated from its dead language into English.