The Book of Mormon: Man-Made or God-Given? | Tad R. Callister | 2016

Many critics of the Book of Mormon have tried but failed to give a credible alternative to Joseph Smith's testimony of it. How can we know if it is true?

Sections:
The Book of Mormon is the Keystone of Our Religion: 00:00
Argument 1: 2:08
Argument 2: 3:41
Argument 3: 7:00
Argument 4: 11:00
Argument 5: 12:40
Where Did Joseph Get the Doctrine?: 17:46
A Parable: 24:26
Other Evidences: 27:02
How We Can Discover the Truth of a Divine Work: 28:55

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/tad-r-...

Subscribe to BYU Speeches for the latest videos:    / @byuspeeches  

Read and listen to more BYU Speeches here:
https://speeches.byu.edu/

Follow BYU Speeches:
Facebook:   / byuspeeches  
Twitter:   / byuspeeches  
Instagram:   / byuspeeches  
Pinterest:   / byuspeeches  

© Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved

"Because the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion, as described by Joseph Smith, the Church rises or falls on the truth of it.
As a result, if the Book of Mormon can be proved to be man-made, then the Church is man-made. On the other hand, if its origin is God-given, then Joseph Smith was a prophet, and if he was a prophet then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. It is that simple. Once we have a foundational testimony of the Book of Mormon, then any question or challenge we confront in life, however difficult it may seem, can be approached with faith, not doubt.

Does the critic expect us to believe that Joseph searched out and studied all these resources on Native American life, inhaled the related conversations on the topic, winnowed out the irrelevant, organized the remainder into an intricate story involving hundreds of characters, numerous locations, detailed war strategies, and then that he dictated it with perfect recollection, without any notes whatsoever—no outline, no 3x5 cards, nothing—a fact acknowledged even among the critics? And during it all no one remembers him going to these libraries, bringing any such books home, having any conversation concerning this research or making any diary entries to the same. Where, I ask you, is the hard evidence?

The argument that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon is simply counter to the realities of life. It is one thing to have creative ideas, it is quite another to put them into a complex, but coherent and harmonious whole, inundated with majestic doctrinal truths, all done in a single draft in less than 90 days. Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma, the person who knew him better than any other, confirms this conclusion: 'Joseph Smith [as a young man] could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter, let alone dictate a book like the Book of Mormon.'

If I were to ask my good Christian friends how they unquestionably know the Bible is the word of God, I do not believe they would cite archeological discoveries or linguistic connections with ancient Hebrew or Greek as their prime evidence, but rather they would make reference to the Spirit. It always comes back to the Spirit. The very Spirit that helps me know the Bible is true is the very same Spirit that helps me know the Book of Mormon is true. The Spirit is the decisive, determining factor—not archeology, not linguistics, not DNA, and certainly not the theories of man. The Spirit is the only witness that is sure and certain and infallible." - Brother Callister

Tad R. Callister was serving as the general Sunday School president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this talk was given on 1 Nov. 2016.