Editing Book of Mormon (section)

==Content==
[[Image:The Book of Mormon- An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Cover page of The Book of Mormon from an original 1830 edition, by [[Joseph Smith]]<br />(Image from the U.S. Library of Congress ''Rare Book and Special Collections Division'')]]

===Presentation===
The style of the Book of Mormon's English text resembles that of the King James Version of the Bible.{{Sfn|Shalev|2014|p=104}} [[Novelist]] Jane Barnes considered the book "difficult to read",{{Sfn|Barnes|2012|p=500}} and according to religious studies scholar Grant Hardy, the language is an "awkward, repetitious form of English" with a "nonmainstream literary aesthetic".{{Sfn|Hardy|2010|p=5}} Narratively and structurally, the book is complex, with multiple arcs that diverge and converge in the story while contributing to the book's overarching plot and themes.{{Sfn|Givens|2009|p=61}} Historian [[Daniel Walker Howe]] concluded in his own appraisal that the Book of Mormon "is a powerful epic written on a grand scale" and "should rank among the great achievements of American literature".{{Sfn|Howe|2007|p=314}}

The Book of Mormon presents its text through multiple narrators explicitly identified as figures within the book's own narrative. Narrators describe reading, redacting, writing, and exchanging records.{{Sfn|Maffly-Kipp|2008|pp=ix–x}} The book also embeds sermons, given by figures from the narrative, throughout the text, and these internal orations make up just over 40 percent of the Book of Mormon.{{sfn|Davis|2020|p=89}} Periodically, the book's primary narrators reflexively describe themselves creating the book in a move that is "almost postmodern" in its self-consciousness.{{Sfn|Bushman|2005|p=87|ps=: "the book seems almost postmodern in its self-conscious attention to the production of the text."}} Historian Laurie Maffly-Kipp explains that "the mechanics of editing and transmitting thereby become an important feature of the text".{{Sfn|Maffly-Kipp|2008|p=x}} Barnes calls the Book of Mormon a "scripture about writing and its influence in a post-modern world of texts" and "a statement about different voices, and possibly the problem of voice, in sacred literature".{{Sfn|Barnes|2012|p=501}}

===Organization===
The Book of Mormon is organized as a compilation of smaller books, each named after its main named narrator or a prominent leader, beginning with the [[First Book of Nephi]] (1 Nephi) and ending with the [[Book of Moroni]].{{sfn|Hardy|2010|pp=6–7}}

The book's sequence is primarily chronological based on the narrative content of the book. Exceptions include the [[Words of Mormon]] and the [[Book of Ether]].{{sfn|Hardy|2010|pp=8, 10, 90}} The Words of Mormon contains editorial commentary by [[Mormon (Book of Mormon prophet)|Mormon]]. The Book of Ether is presented as the narrative of an earlier group of people who had come to the American continent before the immigration described in 1 Nephi. First Nephi through [[Book of Omni|Omni]] are written in first-person narrative, as are Mormon and Moroni. The remainder of the Book of Mormon is written in third-person historical narrative, said to be compiled and abridged by Mormon (with Moroni abridging the Book of Ether and writing the latter part of Mormon and the Book of Moroni).

Most modern editions of the book have been divided into chapters and verses.{{sfn|Hardy|2010|pp=5–6}} Most editions of the book also contain supplementary material, including the "Testimony of [[Three Witnesses]]" and the "Testimony of [[Eight Witnesses]]" which appeared in the original 1830 edition and every official Latter-day Saint edition thereafter.{{sfn|Hardy|2003|p=631}}

