We express love and admiration for President Henry B. Eyring,
Elders Quentin L. Cook, and Walter F. Gonzalez and pray
for the Lord's blessings to attend them
in their new callings.
We extend heartfelt greetings and gratitude
to each of you, brothers and sisters.
Throughout the world, your examples
of service and compassion are receiving
a great deal of attention.
At the same time, many people are
wondering about this Church's history and doctrines.
Among those questioners are some who choose to cast aspersions
at the Book of Mormon.
Disregard for the Book of Mormon or for any other sacred
scripture concerns me deeply.
In addressing that concern, I have titled my remarks
"Scriptural Witnesses."
I will define this term, scriptural,
as pertaining to the Bible and the scriptures
of the Restoration.
Members of the Church "believe the Bible to be the word of God
as far as it is translated correctly;
we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."
Scriptures of the Restoration also
include the Doctrine and Covenants as well as
the Pearl of Great Price.
A dictionary defines the noun witness
as an "attestation of a fact or event: [a] testimony."
The term witness bears special significance
when applied to the word of God.
In the Bible we read this important declaration:
"In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word
be established."
This assures God's children that divine doctrines
are confirmed by more than one scriptural witness.
The Bible and the Book of Mormon are
both witnesses of Jesus Christ.
They teach that He is the Son of God,
that He lived an exemplary life, that He atoned for all mankind,
that He died upon the cross and rose again as the resurrected
Lord.
They teach that He is the Savior of the world.
Scriptural witnesses authenticate each other.
This concept was explained long ago
when a prophet wrote that the Book of Mormon
was "written for the intent that ye may believe [the Bible];
and if ye believe [the Bible] ye will believe
[the Book of Mormon] also."
Each book refers to the other.
Each book stands as evidence that God
lives and speaks to His children by revelation to His prophets.
Love for the Book of Mormon expands one's love
for the Bible and vice versa.
Scriptures of the Restoration do not compete with the Bible;
they complement the Bible.
We are indebted to martyrs who gave their lives so
that we could have the Bible.
It establishes the everlasting nature of the gospel
and of the plan of happiness.
The Book of Mormon restores and underscores
biblical doctrines such as tithing, the temple,
the Sabbath day, and the priesthood.
An angel proclaimed that the Book of Mormon
shall establish the truth of the Bible.
He also revealed that writings in the Bible
available in our day are not as complete
as they were when originally written
by prophets and apostles.
He declared that the Book of Mormon
shall restore plain and precious things taken away
from the Bible.
A prophecy in the Book of Mormon warned
that some people would object to the notion
of additional scriptures.
To those who think they "need no more Bible,"
consider this God-given counsel:
"Know ye not that there are more nations than one?
Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, ... created all men,
... and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth
beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men,
yea, even upon all ... nations of the earth?
"...
Know ye not that the testimony of two nations
is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember
one nation like unto another?
Wherefore, I speak the same words unto
one nation like unto another.
And ... the testimony of the two nations shall run together
also."
The scriptural story of Jesus Christ
is indeed a two-hemisphere story.
While Mary and Joseph in the East
were making preparation for the holy child's
birth in Bethlehem, Nephi in the West
was being taught by the premortal Messiah.
To Nephi the Lord said, "Be of good cheer; ...
on the morrow come I into the world,
to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I
have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets."
To doubters of that second witness--the Book
of Mormon--the Lord issued a warning:
"Because you have treated lightly the things you have
received ... [you] shall remain under ...
condemnation until [you] repent and remember ...
the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I
have given ..., [the Bible, and] ...
do according to that which I have written."
The Lord provided other scriptures of the Restoration
and declared that those words will also be fulfilled.
With these scriptural witnesses, false doctrines
will be confounded.
With these scriptural witnesses, doctrines of the Bible
are not only reaffirmed but clarified.
How do scriptures of the Restoration clarify the Bible?
Many examples exist.
I will cite but a few, beginning with the Old Testament.
Isaiah wrote, "Thou shalt ... speak out of the ground,
and thy speech shall be low out of the dust,
and thy voice shall be, as ... one that hath a familiar
spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out
of the dust."
Could any words be more descriptive of the Book
of Mormon, coming as it did "out of the ground"
to "whisper out of the dust" to people of our day?
But Isaiah was not the only Old Testament prophet who
foretold the Book of Mormon.
Ezekiel wrote:
"Take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah,
and for the children of Israel ... : then take another stick,
and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim,
and for all the house of Israel ... :
"And join them one to another into one
stick; and they shall become one in thine hand."
Today, Saints living in many nations of the earth gratefully
hold the Bible (the stick of Judah)
and the Book of Mormon (the stick of Ephraim)
bound as one in their hands.
What about the New Testament?
The Book of Mormon also stands as a scriptural witness
to its teachings.
Examples include the miraculous birth of the babe in Bethlehem,
His Sermon on the Mount, and the intense suffering
of the Savior.
The doctrine of the Resurrection is mentioned more frequently
in the Book of Mormon than in the Bible.
The need for the Holy Ghost was mentioned by Paul.
He asked, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost ... ?
And they said unto him, We have not so much as
heard whether there be any Holy Ghost."
That doctrine is clarified by another scriptural witness,
conveyed through the Lord's prophet of the Restoration.
He taught us to "believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost
by the laying on of hands."
That precious and powerful gift is again
available to children of God.
Paul referred to the three degrees of postmortal glory
when he taught that "there is one glory of the sun, ...
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars."
That glimpse into postmortal glory
has been clarified by another scriptural witness.
The Lord revealed that "the glory of the celestial
is one, even as the glory of the sun is one.
"And the glory of the terrestrial
is one, even as the glory of the moon is one.
"And the glory of the telestial is one,
even as the glory of the stars is one."
The highest of these kingdoms, the celestial,
is reserved for those who obey the law of that kingdom:
"They who are not sanctified through the law ... of Christ,
must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial
kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.
"For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom
cannot abide a celestial glory."
These three degrees of glory relate to postmortal life.
They relate to the immortality of the human soul.
That gift of immortality became a reality
because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
This important word, atonement, in any of its forms,
is mentioned only once in the King James
Version of the New Testament!
In the Book of Mormon, it appears 39 times!
John, writing in the New Testament's book of Revelation,
foresaw "another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them
that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people."
One specific angel held keys of responsibility
for the Book of Mormon.
That was the angel Moroni!
These examples are but a few of many biblical doctrines
that are clarified by scriptures of the Restoration.
Willingly we share scriptures of the Restoration
with people across the world.
The Book of Mormon records the personal ministry
of the resurrected Lord to people of ancient America.
Ponder these everlasting truths that He proclaimed:
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God.
I created the heavens and the earth, and all things
that in them are.
I was with the Father from the beginning.
...
"...
The scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled.
...
"I am the light and the life of the world."
The Savior continued: "Whoso cometh unto me
with a broken heart and a contrite spirit,
him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.
...
"...
I have come unto the world to bring
redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.
"Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh
unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such
is the kingdom of God.
...
I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again;
therefore repent, and come unto me ...
and be saved."
Those declarations of the Lord summarize who He really is
and who He really wants us to be.
He wants us to come unto Him and, in due course,
be embraced gloriously in His loving arms.
I express my profound gratitude for scriptural witnesses.
I have seen the mighty change that
comes to people who apply the Lord's
teachings in their lives.
Such transformation leads to the blessing of eternal life.
I know that God lives.
Jesus is the Christ.
His gospel has been restored in these latter days.
President Gordon B. Hinckley is His prophet at this time.
I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.