“Lesson 70: The Restoration (Part 4),” Old Testament Seminary Student Material (2018)
“Lesson 70: The Restoration (Part 4)”
Lesson 70
The Restoration (Part 4)
Prepare to Learn
Prepare your mind and heart to be taught by the Holy Ghost. Making the most of your seminary experience can help you know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ better. By studying the scriptures and the words of the prophets, you can know how to progress toward eternal life.
Begin your study with prayer.
Have you received your own personal witness of the Book of Mormon? The prophet Moroni promised that each of us can obtain our own confirmation that this sacred book is true (see Moroni 10:3–5).
Listen to the following account of Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He shares his own experience of coming to know that the Book of Mormon is true.
The questions below address three principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. As you read the questions, consider how well you could answer them. If you struggle to answer, read the corresponding section of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document.
What does it mean to act in faith?
How do you examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective?
What are divinely appointed sources?
In this lesson, you will have an opportunity to practice applying each of these principles.
Practice applying the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to the following scenario:
One of your friends is a Christian of another faith. One day your friend says, “Help me understand something. Like you, I believe the Bible to be the word of God. Why would we need the Book of Mormon if we already have the Bible?”
1. Answer the following questions:
What views or assumptions might have led your friend to ask this question?
What gospel teachings do you know that could relate to your friend’s question?
“Help me understand something. Like you, I believe the Bible to be the word of God. Why would we need the Book of Mormon if we already have the Bible?”
“Why is the Book of Mormon so essential if we already have the Bible to teach us about Jesus Christ? Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian churches in the world today when they obtain their doctrines from essentially the same Bible? It is because they interpret the Bible differently. If they interpreted it the same, they would be the same church. This is not a condition the Lord desires, for the Apostle Paul declared that there is ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (Ephesians 4:5). To help bring this oneness about, the Lord established a divine law of witnesses. Paul taught, ‘In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established’ (2 Corinthians 13:1).
“The Bible is one witness of Jesus Christ; the Book of Mormon is another. Why is this second witness so crucial? The following illustration may help: How many straight lines can you draw through a single point on a piece of paper? The answer is infinite. For a moment, suppose that single point represents the Bible and that hundreds of those straight lines drawn through that point represent different interpretations of the Bible and that each of those interpretations represents a different church.
“What happens, however, if on that piece of paper there is a second point representing the Book of Mormon? How many straight lines could you draw between these two reference points: the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Only one. Only one interpretation of Christ’s doctrines survives the testimony of these two witnesses.
“Again and again the Book of Mormon acts as a confirming, clarifying, unifying witness of the doctrines taught in the Bible so that there is only ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ [Ephesians 4:5]” (Tad R. Callister, “The Book of Mormon—a Book from God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 75).
3. If your friend is to learn why we need the Book of Mormon, what would he or she need to do to act in faith?
If you have an electronic device on which you can download apps, consider downloading the Doctrinal Mastery app. The Doctrinal Mastery app is free and available for Apple and Android devices. Search for “LDS Doctrinal Mastery” in the App Store (for Apple devices) or Google Play (for Android devices). If you have time, consider doing one or more of the memorization activities in the app.
Knowing the references to the doctrinal mastery passages can help you as you teach the gospel to others. Knowing these passages can also help you find answers to the questions you or others may have.