===Narrative===
{{Main|Book of Mormon chronology}}

The books from [[Book of First Nephi|First Nephi]] to [[Book of Omni|Omni]] are described as being from "the small plates of Nephi".{{sfn|Hardy|2010|p=10}} This account begins in ancient [[Jerusalem]] around 600 BC, telling the story of a man named [[Lehi (Book of Mormon prophet)|Lehi]], his family, and several others as they are led by God from Jerusalem shortly before the fall of that city to the [[Babylonians]]. The book describes their journey across the [[Arabian peninsula]], and then to a "promised land", presumably an unspecified location in the Americas, by ship.{{sfn|Givens|2009|pp=24, 33}} These books recount the group's dealings from approximately 600 BC to about 130 BC, during which time the community grows and splits into two main groups, called [[Nephite]]s and [[Lamanites]], that frequently war with each other throughout the rest of the narrative.{{sfn|Givens|2009|p=11}}

Following this section is the [[Words of Mormon]], a small book that introduces [[Mormon (Book of Mormon prophet)|Mormon]], the principal narrator for the remainder of the text.{{sfn|Hardy|2010|p=10}} The narration describes the proceeding content ([[Book of Mosiah]] through to chapter 7 of the internal [[Book of Mormon (Mormon's record)|Book of Mormon]]) as being Mormon's abridgment of "the large plates of Nephi", existing records that detailed the people's history up to Mormon's own life.{{sfn|Givens|2009|p=12}} Part of this portion is the [[Book of Third Nephi]], which describes a visit by Jesus to the people of the Book of Mormon sometime after [[Resurrection of Jesus|his resurrection]] and ascension; historian John Turner calls this episode "the climax of the entire scripture".{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=29}} After this visit, the Nephites and Lamanites unite in a harmonious, peaceful society which endures for several generations before breaking into warring factions again,{{Sfn|Maffly-Kipp|2008|p=ix}} and in this conflict the Nephites are destroyed while the Lamanites emerge victorious.{{Sfn|Coviello|2019|pp=141–146}} In the narrative, Mormon, a Nephite, lives during this period of war, and he dies before finishing his book.{{Sfn|Hardy|2010|p=217}} His son Moroni takes over as narrator, describing himself taking his father's record into his charge and finishing its writing.{{Sfn|Hardy|2010|pp=217–219, 262–265}}

Before the very end of the book, Moroni describes making an abridgment (called the [[Book of Ether]]) of a record from a much earlier people.{{sfn|Givens|2009|pp=11, 43}} There is a subsequent subplot describing a group of families who God leads away from the [[Tower of Babel]] after it falls.{{Sfn|Maffly-Kipp|2008|p=ix}} Led by a man named [[Jared (Book of Mormon)|Jared]] and [[The Brother of Jared|his brother]], described as a prophet of God, these [[Jaredites]] travel to the "promised land" and establish a society there. After successive violent reversals between rival monarchs and faction, their society collapses around the time that Lehi's family arrive in the promised land further south.{{sfn|Givens|2009|pp=71–72}}

The narrative returns to Moroni's present ([[Book of Moroni]]) in which he transcribes a few short documents, meditates on and addresses the book's audience, finishes the record, and buries the plates upon which they are narrated to be inscribed upon, before implicitly dying as his father did, in what allegedly would have been the early 400s AD.{{Sfn|Hardy|2010|pp=264–267}}{{Sfn|Maffly-Kipp|2008|pp=ix–xi}}

=== Teachings ===

====Jesus====
{{see also|Godhead (Latter Day Saints)}}
On its title page, the Book of Mormon describes its central purpose as being the "convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations."{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=36}} Although much of the Book of Mormon's internal chronology takes place prior to the birth of Jesus, prophets in the book frequently see him in vision and preach about him, and the people in the narrative worship Jesus as "pre-Christian Christians."{{sfn|Givens|2002|pp=46–47, 199}}{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=29}} For example, the book's first narrator [[Nephi, son of Lehi|Nephi]] describes having a vision of the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus, said to have taken place nearly 600 years prior to Jesus' birth.{{sfn|Hardy|2010|p=53}} Late in the book, a narrator refers to converted peoples as "children of Christ".{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=32}} By depicting ancient prophets and peoples as familiar with Jesus as a Savior, the Book of Mormon universalizes Christian salvation as being accessible across all time and places.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=33}}{{sfn|Hardy|2010|p=7}} By implying that even more ancient peoples were familiar with Jesus Christ, the book presents a "polygenist Christian history" in which Christianity has multiple origins.<ref name="Fenton-2019" />

