What's so bad about the Book of Mormon?

Ironhold said:

The above, BTW, was done as a last-ditch effort to keep feuding factions apart lest the colony they started wind up in danger of self-destruction.

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Yeah, but describing white as "fair and delightsome" and black as unenticing does sound a bit racist don't you think? In any case, it was a big turn-off to me. Of course, back in the 70's the Mormon Church was a lot more racist than it is today. What happened in Brazil seems to have been a big turning point. Besides, it produced the likes of Scott Card, which is awesome!

Ironhold said:

The above, BTW, was done as a last-ditch effort to keep feuding factions apart lest the colony they started wind up in danger of self-destruction.

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CFR.

BigDaddy4 said:

CFR.

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Same chapter that the verses are found in.

A guy named Lehi established a colony consisting of his children, their families, and the families of a few other individuals.

One son, Laman, was an absolute jerk who had a habit of making himself useless. Despite this, he wanted all of the glory usually reserved at the time for the firstborn male heir.

Another son, Nephi, worked his fanny off trying to please both God and his father. As such, he was rewarded with the glory instead of Laman.

Laman & Lemuel were furious that a younger sibling was outshining them, and kept causing problems; many chapters in 1 and 2 Nephi involve the problems the pair caused. Rather than learn their lesson each time God smacked them down, the pair responded by getting even more jealous. In time, their families came to share this hatred as well.

By the time of 2 Nephi, the colony had essentially rifted into factions: one faction who followed after Nephi & his example, and another faction who saw Nephi as a usurper and do-gooder. The two factions were constantly fighting with each other, and IIRC acts of violence began to occur as well. If the two factions weren't immediately separated, then the survival of the main colony would be in danger via fratricide.

drstevej said:

2 Nephi 5:20-21

20 Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.


21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

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What do you know of ancient garment (animal skins) color symbolism, as it's found in ancient Jewish, early Christianity, & in other mystery religions?

smaneck said:

Yeah, but describing white as "fair and delightsome" and black as unenticing does sound a bit racist don't you think? In any case, it was a big turn-off to me. Of course, back in the 70's the Mormon Church was a lot more racist than it is today. What happened in Brazil seems to have been a big turning point. Besides, it produced the likes of Scott Card, which is awesome!

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Same questions for you: What do you know of ancient garment (animal skins) color symbolism, as it's found in ancient Jewish, early Christianity, & in other mystery religions?

EarlyChristianresearcher said:

Same questions for you: What do you know of ancient garment (animal skins) color symbolism, as it's found in ancient Jewish, early Christianity, & in other mystery religions?

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Are you trying to tell that this was about animal skins rather than human skins? If so it is a rather misleading translation especially in the context of 19th century America!

So the color coats they wore made them un-enticing? Stretch to rescue LDS deity from 19th century racism.

Ironhold said:

The above, BTW, was done as a last-ditch effort to keep feuding factions apart lest the colony they started wind up in danger of self-destruction.

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Which verse says that?

drstevej said:

2 Nephi 5:20-21

20 Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.


21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

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I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today.... The day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised. In this picture of the twenty Lamanite missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos, five were darker but equally delightsome The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation.

At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl--sixteen--sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents--on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather....These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. One white elder jokingly said that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated.
SPENCER W. KIMBALL, General Conference Report, October, 1960;
Improvement Era, December 1960, p. 922-923.

I think we have had this discussion before, oh yeah here are the verses:

'Hate to say it, but someone fed you a lie' (Ironhold)

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Ironhold you have confused: ‘How people treated Indians and Negros’ with ‘The BOM, LDS doctrines and their belief that the color of their skin and race was a curse (because of unbelief, and or sins).

Whether or not people are kind, nice, or include Indians and Negros in their community’s or churches is a completely different thing than saying: your skin is a result of a curse put upon you for some reason. (If you said people who wear glasses are stupid, and that glasses are a curse of unbelief, you cannot get out of it by saying we have always invited bispeckled people into our churches.

