I attended the weekly Bible Study Group as usual early
Wednesday morning - we had one of our better sessions. The text for the day was
from the Catholic Lectionary: Luke 1:26-38, the annunciation to Mary. In the
middle a good discussion on the role of Mary in the Christian world, Roger
Cane, a really nice Methodist, said out of the blue "You know, I’ve had
the young Mormon elders in my home and I've read half of the Book of Mormon. So
what I want to know is 'how does the Book of Mormon stand with regard to what
we're discussing right now? I mean, why do I need the Mormon Bible?"
Where that question came from, I'll never know! It was totally random and out of
context! But I spent the next few
minutes explaining to the group the history and the purpose of the Book of
Mormon. I held up my Bible and explained the role of the Bible in our church
and also that the Book of Mormon begins in Jerusalem and is a story of a family
descended from Joseph and their migration to the Americas. I told them that the
purpose of the Book of Mormon is to be Another Testament of the divinity of
Christ and is record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas written by
their prophets. They seemed to handle it pretty well, they didn't throw me out!
What a golden opportunity!! I should
have given Roger $20 for providing such a terrific set-up! He's a good friend and a nice guy, he's also
the guy who invited me to join the West Lafayette Men's Golf League, so I know
the intent of his question wasn't antagonistic. Also, he and his wife Carol
were among the members of the Bible Study Group who responded to our invitation
to come to our home for a Christmas Open House last week. (He's the one sitting
in the brown chair)
Wow! I love this!
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