From all this, then, it is very evident that the purposes for which the Book of Mormon were written, counting in this summary both those reasons already enumerated and those stated in the passages last quoted, are:
First, to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord has done for their fathers.
Second, to teach them the covenants of the Lord made with their fathers, that the remnants may know that they are not cast off forever.
Third, to convince both Jews and Gentiles that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, and that he manifests himself to all nations.
Fourth, to bring the knowledge of a Savior to the remnants of the house of Israel on the western hemisphere, through the testimony of the Nephites and Lamanites as well as through the testimony of the Jews, that they might more fully believe the gospel.
Fifth, to bring to the Jews the testimony of the Nephites that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; that they might have the testimony of the Nephites as well as that of their fathers that Jesus is their Messiah.
Sixth, to be a witness for the truth of the Bible, to establish its authenticity, and its credibility by bringing other witnesses than those of the Eastern world to testify to the same great truths that are contained in the sacred pages of the Bible.
Seventh, to restore to the knowledge of mankind many plain and precious truths concerning the gospel which men have taken out of the Jewish Scriptures, or obscured by their interpretations; by the absence of which passages, or misleading interpretations, many have stumbled and fallen into unbelief. In a word, it is the mission of the Book of Mormon to be a witness for Jesus, the Christ; for the truth of the gospel as the power of God unto salvation; for that purpose it was written, preserved from destruction, and has now come forth to the children of men through the goodness and mercy and power of God.
Footnotes
[1]. Doc. & Cov. 3: 16-20.