Show A A QUESTION ABOUT THE BOOK OF MORMON MARK BIGLER of nepal utah writes thus A gentleman who resides io in west virginia has asked me eques a question which he be would like to toa t have answered through the columns of your paper it is this if the gospel is the power of god unto salvation romans 1 16 wherein is the necessity for the book of mormon why would not the bible be sufficient clent without it the gentleman who interrogates seems to be laboring belaboring under a ml misapprehension gap he appears to be under the impression that the bible is the power pow er of god unto salvation when it is mereland merea me relan an exposition of the principles of that power the gospel is the truth as it exists in the bosom of god and has an existe ic c independent of the bible book of mormon or any other written record the gentleman who seeks for information will not deny that the gospel in its power was preached by b christ and his apostles before the of t thc th jhc new testa teata nent part ii 0 the bible T do proves the point thlu oi 01 xoi anbo salvation was extant independent of that book hence it might have been asked co wita the compilation of the narratives and letters which corn com pose the new hew testament ament it the gospel is the power of god unto salvat salvation ign what need of that book tae consistent answer would have been substantially that it was waa necessary to preserve the narratives naira tives and explanations pla nations the book contains COB bains to lid aid the be sear archer cuer alter gospel truth in tig an understanding of what constitutes the power of god unto salvation the book of mormon oo oc caples precisely the same position with this difference that many of the doctrines given in ia the bible are made clearer in it the former having been translated trai slated by the power of god G od while the latter was translated by the of man the popular method of dealing with the blok ut of merman korman to is to repudiate and treat it as an a fraud without perusal and aad without tile the slightest slig otest test understanding of its character or contents it is simply a condensed history of ancient peoples who reached an advanced stage of civilization on toe american continent ane of these races was founded a band wereley were led from the tower ot of babel babelas at the time of the contusion confusion of tongues by the mod band of god to this land but who became so utterly de depraved prayed that they were destroyed irom from the lace face ot the th e earth another race was founded by an Is raw iLish party of colonists who were led by divine direction to this continent from palestine years before christ these people had prop prophets liets among them and by command of the almighty they were overe directed to keep a record of ef their doings the work being transmitted from father to son rhe chief object of the careful keeping ot of this it g ter y was explained to louse to whom the work was entrusted those whom god inspired foresaw that through wickedness toe the later race referred to with the exception ol of a comparatively lew few degraded remnants would be destroyed when the cup ox ot their iniquity should be full holy wen men obtained a promise that this record should be hid up and in tae latter times brought to light through me lae ministration of angels and the instrumentality of a prop prophet net the entire history was necessarily voluminous and the last of the prophets but one of the race whose ancestors came from palestine was commanded by the lord to make an 94 abridgement abridge ment of the whole which he be did flais hing aia work wita notes of current events showing the awful condition of wickedness into which his people had bad sunk toe the balance of tue tae history being completed by his bis son moroni who hid bid the plates of the reco record rd in tile the ground together with the sacred instruments used for translation and other relics the latest date given by moroni is A D 40 ane object was wan to preserve the record that it might be published to tile the gentiles also that it should be carried to the remnants of the formerly great but subsequently fallen alien f race the aborigines and finally to the jegu in the latter days clays the bible is the history of the dealings of god with his hi ell children iLdren on the eastern hemisphere hemis bere and the book of mormon occupies a similar position in relation to me western section of the globe they are harmonious in doctrine aed ad principle the former making allusion to the tae latter As to Is well known the bible term of stick meant a book or parchment writing wound upon a roller tue stick ot of judah is evidently the bible and the stick of joseph is claimed by the lat ter day saints to refer to the book of mormon 1 it being the history ot of a branch of 0 I 1 the house of joseph who was sold into egypt the saints claim to be mostly descended from the house of ephraim and both books are used by them and are one ene in tap hands of god hence the fulfillment fulfilment f alfil ment af jot this scripture Ezek esekiel tel thirty seventh chapter 16 moreover thou son of man mail take thee one stick and write upon it for judah and for the children of israel his flis companions then take another stick and write upon it for joseph the stick of ephraim Ep braim and for all the house bouse of israel his bis companions 17 and join them one ond to another into one etick and they shall become one in thine hand band 18 and when the children of th thy I 1 y people shall speak unto thee saying sayin g boft wilt thou not shew us what thu thou meanest by these 19 say unto them thus saith the lord god behold I 1 will take the stick of joseph which is in the hand of ephraim and the tribes of israel his fellows and will put them with him even with the stick of judah make them one stick and they shall abe be one in mine hand there is a saying savins of the saviors of which professing christians are unable to f furnish a reason reasonable ab I 1 e explanation we here present it john tenth chapter 14 1 I am the good shepherd and know my sheep ind and am known of mine 15 As the father me even so know I 1 the father andi and I 1 lay down my life tor the sheep 16 and other sheep I 1 have which are not of this fold them also I 1 must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold andone and one shepherd the book of mormon furnishes the cause of this expression which wis was simply that there were other people whom he proposed oro posed to visit lia in the ine capacity of redeemer Red gemer at the time of his crucifixion th this continent was visited because of the wickedness of the population with great destruction in a the form of atmospheric mo and terrestrial disturbances b which accounts for the marvelously ly brokel c character har acter of immense regions of country whole cit cities ales were swallowed up by earthquakes and upheavals of the earth while three d days ays of dense darkness prevailed the more righteous of et the people yvere were preserved after light and calm resumed the remnant remaining gathered in a body and were contemplating the awful events that had bad occurred when whan christ appeared amongst them in person in bis IS Is resurrected resurrect id body to be briet brief he organized his church with apostles and other officers and aad gave them similar instructions Instruct ioA to those imparted by him to the people in palestine As in the east the people were fully informed regarding the doctrine of the He deemer la in whose atonement they believed they repented of their sins were baptized tor for the remission of them and received the holy ghost by the imposition of the hands ot those holding divine authority they rejoiced in the gifts of the spirit christ performed many miracles the sick beug beme healed and great displays of the power of the most high were manifested these exhibitions of power were much greater than in re palestine lestine because of the greater faith of the people for nearly years peace prosperity and the power of god unto salvation abounded among the people but eventually they degenerated into a bloodthirsty blood thirsty and depraved race and became practically extinct at the time the record was hia bid udby up by moroni to in the hill cumorah Camo Ca morah rab abere it was procured procure cr under divine direction by the prophet joseph smith it is probable that the gentleman who asks the question introduced at the head bead of this article may oot not believe in the divine authenticity of the book of Mor mormon if ho he did however he would see at once oace that its production in the latter days and aad its publication to the tee worlo world is exceedingly essential occupying a conspicuous place in unison with ane bible in exhibiting that gospel which Is iq the be power of god unto salvation the of the B book k of mormon is IrV roved by evidence t that batis Is not susceptible of h abeln alog overturned over turned the testimony of the witnesses on the flyleaf fly ny leaf which has sever never been denied by the testators and is unimpeachable the evidence furnished by prophetic references of the gible the mcaver discover les ies constantly made in the form of relics of ancient civilized races raced which once dwelt to in this coati nent among whom the christian religion existe dare all corroborative of and never in conflict with the record given to the world through the instrumentality of joseph smith there are also la internal evidences furnished by the book itself of its own authenticity many of its prophetic statements having received a literal fulfill fulfil luent the necessity for the book of normon mormon as well as the bible assuming as aitto it to be an aik authentic record is obvious |