Epilogue

We have merely scratched the surface of a discipline that can fascinate, inspire, and alter your thinking about the sophisticated writing abilities of the prophets who lived from 4000 BC to AD 400. From them we have received the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the book of Abraham, and other scripture. They were a faithful group of prophets and leaders who recorded in the language of their fathers many of God's interactions with and instructions to those on earth. I predict that the study of this art form and writing system will increase in popularity as the years unfold. It could become an integral facet of your own scripture study.

A number of additional forms are not delineated in this book, but they will be addressed by others in the future, I am sure. It is possible that all we now know about how the ancients wrote and the forms they used is just a microscopic percentage of what there is yet to learn.

As I observe the effort in this field expended by scholars today, much of which is published and preserved by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), I am persuaded that our own testimonies can expand beyond what they presently are to levels not even imagined or predicted.

It is easy to know what our Savior desires for us to learn when we observe the energy expended by those who wrote his words to us. My prayer for you, as you study and analyze the scriptures more deeply, is that you will find peace and joy in a troubled world.