[[File:The Glorious Appearing of Jesus to the Nephites by William Armitage.PNG|thumb|right|An artistic depiction of the climactic moment in the Book of Mormon, the visitation of Jesus to the Nephites|246x246px]]In the climax of the book, Jesus visits some early inhabitants of the Americas after his resurrection in an extended bodily [[theophany]].<ref name="Hardy-2016">{{cite interview|last=Hardy|first=Grant|subject-link=Grant Hardy|interviewer=Blair Hodges|title=Understanding ''Understanding the Book of Mormon'' with Grant Hardy|url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1588&context=jbms|work=[[Journal of Book of Mormon Studies|Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture]]|volume=25|date=2016}}</ref>{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=29}} During this ministry, he reiterates many teachings from the [[New Testament]], re-emphasizes salvific baptism, and introduces the ritual consumption of bread and wine "in remembrance of [his] body", a teaching that became the basis for modern Latter-day Saints' "memorialist" view of their sacrament ordinance (analogous to communion).{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=30–32}} Jesus's ministry in the Book of Mormon resembles his portrayal in the [[Gospel of John]], as Jesus similarly teaches without parables and preaches faith and obedience as a central message.{{sfn|Hardy|2010|p=196}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stendahl |first=Krister |url=https://rsc.byu.edu/book/reflections-mormonism |title=Reflections on Mormonism: Judaeo-Christian Parallels |publisher=[[Religious Studies Center]] |year=1978 |isbn=0-88494-358-5 |editor-last=Madsen |editor-first=Truman G. |pages=139–154 |chapter=The Sermon on the Mount and Third Nephi |author-link=Krister Stendahl |chapter-url=https://rsc.byu.edu/reflections-mormonism/sermon-mount-third-nephi}}</ref>

Barnes argues that the Book of Mormon depicts Jesus as a "revolutionary new character" different from that of the New Testament in a portrayal that is "constantly, subtly revising the Christian tradition".{{Sfn|Barnes|2012|p=501}} According to historian John Turner, the Book of Mormon's depiction provides "a twist" on Christian trinitarianism, as Jesus in the Book of Mormon is distinct from God the Father—as he prays to God during a post-resurrection visit with the Nephites—while also emphasizing that Jesus and God have "divine unity," with other parts of the book calling Jesus "the Father and the Son".{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=35}} Beliefs among the churches of the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] range between [[social trinitarianism]] (such as among Latter-day Saints)<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Paulsen|first1=David L.|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199778362.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199778362|title=The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism|last2=Boyd|first2=Hal R.|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2015|isbn=9780199778362|editor-last=Givens|editor-first=Terryl L.|editor-link=Terryl Givens|pages=246–259|language=English|chapter=The Nature of God in Mormon Thought|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199778362.001.0001|editor-last2=Barlow|editor-first2=Philip L.|editor-link2=Philip Barlow|chapter-url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199778362.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199778362-e-18|url-access=subscription}} "Therefore, the Mormon conception of the Godhead is more akin to what contemporary Christian theologians call Social Trinitarianism" (253).</ref> and traditional [[Trinity|trinitarianism]] (such as in [[Community of Christ]]).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Community of Christ|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Community-of-Christ|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112034607/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Community-of-Christ|archive-date=November 12, 2021|access-date=November 24, 2021|website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}} "The Community of Christ believes in the Trinity". Last revised April 15, 2004.</ref>

