Editor's note: This is the sixth column in a series on Mormons.

"God said it. I believe it. That settles it."

How many times have you seen that bumper sticker?

The idea of an immutable literature of holy books is firmly fixed in the majority of Judeo-Christian tradition. Though it has been challenged over the centuries with multiple new revelations that vie for a place beside the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, most of these claimants have fallen prey to the dust of history.

Not so in Mormon theology.

One of the hardest ideas for non-Mormons to wrap their heads around is the concept that the canon (a list of books considered by the faithful to be divinely inspired) may not be closed.

"Mormons embrace a broader concept of Scripture, believing that nothing in the Bible suggests that only these two works (the Old and New Testaments) constitute a complete canon of Scripture," Terryl Givens wrote in an email.

Professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond and a practicing Mormon, Givens also noted that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints "hold out the possibility of additions to those works that God could reveal at any time."

For many evangelicals, the idea of additional scriptures, and of continuing revelation, is a key distinction between Christianity and Mormonism, said Douglas Bozung, teaching pastor at New Holland's Christian Fellowship Church. "We subscribe to the Scriptures as our rule and doctrine for life," he said.

But the Mormons have multiple sources of authority, he said, from which emerge beliefs about God, about the person of Jesus, and about many other doctrines fundamentally different from Christian tradition.

In addition to the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, Mormons also have three other canonical books: the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants.

Many non-Mormons have become familiar with the Mormon version of ancient history because of the popular 2011 Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon."

But long before that, the Book of Mormon was a statement of faith, helping to forge the identity of the converts who joined Joseph Smith in founding the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints.

Attributed to ancient American prophets — the book describes the travels and lives of Hebrew people said to have come to America around 600 A.D. — and published in 1830, "the Book of Mormon is … the stumbling block for many people," said Jan Shipps, a religious historian emeritus from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

With its descriptions of families divided into tribes, ancient scribes and an angel who buried the metal plates of the book where Smith would find it, the Book of Mormon provided a critical backdrop for the faith of the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, Shipps said.

"There were stories about how people read the book, and believed the book, and went to find Joseph Smith," she said.

The volume also purports to tell how Jesus visited America between his crucifixion and resurrection, Shipps said. It is, she said, not "just about the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ (and) the story of the restoration of Israel, but the restoration of all things."

Viewing the Book of Mormon through the lens of a historian of religion, Shipps said that one of the reasons it is very important is that "it legitimated Joseph Smith and not the other way around. It was a tangible artifact that (19th-century believers) could hold in their hand."

Though the majority of Mormons believe that the angel Moroni did indeed direct Smith to find and translate the buried golden tablets near Palmyra, N.Y., a minority feel that the scriptures are an inspired document from the 19th century, Shipps said.

Givens pointed out that a recent Pew Survey found that number to be less than 10 percent.

"So only a small minority of Mormons believe it is possible to see the scripture as a 19th-century production, without compromising its sacred status or Smith's role as prophet."

But the Book of Mormon itself is problematic, said Bozung, who noted that it contains large portions of text taken directly from the King James version of the Bible — the version that Mormons believe is authoritative, unless errors were made in transmission. 

For more than 30 years (based on a revelation to then-Mormon leader Spencer Kimball) blacks have been admitted to the Mormon priesthood (a lay order open to young men and adults). At least one verse, which implied that black-skinned people were inferior, has been changed.

But the book, as found on the official church website, still contains this verse, from 2 Nephi 5;21:

And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

Because they believe that the Bible may have been corrupted in its transmission, Bozung said, "whenever the Bible contradicts the Book of Mormon in its teaching, they can say the Bible is wrong."

In addition, he said "the anachronisms were incredible," asserting that Smith copied "hundreds of verses" from the King James Bible. 

Mormon scholars assert textual evidence of ancient authorship and believe the Book of Mormon is consistent with biblical doctrine, and they attribute many of those parallels to a belief that the two scriptures at times share a common source, Givens said. 

They believe that Smith likely relied upon the Bible when he perceived familiar teachings or passages in the ancient record, he said.

Interestingly, the talks Mormon worshippers hear on Sundays are as likely to focus on other scriptures — biblical or Latter-day Saint — as the Book of Mormon.

"Sunday school lessons rotate yearly among OT/Pearl of Great Price, NT, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Book of Mormon," Givens said. "Sunday talks are assigned by the Bishopric and can touch on virtually any spiritual topic — many of which would sound perfectly familiar to Christians of all persuasions."

Visitors would find familiar hymns, a communion service (which Mormons call "the sacrament") and Christ-centered preaching, Givens said.

"And perhaps more fussy young children than they are accustomed to," he added wryly.

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