21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.
22 And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.
23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.
24 And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey’ (2 Nephi 5:21-24)

5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.
6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people.
7 Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?
8 O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God.
9 Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that ye revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins; neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness; but ye shall remember your own filthiness, and remember that their filthiness came because of their fathers’ (Jacob 3:5-9)

6 And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men.
7 And their brethren sought to destroy them, therefore they were cursed; and the Lord God set a mark upon them, yea, upon Laman and Lemuel, and also the sons of Ishmael, and Ishmaelitish women.
8 And this was done that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people, that they might not mix and believe in incorrect traditions which would prove their destruction.
9 And it came to pass that whosoever did mingle his seed with that of the Lamanites did bring the same curse upon his seed’ (Alma 3:6-9)

The LDS church excluded black people from the priesthood on account of their skin color, it does not matter that they changed their doctrine recently, it just doesn’t matter, the fact is that the BOM and church belief held that the color of their skin was a result of a curse, and this is why they could not hold the priesthood (a curse for siding with Lucifer in the spirit world):
"were more valiant than others… Those who were less valiant in pre-existence and who thereby had certain spiritual restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as the negroes. Such spirits are sent to earth through the lineage of Cain, the mark put upon him for his rebellion against God and his murder of Abel being a black skin... The present status of the negro rests purely and simply on the foundation of pre-existence… The negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow therefrom…" (Mormon Doctrine, p.527, 1966 ed.)

"Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness he became the father of an inferior race" (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p.101)

According to Brigham Young, Joseph Smith classified these people as The Seed of Cain. Young said that "Joseph Smith had declared that the Negroes were not neutral in heaven, for all the spirits took sides, but 'the posterity of Cain are black because he (Cain) committed murder. He killed Abel and God set a mark upon his posterity'" (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p.105)

"It was well understood by the early elders of the Church that the mark which was placed on Cain and which his posterity inherited was the black skin. The Book of Moses informs us that Cain and his descendants were black" (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p.107)

"there is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient; more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 1:61)

I have all these books above on my shelf here. The following was noted by a Christian apologist concerning Joseph Fielding Smiths statements in his books: ‘This is especially interesting since it was this same Joseph Fielding Smith who also said, "The Latter-day Saints have no animosity towards the Negro. Neither have they described him as belonging to an `inferior race'" (Answers to Gospel Questions 4:170)

Really, so who is lying to whom?

See also:
http://www.christianforums.com/t7851961-7/
http://www.christianforums.com/t7851961-13/

And you know his motivations, how? (Smaneck, from post 196)

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It is in the Church History, and Oliver went north to Canada with the promise that he would sell the copyright to Joe's book. No one bought it. Harris also tried to sell it once also.

And a lot of them ended up in the Bible. (Smaneck, from post 196)

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If you want to discuss the Apocrypha, then I hope you've read up on it. Otherwise what is scripture is scripture and what is Apocrypha is Apocrypha, if you don't know the difference or why, I guess it's time you should learn.
[citation needed] (Ironhold, from post 197)
To what particular statement, a have a virtual library here of LDS books and writings I've collected over 25 years.

smaneck said:

I'm talking about Paul's conception of the Gospel, not yours. You were quoting Paul.



It goes against the second century author of Titus, yes.



Uh, the verse before that says that the king should not multiply his horses either. Does that mean a king can have only one horse?



Yeah, right.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Mighty selective in your quoting, aren't you. Further down wiki says:

"The Pastoral epistles are regarded by some scholars as being pseudepigraphical. On the basis of the language and content of the pastoral epistles, these scholars today doubt that they were written by Paul and believe that they were written after his death. The early Church did not agree. Critics claim the vocabulary and style of the Pauline letters could not have been written by Paul according to available biographical information and reflect the views of the emerging Church rather than the apostle's. These scholars date the epistle from the 80s CE up to the end of the 2nd century.[5] The Church of England's Common Worship Lectionary Scripture Commentary concurs with this view: "the proportioning of the theological and practical themes is one factor that leads us to think of these writings as coming from the post-Pauline church world of the late first or early second century"."

I might add that Titus is not mentioned by any of the Church Fathers prior to 170 A.D.

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OK---Sat night my water heater broke and flooded the house--I've had priorities!!!

I am not going to derail this thread with a treatise on Titus! It is in the bible and that is all I am going to say on this thread. "Scholars" say a lot of things!

He is not taking horses as his wives and bedding them to beget children.

It is plainly stated that Mormons think most of the bible is not authentic , corrupted, not translated right, and so on--

It's an impossibility to get 2 groups to agree on the meaning of a book that both do not recognize as pertinent. If only one group regards it, there can be no agreement about the book, only on parts that both can accept. I mean, there is no way for a Hindu and a Muslim to agree on the writings of the Quran except on certain passages that both can claim have the same meaning. If one group wants to throw out what doesn't suit them, there is going to be no unity of thought. Within the Christian community, there is much disagreement on the translation of a word or passage but the book is held in the same regard, and so are the writers of that book.
Arguing over the meaning of a word or passage is a different conversation from "that whole book is wrong." And the last is what both sides say.

mmksparbud said:

I am not going to derail this thread with a treatise on Titus! It is in the bible and that is all I am going to say on this thread. "Scholars" say a lot of things!

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And they generally have good reasons for what they say. My point is that the Bible is full of pseudepigrapha. If you are going to reject anything that claims to be scripture on that basis you'll have to chuck a good deal of the Bible.

He is not taking horses as his wives and bedding them to beget children.

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My point was you completely misrepresented that passage of scripture. It says kings should not multiply wives or horses. If that doesn't mean a king can only have one horse, there is no reason to think it means a king can have only one wife. All I see it saying is 'don't go overboard with either one.'

It is plainly stated that Mormons think most of the bible is not authentic , corrupted, not translated right, and so on--

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I think Mormons have some issues with parts of the Bible but I've never heard them suggest most of it is corrupted. But I'll let them speak for themselves on that issue.

It's an impossibility to get 2 groups to agree on the meaning of a book that both do not recognize as pertinent.

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Then why keep debating it?

smaneck said:

I think Mormons have some issues with parts of the Bible

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No, not really.

smaneck said:

but I've never heard them suggest most of it is corrupted. But I'll let them speak for themselves on that issue.

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Whatever corruption the Bible has undergone, God has more than compensated for in the entire body of revelation we espouse, making, in effect, the fact of biblical corruption of no lasting consequence. It is in the composite of revealed scripture that we find God's standard of "in the mouth of two or three witnesses" fulfilled. To say that we don't trust the Bible, or that we find fault with it—these are the empty claims of ignorant or antagonistic persons, where the LDS religion is concerned.

My article on the subject....

In 1820, Joseph Smith, Jr. started the Mormon church movement. He was raised by strange parents that were involved in occult activities. Joseph Smith claims that in 1820, he received a vision from Jesus and God the Father. They told him that the church was in apostasy and he was to launch a new dispensation. He put his "calling" on hold for three years.

In 1823, Joseph Smith claimed to be visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni professed to be a glorified son of a man by the name of Mormon. Mormon had been dead for about 1400 years. The "angel" told Joseph of golden plates that contained the "fulness of the everlasting gospel". Supposedly, Mormon had buried this book near Palmyra, New York at Cumorah Hill. Joseph dug up the golden plates and some spectacles that he called the "Urim and Thummim" in 1827. He claimed that the spectacles were for translating the golden plates. It is said that he would put a seer stone into a hat and then put his face inside the hat and translate that way. Joseph, his legal wife and Oliver Cowdery translated the plates. The Book of Mormon was then published in 1830. That same year, the "Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints" was established. Most of this information can be read in the "Pearl of Great Price" written by Joseph Smith.

The Book of Mormon was supposedly in the ground many centuries before the King James Bible of 1611 was published. Although claiming to be older than the King James Bible, it plagiarizes about 25,000 words in the King James Bible. If you compare the two, you will see the Book of Mormon copies the King James Bible word for word in numerous verses. The Book of Mormon contains many errors. It actually makes claims of elephants in the Western Hemisphere before 400 A.D.