==== Plan of salvation ====
{{See also|Plan of salvation in Mormonism|Universalism and the Latter Day Saint movement#Universalism and the Book of Mormon}}
The Christian concept of God's [[plan of salvation]] for humanity is a frequently recurring theme of the Book of Mormon.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ridenhour|first=Lynn|url=http://www.centerplace.org/library/bofm/baptistversionofbofm.htm|title=The Baptist Version of the Book of Mormon|publisher=WinePress Publishing|via=CenterPlace}}</ref> While the Bible does not directly outline a plan of salvation, the Book of Mormon explicitly refers to the concept thirty times, using a variety of terms such as ''plan of salvation'', ''plan of happiness'', and ''plan of redemption''. The Book of Mormon's plan of salvation doctrine describes life as a probationary time for people to learn the gospel of Christ through revelation given to prophets and have the opportunity to choose whether or not to obey God. Jesus' atonement then makes repentance possible, enabling the righteous to enter a [[heaven]]ly state after a [[Last Judgment|final judgment]].<ref name="Reynolds-2020">{{Cite journal |last=Reynolds |first=Noel B. |date=2020 |title=The Plan of Salvation and the Book of Mormon |url=https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-21-no-1-2020/plan-salvation-book-mormon#_edn4 |url-status=live |journal=[[Religious Educator]] |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=30–53 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601072717/https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-21-no-1-2020/plan-salvation-book-mormon |archive-date=June 1, 2021}}</ref>

Although most of Christianity traditionally considers the fall of man a negative development for humanity,{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=597|ps=. "[A]ll human life has been radically altered for the worse, so that its actual state is very different from that purposed for it by the Creator."}} the Book of Mormon instead portrays the fall as a foreordained step in God's plan of salvation, necessary to securing human agency, eventual righteousness,<ref name="Reynolds-2020" /> and bodily joy through physical experience.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Coviello|2019|p=8}} summarizes, "bodies are not the seats of wickedness or Pauline corruption but something else entirely: the vehicles for exaltation... As the Book of Mormon observed, 'men are, that they might have joy.'"

The Book of Mormon reference is to {{Mormonverse|2 Nephi|2:22–25}}: "And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden... And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin... all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."</ref> This positive interpretation of the Adam and Eve story contributes to the Book of Mormon's emphasis "on the importance of human freedom and responsibility" to choose salvation.<ref name="Reynolds-2020" />

==== Dialogic revelation ====
{{See also|Revelation in Mormonism}}
In the Book of Mormon, revelation from God typically manifests as a dialogue between God and persons, characterizing deity as an anthropomorphic being who hears [[prayer]]s and provides direct answers to questions.{{sfn|Givens|2002|pp=217–219}} Multiple narratives in the book portray revelation as a dialogue in which petitioners and deity engage one another in a mutual exchange in which God's contributions originate from outside the mortal recipient.{{sfn|Givens|2002|pp=219–220|ps=. Givens refers to Nephi's encounter with Laban in which he is "constrained by the spirit" and to Enos's back-and-forth with the Lord as two examples of "conversational revelation" (1 Nephi 4:10–13; Enos 1:3–17).}} The Book of Mormon also emphasizes regular prayer as a significant component of devotional life, depicting it as a central means through which such dialogic revelation can take place.{{sfn|Givens|2002|pp=218–221}} While the [[Old Testament]] of the Christian Bible links revelation specifically to prophetic authority, the Book of Mormon's portrayal democratizes the idea of revelation, depicting it as the right of every person. Figures such as Nephi and [[Ammon (Book of Mormon missionary)|Ammon]] receive visions and revelatory direction prior to or without ever becoming prophets, and [[Laman and Lemuel]] are rebuked for hesitating to pray for revelation.{{sfn|Givens|2002|pp=221–224}} Also in contrast with traditional Christian conceptions of revelations is the Book of Mormon's broader range of revelatory content.<ref>"Christianity is centered on revelation, which contains within it a message ("good news") meant for the believer. Given this message, what is important is the ''content'' of revelation, while scripture is usually regarded as a mere means of transmission" in {{Cite book |last=Biderman |first=Shlomo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sb4nAAAAYAAJ |title=Scripture and Knowledge: An Essay on Religious Epistemology |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=1995 |isbn=9789004378919 |pages=11|postscript=;}} {{Harvnb|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=1392}}: "[T]he ''corpus'' of truth about Himself which God discloses to us"; {{Harvnb|Givens|2002|p=226}}: "We may contrast these examples with Shlomo Biderman's assertion .... In the Book of Mormon, what is important is not one ultimate Truth it embodies, but rather the ever-present reality of revelation it depicts".</ref> In the Book of Mormon, figures petition God for revelatory answers to doctrinal questions and ecclesiastical crises as well as for inspiration to guide hunts, military campaigns, and sociopolitical decisions.{{sfn|Givens|2002|pp=225–226}} The Book of Mormon depicts revelation as an active and sometimes laborious experience. For example, the Book of Mormon's [[Brother of Jared]] learns to act not merely as a petitioner with questions but moreover as an interlocutor with "a specific proposal" for God to consider as part of a guided process of miraculous assistance.{{sfn|Givens|2002|p=220}}

