In many ways, John and I are alike.  We are married to the girls of our dreams, hearts swept up in fervent commitment and beyond mere fancy.  Physically, we are both skinny (no, I take that back—I am beginning to grow a little pooch—definitely, not good).  Neither one of us have a “hoary” head (at least not yet).  Professionally, we love to teach, to write, and to basically communicate in a winsome way.  We are both passionate about what we believe.  We desire, yea, even deeply long to see young people excited about what we are discovering in scripture, and often pray that our personal presentation doesn’t hinder the joyous adventure of scripture itself.  Specifically, we both even carry a King James Version of the Bible.

But . . .

I think the Bible, a collection of 66, New Covenant added to Old Covenant, is the greatest book ever—no competition even comes close to its boundless breadth stretching from infinity past to infinity future, its doctrinal content, its miraculous foretelling, its stories of humanness, and its signature of divinity.  The book is a window to God.  It is life-giving communication directly from an open heaven, brought to us in full color, as we live in today’s modernity; the Book is faithfully translated and will continue to be through the various stages of evolving English and other world languages.  God preserves His Word.

In contrast, John soberly, happily talks about a book almost 200 years old, packaged in thee’s and thou’s, the Book of Mormon, and shares, “It is the most exciting book I own.”

No wonder he says the following statement is his most favorite quote in the world.

Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us.  – President Ezra Taft Benson

So . . .

Can you not see how the two source books—what we each favor and cherish as spiritual authority—would give us altogether different visions of God?

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These snatches of John’s conversation are taken from Deseret Book’s recent DVD presentation:  Heroes: Lessons From the Book of Mormon, filmed at Hale Centre Theatre.