“A man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book.”
Thus stated Joseph Smith in regards to the Book of Mormon.
This article is a review of a video produced by the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints about the Book of Mormon.[1] This video is very telling of the manner in which Mormonism determines the truth of its claims.
The video begins with a short retelling of the basic premise behind the Book of Mormon’s origins, finding and translation. We are told that Joseph Smith stated, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on Earth and the keystone of our religion. And a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book.” We added emphasis in order to highlight two key points: One, the Book of Mormon is the keystone and not a keystone nor one of the keystones of Mormonism. Two, we may get closer to God by following its teachings than by any other book, by logical conclusion this excludes the 66 books of the Bible (as well as the Mormon Church’s own Pearl of Great Price, Doctrines and Covenants, Book of Abraham, etc.).
The rest of the video tells the story of two men and how they came to believe in the divine inspiration of the Book of Mormon.
Parley P. Pratt’s story begins in 1830 as he feels a calling from the Spirit to travel and preach. As he is doing so a certain Baptist Deacon tells him of the Book of Mormon. Mr. Pratt spends about a day and a half reading it incessantly. He states, “As I read, the Spirit of the Lord was upon me and I knew and comprehended that the book as true. As plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists.”
Note that the Deacon who mentioned the book to Mr. Pratt only knew what the book claimed of itself. Also, once Mr. Pratt had read it he asked the Deacon if he knew what was in the book to which the Deacon replied that he did not since he has been lending it out so often that he had not had a chance to read it. From here Mr. Pratt travels in search of Joseph Smith and eventually ends up becoming a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church.
The next story, told in much more detail, is that of Vincenzo Di Francesca who was a Protestant minister from Sicily. In 1910 he received a Pastoral degree with honors from Knox College, in New York. That same year he found a book in a barrel of ashes, this book had its title page missing and so he did not know its title nor who had published it. He read it and eventually said a prayer in which he asked whether the book was of God. As an answer he received what is known as the burning of the bosom. “I knew that the book came from God,” he stated.
Di Francesca had been active as a Pastor and begun to incorporate the teachings of the Book of Mormon into his sermons. In 1912 he was charged with “heretical preaching and promotion of disharmony among the pastoral brotherhood.” He stated, “I find the book precisely in harmony with the writings of the prophets.” He then laid out the claims of the, as of yet, unnamed book and stated, “It gives us more light and more knowledge than we now have.” Next he tells the synod of the burning of the bosom and states, “I feel it.” He is asked to burn the book and repent but refuses, stating that he would leave the ministry if he had to. Again in 1914 he is brought before the synod and asked to burn the book, which he again refuses to do and is therefore stripped of his status as pastor.
After World War I he is allowed back into the fold as a lay parishioner and is eventually sent to a mission to Australia on an experimental basis. While there some of the immigrants raised questions about translations and editions of the Bible and Di Francesca tells them that there are in fact errors but that there are other sources from which to learn the words of our Savior. He again preaches the message of the Book of Mormon and finds himself in trouble with the Protestant church.
The rest of his story is basically that of his finally finding out the book’s title and who published it. Thereafter, he attempts to be baptized into the Mormon Church.
The reason we stated that this video is very telling of the manner by which Mormonism determines the truth of its claims is that we are not told of any sort of historical verification of the Book of Mormon; no archeology, no manuscript evidence, no ancient history. Neither are we presented with any hermeneutics (method of proper interpretation), except for one single statement – I find the book precisely in harmony with the writings of the prophets, which of course, falls far short of any viable reasoning or actual demonstration of said harmony.
What reasoning are we presented with? None at all, the main point that comes through is one that will not be surprising to anyone who has any knowledge of Mormonism. What are we left with as a determining factor with regards to validating the Book of Mormon? I knew and comprehended that the book as true…I knew that the book came from God…I feel it. Mormons rely virtually exclusively on the burning of the bosom, which is a purely subjective method of determining “truth.” At the conclusion of a discussion with two Mormon Elders one of them told me that all they could leave me with is the suggestion that I pray about whether or not Mormonism is true. I stated that the Bible tells us to “test all things,” (1st Thessalonians 5:21) and that we are to “test the spirits; whether they are from God” (1st John 4:1). Therefore, if I prayed and received a response I would have to test it. I then started to talk about the evidence of the reliability of the Bible to which one of the Elders replied, “Don’t rely on the evidence.” Clearly, according to the Elders, subjective emotional experience outweighed empirical fact.
There is a Mormon bookmark that reads, “Book Mark for your Book of Mormon-Turn to page 520 and read verses 4 and 5 Learn how you may Know that this book is True.” When we turn to p. 520 we find 10:4-5 which reads, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”
Christian apologist Ron Carlson told of an instance in which a Mormon asked him if he had prayed regarding Mormonism’s validity, Mr. Carlson answered, “‘I honestly have,’ and I said, ‘God told me that Joseph Smith was a false prophet and Mormonism was a lie.’ And he rocked back on his heels, all of a sudden it became his subjective testimony versus my subjective testimony and we were lost in a sea of relativity.”[2] If one person prays and gets the burning of the bosom and another person prays and does not, does that mean that the Book of Mormon is only the Gospel truth for one person and not the other?
Recall that Joseph Smith said, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on Earth…”Consider that most Bibles have maps in them; this is because we know for a fact where many events took place. However, the Book of Mormon has no maps because it remains historically unsubstantiated. Where evidence is not present the Mormon calls for a subjective emotional experience.
Note also that “the Book of Mormon has been altered 4,000 times; 3,913 up to 1980 and from 1981 to the present at least 100 more changes.”[3] It also still contains incorrect historical, scientific and zoological information. In fact, the Mormon Church has recently reprinted the original Book of Mormon where the changes are clearly seen by comparison to contemporary editions.
These many errors are simply, though not satisfactorily, explained away in the front page of the Book of Mormon, “if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.” Thus, we learn a few things; we find that there are so many errors in the book that Mormonism preemptively states that it is the fault of men and not of God. But the Book of Mormon is supposed to be the most correct, and most correctly translated, book on Earth having been translated letter by letter from golden plates that mysteriously (or conveniently) disappeared. Also, note the scare tactic in that by judging the Book of Mormon as wrong you are speaking out against God and risk being judged by Christ.
Lastly, Mormonism claims that the Bible is the word of God, as long as it is translated correctly; precisely by which sort of scientific methodology is accurate translation determined? Manuscript evidence, linguistics, etc.? No, rather if it deviates from Mormon doctrine then it is considered not to be translated correctly with absolutely no regard to any viable evidence. Yet, here we might likewise state that Mormonism believes that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God, as long as it is translated correctly since if there are faults they are the mistakes of men.
How Rare a Possession – The Book of Mormon is a very informative video. However, not in the way that the Mormon Church would hope; we do not end up convinced of Mormonism’s keystone but do end up learning a lot about replacing emotions in place of facts.