Rating: 
Summary: I TESTIFY UNTO YOU, THAT IT IS TRUE - I AM HE
Review: Let it be known unto all those who read this review, that I am Moroni. I am he who delivered up the plates unto my servant, Joseph Smith Jr. I am he who made known unto him the plan of our Father that Joseph would be the instrument whereby the Gospel of the Lord would be made known upon this land and throughout all the world. May it come to pass that all those who seek the truth lay hands upon this record and study the contents therein. For the history of my people and the Gospel of our God is declared without fault. May this record be spread, declared and accepted by all nations, kindreds, tongues and people. For by doing so, I, Moroni, will deliver up unto my servant, Gordon B. Hinckley, the remaining sealed two-thirds of the record that has yet to be translated and revealed. May the fulness of this record be given unto you. So let it be written. So let it be done. Amen.
Rating: 
Summary: I read the book twice, but Mark Twain summed it up..
Review: Mark Twain made a somewhat in-depth review of the Book of Mormon after reading it, but he summed it all up when he said that the book was "chloroform in print". It will put you to sleep. He said the most amazing thing about the authoring of the book was that the author didn't put himself to sleep writing it.
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly boring with some cool parts
Review: This book was overall pretty boring but it was peppered with some fun violent parts, and some very bloody wars.
*****WARNING SPOILERS************** It starts out around 600BC with a guy named Nephi. Nephi wanted another guy's book but the guy wouldn't give it to him so Nephi waited until the guy was drunk and passed out and then Nephi chopped off his head and stole his book. He ran home and after looking through his new book he found out it was the first few books of the Bible that had been written up to 600BC. Now you may think that to go through all the trouble of murdering someone, and them robbing them and finding out all you got was a stupid Bible would be a disappointment, but Nephi was a bit of a religious nut, so he was pretty excited about what he scored. Then Nephi and his family sailed to America with his new book and started a Christian church (using the stolen scriptures as a guide) in America. Nobody is living in America at the time because God preserved it for Nephi and his people. Over time Nephi populated all of America with his family and friends on the boat (kinda like the Noah story) which is a bit of a stretch, but we'll give Joseph Smith some dramitic license here because he needs large populations for the rest of his story. Nephi has a mean brother named Laman, and Laman and his buddies split off from Nephi and his buddies and they form their own tribe called Lamanites. Nephi and his buddies are called Nephites. God hates the Lamanites for some reason and curses them with dark skin and makes them look and dress like Indians. Now, the Nephites keep trying to get the Lamanites to join their church, but the Lamanites don't want to. They prefer to throw spears, live in tee-pees, have sex, get drunk, nap all day and do all the things Indians like to do. The Nephites are white skinned, God fearing Christians, who like to go to church, pray, build temples, etc. This sets up a clash of cultures between the lazy, savage dark-skinned Lamanites, and the god fearing, hard working, white skinned Nephites. The Nephite and Lamanite populations grow over time into populations of millions on each side. They cover all of the Americas from Alaska to the Southern tip of South America. They go to war constantly over religion. Sometimes the Nephites win and they are able to set up their Christian run government, sometimes the Lamanites win and they set up their Indian style, non-religious government except without casinos. The Nephites send missionaries among the Lamanites (much like the mormon missionaries today) and if a Lamanite Indian joins the Nephite church God turns them 'White and Delightsome'. This all leads up to a final battle in which the Nephites lose. The Lamanites butcher all of the Nephites except for one, his name was Moroni. Moroni gathered up all of the journals that the Nephites had kept on Golden Plates and buried them in a hill in rural New York so that whoever found them would know about the extinct Nephite people. Joseph Smith dug them up in the 1820s and translated them into the book you are reading. The Lamanites continue to live without Nephites or any other white man around them for another 1000 years before Columbus comes. These Lamanites are the Native Americans we see today!! Pretty cool huh. The plot sounds exciting, but it is actually pretty boring. The cool bloody battles are seperated by long boring stretches. There are a couple cool parts, like the guy getting his head chopped off by Nephi and another part where a Nephite missionary named Ammon goes postal on a bunch of guys and chops off their arms and then puts all the bloody severed arms in a basket and gives the basket to his friend as a present. I think Ammon needed some professional help, but he is treated as kind of a loveable psycho. The handful of entertaining violent parts doesn't make up for the tediousness of the bulk of the book. Joseph Smith could've benefited from an editor. His writing style shows him to be the uneducated farmer that he was. There are also some anachronisms and unrealistic parts in the book that show Joseph did not do his research. At one point, Jesus gives 3 Nephites immortality. These three Nephites supposedly walked the earth forever and still walk it to this day, yet they are not mentioned again in the book. Where did they go? The book is filled with weird supernatural, magic stuff that doesn't fit the main theme of bloody ethnic wars and religious intolerance. Also, their are some anachronistic goofs, such as several King James Bible quotes that were first written in 1611AD yet the Book of Mormon has them being used in America between 600BC and 400AD. Also, he mentions horses and other animals that did not exist in America before Columbus. Oops, a