16 EPIC BOOK OF MORMON SHOWSTOPPERS

1. There are 3,925 references to Jesus Christ in The Book of Mormon (that’s once every 1.7 verses). The Book of Mormon was published in 1830 as a direct translation from ancient records, spanning from 600 BC to 421 AD. These records were kept by pre-Columbian Hebrews who fled Jerusalem and established themselves in the New World before the Babylonian raid of 586 BC. These facts cast halting doubt on the argument that it is not a Judeo-Christian record comparable to the Bible and that it is not, as it professes to be, “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.”

2. In spite of the fact that Joseph Smith had only 3 years of formal education, he translated The Book of Mormon in roughly sixty five working days. The current edition is 531 pages.

3. In a 2015 compilation of the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time, Smithsonian magazine ranked Joseph Smith as the most Influential American Religious figure of all time. 

4. According to a Huffpost article in 2011, The Book of Mormon was listed as number 5 among the “Biggest Bestsellers EVER After The Bible”. The article states, over 120 million copies have been sold worldwide. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints itself has printed over 177M copies to date, not including the copies sold by additional publishers.

5. Some of the largest publishers in the world have recognized the tremendous influence of The Book of Mormon, publishing their own full versions of it: Yale University Press, University of Illinois Press, Doubleday, and Penguin Books (published as a Penguin Classic).

6. The Book of Mormon has been translated into an impressive 110 different languages. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints actually claims to have more members outside the United States than inside. These facts suggest, the foreign market for The Book of Mormon could be more diverse and far reaching than any other book save the Bible only.

7. In a nationwide survey done by the United States Library of Congress, the PUBLIC voted and chose The Book of Mormon as the 4th “Most Influential book in America”.

8. 2 Nephi 9:20–22, from The Book of Mormon, is directly quoted in a funeral service of Alfred Hitchcock's film Family Plot. Watch the scene on YouTube.

9. Former American President, Abraham Lincoln, checked out The Book of Mormon from the Library of Congress and kept it for 8 months, turning it back in just 7 days after his first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. Though unproven, some have hypothesized The Book of Mormon influenced the language of the proclamation and Lincoln’s decision to abolish slavery.

10. Henry A. Wallace, former Vice President of the United States 1941-1945, said, “Of all American religious books of the nineteenth century, it seems probable that The Book of Mormon was the most powerful.”

11. In 2007 a rare documents auction in New York City reported to have sold a first edition copy of The Book of Mormon for a stunning $180,000. It is estimated its worth today is well over $200,000.

12. Virtually all media experts agree, titles are paramount. They say you don’t sell books you sell titles. Well, in 2011, a now famous Broadway show entitled “BOOK OF MORMON Musical” swept the world with 9 Tony Awards including “Best Musical”. Highest sold seats cost as much as $477. The musical grossed well over $500M and is the 7th highest-grossing Broadway show of all time. If this type of success can be achieved from a musical with “BOOK OF MORMON” as its title, does this give us any clue about this book’s ability to draw curiosity, controversy, and ticket sales? And lest it be said a satire musical has nothing to do with a narrative Book of Mormon war epic like Reign of Judges: Title of Liberty, consider that the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taken out full page ads in the audience programs of Book of Mormon Musical and has reported a marked increase in the book’s interest since the show premiered. If satire success is not synonymous with original success, then Spaceballs and Hot Shots! would've been massive flops. Moreover, if satire were an indication of future failure then surely Donald Trump would never have achieved the United States presidency.

13. In 2014, BYUTV released a documentary film called A New Day For The Book of Mormon (WATCH on BYU TV FREE). This documentary was so informative— so powerful it was recognized with an Emmy Award for best Historical Documentary.

14. The Book of Mormon is a record of some of the most heroic, intriguing, riveting, and miraculous stories ever told. You don’t even have to believe it to appreciate this fact. Of the book’s 239 chapters, 174 of them (73 percent) deal with gripping themes such as: war, terrorism, political conspiracies, murder, threats, family collusion, and secret combinations. Not only is the book saturated in these precarious themes, it tells of heroes who were able to survive them. Ask yourself; do we not need such heroes today?

15. Perhaps The Book of Mormon’s most recurring theme is that of a free people struggling to defend their liberty from domestic insurrection and foreign acts of war. Are struggling for liberty and foreign acts of war themes our world can relate to? Here’s a comment from an Atheist who posted on our Facebook page, “As an atheist who has read the Book of Mormon numerous times the story of Captain Moroni (and) the Title of Liberty… was the most interesting... If any Book of Mormon story was going to make it big in a Hollywood blockbuster, this would be it.”

16. In 1988 former President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ezra Taft Benson, said something profound. Whether you believe it or not we leave to you. He said, “The time is long overdue for a massive flooding of the earth with the Book of Mormon… in this age of electric media and mass distribution, God will hold us accountable if we do not now move the Book of Mormon in a monumental way… The time is now… Few (people), either in or out of the church, have caught the vision… the part it has played and will play.” And then Ezra told us a major tool he foresaw aiding The Book of Mormon to flood the earth, “I have a vision,” he said, “of artists putting into film the great themes and characters from the Book of Mormon…” He finished with this curious statement about timing to the congregation of 1988, “Some of us may not see the day when the Book of Mormon floods the earth…” That was almost 30 years ago. More recently, a current authority in the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, David A. Bednar said, "what has been accomplished thus far... is a good beginning—but (it is) only a small trickle. I now extend to you the invitation to help transform the trickle into a flood... to sweep the earth with... messages that are authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy—and literally to sweep the earth as with a flood."

After reading this list, can you believe Reign of Judges: Title of Liberty stands to be the FIRST Book of Mormon war epic ever made??