On my talk show last Sunday a new listener questioned me regarding my view of the Book Mormon. I have discussed this many times through the years and wrote a 12 page statement explaining my view. I will polish this statement a little, discuss it in an upcoming program and make it available. This caller also sent me an email. Below is that email and my response.

Email: I ran across your show and am listening for the first time.  I heard you say that you thought the Book of Mormon was not considered by you to be a historical account.  Are you saying that the BofM should be considered a fictional account  that is no more than a spiritual story set forth to inspire man?  Please clarify?

My Reply: Thank you for your question. I appreciate your participation in my program. What I believe is that the Book of Mormon is not a history book, it is a religious book, inspired by God for the purpose of pursuading people to change their lives and commit themselves to the restoration of His Church through Joseph Smith in 1830. The Book of Mormon has been remarkably effective in promoting this cause. Why is this? I have never known of anyone who has accepted the Book of Mormon as divinely inspired scripture because of persuasive proof that it is a translation of an ancient history. Of the many I have known who accept it as an authenic inspired book of scripture, their convictions are based upon their encounter with its religious message and its spiritual impact within their lives.

To place the Book of Mormon within the larger context of the Judeo/Christian tradition, there is a vast body of scholarly and thoughtful writing in which the Bible is demonstrated to be a collection of a variety of literary forms written for religious purposes. There is some history, but there is much which is not history. There are many stories in the form of historical narrative which have have been demonstrated persuasively do not relate to historical persons, places or events. For example, the book of Genesis in any of our modern Bibles is not considered by the consensus of scientists and historians to be a translation of an ancient history. I cannot think that any serious student of the Bible could be unaware of this fact. Many Christians ignore the scientific and historical consensus and simply believe that all persons, places and events mentioned in the Bible are historical and reject the conclusions of many that non-historical stories were written about about non-existent persons, places and events as a means of conveying a religious point.

Of course the Bible is included in Mormon Scripture. But, setting that aside for a moment, my belief regarding the remaining Mormon scripture is that it is, somewhat like the Bible, a collection of a variety of literary forms written for religious purposes. Much is undisputedly historical. That is, it speaks of persons, places and events which have been identified by historians through a plethora of unquestioned historical sources. I refer particularly to most of the Doctrine and Covenants. On the other hand, the Pearl of Great Price mostly continues the religious stories of persons and events begun in ancient Israelite literature in the form of historical narrative, but which have not been demonstrated by historians to be historically factual. I refer to the stories of Adam, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, etc. Many Christians ignore the scientific and historical consensus and simply believe that all persons, places and events mentioned in the Bible are historical - that they are not elements in a literary form written for religious, not historical, purposes.

The Book of Mormon is presented as a historical narrative about civilizations which are known to have existed. Of their existence there is no question. There were people in the Americas in the Book of Mormon time frame. They were religious, they built temples and conducted religious ceremony, they had political and religious leaders, they came from somewhere, they built cities, colonized, migrated and fought in wars. This is all established beyond question. What is called into question is detail in the Book of Mormon. My study has left in doubt that this detail is historically factual. However, my study and experience with the Book of Mormon and its successful history has left me convinced that it is based upon religious, not historical, truth. No one at all familiar with the Book of Mormon and its claims could be unaware that its purpose is to convey religious truth, with the promise that those who read it sincerely with religious purpose will be moved spiritually to accept of its religious truth. It is in fact difficult to find non-religious element within the Book of Mormon.

But, as with the Bible, many believe stories which not only have no historical support, but for which there is strong argument against their probable historicity. You mentioned your belief that the book of Jonah is history; that he survived 3 days in a whale's belly. You believe this on simple faith without scientific or historical support. The fact that a man could not survive in the stomach of a whale for 3 days and the fact that there is no historical evidence of a mass conversion to Judaism in Ninevah, I suspect have little effect on your faith.

However, many believe Jonah is an ancient story used to present a religious truth that God has interest in non-Israelites. To get entangled in debate about its historicity is to ignore the purpose for which it was written. Many Christians believe the Bible without considering that acceptance requires belief in the historicity of those stories for which there is not persuasive support: the creation accounts, the flood accounts, the men of great age, tower of Babel, Job, Jonah and many others. These Christians believe the message, religious purpose and insights into the roots of their faith, which they find in the Bible, far outweigh the questions of historicity. They look for religious truth rather than historical truth. A true message clothed in a non-historical story has been one of the most common and most powerful forms of teaching in all known human civilizations. People love stories. If you want to teach or persuade, try using a story. Did Jesus recognize the power of teaching with stories?

Out of curiosity I have been interested in, and participated in, various discussions and debates about Book of Mormon historicity, but the outcome means little to me. My faith in the Book of Mormon centers on its religious message, its inspiration and its spiritual impact throughout my life and that of my family. Some would contend that I should ignore this dramatic impact of the Book of Mormon in my life if I cannot empirically answer the question, Did Alma really speak and then sit on the ground? (Alma 34:1)