little research on Joseph's part could have avoided these goofs. Finally, my biggest nitpick is the idea of Native Americans being the cursed descendants of the godless Lamanites and their dark skin was punishment from God is just a bit offensive in this day and age. I realize Joseph lived in a time when such racist assumptions were common, but that just proves the book hasn't aged well. I'm not the overly PC type, but the racial theories in The Book of Mormon are a little too close to 'The Birth of a Nation' for my tastes. These problems unfortunately overshadow the cool, bloody battles, and violent religious extremism that is at the heart of the book. Joseph Smith could have cut out the boring tedious parts and the magic supernatural stuff, eliminated the goofs, and only included the fun stuff and the book would be 1/4 of it's size and it would have been much more fun. Overall, a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: The Book Of Mormon
Review: This is not the original book of mormon as "translated" by Joseph Smith over time the book of mormon has been changed THOUSANDS of times to become more consistant with itself over the years. which is understandable it needs to make its religion believable. Or should i say business? They sure make themselves look like a business a business of deception members of the church are required to tithe 10% of what they earn without knowing at all where it goes. All mormonism is a unseemly ran business.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book; It is true
Review: Well, it is very funny reading at others reviews. What it is more Pathetically funny is that there are all lot of these so-called "reviewers" that have never read the Book. How can a book be review when it has not been read? I do not quiet imagine it. Well enough of this. I have read the book; to be honest, I have read it a couple of times. Everytime that I read it, I stare amazed at the constellation of word found in this book because it is such a powerful and full of the Spirit recopillation of ancient prophets form GOD that live here on the Americas. There is a lot to learn from these holy scriptures. To conclude, (Yes!! I am a member of the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint) I just would like to let the reader know that the Book Of Mormon has brought me closer to my Savior Jesus Christ. Indeed, this book is Another Testament Of Jesus Christ. Never before I had known my Savior until I was introduced to this book and, therefore, to the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I mention before, the BOOK OF MORMON is true. I leave this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but you can get it for free, why would you buy it
Review: I have not really known much about the Book of Mormon until a few years ago. I have heard of it, however, I have never really looked into it until recently. I have to make a comment that an amazon book review is not really the appropriate place for "proving" that the book as well as the religion is false. That would take many books to "prove", and people who do it end up looking rather ignorant (case in point, see the review entitled, "good firewood", and the use of the old, tired Revelation 22: 18-19 argument). In any case, I will now attempt to "review" this book. I personally feel that the book was well writen. For an 18 year old boy to write it in 6-8 months (especially if you believe he did it without divine intervention) is simply phenomenal. It is interesting that, being writen by a farmboy, it's divine origin is still being debated to this very day, and by learned professors none the less. With religious feelings aside, the historical aspect of this book is reason enough to read it, not only for religious reasons, but for philosophical and historical reasons as well. I do tend to agree with many other reviewers (in point- "why is this book even on here?") that the vast majority of people who gave the book a bad rating most likely have not even read the book, and if they did, read it in the completely wrong mindset. Thus, I will most likely have a poor rating for this review no matter what I say, merely because I rate the book with 5 stars. To conclude, I will say that the book is definitely worth while to read, but don't buy it. You don't have to buy it, because this exact copy can be obtained for free from any LDS church-- no strings attached. You will save $5 and will receive it faster. Also, if you are so opposed to the church but would like a copy anyway, you won't be paying for the book, and thus will not be supporting the church. It's better for everyone! :) ---
Christoph
Rating:
Summary: I've read it AND Mormon History lit, Pro and Con
Review: This review is from a Mormon. I've been in and out of the church and back in again. I have found the reviews below to be a great cross section of opinions and stories, not so much about this book, but about the reviewers themselves. Many seek to polarize Christians from mormons, many seek to convert others to the truthfulness of this book. As a former lapsed-mormon, I readily recognize the thesis-beating, anti-mormon angles on everything from polygamy to the drab nature of modern day sacrament meetings, to Joseph's polyandry, to the "evil" corporate structure. I smile. I love to learn about people's biases. I also reconize the stories about how this book has changed lives. It has changed mine for better and worse. Yet they are simply stories about people, not about the Book of Mormon. I look at the book of mormon support/critizism much as I look at the war in Iraq. Something has taken place in Iraq. But if you listen to CNN, you will come away with a much different story than, say, Al-Jezzira Television. And Fox will give you a much different story than Peter Jennings or Dan Rather. The NY Times a much different story than the Washington Post. All stories about the same event ,yielding vastly different interpretations,
It is my contention that the stories say much more about the tellers than they do about the event. Same with the book of mormon. It is an event. It was published. It exists. It is examinable, inspectable.
