Mormons: what is the purpose for the Book of Mormon? Does it have a purpose? if so, what? —duckblood4u

It's an interesting question, probably not one you can easily answer (unless you happen to be Mormon, of course). But for a non-Mormon, it's a bit of a puzzle. What would be the motivation for Joseph Smith and possibly Sidney Rigdon to put this book together? Did Sidney hope to lead a new congregation with this book as a supplementary text to the Bible? Did Joseph hope to profit from book sales? I don't know that it means anything, but it's interesting to me that in all the writings of Joseph Smith I've seen he does not seem to reference the BoM much if at all. The book seemed to really gain its present-day prominence later, particularly with the emphasis placed on it by Ezra Taft Benson.