LDS Freedom Forum

Here is an interesting subject which anti church sources occasionally swerve into, claiming the Book of Mormon was not used as much as the Bible in church meetings in speeches and talks. First I will say that many copies went to missionary efforts and more families and individuals had Bibles in their homes and had them for decades. Here is more on the subject.

Joseph’s marked propensity toward using the Bible was likely the product of his upbringing and his desire to build on the common beliefs already held by most new converts. The discovery of the Book of Mormon as a doctrinal gem was still in the process during the first generation of the Church, the Prophet included.

At the same time, Joseph Smith recognized the power of the Book of Mormon as a witness of the Restoration. Parley P. Pratt witnessed one of the most dramatic illustrations of Joseph Smith’s convictions concerning the book during a meeting held in Philadelphia with about three thousand people in attendance. Pratt records, “Brother [Sidney] Rigdon spoke first, and dwelt on the Gospel, illustrating his doctrine by the Bible. When he was through, brother Joseph arose like a lion about to roar; and being full of the Holy Ghost, spoke in great power, bearing testimony of the visions he had seen, the ministering of angels which he had enjoyed, and how he had found the plates of the Book of Mormon, and translated them by the gift and power of God.” According to Pratt, Joseph commenced his discourse with a mild rebuke for Rigdon’s timidity. Pratt recorded, “If nobody else had the courage to testify of so glorious a message from Heaven, and the finding of so glorious a record, he felt to do it justice to the people, and leave the event with God.”[29]The Book of Mormon among the Saints: Evolving Use of the Keystone Scripturehttps://rsc.byu.edu/coming-forth-book-m ... -scripture

The biggest issue in the early use, or non use of the Book of Mormon can likely be traced to an few issues.

First is the fact that the Book of Mormon was not verified by either the LDS or RLDS (yes they are two different systems for the same text) until the late 1870s. Lack of verses made citing the Book of Mormon in sermons difficult if not improbable.

The second matter is that early members did not employ the Book of Mormon as we do today as a kind of parallel to the Bible. Rather they tended to see it as a physical manifestation of Joseph Smith’s prophetic calling. We still see this approach to this day in the way the Community of Christ/RLDS approach it.

Finally we should also keep in mind the relative scarcity of physical copies of the Book of Mormon in the early years of the Church.