Abstract: This essay emphasizes the remarkable participation of the Book of Mormon in the gospel symbolism of death and resurrection. It explains how the Book of Mormon itself may be seen as a resurrected book, witnessing Christ’s resurrection in a remarkable way.

[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.

See George L. Mitton, “The Book of Mormon as a Resurrected Book and a Type of Christ,” in Remembrance and Return: Essays in Honor of Louis C. Midgley, ed. Ted Vaggalis and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2021), 121–46. Further information about the book and how to order it at: https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/remembrance-and-return/.]

Overcoming death through the Resurrection is at the heart of Christ’s great achievement and promise for mankind. It is a theme that undergirds all Christian doctrine, bringing meaning and purpose to the disciple’s life. We are reminded of it in the ordinances, such as in baptism by immersion, which incorporates rich symbols of Christ’s burial and resurrection;1 in the Lord’s Supper, which reminds us of his death while looking forward to a promised association with him in the Resurrection; and in the rites of the temple, which help us to contemplate and prepare [Page 372]for an eventual reunion with God beyond the grave. It may even be seen in the anointing of the sick with oil, where healing by God’s power may be viewed as an anticipation and assurance of the Resurrection and the Judgment, in which all things are to be set in final order.2 The very ubiquity of symbols of the Resurrection suggests we should be alert to recognize many symbolic things that can bring grateful contemplation of the promised life to come.

My purpose here is to emphasize the remarkable participation of the Book of Mormon in the gospel symbolism of death and resurrection. I will explain how the Book of Mormon itself may be seen as a resurrected book, witnessing Christ’s resurrection in a special way. In addition to providing instructive teachings on resurrection, and including a wonderful description of the resurrected Lord, I believe that the Book of Mormon has been brought about by the power of God through a miraculous procedure that causes it to exemplify the pattern set by the life and mission of Christ, including His burial and resurrection.

There are many ways in which the Book of Mormon typifies Christ. Important counterparts between the life and mission of the Lord and the book may be seen in the book’s origin in heaven; its teachings in and to the world about the doctrine from above; its rejection, burial, and subsequent resurrection out of the ground; the attestation of its reality by eleven special witnesses chosen of the Lord; and with angelic assistance, the ascension to heaven of the golden plates on which the book was written, with promise of their future return. Finally, both the Lord and the Book of Mormon will be of great importance at the...