I would probably focus more on what Mormonism is, rather than what it isn't.
How does it view Christ? Talk about the plan of salvation, maybe, and Christ's role in that. And then mention that after the death and resurrection, Jesus went to minister to "other sheep," the people of the Americas that Mormons believe descended from Israelites. Mention that a record of this is contained in the Book of Mormon, revealed to and translated by Joseph Smith, who re-instituted what he believed to be the original church.
I wouldn't talk about how it was "kept out" of the Bible. It was "kept out" of the Bible in much the same way that the Principia Mathematica or the Upanishads were kept out--the people who compiled the Bible had no knowledge of its existance, even if it had been written. (Which, I believe, it hadn't been. I don't know the timeline, but I believe the BoM is said to be a distillation, by Mormon, of earlier writings around what, 300 AD? 600 AD? I don't know the date.)
Especially if this is the introduction, just introduce some basic points. This isn't really the place for comparisons and contrasts, although you will probably want to do that at some point.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2006-02-04 02:31 pm (UTC)How does it view Christ? Talk about the plan of salvation, maybe, and Christ's role in that. And then mention that after the death and resurrection, Jesus went to minister to "other sheep," the people of the Americas that Mormons believe descended from Israelites. Mention that a record of this is contained in the Book of Mormon, revealed to and translated by Joseph Smith, who re-instituted what he believed to be the original church.
I wouldn't talk about how it was "kept out" of the Bible. It was "kept out" of the Bible in much the same way that the Principia Mathematica or the Upanishads were kept out--the people who compiled the Bible had no knowledge of its existance, even if it had been written. (Which, I believe, it hadn't been. I don't know the timeline, but I believe the BoM is said to be a distillation, by Mormon, of earlier writings around what, 300 AD? 600 AD? I don't know the date.)
Especially if this is the introduction, just introduce some basic points. This isn't really the place for comparisons and contrasts, although you will probably want to do that at some point.