The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon

The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon

In a November 1841 meeting with the Council of the Twelve Apostles in Nauvoo, the Prophet Joseph Smith bore this memorable testimony of the Book of Mormon:

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” (History of the Church, 4:461.) On an earlier occasion he had also said, “Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none.” (History of the Church, 2:52.)

The adult scripture reading assignment for the coming year is the Book of Mormon, which not only gives an account of early inhabitants of America, but also contains “the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” (D&C 20:9.) The following pages, prepared by the Ensign staff, present documents, artifacts, and photographs of people and places related to the coming forth of this new latter-day testimony of Jesus Christ. Some of the materials are familiar to Church members; some have generally been accessible only to scholars; and some have just recently come to light and are here published for the first time.