Why Do We Need Another Bible?

Hey, I just wanted to add a spiritual thought that I've been mulling over the past couple of days. On Friday we talked with a woman who had a ton of questions about the church and what we believe, and when we presented the Book of Mormon to her she posed the Million Dollar question of: Why do we need another Bible?  

My mind immediately went to what 2 Nephi 29 says about that question: 

“Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? 

“Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. 

“And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever. 

“Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.”

As I pondered over what is said in these verses (vs. 7-10). I found it interesting to realize that the Book of Mormon was necessary, if not for everyone then for the for the inhabitants of ancient America because they did not have the fullness of the Bible to use. Sure, they had the writings of a handful of Old Testament prophets that they received from the brass plates, but they had no way of learning about the New Testament events and insights that would be received by the Jews over in the Holy Land. They are still beloved children of Heavenly Father, but at the time of their arrival in the Americas they were seriously lacking in the fullness of the gospel. If God did not intervene and bless the Nephites and Lamanites (or Jaredites or Mulekites for that matter) with additional knowledge, they would lost in their way and would not be able to make it back to heaven. God would essentially be sending his children to the promised land of the Americas to be lost forever and never make it back to His arms.

The Book of Mormon was the way the Nephites and Lamanites learned about God. Their collection of histories, prophecies, and sacred events is what lead them back to God, and even then, they didn't have the fullness until Jesus visited them and commanded then to add certain lost scriptures, doctrines and principles. The teachings of the Book of Mormon carried the Nephites and Lamanites back to their God, like how the teachings of the Bible carried the Jews back to theirs.

In this day of chaos and corruption, it is the love of God that has supplied us with two key books of scripture that has blessed past generations. We now have more proof of the divinity of Jesus Christ, and more certainty of the truthfulness of his gospel. Just like how both New Testament Jews and Nephite and Lamanite civilizations had the blessing of the Old Testament while they were living in the development of the New Testament, we have the blessing of the New, Old, and Other Testaments of Jesus Christ to guide us through these Latter Days. Our scripture is still being written every day by modern day prophets, and in the meantime, we can rejoice in God's infinite and permanent gospel.

For more insight, please refer to what the scriptures and prophets say, especially 2 Nephi 29 in the Book of Mormon and The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It? By the Prophet Russell M Nelson

(https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2017/10/the-book-of-mormon-what-would-your-life-be-like-without-it?lang=eng)

- Élder Grant