The Book of Mormon is what it is.
People's reactions must necessarily vary in intensity and response. And many of the responses can be true at the same time, given the heart-felt state of the believer/non-believer. One approach to this book is to read everything Pro and Con about it. Get data, then decide. You'll find this approach initially invigorating and enlightening.
If you are coming from an anti-approach, you'll find wonderful ammo with which to surprise the lay member of the church who is not up on history. You can build a case or story begging the question, "How can any half-witted dolt buy into this fabrication?"
If you are reading for pro-mormon reasons, you'll find incredibly poor logic behind much of the attacks and will be pleasantly surprised that some of the smartest thought leaders in secular society also happen to be believing, practicing mormons, i.e. Covey, Bushman, Eyring, Orson Scott Card, and a ton of Senators, business leaders, university presidents, yale philosphy doctorates, oxford press publications, blah blah blah, etc. etc. You'll also find church owned BYU in the forefront of genetic research using scientists who believe in this stuff. In fact the first woman to graduate at the top of Harvard Law School just a few years ago was a mormon girl from Sandy, Utah. But this approach will teach you that opinion repeats itself in many different costumes, forms and levels of articulation. Data does not convice, it just makes you aware of the spectrum of opinion.
Again, the Book Of Mormon is what it is. You have to develop your own response by reading it.
So what does all this mean? At the very least, one must admit there is something in this book that arises passion and confusion at the same time. Something that brings it to the all time best seller list and to many "biggest frauds" lists as well.
Really the only question is this: What story do you tell about this book, having really read it, and what does that story say about you? It will certainly amplify the skeptic's horse laugh. It will give the believer a real challenge to their sprituality. It will give the debunker a chance to selectively pick through the pages and build a case that reflects the internal bias of the debunker. If you come at it expecting the "Koran" of the mormons, you may find it to be so. If you happen on it without any precondtioning, without any western provincial attitudes, such as the western african nations have, then it may blow your mind and cause you to start a movement that will convert thousands, as it has. If you grew up in Salt Lake City as a non-mormon, you will certainly be very aware of how you should think of it and if you are a life long mormon it will be so ingrained in your soul you don't even notice when you are telling your own story through it's tales. Bottom line, as Joseph Campbell said, "Get a myth and hold on for the ride". Many have latched onto the mythical proposition the Book Of Mormon offers. We are all on spritual journeys, and here is a book full of stories you can adopt as your guide.
All humans are built to tell stories which reflect our inner self. I feel as though I know each and every one of these reviewers, as I have walked in many of their shoes. but I do not know much more about the book of mormon by scanning the reviews. And neither do you. Read it and find your own bent, prayers or no prayers. Either way it is worth a look see. And it will tell you a lot about yourself.
Rating:
Summary: nonsense
Review: The feeling I had when I read this book was that a I was reading the largest collection of nonsense ever. It is a surrealistic story even more fantastic than The Lord of the Rings. It has an internal coherence however that may explain the attention it deserves even today. But it is nothing to be taken seriously by any intelligent person. John Smith was a religious version of a snake-oil salesman that decided to write a book. He was a creative guy, no doubt about it, because it is not easy to put all these words together. But from there to "revelation" there is a long way to go.
Rating:
Summary: Why is this book even on here?
Review: To believing Mormons, this book is scripture well heeded and well loved. To others, it might just be a novelty and I hope that any readers (of reviews I mean) have more incentive to read it than just this. Yet to others, ("Christians") who profess to "love" everyone but have no problems insulting their views or lifestyles, this book is a farce. How does one rate the Bible, the Koran or anything else like it? You can tell I'm right by the reviews! Not everyone here has even read it! How does that make them qualified to give an honest review? READ books before you rate 'em. I suppose because I gave 5 stars for this book some people will find this review to not be helpful. Get it?
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever!
Review: I loved this book it changed my life. It is the best book I have ever read!
|
