Since it was first published in English in 1830, the Book of Mormon has been fully translated into 82 languages, and printed copies have totaled more than 150 million. It has been described as the “keystone” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From the beginning, Church members have accepted it as scripture.
This doesn't mean the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible as scripture for members of the Church. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are used side by side in their preaching and personal study.
Latter-day Saints also consider the Book of Mormon to be a record of great ancient-American civilizations.
According to the record, one of these civilizations stemmed from a man named Lehi who left Jerusalem with his family around 600 B.C. They traveled to the sea, built a boat and continued over sea to the Americas.
Following the party’s arrival in the New World, growing disharmony caused family groups to fragment into clans that evolved eventually into two opposing nations. Conflicts ensued during the recorded 1,000 years, leading to the eventual demise of one of these nations.
This year marks the 184th anniversary of the first printing of the Book of Mormon.
Since that time the book’s influence has been recognized by many. In 2003, Book magazine named the Book of Mormon one of the “20 books that changed America."
In 1829, the Prophet Joseph Smith first asked Egbert B. Grandin to print the Book of Mormon. 5000 copies were printed.
On March 26, 1830, The Wayne Sentinel printed an announcement that the book was for sale at Grandin’s bookstore. It had taken eight men working 12 hours a day, six days a week, for almost eight months to print the 5000 copies.
“The Lord brought forth the Book of Mormon at a period of time when printing methods would enhance its distribution far and wide,” Church President Thomas S. Monson said in the Special Witnesses of Christ video (2000). “Modern-day printing presses now enable the Church to print and distribute many millions of copies of the Book of Mormon each year.”
In addition to the more than 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon in print in 107 languages in print, the Church also has made online and mobile versions available at scriptures.org.