INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAIN READING OF THE
BOOK OF MORMON
Statement on the Translations of Scriptures from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Lord has said that He speaks to men and women “after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:24).
“Clearly, God’s children are more inclined to accept and follow His teachings when they can understand them,” said Elder Renlund, who chairs the Church’s Scriptures Committee.
An update released Dec. 16 [2025] to the Church’s General Handbook allows for more flexibility in using different editions and translations of the Holy Bible at home and at church.
“Some individuals may benefit from translations that are doctrinally clear and also easier to understand.”
"But, [Elder Renlund] said, a translation produced over 400 years ago does not always use the manner of language used today, and some readers may find it difficult to “come to understanding.”
—Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
(Church News, 16 Dec 2025)
To read the full article, click here.
The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains His message of salvation.
The book was written by a prophet named Mormon, who quoted and condensed the words of many other ancient prophets who wrote on plates—thin sheets—of gold. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One group came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C. and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other group—the Jaredites—came much earlier, after the events of the Tower of Babel in the Bible. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, who are ancestors of the American Indians.
The Book of Mormon is a record of the Lord Jesus Christ visiting the Nephites after His resurrection in Jerusalem. The book teaches us what we must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.
After Mormon completed his writing, he gave the record to his son Moroni, who buried the plates in about 450 A.D. in a hill in what would become New York State. On September 21, 1823, Moroni, then a resurrected being—just as Jesus was resurrected after His death—appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him about finding and translating the ancient record into the English language. In a few years, Moroni gave the plates to Joseph, who translated them by the power of God.
In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies can be read here:
All people of the world are invited to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)
Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah.
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