Book of Mormon - "It's either true or false"

As Mom and I participated in the baptism of Josh, Amanda Johnson's son, they played a video on members of the church testifying about the Book of Mormon. My mind was taken back to my mission days, and how the Book of Mormon was a pivotal part of our missionary work. It was either true or false. That's it. Nothing more or nothing less. If the book was false, then Joseph Smith was a fraud, and the church I was serving in the mission field was false. Yet, if it was true, then everything else fell into place.

So after about 3 months into my mission, I came to the realization that I needed to focus my missionary efforts on challenging people to read the book and pray about. Let God tell them if it was true or not. My mission was much easier after that. Even though I studied and memorized a lot of scriptures to help me in my work, I didn't have to have scriptural answers for all those who wanted to challenge the supposed conflicts in our doctrine. When challenged by opponents of our faith, I would simply say, "you know, it really boils down to one thing. Either the Book of Mormon is true or false. And the only way for you to determine that is to ask God who knows all truth. Will you do that?" From that day on, my testimony of the Church has always had the Book of Mormon as its foundation.

Although the basis of a testimony of the Book of Mormon should and is a spiritual one, it is surprising, no amazing how much outside evidence there really is of the Book of Mormon. I want to share with you some of those. But, before I do, I want you to remember that your testimony of the Book of Mormon needs to be rooted in spiritual witnesses of the book and not physical evidence. It is the spiritual witnesses that cannot be challenged, for once the spirit bears witness, it becomes a sure knowledge that we cannot deny.

First of all, I want to share some of the scriptures in the Bible which talks about the Book of Mormon, and I will just paraphrase the verses. I would encourage you to read them together as a family and discuss them:

• Gen. 49:22 - Joseph is a fruitful bough...branches...over the wall.
• Ps. 85:11 - Truth shall spring out of the earth.
• Isa. 29:4 - Voice shall be ... familiar spirit, out of the ground.
• Isa 29:11 - Vision of all ...as the words of a book that is sealed.
• Isa. 29:18 - Shall the deaf hear the words of the book.
• Ezek. 37:19 - Stick of Joseph...of Judah...shall be one in mine hand.
• John 10:16 - Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.
• Rev. 14:6 - I saw another angel...having the everlasting gospel.

Now let's look at some outward evidences that help to support the authenticity of the Book of Mormon:

1. Writing styles - Glade L Burgon, first published a thesis on the writing styles (A wordprint, like a fingerprint) of the 24 authors of the Book of Mormon. And in later years several other scholars followed up on this study by analyizing the writing styles of Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon and many other early day saints who were close to the work of the Book of Mormon. Here is a summary of these findings: All of our data point to one almost inescapable conclusion. No one man wrote the Book of Mormon. Examining the writing styles of all the Book of Mormon authors, each author had a distinct style of writing. There were no two authors that have simliar writing styles.
2. The Journey of Lehi's Family  - The Book of Mormon describes an ancient journey through the Arabian peninsula with plausible details such as directions, a verified ancient place name, geographical details, and the description of an unexpected place called Bountiful that now also appears to be verified. These details could not have been fabricated based on what was known in 1830--an even modern "general knowledge" of the Arabian peninsula would not allow a typical educated adult to provide the confirmed details in the Book of Mormon. The only plausible explanation for this is that the author of First Nephi, the book containing the account of the ancient Arabian trek, actually made that trek. The most logical candidate for authorship of First Nephi is Nephi, not Joseph Smith.
3. Writing on Metal Plates - In 1830, and recently thereafter, it was not known that ancient people wrote on metal plates. It was used to disprove the Book of Mormon. However today, there have been hundreds of discoveries of records written on plates of gold, silver and other ores.
4. Written in Reformed Egyptian - Until recently, critics indicated that there was no such thing as "reformed egyptian," the claim from Joseph Smith. In a study, written by William J. Hamblin, there were countless examples of ancient texts written in a "reformed egyptian" format. According to Mr. Hamblin, There are thus a number of historical examples of Semitic or other languages being written in "reformed" or modified Egyptian script; the Book of Mormon account is entirely plausible on this point.
5. Use of Cement - A long-ridiculed "anachronism in the Book of Mormon is the reference in Helaman 3:9-11 to cement work among some of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. One of the most notable uses of cement is in the temple complex at Teotihuacan, north of present-day Mexico City. According to David S. Hyman, the structural use of cement appears suddenly in the archaeological record. And yet its earliest sample "is a fully developed product." The cement floor slabs at this site "were remarkably high in structural quality." Although exposed to the elements for nearly two thousand years, they still "exceed many present-day building code requirements." This is consistent with the Book of Mormon record, which treats this invention as an important new development involving great skill and becoming something of a sensation.
6. Weights and Measures - Chapter 11 of Alma in the Book of Mormon has long been attacked by critics for discussing Nephite coins, when there is no evidence that coins were used in the New World before the time of Columbus. But the actual text does not mention coins or imply their use, but speaks of various measures--apparently weights--of gold and silver and their equivalents in grain. In a surprising development, it has been shown that the sophisticated system of weights mentioned in Alma 11, a system that was standardized under King Mosiah around 100 B.C., precisely fits an Egyptian system that Nephi and Lehi could have brought with them into the New World. John Welch presents the evidence in "Weighing and measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 37-47 (1999)
7. The City of Lamanai - Several years ago, Mom and I had the opportunity to travel to Belize. While there, we took an excursion to an ancient Mayan ruin called "Lamanai." It is the only name of a Mayan city that is actually recorded, and survived all these centuries. BYU archeologists have tied the name of this city to King Lamoni and Ammon. While there, I could invision Ammon protecting the King's flocks by cutting off the arms of the Lamanites.
8. Appearance of Christ to the American Continent - Most Mayan and American Indian tribes have legends of a Great White God coming down from the sky and being with their people. I have seen this first hand in my travels to South America.

I could go on and on with many more evidences, but I'll cut it short. Needless to say, the Book of Mormon is true, proven by both spiritual witnesses and physical ones. Almost without exception, each time I read the Book of Mormon I receive a witness of its truthfulness. I hope you do too.

Ending, I would like to bear my personal witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It is the cornerstone of our religion. When our lives get challenged and our testimonies weak, I encourage you to get back to the Book of Mormon. For as the spirit bears witness of its truth, everything else will fall into place.

Love, Dad