==== Apocalyptic reversal and Indigenous or nonwhite liberation ====
The Book of Mormon's "eschatological content" lends to a "theology of Native and/or nonwhite liberation", in the words of American studies scholar Jared Hickman.<ref name="Hickman-2014">{{Cite journal |last=Hickman |first=Jared |date=September 2014 |title=The Book of Mormon as Amerindian Apocalypse |url=https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2717371 |journal=[[American Literature (journal)|American Literature]] |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=429–461 |doi=10.1215/00029831-2717371}}</ref> The Book of Mormon's narrative content includes prophecies describing how although Gentiles (generally interpreted as being whites of European descent) would conquer the Indigenous residents of the Americas (imagined in the Book of Mormon as being a remnant of descendants of the Lamanites), this conquest would only precede the Native Americans' revival and resurgence as a God-empowered people. The Book of Mormon narrative's prophecies envision a Christian eschaton in which Indigenous people are destined to rise up as the true leaders of the continent, manifesting in a new utopia to be called "Zion".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ashurst-McGee |first=Mark |date=Summer 2012 |title=Zion ''in'' America: The Origins of Mormon Constitutionalism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23291618 |journal=[[Journal of Mormon History]] |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=90–101 |doi=10.2307/23291618 |jstor=23291618 |s2cid=254490392 }}</ref> White Gentiles would have an opportunity to repent of their sins and join themselves to the Indigenous remnant,{{Sfn|Underwood|1993|p=79}} but if white Gentile society fails to do so, the Book of Mormon's content foretells a future "apocalyptic reversal" in which Native Americans will destroy white American society and replace it with a godly, Zionic society.{{Sfn|Underwood|1993|p=80}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=G |first=David |date=October 11, 2010 |title=Columbus, the European Conquest, and the Radical Message of the Book of Mormon |url=https://juvenileinstructor.org/columbus-the-european-conquest-and-the-radical-message-of-the-book-of-mormon/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013110313/https://juvenileinstructor.org/columbus-the-european-conquest-and-the-radical-message-of-the-book-of-mormon/ |archive-date=October 13, 2010 |access-date=October 5, 2022 |website=Juvenile Instructor}}</ref> This prophecy commanding whites to repent and become supporters of American Indians even bears "special authority as an utterance of Jesus" Christ himself during a messianic appearance at the book's climax.<ref name="Hickman-2014" />

Furthermore, the Book of Mormon's "formal logic" criticizes the theological supports for racism and white supremacy prevalent in the antebellum United States by enacting a textual apocalypse.<ref name="Hickman-2014" /> The book's apparently white Nephite narrators fail to recognize and repent of their own sinful, hubristic prejudices against the seemingly darker-skinned Lamanites in the narrative. In their pride, the Nephites repeatedly backslide into producing oppressive social orders, such that the book's narrative performs a sustained critique of colonialist racism.{{Sfn|Coviello|2019|pp=140–146}} The book concludes with its own narrative implosion in which Lamanites suddenly succeed over and destroy Nephites in a literary turn seemingly designed to jar the average antebellum white American reader into recognizing the "utter inadequacy of his or her rac(ial)ist common sense".<ref name="Hickman-2014" />