Alma 13:20; 33:14; 3 Ne. 27:24-26; Journal of Discourses 7:333; Church News, Jan. 24, 1976, p. 4; refer in this text to Alma 17:2
“Do you read the Scriptures, my brethren and sisters, as though you were writing them, a thousand, two thousand, or five thousand years ago? Do you read them as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them? If you do not feel thus, it is your privilege to do so, that you may be as familiar with the spirit and meaning of the written word of God as you are with your daily walk and conversation, or as you are with your workmen or with you households.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 128)
“The Book of Mormon was written for us today… . God who knows the end from the beginning, told (Mormon) what to include in his abridgement that we would need for our day… .” (Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, Apr. 1975, pp. 96-97)
“The Nephites never had the book; neither did the Lamanites of ancient times. It was meant for us. Mormon wrote near the end of the Nephite civilization. Under the inspiration of God, who sees all things from the beginning, he abridged centuries of records, choosing the stories, speeches, and events that would be most helpful to us. Each of the major writers of the Book of Mormon testified that he wrote for future generations (see 2 Nephi 25:21; 2 Nephi 26:14; Jacob 1:3; Enos 1:15-16; Jarom 1:2; Mormon 7:1; Mormon 8:34-35; 9:30)… . If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, ‘Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?’” (Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, Oct. 1986, p.5)
“The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious and philosophical concepts of our time.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1975, p. 64)