In 1869 the first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed. For two decades, the Saints in and around Utah had been able to largely create their own culture and live as they wished. There had been enemies in their midst, of course, and often enough outsiders came through and raised uncomfortable questions that the Saints had to provide good answers to. But a new era dawned with the completion of the railroad. The buffer between the Saints and the rest of the United States disappeared, and it became necessary to think up new strategies for interacting with people who quickly became neighbors instead of enemies. Members of the Church had to develop new ways of talking about their faith that would allow them to get along with other Americans without compromising their commitments to the faith of their pioneer mothers and fathers.

Something like a transcontinental railroad has been completed in the last two decades—one that connects traditional study of the Book of Mormon to the larger scholarly world and the concerns that often animate it. We might react to this development in any variety of ways, but the reality is that young members of the Church are increasingly familiar with those concerns at the other end of that railroad—as familiar with all that as they are with the Book of Mormon at this end of the same set of tracks. The way we study the Book of Mormon when we do our most serious intellectual work on it will change, and we have to decide what that change will look like. We need not—and in fact must not—give up on the truth of the Book of Mormon—on its spiritual truth or on its historical truth. But how we talk about and defend that truth is already changing. Some questions that seemed pressing just a few years ago seem less pressing today, while questions that didn’t seem terribly important just a few years ago seem crucial today.

Driving the golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, May 10, 1869.

In this book, we’ve tried to outline what it means for believing scholars to be regular passengers on the train that goes back and forth between academic and devotional study of the Book of Mormon. We haven’t tried to provide a final word on these matters. Far from it! If anything, we’ve tried to speak just a first word, to announce that the situation looks different today, and to ask for understanding as we and others come to explore the contours of the altered terrain. And we hope we’ve sounded an invitation to other faithful scholars (and budding scholars) to find their way to the station platform. Come and help us figure out how this dawning project will work—in full fidelity to the Restoration and with total academic rigor, by study and by faith. There are many empty seats on the train, and we’d love the company. For those interested in reading about the journey but uninterested in getting on the train, we hope we’ve made the case that there’s much to be learned from what’s happening. Exciting times lie ahead, and there’s every reason to be watching for news about discoveries in Book of Mormon studies. And for those interested in (or already) working on the Book of Mormon from outside the bounds of the confessional faith, we frankly hope we haven’t made things awkward by explaining our reasons of faith for pursuing our work along with you.

In the meanwhile, it’s our witness and testimony that the Book of Mormon is true, historically and theologically. It’s a book that doesn’t need to be handled delicately or kept on the shelf. It needs, rather, to be studied.

In the meanwhile, it’s our witness and testimony that the Book of Mormon is true, historically and theologically. It’s a book that doesn’t need to be handled delicately or kept on the shelf. It needs, rather, to be studied. Study always involves risk, but we’re convinced that the risk is worth it and that many are up to the challenge. There’s much to be gained, including the confidence of young members of the Church in the Book of Mormon. There’s much to be lost as well, so it’s crucial that believing scholars try to be cautious, eyes peeled and always aware so that they are thorough, honest, and undogmatic in their work. Mistakes will certainly be made (thank the heavens for grace!). So long as we carry an unshakable conviction of the unswerving truth of the Restoration with us, though, we can trust that God will be with the scholars seeking to understand the foundation of our shared faith.

We’re still in the midst of the divine coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Let’s pray that this is another important stage of that marvelous work and wonder.