Keywords
Book of Mormon, Mormon's agenda, Mormon's writing
Abstract
It is enticing to think that if we had the book of Lehi, we might more easily discern Mormon’s agenda in compiling what we know today as the Book of Mormon. Perhaps he gave some indication of why he selected certain types of information to include or exclude. He probably did not. As an ancient writer, Mormon would have assumed his readers would understand that he was constructing his text and pay attention to what he did to learn the meta-lessons he wanted to teach. We modern readers are not that audience, and we approach the Book of Mormon much as we approach the Bible. It contains lessons to teach us spiritual things as we read it according to what we expect to find in it. There is nothing wrong with that; such an approach is literally what Nephi suggested when he said he likened the scriptures to what his people needed to hear (even if the original text pointed to a different people and different circumstances).
Recommended Citation
Gardner, Brant
(2020)
"Section 4: Making Mormon’s Book,"
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Vol. 35, Article 19.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/interpreter/vol35/iss1/19
