CHAPTER 1 - Latter-day Apostles and Prophets Speak

As the gospel has spread across the earth since 1950, let us illustrate an increasing blending of prophetic messages about the Promised Land with the power of Another Testament of Jesus Christ in the great latter-day work of our Father and His Holy Son. 

We join our testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon as our sure knowledge that it is sacred scripture. This knowledge comes from numerous personal witnesses over decades of acquaintance with the power and message of its truthfulness from cover to cover.

In June 2018, a former advisor to the Church History Department was invited to speak at a conference in Palmyra, New York entitled, “Church Historians Speak.” The event was held at the New York Palmyra Town Hall associated with the Hill Cumorah Pageant in July 2018. A number of speakers were invited to share their views of Church History experiences at this conference. He sought and received permission by letter from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to give his presentation called, “Pronouncements of Latter-day Prophets Regarding the Book of Mormon, 1953 to Present.” He spoke on this topic July 14 and 15 in Palmyra. I have incorporated this presentation here because it reflects my own gratitude for bringing forth the astounding doctrine and teachings from the Brethren about the Book of Mormon and America as the Choice and Promised Land.

There are clear and strong pronouncements from the latter-day prophets over the past 70 years with regard to the Book of Mormon origins. It is a joy to know of these statements from the Lord’s Prophets about the sacred Book of Mormon and the choice land of America.

The following references will portray a rough timeline of statements and commentary with regard to the Book of Mormon.

Elder Mark E. Petersen (ordained an Apostle, 1944)        

1953 – “I do not believe that there were two Cumorahs, one in Central America and the other one up in New York, for the convenience of the Prophet Joseph Smith, so that the poor boy would not have to walk clear to Central America to get the gold plates.”[1]

1978 – Elder Mark E. Petersen: “Moroni came back from the dead, a resurrected man! “He had lived in America some fifteen hundred years ago and was the sole survivor of his people in a series of tragic battles which took many lives.

    “Moroni’s father was commander of the armies of this ancient people, known as Nephites. His name was Mormon. The war of which we speak took place here in America some four hundred years after Christ. (See Mormon 6.) As the fighting neared its end, Mormon gathered the remnant of his forces about a hill which they called Cumorah, located in what is now the western part of the state of New York. When finished with the record, Moroni was to hide it up in that same Hill Cumorah which was their battlefield. It would come forth in modern times as the Book of Mormon, named after Moroni’s father, the historian who compiled it.

“He gave us the lesson of the annihilation of the Nephites as a case in point. He wrote similarly of the tragedy of the Jaredites. It was another case in point. Do we realize that this same kind of destruction can come upon us, and for the same reason?

“So this is the message of Moroni. He came back from the dead to deliver it – in these modern times. “His people were Americans, too. His words constituted a people-to-people message, ancient Americans speaking to modern Americans. Theirs was the voice of bitter experience seeking to persuade us to avoid the dreadful conditions which engulfed them”[2]

President Joseph Fielding Smith (ordained an Apostle, 1910; ordained President of the Church, 1970)

1956 – “And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfillment of the prophets – the book to be revealed. Who can read the words of Joseph Smith as recorded in section 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants and not feel that he had

reference to the Hill Cumorah in Western New York? While in this statement it is not positively declared that the Hill Cumorah is the place where the plates were obtained, yet the implication that such is the case is overwhelming. Moroni declaring from Cumorah the book to be revealed!”[3]

1956 – President Joseph Fielding Smith: “In the light of the revelation it is absurd for anyone to maintain that the Nephites and Lamanites did not possess this northern land.”[4]

1956 – President Joseph Fielding Smith: “Locale of Cumorah, Ramah, and Repliancum. This modernistic theory (that the Nephites and Lamanites were confined almost entirely within the borders of the territory comprising Central America and the southern part of Mexico) in order to be consistent, must place the waters of Ripliancum and the Hill Cumorah some place within the restricted territory of Central America, notwithstanding the teachings of the Church to the contrary for upwards of 100 years.”[5]

President Harold B. Lee (ordained an Apostle, 1941; ordained the President of the Church, 1972)

1941 – “I would that all men could believe in the destiny of America as did the early pioneers: that it is the land of Zion; that the founders of this nation were men of inspired

 vision; that the Constitution as written by

the inspiration of heaven must be preserved at all costs.

“I make a further plea that the citizens of this favored land live righteously that they might enjoy the fruits of their righteousness in this land of promise.”[6]

1973 – President Harold B. Lee: “America Will Not Fail:  Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the New Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won’t fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges.

“I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers.”[7]    

President Ezra Taft Benson (ordained an Apostle, 1943; ordained President of the Church, 1985)

1964               – “How I wish every American and every living soul would read the Book of Mormon. I testify to you that it is true. It tells about the prophetic history and mission of America.”[8]

1977 – President Ezra Taft Benson: “Many great events have

transpired in this land of destiny. This was the place where Adam dwelt; this was the place where the Garden of Eden was; it was here that Adam met with a body of high priests at Adam-ondi-Ahman shortly before his death and gave them his final blessing, and the place to which he will return to meet with the leaders of his people (D&C 107:53-57). This was the place of three former civilizations: that of Adam, that of the Jaredites, and that of the Nephites. This was also the place where our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith, inaugurating the last dispensation.

“The Lord has also decreed that this land should be ‘the place of the new Jerusalem which should come down out of heaven and the holy sanctuary of the Lord’ (Ether 13:3). Here is our nation’s destiny!”[9]

1985 – President Ezra Taft Benson: “I testify that America is a choice land. The Book of Mormon records the resurrected Lord’s appearance on the American continent.”[10]

1986 – President Ezra Taft Benson: “For example, in the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America.”[11] 

1987 – President Ezra Taft Benson: “Third Nephi is a book that should be read and read again. Its testimony of the resurrected Christ in America is given in purity and beauty.”[12]

1988 – President Ezra Taft Benson: “Two great American Christian civilizations – the Jaredites and the Nephites – were swept off (this American nation) because they did not ‘serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.’”[13]

1988 – President Ezra Taft Benson: “The Book of Mormon chronicles the rise and fall of two mighty civilizations in America that failed to give heed to this decree, and thus met with destruction.”[14]

[1] Petersen, Mark E., General Conference, April 1953.

[2] Petersen, Mark E., General Conference, October 1978.

[3] Smith, Joseph Fielding, Doctrines of Salvation Vol. 3, p. 233.

[4]Smith, Joseph Fielding, Doctrines of Salvation Vol. 3, p. 234.

[5]Smith, Joseph Fielding, Doctrines of Salvation Vol. 3, p. 233.

[6] The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 1966, 41:05, pp. 181-82.

[7] The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 1966, 73-39, pp. 350-51.

[8] Benson, Ezra Taft, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 51.

[9]Benson, Ezra Taft, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, pp. 587-88.

[10] Benson, Ezra Taft, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p 17 (1 Dec. 1985 Devotional).

[11] Benson, Ezra Taft, General Conference, October 1986.

[12] Benson, Ezra Taft, General Conference, April 1987.

[13] Benson, Ezra Taft, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, pp. 621, 576 (parenthesis added).

[14] Benson, Ezra Taft, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 576. (August 1988)