“Blessed is he that shall bring this thing to light”

As a believer in the Book of Mormon, someone with a testimony, I do not need to win the debate with disbelievers. It becomes rather irrelevant to me, although there are those who wish to carry on the debate–and they may if they wish, as far as I’m concerned. I am more concerned with reaching out to accomplish the blessing–to bring about what Mormon describes in chapter 8, verse 16, of his book. He says, “Blessed be he that shall bring this thing to light for it shall be brought out of darkness unto light. It shall shine forth out of darkness and come unto the knowledge of the people.” He’s speaking, of course, of the Book of Mormon itself, and the obvious fulfillment of that blessing was on Joseph Smith, but perhaps those of us who would like to clarify–make more convincing, make more understandable–the Book of Mormon are in our own ways also bringing it to light–to a knowledge of the people. It certainly still remains dark for some.

John Sorenson, “The Book of Mormon in Ancient America,” (1994), 2-3.