American Testament: The Book of Mormon: 2020

Saturday, October 31, 2020

Record-Keepers in the Book of Mormon - Downloadable Chart

Becca Wilson Jones created the images below and gave permission for all to print, download, use, and share. I have not fully verified what is in the chart, so please do your own research. I merely had a few moments in my day to post it so that I could come back to it later.

And, so that it might possibly help some who believe the Book of Mormon to be the work of a man and not of God. I simply cannot fathom how Joseph Smith, being so unlettered and unlearned as he was, could produce such a complex work that includes this complicated transfer of record custody across such a long span of time. If I, having a greater secular education than many in his time period could have ever imagined (which isn't saying much for me relative to others in my own time, actually) would have struggled to produce this kind of writing, how, indeed, was he able to do so without help from God?

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Here is a super-list of multiple evidences, links to which I’ve gleaned from the excellent EvidenceCentral.org website, that point toward the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. For all the people who've ever asked or will ask me to show them evidence of the Book of Mormon being a true work of scripture and not a fictional story, this list is for you. To criticize the book in an intelligent and thoughtful way, you must first go through the entire list and read and understand everything as if you mean to speak credibly.

If he made it all up, how could Joseph Smith possibly have been so "lucky" to guess all these things so correctly in all of his writing? Especially if much of this scholarship appeared over a century and a half after he translated the Book of Mormon. Indeed, God must have prepared the record for him and at that time to "confound the wise" (or those who think they are wise) as to its true origin.

As always, I emphasize that the ultimate experience of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon is to read it, pray, and ask Heavenly Father whether it is true. If you do so with sincere intent to follow God’s commandments, you will know that it is true. However, if your intent is less than sincere, i.e. to continue to malign Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it will be difficult to hear the Spirit of the Lord speaking the truth to you.