Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is

When Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter-day Saint movement, declared, “Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none,” he was not speaking out of mere passion for doctrine, but out of the fiery heart of conviction. His words stand as both a warning and a proclamation — that the very soul of a faith is bound to its revelation, its living connection to the divine. To remove that source of truth, he said, would be to empty the vessel of its spirit, to leave behind only the husk of ritual and tradition. For in every age, it is revelation — that sacred communication between heaven and humanity — that gives religion its living pulse.

In Joseph Smith’s time, the early 19th century, the world was a storm of awakening and reform. America, young and restless, burned with questions of destiny, faith, and renewal. Out of that furnace, Smith claimed to have received visions and revelations — divine instructions that restored truths long lost to time. The Book of Mormon, which he translated and presented as ancient scripture, became for his followers not merely another holy text, but the very foundation of a new covenant. To them, it was evidence that God still spoke, that heaven had not grown silent. Thus, when Smith declared that without it “we have none,” he was affirming that living revelation — not old words alone — is the lifeblood of a living faith.

This conviction echoes through history. Every movement born of spirit, every religion that has endured, began with a voice that heard anew. Moses on the mountain, Muhammad in the cave, the Buddha beneath the tree — each sought and received revelation, and from that moment, transformed the world. But when revelation ceases, when faith becomes a relic rather than a living force, it begins to fade into ritual and memory. Smith’s warning was not merely for his followers, but for all who would cling to the shell of belief while forgetting the spirit within it. To take away the revelations is to sever the vine from its roots.

Consider the story of the ancient prophet Samuel, who lived in a time when “the word of the Lord was precious; there was no open vision.” The people had their temples, their sacrifices, their traditions — yet the divine voice had fallen silent among them. Only when Samuel heard the call of God anew did light return to Israel. So it is with any faith: without new insight, without continued communication with the eternal, it becomes an echo of what it once was. Joseph Smith understood this truth profoundly, for he himself claimed to be the ear through which that heavenly call was restored.

Yet there is more than theology in this saying. There is a universal truth for all who seek meaning in life. Without revelation — that is, without the courage to listen deeply for what is real, pure, and divine — we, too, become empty vessels. Whether one believes in God or not, every human being requires moments of illumination: insights that pierce the fog of existence and show the path forward. Revelation need not always come with angels or visions; sometimes it arrives in silence, in the still voice of conscience, in the beauty of a sunrise, in the realization of truth born from suffering. To lose revelation is to live without purpose, without renewal.

Thus, the lesson of Joseph Smith’s words transcends his faith. It teaches us that any life — or belief — without the living presence of inspiration becomes hollow. We must guard the sources of our truth as we would guard our breath. We must listen, seek, question, and remain open to what the spirit — however we understand it — whispers to us. For revelation, in whatever form, is what keeps the soul awake and the heart alive.

And so, let these words echo as both challenge and comfort: do not let your faith, your ideals, or your dreams become mere relics of the past. Whether your scripture is divine or human, your calling sacred or personal, you must keep it alive through continual seeking, continual revelation. For, as Joseph Smith proclaimed, if we take away revelation — if we silence the voice that speaks to the heart — then truly, “we have none.” But if we keep it, nurture it, and live by its light, then we possess the greatest treasure of all: a living faith, burning ever bright against the darkness of the world.