"Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look
down from heaven." So prophesied the Psalm 1st (Ps. 85:11). This may
be viewed as a figurative expression, but it has been literally
fulfilled in the 19th century. In the midst of the disputations over
the meaning of many parts of the Bible, which have caused so many
heart-burnings and bitter feelings among preachers and professors of
religion, out of the earth has come forth a sacred record containing
divine truth in such plainness and simplicity as to settle in the
minds of believers those controversies which have agitated the world
of theology. When the American continent was discovered by Columbus
and others, who were led to cross the great waters in search of
unknown lands, a dark-skinned race, composed of many different
tribes but evidently of a common origin, was found in possession of
the western continent. Varying in their characteristics from the
white, the black, the yellow, and all the European, Asiatic and
Ethiopian branches of the human family, their origin became a cause
of wonder and scientific investigation. The general conclusion
arrived at was that at some remote period their ancestors had
migrated from some portion of the eastern hemisphere, but when, or
how, or why this emigration had taken place was a profound mystery.
But in the year 1829 a book was published in the State of New York,
claiming to have been translated from metallic plates found in a
hill-side in that State by a young man who, was directed to their
place of deposit by an angel of God, and who was inspired in the
work of translation to decipher the hieroglyphics inscribed on those
plates, being aided in the work by an instrument, discovered with
them, called the Urim and Thummim. The plates had the appearance of
gold, were not quite so thick as common tin, were about six by seven
inches in size, were engraved on both sides, and were fastened
together in the shape of a book by three rings at the back. Acting
under instruction of the heavenly messenger, the young man, Joseph
Smith, proceeded as quietly as possible to perform the arduous task
required of him. As he was but a poor scholar, he obtained the
assistance of a scribe to write, as he dictated word by word. The
news of the discovery, however, became noised around, and ridicule
from both preachers and people was followed by attempts at violence,
so that the plates had to be concealed, and, with their translator,
removed from place to place.
A farmer, named Martin Harris, who had become interested in the
work, received from Joseph Smith a copy of some of the hieroglyphics
with their translation. These he carried to New York and submitted
them to some learned linguists, among them Prof. Anthon, who, after
examining them, pronounced them true characters and the
translations, so far as he could determine, to be correct. He wrote
a certificate to this effect, and gave it to Martin Harris. But
questioning him as to how the young man had obtained the record
containing these characters, he was informed that it was revealed to
him by an angel of God. He then requested Martin Harris to let him
look at the certificate he had given him. On receiving it he tore it
up, declaring that there was no such thing as angels from heaven
now-a-days, but said if the book was brought to him he would
endeavor to translate it. A portion of the record being sealed,
Martin Harris informed him of that fact, when he exclaimed, "I
cannot read a sealed book." As will be seen subsequently, he was,
though unwittingly, fulfilling a scriptural prophecy.
That portion of the record which was not sealed was finally
translated into the English language by Joseph Smith and formed a
volume of about 600 pages, which was published as the Book of
Mormon. This title was given to it because a prophet named Mormon,
by command of God, about four hundred years after Christ, compiled
and abridged the records of prophets who ministered on the American
continent, back to to about 600 years before Christ, when a colony
of Israelites were led from Palestine across the waters and became a
numerous people, the ancestors of the present race of American
Indians. The account of their travels, their establishment on the
western hemisphere, the revelations of God to them, their division
through wickedness into separate tribes, the manner in which the hue
of their complexion was changed, their wars, their works, their
buildings, their customs, their language, the words of their
prophets, are all given in great plainness in the Book of Mormon. An
account is also given of the visit of our Lord Jesus Christ to this
people after his resurrection, fulfilling his own prediction
recorded in John 10:16: "And other sheep I have, which are not of
this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and
there shall be one fold and one shepherd." That these "other sheep"
were not the Gentiles, as popularly supposed, is clear from Christ's
statement, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel" (Matthew 15:24). He established his Church among them,
ordaining twelve apostles, and giving them the same gospel,
authority, gifts, powers, ordinances and blessings as he gave to his
"sheep" on the eastern hemisphere. Thus the fulness of the gospel is
contained in the Book of Mormon, which stands as a witness of the
truth of the Bible; the two records supporting each other, and both
united bearing testimony to an unbelieving world that Jesus of
Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the eternal God and the Savior of
the world.
This record also contains an account of a colony directed of the
Lord to the western continent at the time of the scattering of the
people from the land of Shinar and the confusion of tongues, at the
stoppage of the building of the Tower of Babel. The ruins of their
cities and temples and fortifications, discovered by travelers and
archaeologists since the publication of the Book of Mormon, are
silent but potent witnesses of the truth of the record. Each
succeeding year brings forth further evidences of this character,
that form a cloud of witnesses to the divine mission of the Prophet,
Seer, and Translator, Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon has since
been published in many languages and submitted to the scrutiny of
the religious and scientific world, and no one as yet has been able
to point out wherein it disagrees with the Jewish Scriptures or with
the facts developed by antiquarian research and scientific
investigation. Yet it was brought forth in this age by an unlearned
youth, not acquainted with the world, reared in rural simplicity,
without access to the literature of the time, and without even the
ordinary acquirements of the schoolboy of the present.
