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BYU Studies Quarterly

BYU Studies Quarterly

Keywords

Book of Mormon, Mosiah, wonder and amazement

Abstract

The Wonder of Scripture”: that’s the title of this lecture series.1 Book of Mormon scholar that I am, that title draws my mind to a passage in our keystone scripture. It’s a passage where the word “wonder” is used in connection with people’s responses to sacred records—to scripture. Tucked away somewhere most of us wouldn’t think to look, the Book of Mormon stages a remarkable scene that’s precisely about the wonder of scripture. I can’t help seeing that as just a little too appropriate, so I’d like to examine that scene. I’m going to argue that Mormon, serving simultaneously in his role as prophet of the Lord and in his role as literary architect, intends for readers of that scene to reflect on whether they’re responding in the right way to the written word of God.2 This intention is only subtly present in the text; Mormon does this particular literary work delicately. Yet his literary intention can, I think, be brought out with some real spiritual force. And for my money, seeing what Mormon does in this passage, both prophetically and literarily, might teach us much about what it means to recognize the wonder of scripture.3

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