The Book of Mormon – the SparkNotes version - John D. Brown

If you want to get a quick introduction to The Book of Mormon, you’ve come to the right place.

Below, I provide the SparkNotes version of the book (Cliff Notes for you older folks).

For those wanting to actually read a sample of the book, I’ve added suggested readings. These will give you an excellent feel for what’s in the book and what it teaches.

When you finish, you truly will understand The Book of Mormon better than 99% of the population. Your coworkers and family will look at you with awe. And you’ll be able to speak intelligently about one of the core books of scripture used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The 1-minute overview

You know The Bible. It shares the stories and teachings of a number of folks striving to follow Christ in ancient Israel.

Well, The Book of Mormon shares the stories and teachings of folks striving to follow Christ in ancient America.

The main purpose of The Book of Mormon is to teach us more about Christ and how to follow him. As one of the prophets in the book wrote:

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
(2 Nephi 25:26)

For me and other Latter-day Saints who believe it’s scripture, the Book of Mormon is awesome. It shows that the heavens are open and God is willing to communicate with folks all over the globe in times past as well as in our day. And it’s another witness that Jesus really is the savior of all of Heavenly Father’s children.

Now, let’s turn to the content of the book.

1. The beginning: Lehi’s family flees Jerusalem

The book opens in Jerusalem around 600 B.C., sometime in the first year after Babylon besieged Jerusalem, deposed the king, and established Zedekiah as a puppet king. (You can read in the Bible about Babylon taking the city and putting Zedekiah on the throne in 2 Kings 24:10-20.)

The book begins with the prophet Lehi. The Lord knows that not too many years hence Zedekiah will rebel against Babylon. In response, Babylon will raze Jerusalem, slaughter many of it’s people, take others back to Babylon, and end the kingdom of Judah for good. Lehi warns the people to repent so they can avoid destruction, but they seek to kill him instead. The Lord commands Lehi to flee, promising him he will lead him to a new land. That land ends up being somewhere in the Americas.

Read 1 Nephi chapters 1-18 to hear Nephi relate the story of fleeing Jerusalem and arriving in the Americas, plus a vision of the tree of life. These are short, one- to three-page chapters.

(If you’re interested, you can also read about Zedekiah’s rebellion nine years later and the result in 2 Kings 25.)

2. The next 600 years

After the families arrive on the American continent (possibly South or Central America), they eventually split into two main groups—the Lamanites, who follow Laman, and the Nephites, who follow Nephi.

Over the course of the years, they fight, reconcile, mix, follow Christ, and reject him. Sometimes the Nephites are the good guys. Sometimes the Lamanites are.

3. Christ visits the people

When Christ is born, an incredible sign appears in the area where the book is taking place. When he dies, the book records massive destructions. After Christ is resurrected in Jerusalem, he visits the folks in America. This is the most important event that occurs in the book.

The sign at the time of Christ’s birth: 3 Nephi chapter 1
Destructions at the time of Christ’s death: 3 Nephi chapter 8
Christ’s first visit: 3 Nephi chapters 9-18
Christ’s second visit: 3 Nephi chapters 19-26
Christ’s third visit: 3 Nephi chapters 27-28

Notice how Christ teaches these folks a number of key things he also taught the folks in Jerusalem.

4. The people live in peace for 200 years, then lose their focus

After Christ’s visit, the people follow his teachings, live in peace, and build an ideal society. However, about 200 years later, they begin to fall apart.

Read 4 Nephi (about 2 pages) to see what the society was like. Notice what leads to the end of the wonderful society.

5. A many-decades war ends in genocide

After another hundred or so years, Mormon, a warrior prophet, warns the people they’re headed for destruction and tries to lead the Nephites back to the ways of Christ. But they reject his message.

The Lord commands Mormon to write an abridgment of the whole history of the Nephites. He does so and includes the tragic downfall of that people around 400 A.D.

Read Mormon chapters 1-6 to learn what happened in Mormon’s own words. Notice the stark difference between the society in these chapters versus 4 Nephi.

6. Mormon hands the records off to his son Moroni

After that final battle, Mormon hands the records off to his son Moroni who finishes the record and buries it unto the Lord so that it can come forth at a later date.

Read Mormon chapter 8 to learn what happened after the last battle and what Moroni prophesies will happen with the record.

Then read Moroni chapter 10, the last chapter of The Book of Mormon to hear Moroni’s final words. This is the last thing Moroni wrote before hiding the plates up. It’s his swansong and, I think, one of the most beautiful passages of scripture.

This is the official end of The Book of Mormon, but it is not the end of the story.

7. Moroni comes back to the seventeen-year-old Joseph Smith in the year 1823

The book lies in the earth for hundreds of years. Then in 1823 Moroni visits Joseph Smith and tells him the Lord wants him to translate and publish the book.

In September of 1827 Joseph obtains the plates and a special artifact that allows him to translate the arcane language.

The translation proceeds slowly. Not only must Joseph work like everyone else to provide for his family, but he’s regularly having to flee mobs and those who want to steal the plates. Furthermore, in the summer or 1828 the Lord has the angel Moroni take the plates from Joseph because he failed to follow the Lord’s instructions. However, later that year the angel returns the plates, and the Lord gives Joseph another chance.

In 1829, a family by the name of Whitmer welcomes Joseph into their home. It’s in a safe area where he can focus, and he begins in earnest. He translates almost all of the present Book of Mormon text there during a three-month period between April and June of 1829.

In March of 1830 the book is published as The Book of Mormon.

The Lord directs Joseph via revelation to organize a church. And a month later, in April, 1830, Joseph organizes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Read Joseph Smith’s account of his first vision and Moroni’s visit to learn what happened.

Did anyone else see the plates?

There are a number of others who claimed to have seen the plates.

There is a group of three men who signed a statement in 1830 saying that an angel showed them the golden plates from which Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the book and that they heard God’s voice testifying that the book had been translated by the power of God.

Read the signed testimony of the three witnesses.

There is a second group of eight men who signed a statement affirming that they saw and handled the plates.

Read the signed testimony of the eight witnesses.

And there are others. You can read about them in this short piece.

How did Joseph Smith translate this ancient record?

Joseph Smith didn’t translate in the manner we think of translation today. Instead, he seems to have read the translation through the power of God via seer stones. Read this essay to learn more. You can also read this essay about seer stones.