Thoughts on The Book of Mormon
A good friend and mission colleague wrote on her blog about The Book of Mormon. In her post, she expresses her confidence in the validity of the book as the historical record of two nations which had their beginnings with a family who sailed from the Middle East to the American continent under God’s direction.She writes, “Yes, [The Book of Mormon people] lived on this continent beginning in 600 B.C. to this very day. They are the forebears of the Native American Indian, as well as other peoples across the oceans.” She goes on to say that anyone can know that The Book of Mormon is true, and that these people existed, by reading the book and asking God to let them know if it “is not true”.
The question is then posed that, after God answers this prayer, and you know The Book of Mormon is true, “what will you do then?”
In 2004, I earnestly believed that God did let me know that The Book of Mormon was true. What did I do? I submitted myself to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I allowed my life to be dictated by the rules and culture of Mormonism. From what I drank, when I should fast, how much money I should give, what I should watch, and what I should think was molded by the expectations of the church. I served a mission, and my eyes were opened. My faith in Mormonism was lost in the snow covered mountains of Colorado.
Admittedly, the church does have merit. It could not have survived if there wasn’t good within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know good people, amazing people, who are devoted members of the church. Without their examples, I most likely would not have considered the church worthy of my time. Even at the start of my studies, when I was attempting to show that the church was false, my desire to do so was rooted in my concern for my friends.
Further, The Book of Mormon has merit as well. There are great things contained within the book. My favorite passage continues to be King Benjamin’s address in the early chapters of Mosiah. Consider this passage from Mosiah 4: 16-19, 22.
“And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. Perhaps thou shalt asay: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just— But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?…And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.”
Many pieces of literature contain valuable life lessons; but teaching valuable lessons does not transform fictional characters into living beings. I believe the words above to be true. I live by them. The only difference between now and when I was a believing Mormon is that now I don’t know who wrote King Benjamin’s address.
I don’t believe The Book of Mormon to be a valid historical record. As I’ve written before, no substantial objective evidence has been found that confirms the placement, practices, languages, materials, or events of the people written about in The Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, there really aren’t any objective studies on the matter. The bias is palpable when it comes to the research conducted in regards to The Book of Mormon. The responsibility to provide evidence to support their position rests more heavily upon those attempting to support Mormonism. Considering that the most significant evidence presented has not supported the claims of Mormonism, and that the greater objective scientific community takes little interest in the subject, it would seem that Mormonism has a very weak case indeed.
Now, in my opinion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seems to be softening its position in response to the weakness of their case. After all, even after 28 years of intensive study and research by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, an arm of church-owned Brigham Young University, no significant findings to solidify the church’s claims has been found. My guess is that they none ever will be found. The most recent example of the church softening is the subtle word change in the introduction to The Book of Mormon. In addition, many ranking church scholars are now upholding the limited geography model, effectively creating a scenario where the lack of evidence is explained away by making the location of events in The Book of Mormon harder to find. This effectively makes finding the place described within the book equivalent to finding the lost city of Atlantis.
As a missionary, I asked hundreds of people to read The Book of Mormon and pray about it to know that it was true. What I found was that a very small percentage of people felt they received some kind of answer. Usually this answer wasn’t very clear, and had to be shaped and put into context for the person to allow themselves to believe that God was telling them that the book was true. Most simply didn’t hear or feel anything when they prayed about the book. The key to believing God was answering the prayer in the affirmative seemed to be a strong desire for it to be true. Even the wording of the scripture referring to this prayer asks the reader to pray that God let them know if it “is not true”. The wording assumes that the reader is already agreeable to the truthfulness of the book.
I’ve head all sorts of excuses why some people receive “an answer” while others don’t. However, with the belief in the validity of The Book of Mormon being crucial to a person’s eternal salvation, I never accepted any of these excuses. My God wouldn’t keep something that could change their lives and lead them to salvation because they hadn’t sacrificed enough. The whole idea just wasn’t compatible with my views on the grace of God.
To have to believe in The Book of Mormon before having your prayers answered about the book’s validity is a trap. It is the first encounter with the circular logic of the church that a person encounters when they study with the missionaries. It is not enough to validate the book.
If you believe The Book of Mormon is true, that’s great! I’ll never criticize you for your beliefs. There’s an assortment of scriptural texts out there, all with adherents who claim they are true. Finding value in any of them, if it aids you in life, is a wonderful thing. Personally, I think there’s value in all of them. My assumption is that none have origins are divine as adherents would like to believe. What makes The Book of Mormon different from the Koran, or the Bible? I suppose asking these kinds of questions led me to become a universalist of sorts, because my answer that that question is simple: Nothing.
No responses yet
