None Spiritual Proofs

None Spiritual Proofs

What are some good arguments for or against The Book of Mormon being a fraud or inaccurate? Is there any evidence for its truthfulness?
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Ray Farmer
Jealous of and Zealous for the Book of Mormon41m

Of course I have a spiritual testimony of the Book of Mormon. As many here on Quora know, I have no faith in the LDS Church. I share that so that one may know that I have no dog in the fight to defend said church. I cling not to the Book of Mormon because I am steeped in the LDS culture. I don't think Joseph Smith was ever a prophet, so I don't have to defend the Book of Mormon to indirectly defend Joseph Smith.

I will tell you why I believe the Book of Mormon is true outside of my spiritual confirmation for those reading may have no idea what that is exactly. I will try to put forth my reasons that satisfy solely my mind and reason. I really don’t care what you think of the following reasoning. It satisfies me.

Joseph Smith not the Author

First of all it is clear to me that Joseph Smith did not compose the Book of Mormon, so all of the accusations whether valid or not heaped of him have nothing to do with the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. For one thing, any one who reads the early writings of Joseph will agree with his dear wife that the guy couldn't put words or sentences together let alone compose such a complex work. Second, Joseph apparently either didn't know Book of Mormon doctrine or didn't believe it, considering all of the imaginative doctrine he concocted that is, almost 100%, contradictory to the Book of Mormon. Anyone who sat down and dreamed up the Book of Mormon would have at least promoted the teachings and preached out of it.

Consistent Doctrine

I have read the Book hundreds of times. The doctrine is consistent from start to finish. It never contradicts itself.

There were a couple troubling parts that bothered me for years and through multiple readings. But, amazingly, the Book resolved my apprehensions. An example, if you will, was Abinadi's explanation of the “First Resurrection”. It didn't seem to fit the rest of the expositions of what resurrection was all about. Resurrection, of course, means, throughout the Book of Mormon, the uniting of the body and spirit. The First Resurrection that Abinadi talked about just didn't fit that concept. Then, reading closely Alma's discussion of the resurrection, he says,

Alma 40

14. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.
15. Now, there are some that have understood that this state of happiness and this state of misery of the soul, before the resurrection, was a first resurrection. Yea, I admit it may be termed a resurrection, the raising of the spirit or the soul and their consignation to happiness or misery, according to the words which have been spoken.
16. And behold, again it hath been spoken, that there is a first resurrection, a resurrection of all those who have been, or who are, or who shall be, down to the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
17. Now, we do not suppose that this first resurrection, which is spoken of in this manner, can be the resurrection of the souls and their consignation to happiness or misery. Ye cannot suppose that this is what it meaneth.

"...there are some that have understood....And behold, again it hath been spoken..this first resurrection, which is spoken of in this manner....". Who understood it this way? Who spoke of it in this manner? Abinadi!

We see, in such a subtle manner and kind, that Alma was clarifying Abinadi's meaning. Abinadi considered the "First Resurrection" to be when the spirit leaves the body and is consigned, between death and bodily resurrection, to either a state of happiness or misery until the time when the body and the spirit would be reunited. Alma sees Abinadi's understanding and kindly says,

Yea, I admit it may be termed a resurrection, the raising of the spirit or the soul and their consignation to happiness or misery, according to the words which have been spoken.

So, this is an example of the subtility of the Book of Mormon. We see that what appears to be a contradiction was just a different usage of words. Not only did Alma fine tune the point, but he did it so very kindly. He didn't even mention Abinadi by name. One can go back to Abinadi and get a new insight.

I could point out a multitude of such instances that I don't think a human mind would be able to keep track of while writing so many pages. This brings me to the next proof that satisfies me.

So many pages!