Joseph Smith had at least twenty-seven wives. Him and his followers moved from New York to Ohio, then to Missouri, but the Governor ran them out of the state. Finally, they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph and his brother, Hyrum were put in jail and killed by a mob in 1844. Afterwards, the church split between Joseph's family and Brigham Young. Joseph's family went to Independence, Missouri and started the "Recognized Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints". Most of the people chose to follow Brigham Young though.

In 1847, Brigham Young and the Mormons moved to Salt Lake City to escape the United States laws. At the time, Salt Lake City belonged to Mexico. Young spent the next thirty years building the foundation stones of Mormonism. Young commanded Bishop John Lee to murder over one hundred non-Mormon immigrants in 1857. Bishop John Lee was convicted and executed by the United States Government twenty years later. Young somehow escaped punishment and to this day the Mormon history books do not mention about his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Young also practiced polygamy like Joseph Smith and had fifty-six children with seventeen wives. He later died in 1877.

The "General Authorities" administrate the Mormon church today. The authorities are the "First Quorum of the Seventy", "Counsel of Twelve Apostles", "First Presidency", "Presiding Bishoprick" and "Patriarch of the Church". There are priesthoods in the Mormon church for men over the age of twelve. These priesthoods consist of the Melchizedek order, which is the higher priesthood and the Aaronic order, which is the lesser priesthood. The Mormon church has over five million members and is divided into thousands of "stakes" and "wards" with over two thousand branches and 180 missions. The Mormon church has over twenty-six thousand active missionaries that consist of young men and women in their early twenties, who serve for two years.

The Mormons teach many heresies, such as the Deity of Man. Mormons teach that God was actually a man at one point in time and that men can become gods. This is not taught in the Bible anywhere. God is said to be eternal and the only God. Joseph Smith claims that he saw God the Father, but the Bible teaches that no one has seen God at any time.

Isaiah 44:6 "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."

John 1:18 "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."

Mormons deny the deity of Jesus Christ by no acknowledging that He is the eternal Son of God. Instead they teach that Jesus was a preexisting spirit that was exalted. The Bible teaches God is a Trinity with Jesus Christ as the second member of the Godhead. The Mormons also deny the Trinity.

1 John 5:7 "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

There are multiple authorities in the Mormon church. The authorities include the writings of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, which contradict the word of God. Joseph Smith actually claims that the Bible does not teach salvation well enough because information was lost. This information can be read about in the book called the "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith".

Proverbs 30:6 "Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

Isaiah 8:20 "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

The Doctrine and Covenants of the Mormons support polygamy in 132:61-62. The New Testament teaches that we are to have one wife. A husband and wife should be the picture of Jesus Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:23-32). A man and wife are considered to be one flesh when they are married. Notice the singular use of the word "wife".

Mark 10:6 "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh."

The "Pearl of Great Price" claims that all other Christians are an abomination in God's sight. This stance is like the Catholics, but probably worse. The Bible teaches that anyone who is Born Again is in the Church, not just people of one denomination or organization.

Mormons deny that Hell is a literal place with fire. They teach baptism for the dead, annihilation, baptismal regeneration, deny the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ and deny the blood atonement. Mormons are taught that Jesus and Satan were spirit brothers, along with many other heresies.

Many people are fooled because Mormons tend to be very nice, but their doctrines are heresy. The Bible warns us of people like the cult of the Mormons. Mormons never tell you about their crazy doctrines at first. They want to come off as a Christian, just like you, but that is far from the truth as you can see.

Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

1 Timothy 4:1 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"

Romans 16:18 "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple."

As Christians we understand that the Bible teaches that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Mormons believe that salvation is by good works, water baptism, missionary work and other good deeds. James Talmage in the "Articles of Faith" of the Mormons says that justification by faith is an evil, "pernicious doctrine".

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."

Mormons also have "Sacred Temple Undergarments" or the "Garments of the Holy Priesthood". These "magic" undergarments are said to keep the Mormons safe from the "evils of this world". The underwear has Masonic symbols on them because Joseph Smith was a Mason himself.

The Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible in various places. The Bible teaches that the Church started in Acts 2, while the Book of Mormon teaches that it started in 147 BC according to Mosiah 18:17. Acts 11:26 records that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch around 40-65 AD, while Alma 46:13-16 in the Book of Mormon says that the Nephites were referred to as Christians in 73 BC. The Bible says that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, while Alma 7:10 said he would be born in Jerusalem. I will stop there, but there are tons and tons of more errors and contradictions in the Book of Mormon and other Mormon writings.

zelosravioli said:

It is in the Church History, and Oliver went north to Canada with the promise that he would sell the copyright to Joe's book. No one bought it. Harris also tried to sell it once also.

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I'll wait to see what the Mormons have to say about this.

If you want to discuss the Apocrypha, then I hope you've read up on it. Otherwise what is scripture is scripture and what is Apocrypha is Apocrypha, if you don't know the difference or why, I guess it's time you should learn.

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No, not talking about the Apocrypha. Enoch doesn't make it into the Bible although Jude quotes it. The pseudepigrapha of the Tanakh would include the Book of Daniel, the second half of the Book of Isaiah. New Testament pseudepigrapha would include most especially 2 Peter, Titus and both 1 and 2 Timothy. The authenticity of Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians are also included. Most scholars suspect James to be a pseudepigraph. Peter probably didn't write 1 Peter either. Not the Greek of a simple fisherman. Ditto with Jude.

Shall I go on?

I would really like to find information on Joseph Smith's childhood. The years prior to his "visions." Does anyone have anymore info during those years. Someone posted about his mother having said that he would make up stories about pre-biblical days with great details. I can't remember where that was posted, I forgot to keep it.

smaneck said:

And they generally have good reasons for what they say. My point is that the Bible is full of pseudepigrapha. If you are going to reject anything that claims to be scripture on that basis you'll have to chuck a good deal of the Bible.



My point was you completely misrepresented that passage of scripture. It says kings should not multiply wives or horses. If that doesn't mean a king can only have one horse, there is no reason to think it means a king can have only one wife. All I see it saying is 'don't go overboard with either one.'



I think Mormons have some issues with parts of the Bible but I've never heard them suggest most of it is corrupted. But I'll let them speak for themselves on that issue.



Then why keep debating it?

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I guess because you guys claim to follow the bible--the true bible as written by JS. And the bible is quoted by the Mormons as authority for some of their believes--so it seems you want to keep the bible, but throw it out at the same time. It's confusing. It's like saying, "I'll keep commandments 2,5, 6, and 8, but the rest are not written by God so we'll eliminate those and replace them with what we think He really said.

mmksparbud said:

I guess because you guys claim to follow the bible--the true bible as written by JS.

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I'm not a Mormon. Your posting in the World Religions Forum, remember? I'm not even a Christian. I'm talking from the standpoint of academic biblical scholarship, not from the standpoint of the LDS.

There are those who are so drawn by, or hungry for the Mormon religion, that they follow where ever there is any of those topics allowed.
Saying they want to discuss, but its the same attacks every time.
So now the CWR will pay the price for the removal of unorthodox.
The LDS posters usually do a pretty fair job of telling their side over and over.
I have learned a lot from both sides.

mmksparbud said:

I guess because you guys claim to follow the bible--the true bible as written by JS. And the bible is quoted by the Mormons as authority for some of their believes--so it seems you want to keep the bible, but throw it out at the same time. It's confusing. It's like saying, "I'll keep commandments 2,5, 6, and 8, but the rest are not written by God so we'll eliminate those and replace them with what we think He really said.

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Someone has been feeding you a load of nonsense...
Mormons in no way want to throw out the Bible; in fact, even the writers of the Book of Mormon constantly quoted from the books of the Old Testament, and even refrained from writing about the Lord's Second coming because they were told it would be covered by John (New Testament, Revelations).
Mormons study the Bible more than 2 years out of a four year cycle. However, even though it is a little more than half the time, studies have shown that Mormons not only read the Bible more often than the average Christian, but know more about the Bible and its teachings than any other Christian group.