A Divine Library

The Bible, or biblia, is not a single book--it is a "divine library" (Bible Dictionary). I love that phrase, and I love the Bible.

But I also recognize that this divine library has been edited so many times that it no longer holds the fulness of the everlasting gospel. There is evidence that the Bible began to be corrupted as early as 70 AD, which is unbearably sad (Bible Dictionary).

However, that only increases my gratitude for the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon, as its introduction says, is

"a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel" (Introduction).

I really do compare the Bible to the Book of Mormon, and I learn from both. Together, they are the perfected divine library, just as the the prophet Lehi prophesied:

"Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write [Book of Mormon]; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write [Bible]; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord" (2 Nephi 3:12, emphasis added).

I love this promise. Together, the Book of Mormon and the Bible will bring peace to this world. We need to flood the earth with this book. I echo the prophet Ezra Taft Benson's comments:

"Moses never entered the promised land. Joseph Smith never saw Zion redeemed. Some of us may not live long enough to see the day when the Book of Mormon floods the earth and when the Lord lifts His condemnation. But, God willing, I intend to spend all my remaining days in that glorious effort" (Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon).