Commentary

I have always been wary of relying on commentaries to scripture. A lot of people like them and I see the value in some of them but I want to be extremely careful to separate the source from the commentary. Much of what messed up the Pharisees (besides pride) was developing an intellectual culture that relied too heavily on the commentary surrounding the doctrine rather than the spirit of Him who gave the doctrine.

In that vein I note that the introduction to the Book of Mormon is one of the few bits within its pages that was not revealed. That would explain why all the most obvious changes in the text are in the introduction such as “they are the ancestors of the American Indians” becoming “they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians” before settling on “they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.”

The testimonies come from men authorized to see the plates for themselves for the purpose of bearing testimony to humanity of the truthfulness of the work. The rest comes from the plates themselves (aside from chapter summaries).

That being said, I don’t want to diminish the introduction because it sets a solid foundation for the reader to understand what they are encountering within the book and invites them to take the actions necessary to gain their own witness.