If I was going to create a hoax of a religious sort, would I write over 500 pages? When I was young and stupid, I came across a copy of Desiderata. In those days, it was claimed that someone found it on an ancient scroll rolled up and stuck in the wall of a very old cathedral. I was taken in. It was believable to me. Compare that single scroll with the Book of Mormon. If a single page or two could be safely pawned of as some inspired work, proving one to be some kind of holy prophet, why go on and on for hundreds of pages? Anyone smart enough to compose the Book of Mormon would also know that the longer he wrote, the harder it would be to avoid blowing the scheme.

Confirms the Bible

Many years ago, I read a book by Hugh J. Schonfield, the author of the Passover Plot called Those Incredible Christians. It kinda through me. The author tried to show that there were doctrinal fights in the first years after the death of Christ that were all over the map. It just so happened that Paul's sect won out over all these other followers of Christ. It showed that Paul was a plant (if I remember) and came up with all kinds of doctrines that were rejected by all the other leaders. Could he be right, I wondered. Was Paul includedd in the Bible becuae he cleverly outwitted everybody else? Then I realized that the Book of Mormon preaches the Gospel as Paul taught it. To me, after that, I believed the Bible because I believed the Book of Mormon. Truly it is said

Mormon 7

8. Therefore....lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you.
9. For behold, this is written for the intent that ye may believe that; and if ye believe that ye will believe this also....

To Be Short In Writing

This is amazing. Throughout the Book of Mormon, the prophets always grieved over how hard it was to scratch word on plates.

Ether 12:24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing...

1 Nephi 9:1 ....a great many more things, which cannot be written upon these plates.

Jacob 4:1 ....(and I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain;

We can understand why Nephi would write, 1 Nephi 8:30 But, to be short in writing...

The way the prophets were short in writing is intriguing. They would include ideas without writing unnecessarily. Two examples.

Alma 21:5. Therefore, as Aaron entered into one of their synagogues to preach unto the people, and as he was speaking unto them, behold there arose an Amalekite and began to contend with him, saying: What is that thou hast testified? Hast thou seen an angel?

We see Aaron must have told them about his conversion resulting from a visit by an angel. This encounter is recorded in Mosiah 27. I am going to include all of that story immediately below. I would encourage you to consider only the lengthiness of the angelic visit as you scroll down to the end where you see *******. I include it only to show you all that was included in the "Hast thou seen an angel?"

******* (scroll now)

*******

It would have been interesting to here Aaron’s testimony that he must have shared. Hence someone asked , “Hast thou seen an angel”

The prophets were short in writing and they included reference to events covered elsewhere.

Another example is where Alma references the words of Abinadi.

10. ....What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death, yea, and also the chains of hell? 11. Behold, I can tell you--did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi? And was he not a holy prophet? Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them?

Abinadi's words are recorded in Mosiah 13-16, three whole chapters. But to be short in writing, they placed a reference to those words rather than repeat, struggling at engraving.

One more, if you will. We see a hint of what being short in writing in the missionary preaching of Aaron. He was teaching a king who didn't know anything about anything that was religious in nature. Read carefully

Alma 22

13. And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the creation of Adam, laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state and also the plan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name.
14. And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.

You will notice and, like me, be dismayed at the "and so forth". Aren't you curious what was not included in the "and so forth"? This is another example of being short in writing. Can we know what was excluded? Read carefully the prayer of the king and see if you can determine what Aaron included in "and so forth". Remember that the king, before Aaron taught him, was totally ignorant of religious concepts. and yet, his prayer included what must have been preached yet not included in Aaron’s preaching, the "and so forth". I will capitalized things the king now understood yet wasn't included in what is written in Aaron's message:

5. And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this ETERNAL LIFE of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be BORN OF GOD, having this WICKED SPIRIT rooted out of my breast, and receive HIS SPIRIT, that I may be FILLED WITH JOY, that I may not be CAST OFF at the LAST DAY? Behold, said he, I will GIVE UP all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive THIS GREAT JOY.

We can see that Aaron taught all those precepts, yet even though the recorder was short in writing, we know what was included in the "and so forth"!

