The Book of Mormon proves its own historical validity, students learned at a lecture on Thursday.

Terryl L. Givens, professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond, spoke about how the Book of Mormon combines the familiar with the seemingly impossible.
The lecture was the first Laura F. Willes Center Book of Mormon Lecture. These lectures will be held biennially.

According to Givens, the Book of Mormon is replete with references to its own origin and history. The book was passed from hand to hand over hundreds of years.

“In the Book of Mormon we never lose sight of the links in this train of transmission,” Givens said.

He pointed out that some authors wrote only a paragraph, and yet still felt an obsessive concern to keep the records.

Givens also said the Book of Mormon emphasizes familiar ideas in a new light. These ideas include revelation, the existence of Christ, building of Zion in a wilderness and scripture.

The Book of Mormon begins with personal revelation, and the rate of these revelations increase as the story becomes more about individuals, Givens said. The entire book revolves around the coming or Christ.

“Book of Mormon prophets even established their own chronology around His coming,” he said.

The theme of building Zion is repeated many times in the Book of Mormon.

“[It is the] story of the unending transformation of the gospel into new contexts,” Givens said.
According to Givens, another unique quality of the Book of Mormon is its humanity.

“The Book of Mormon begins with a personal introduction of its first author,” Givens said.
According to Givens, the Book of Mormon uses regular human words to speak of God, rather than aspiring to be beautiful literature.

The God of the Book of Mormon is not a mystery, but a fully knowable God.
“The Book of Mormon challenges its audience to rethink its relationship to the divine,” he said.