The Book of Mormon v The Imitation of Christ
I have owned, read from and loved my copy of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis for many years. It is as described above.
But in my opinion, compared to the Book of Mormon, it is diminutive.
Of the Book of Mormon Joseph Smith said,
“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”
My purpose in comparing these two works of literature is not to in any way lessen the value of 'The Imitation of Christ', but to put into perspective the magnitude of The Book of Mormon
The primary objective of 'Imitation' is set out in the opening paragraph of Book One, which reads:
'He who follows Me, walks not in darkness,' says the Lord (John 8:12). By these words of Christ we are advised to imitate His life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ.
The primary purposes of the Book of Mormon are set out in its title page which reads:
'to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever - And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations'
Of course it is not the spiritual value of the content of the Book of Mormon that is in dispute but that it defines itself as scripture, comparable to the Bible. But such a claim should not cloud judgement. I believe that no individual author or committee of scholars could produce a spiritual work that with authority:
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Eliminates spiritual confusion
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Has a narrative that is engaging and inspiring
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Sermons that are enlightening and powerfully motivating,
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Doctrine of Christ that is plain and consistent,
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Instruction on how to organise His church.
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And which from all of the Old and New Testament includes only the most pertinent quotations relevant to our day.
A Challenge
For those who have not read the Book of Mormon, I say try it and sup from it daily then after a month or so of its therapy ask yourself 'what good has it done me?'
For those who have once read and supped from its pages, but have since rejected it because they may doubt how it came into being, simply put that prejudice aside and once again dip into it daily for a month and notice the difference it makes to your life.
Finally, I DO still recommend this edition of The Imitaion of Christ