This is a big thing to me. I am sorry I went into such detail, but to me this is an amazing aspect of the Book of Mormon.

Something for Everyone

People learn in different ways. The Book of Mormon accommodates everyone. Some people find intricate doctrinal sermons to be their favorite way to understand truth. Others find all that dry bone and too theological. For those, they are given eternal lessons in narrative, story form. You can learn how Jesus shed his blood and we are to take upon ourselves Christ, to imitate him, or as Paul put it, to clothe ourselves in Christ. We are led to great treasures by following the Holy Ghost, His servant, who has the key to great knowledge that will save. 2 Neph 31 and 32 gives great insight. But if that is too "sermony", one who learns from stories will get the same lesson reading about the death of uncle Laban, whose blood was shed so a whole nation wouldn't dwindle in unbelief and about how Nephi "clothed himself" in Laban’s clothes and imitated him who died as he was led to the treasury where desired knowledge laid locked up.

One can read sermons about resisting the devil and how to effectively do it, or, if you like narration, you can get those lessons by studying why Captain Moroni won the war and why the Lamanites always seemed to lose.

Conclusion

I could go on. The above proof, beyond my experience with the Holy Ghost, is enough for me. Maybe, probably not for you. To be truthful, all those "proofs" sites that talk about Hebraisms, archeology and things like that I find somewhat interesting but of little help. Those sites seem more interested in proving that the LDS Church is the only true church than bearing testimony about the Book of Mormon. I think that spoils their studies and expositions.

If some LDS archeologist dug up a box with the Title of Liberty or remnants of Nephi's ship or a sign that said "welcome to Hermounts - Beware of Wild and Ravenous Beasts", my firm belief in the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon would not increase even a tittle (or jot).

8. Now the sons of Mosiah were numbered among the unbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and an idolatrous man. And he was a man of many words, and did speak much flattery to the people; therefore he led many of the people to do after the manner of his iniquities.9. And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them.10. And now it came to pass that while he was going about to destroy the church of God, for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God, or even the king--11. And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood;12. And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words which he spake unto them.13. Nevertheless he cried again, saying: Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.14. And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.15. And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also behold me before you? And I am sent from God.16. Now I say unto thee: Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam, and in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he has done for them; for they were in bondage, and he has delivered them. And now I say unto thee, Alma, go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more, that their prayers may be answered, and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off.17. And now it came to pass that these were the last words which the angel spake unto Alma, and he departed.18. And now Alma and those that were with him fell again to the earth, for great was their astonishment; for with their own eyes they had beheld an angel of the Lord; and his voice was as thunder, which shook the earth; and they knew that there was nothing save the power of God that could shake the earth and cause it to tremble as though it would part asunder.19. And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father.20. And they rehearsed unto his father all that had happened unto them; and his father rejoiced, for he knew that it was the power of God.21. And he caused that a multitude should be gathered together that they might witness what the Lord had done for his son, and also for those that were with him.22. And he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that his limbs might receive their strength--that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God.23. And it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of two days and two nights, the limbs of Alma received their strength, and he stood up and began to speak unto them, bidding them to be of good comfort:24. For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.25. And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;26. And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.27. I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off.28. Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God.29. My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.30. I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all.31. Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; then shall they confess, who live without God in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his all-searching eye. 32. And now it came to pass that Alma began from this time forward to teach the people, and those who were with Alma at the time the angel appeared unto them, traveling round about through all the land, publishing to all the people the things which they had heard and seen, and preaching the word of God in much tribulation, being greatly persecuted by those who were unbelievers, being smitten by many of them. 33. But notwithstanding all this, they did impart much consolation to the church, confirming their faith, and exhorting them with long-suffering and much travail to keep the commandments of God.34. And four of them were the sons of Mosiah; and their names were Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni; these were the names of the sons of Mosiah. 35. And they traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah, zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church, confessing all their sins, and publishing all the things which they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear them. 36. And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. 37. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth.