The Book of Mormon
Proposed map of the lands and sites of the Book of Mormon For other uses, see Book of Mormon (disambiguation).
The **Book of Mormon** is a book that Latter Day Saints believe is the word of God along with the Bible.

The original English version of the Book of Mormon was published in March 1830 by a man named Joseph Smith, Jr. who said he was a prophet like the ones in the Old Testament.

Joseph Smith claimed that the record originated from gold plates that he was guided to find by an angel, and then used a spiritual gift from God to translate the book into English. The book says that the language it was first written in was made from "the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians."

The story that is in the Book of Mormon is a shortened version written by a man named Mormon of the story of two groups of people called the Nephites and the Lamanites. Their ancestors left Jerusalem with their father Lehi about 600 years before the birth of Christ, sailed across a very big ocean, and came to live in the New World. It gives a story of their families, cities, wars, systems of government, spiritual experiences and religious beliefs among other things. The main purpose of the Book of Mormon is to teach about Jesus Christ.

It also contains the Book of Ether (a very old book discovered by the Nephites) which told the story of another people (called the Jaredites) who had lived in some of the same areas shortly after the time of the Tower of Babel, but died out because of wars.

Usually, Book of Mormon stories show the Nephites as the more righteous, industrious and peaceful people and the Lamanites as wicked, lazy and warlike. Wars happen all the time between the two groups. But, near the end of the book, the Nephites become more wicked than the Lamanites, and all the Nephites die in their last war, except for one named Moroni who was directed by God to bury the Book of Mormon in a hill so that Joseph Smith Jr. could find it.

The central theme of the book revolves around Jesus Christ visiting the people described, performing miracles and showing them the right way to live.

Other websites
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* Book of Mormon at Scriptures.lds.org
* Book of Mormon Online

| * v
* t
* e
Latter Day Saint movement |
| --- |
| Fundamental ideas | 
* Mormonism
* Mormonism and Christianity
* Mormon fundamentalism
* List of denominations
* List of Reorganized Restorationist churches
* Mormon studies
* Bibliography

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| History | 
* History of the Latter Day Saint movement
* Church of Christ
* Extermination Order
* Succession crisis

* History of the LDS Church
	+ Mormon handcart pioneers
	+ Mormon Battalion
	+ Mormon Reformation
	+ Mountain Meadows Massacre

* Community of Christ history
	+ Amboy Conference
	+ Restoration Branches

* Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) history
	+ Rigdonite
	+ William Bickerton

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| Sacred texts | 
* Bible
	+ Old Testament
	+ New Testament
* Book of Mormon
	+ outline
* Doctrine and Covenants (Book of Commandments)
* Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible
* Pearl of Great Price
* Lectures on Faith (In canon of Fundamentalists and some Prarie Saints)
* Book of the Law of the Lord (Strangites only)
* The Word of the Lord ( Fettingites and offshoots)

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| Founders and leaders | 
* Joseph Smith
	+ outline
* Oliver Cowdery
* Sidney Rigdon
* Brigham Young
* Joseph Smith III
* James Strang
* William Bickerton
* Granville Hedrick
* Alpheus Cutler

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| LDS denominations | 
* The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
	+ outline
* Community of Christ
	+ Restoration Branches
* Bickertonite
* Strangite
* Hedrickite
* Fellowships of the Remnant
* Mormon fundamentalism
	+ FLDS Church
	+ Apostolic United Brethren

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| Doctrines and practices | 
* Articles of Faith
* Confirmation
* Early views on death
* Gifts of the Spirit
* Views on God
* Islam and Mormonism
* Judaism and Mormonism
* Priesthood
* Restoration
* Revelation
* Temples
* Tithing
* Women and Mormonism
* Word of Wisdom

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| Controversies | 
* Criticism
* Polygamy
	+ origin
* Black people and Mormonism
* Violence
* Historicity of the Book of Mormon
	+ origin
	+ archaeology
* List of prophecies of Joseph Smith

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| Related | 
* Angel Moroni
* Golden plates

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