According to the Book of Mormon, the people who journeyed from
Jerusalem to the American continent, taking with them the genealogy
of their fathers and writings of the law and the prophets, were of
the tribe of Joseph through Ephraim and Manasseh, and were led out
of Palestine when Zedekiah was king of Judah. In keeping the record,
which was subsequently abridged by the prophet Mormon, they used the
learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians. Their
hieroglyphs and symbols, however, were changed and modified, so that
the characters upon the plates revealed to Joseph Smith, where they
had lain hidden for about 1,400 years, was a "reformed Egyptian."
How this uneducated youth was able to bring forth a work of such
magnitude and importance, unless by inspiration of Almighty God, and
by the means explained remains a mystery to unbelievers. For a long
time it was pretended by enemies of the work that one Solomon
Spaulding wrote a Manuscript Story which in some unexplained manner
fell into the hands of Joseph Smith, who worked it over into the
Book of Mormon. But that foolish tale has signally failed of its
purpose, for in recent years the Spaulding manuscript has come to
light, and is now deposited in the Library of Oberlin College, Ohio,
and proves to be as unlike the Book of Mormon as Jack the Giant
Killer is dissimilar to the Bible.
The colonization of America by the seed of Joseph, who was sold into
Egypt, fulfills the blessings pronounced on the head of Joseph and
his sons by the patriarch Jacob (See Genesis 48, also xlix, 22-26,
also the blessing pronounced by the prophet Moses, Deuteronomy
33:13-17). The historical portion of the Book of Mormon shows that
the American continent, possessed by a "multitude of nations," the
seed of Ephraim and Manasseh, is the "blessed land" bestowed on
Joseph in addition to his portion in Canaan. There are to be found
the "everlasting hills" and the "ancient mountains," "the precious
things of heaven, and the precious things of the earth," and all of
the characteristics of the country unto which the branches of the
"fruitful bough" were to "run over the wall," as Jacob predicted.
That the word of the Lord was to be given to the seed of Ephraim,
may be seen from Hosea 8:11, 12: "Because Ephraim hath made many
altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. I have written to
him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange
thing." The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is foreshadowed by
Isaiah the prophet, Chapter 29:4-19. It is the voice of a fallen
people whispering "out of the dust." It has come at a time when the
world is "drunken, but not with wine," staggering under the
influence of false doctrine, and without prophets and seers. It is
the "marvelous work and a wonder," which the Lord was to bring to
pass for the confounding of those who had turned things upside down,
and who worshipped him with their mouths while their hearts were far
from him.
The words of the book, Isaiah said, were to be presented to the
learned, saying, "Read this, I pray thee," and he was to say, "I
cannot, for it is sealed." The book itself was to be "delivered to
him that is not learned;" and that it was to be read is clear from
verse 18: "And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the
book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out
of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and
the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." The
coming forth of the Book of Mormon as the "stick of Joseph," is also
predicted in Ezekiel 37:15-22. The interview of Martin Harris with
Prof. Anthon, related above, fulfilled one portion of Isaiah's
prophecy, the other portions have come to pass in the translation of
the book by the unlearned youth and its reception by the meek and
poor among men, and by the restoration of sight to the blind and
hearing to the deaf, who have seen and heard the words of the book
and bear testimony to its divine origin. The "Stick of Judah"--the
Bible--is now joined with the "Stick of Joseph"--the Book of
Mormon--and, as Ezekiel foretold, they have become one in the hand
of the Lord, as a witness for him and his Son Jesus Christ in the
latter days.
As a preface to the Book of Mormon the testimony of three witnesses,
namely, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, is
published, declaring "with words of soberness" that an angel of God
came down from heaven and brought and laid before their eyes the
plates from which the book was translated; that the voice of God
from heaven declared that it had been translated by the gift and
power of God, and commanded them to bear record of it. Also the
testimony of eight witnesses is given, who saw the plates naturally,
handled them, inspected the engravings thereon, and turned over the
leaves that had been translated. In addition to these witnesses,
chosen of the Lord to bear record of these facts, thousands of
people, of various nationalities, have received divine testimony
that the book is true, and that Joseph Smith, who translated it by
the gift of God, was a true prophet, called of God to usher in the
dispensation of the fulness of times, proclaims anew the everlasting
gospel, the one plan of salvation, re-establish the Church of Christ
on earth, and prepare the way for the coming of him whose right it
is to reign, and for the final redemption of the earth from sin and
Satan, from darkness and death. And every person who will read the
Book of Mormon with an unprejudiced mind and will ask God in faith,
in the name of Jesus Christ, concerning it, shall surely receive a
witness of its truth and be guided in the way of eternal salvation.