Book of Mormon References, D&C 84:57, and Ezra Taft Benson

A few weeks ago, I posted about the top referenced scriptures at General Conference. This week I wanted to continue that with a few graphics showing the top referenced books of scripture (New Testament, Old Testament, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price), and look at the impact of Ezra Taft Benson on Book of Mormon references in General Conference.

Below is a graph showing the relative frequency with which each book of scripture is referenced in general conference talks from 1971 to 2013. Data comes from BYU's LDS scripture citation index and is grouped by decade.

The main change in the graph over time is the increase in Book of Mormon references in the 1980s. To get more detail on the change, the graph below shows the percent of Book of Mormon references by year. This additional detail shows that a sharp increase occurred over the years 1984 to 1986.

What changed in 1984? I believe it was spurred by Elder Ezra Taft Benson's October 1984 talk "A New Witness for Christ". In this talk Elder Benson opened with the following words:

My beloved brethren and sisters, for some years now I have been deeply concerned that we are not using the Book of Mormon as God intends.

As I participated in the Mexico City Temple dedication, I received the distinct impression that God is not pleased with our neglect of the Book of Mormon.

In the eighty-fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord decreed that the whole Church was under condemnation, even all the children of Zion, because of the way they treated the Book of Mormon. “And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent,” said the Lord, “and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon.” (D&C 84:57).

 This was not the first time Elder Benson had made strong declarations regarding the Book of Mormon (see April 1975 conference, "The Book of Mormon is the Word of God"). However, it seems that the message of the 1984 talk had a strong impact--at least to speakers at general conference. Over the next few years this message was emphasized by Ezra Taft Benson as he served as President of the Church.

The timeline below shows references to D&C 84:57 from 1971 to 2013 by all speakers. Clearly, Ezra Taft Benson had a strong repeated emphasis of "remember[ing] the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon" throughout the mid-80s.

Although President Benson's emphasis on the Book of Mormon is well known, it is interesting to see the quantifiable impact of his emphasis. If the data on Book of Mormon references in General Conference is representative, then his influence was not just a flurried spike of activity over a few years, but a lasting influence into the future.

Sunday School Lesson Scripture Network

I was asked to substitute for a youth Sunday School class today. The topic for March in Come Follow Me was on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One of the outlines was on what the scriptures teach about the atonement. I came up with a scripture network related to the Topical Guide topic Jesus Christ, Atonement through, and printed out a large copy. The class started at the center and traced a line out to a scripture of their choice. We would read the scripture and discuss it, and then follow it to another connecting topic and a subsequent connecting scripture. We would then discuss how those scriptures were connected and what they taught us about the atonement. The youth gave some insightful comments and we had some good discussions about how to connect and find patterns in the scriptures. One of my favorite comments was at the beginning when a young man said, "Well, those aren't all the scriptures about the atonement." We agreed that a chart with all the scriptures related to the atonement of Jesus Christ would probably be unreadable.

Top 12 Scripture References in General Conference

What scripture is cited the most in General Conference? Thanks to the LDS Scripture Citation Index, we can answer that question. I looked at the scripture citations in General Conference from 1971 to 2013 (the latest date provided in the Citation Index). Here's the Top 12 list by verse:

Moses 1:39 is the most-referenced verse of scripture. It gets a total of around 180 references, or about two references per general conference. The other scriptures drop off to a total of around 100 references per scripture, or about one reference per general conference.

How do these scriptures relate to each other? Below is a scripture network which looks at the interconnections between scriptures and their respective topical guide references. For example, Matt. 25:40 and Matt. 22:39 are connected by the topical guide category of "Neighbor." Matt 22:39 and D&C 121:45 are connected by the topical guide entry "Charity." The colors provide a visual guide for seeing connections, but you might see things grouped together a little differently. I can think of the following connecting topics:

Plan of Salvation
Restoration
Covenants
Commandments
Love/Charity

How do these scriptures connect together for you? Down below I have the scripture verses displayed so you can read them over.

Scripture references (note: over half are seminary Scripture Mastery scriptures):

Moses 1:39 
For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

JS-H 1:17
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!

Mosiah 18:9
Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life

Mosiah 3:19
For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

D&C 121:45
Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

Matt. 22:37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Matt. 22:39
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Matt. 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

D&C 20:77
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

Matt. 25:40
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

2 Ne 31:20
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Moro 10:32
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.