This DVD-ROM contains The
Book of Mormon, 1830 Edition, both in its original
scanned form, as well as a fully digitized PDF form that
can be loaded on to any ebook reader. We also
include the full audio book version of The Book of
Mormon that totals 26 hours.
This audio book comes in the form of MP3 files that can
be loaded to any MP3 device from your computer. The
digitized PDF is fully searchable too!
Please note, this disk
will not play in your car CD player or home DVD player,
this is disk is for your computer only, but the
audiobook files and ebook can then be transferred to the
device of your choice).
The Book of Mormon is a
sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which
adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets
who lived on the American continent from approximately
2200 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830
by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon: An Account
Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the
Plates of Nephi.
According to Smith's account and the book's narrative,
the Book of Mormon was originally written in otherwise
unknown characters referred to as "reformed Egyptian"
engraved on golden plates. Smith said that the last
prophet to contribute to the book, a man named Moroni,
buried it in Cumorah hill in present-day New York, then
returned to earth in 1827 as an angel, revealing the
location of the plates to Smith, and instructing him to
translate it into English for use in the restoration of
Christ's true church in the latter days. Critics claim
that it was fabricated by Smith, drawing on material and
ideas from contemporary 19th-century works rather than
translating an ancient record.
The Book of Mormon has a number of original and
distinctive doctrinal discussions on subjects such as
the fall of Adam and Eve, the nature of the Atonement,
eschatology, redemption from physical and spiritual
death, and the organization of the latter-day church.
The pivotal event of the book is an appearance of Jesus
Christ in the Americas shortly after his resurrection.
The Book of Mormon is the earliest of the unique
writings of the Latter Day Saint movement, the
denominations of which typically regard the text
primarily as scripture, and secondarily as a historical
record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of
the Americas. The Book of Mormon is divided into smaller
books, titled after the individuals named as primary
authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters and
verses. It is written in English very similar to the
Early Modern English linguistic style of the King James
Version of the Bible, and has since been fully or
partially translated into 108 languages. As of 2011,
more than 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon have
been published.
According to Joseph Smith,
he was seventeen years of age when an angel of God named
Moroni appeared to him and said that a collection of
ancient writings was buried in a nearby hill in
present-day Wayne County, New York, engraved on golden
plates by ancient prophets. The writings were said to
describe a people whom God had led from Jerusalem to the
Western hemisphere 600 years before Jesus' birth.
According to the narrative, Moroni was the last prophet
among these people and had buried the record, which God
had promised to bring forth in the latter days. Smith
stated that this vision occurred on the evening of
September 21, 1823 and that on the following day, via
divine guidance, he located the burial location of the
plates on this hill; was instructed by Moroni to meet
him at the same hill on September 22 of the following
year to receive further instructions; and that, in four
years from this date, the time would arrive for
"bringing them forth", i.e., translating them. Smith's
description of these events recounts that he was allowed
to take the plates on September 22, 1827, exactly four
years from that date, and was directed to translate them
into English.
Accounts vary of the way in which Smith dictated the
Book of Mormon. Smith himself implied that he read the
plates directly using spectacles prepared for the
purpose of translating. Other accounts variously state
that he used one or more seer stones placed in a top
hat.[18] Both the special spectacles and the seer stone
were at times referred to as the "Urim and Thummim".[18]
During the translating process itself, Smith sometimes
separated himself from his scribe with a blanket between
them. Additionally, the plates were not always present
during the translating process and, when present, they
were always covered up.
Smith's first published description of the plates said
that the plates "had the appearance of gold". They were
described by Martin Harris, one of Smith's early
scribes, as "fastened together in the shape of a book by
wires." Smith called the engraved writing on the plates
"reformed Egyptian". A portion of the text on the
plates was also "sealed" according to his account, so
its content was not included in the Book of Mormon.
In addition to Smith's account regarding the plates,
eleven others stated that they saw the golden plates
and, in some cases, handled them. Their written
testimonies are known as the Testimony of Three
Witnesses and the Testimony of Eight Witnesses. These
statements have been published in most editions of the
Book of Mormon.
Smith enlisted his neighbor Martin Harris as a scribe
during his initial work on the text. (Harris later
mortgaged his farm to underwrite the printing of the
Book of Mormon.) In 1828, Harris, prompted by his wife
Lucy Harris, repeatedly requested that Smith lend him
the current pages that had been translated. Smith
reluctantly acceded to Harris's requests. Lucy Harris is
thought to have stolen the first 116 pages. After
the loss, Smith recorded that he had lost the ability to
translate, and that Moroni had taken back the plates to
be returned only after Smith repented. Smith later
stated that God allowed him to resume translation, but
directed that he begin translating another part of the
plates (in what is now called the Book of Mosiah). In
1829, work resumed on the Book of Mormon, with the
assistance of Oliver Cowdery, and was completed in a
short period (April–June 1829). Smith said that he
then returned the plates to Moroni upon the publication
of the book. The Book of Mormon went on sale at
the bookstore of E. B. Grandin in Palmyra, New York on
March 26, 1830. Today, the building in which the Book of
Mormon was first published and sold is known as the Book
of Mormon Historic Publication Site.
Since its first publication and distribution, critics of
the Book of Mormon have claimed that it was fabricated
by Smith and that he drew material and ideas from
various sources rather than translating an ancient
record. Works that have been suggested as sources
include the King James Bible, The Wonders of Nature,
View of the Hebrews, and an unpublished manuscript
written by Solomon Spalding. Fair Mormon maintains
that all of these theories have been disproved and
discredited, arguing that both Mormon and non-Mormon
historians have found serious flaws in their research.
The position of most adherents of the Latter Day Saint
movement and the official position of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is that
the book is an actual and accurate historical record.
We include
the full version of the 1830 Edition of the Book of
Mormon on this wonderful DVD, in both its scanned form,
and digitized form, along with the full 26 hour
rendition of the audio book version of the Book of
Mormon.
