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I am not afraid per se that God will not answer me. In fact, given that there are so many believers in the world who have had a personal experience of God and have had answers given to them about their Religions through prayer, chances are pretty good that I will in fact get an answer. What I do have a concern about is what to do with that answer. It seems that there is not just one answer. To be clear, Mormons get confirmation about the Mormon truth through studying the scriptures and prayer, Muslims get confirmation of Islam in the same way, studying the Qur'an and prayer. Same with the Reborn Christians, the Catholics and I suspect the Hindus as well. How am I to think about this answer once I get it?

You are absolutely right. I have been working with these questions in my mind as well. Of course some are easier to answer than others. Here are some thoughts: Why isn't it true? A difficult one. If you can find a historical flaw or scriptural inconsistency in the scriptures of a Religion then surely that would put the Religion in doubt? Given that so many Religions are not doubted by their millions of followers this does mean that finding anything like that is not going to be easy. There could always be a different understanding or interpretation that could make plausible such "errors". Humans do spend a lot of time on this topic and so far no conclusive answers have come forward. I have decided to try a diferent approach instead in the hope that there may be simpler answers, but sofar it hasn't worked. Why couldn't it be true? Even more difficult. Any Religion could in principle be true, as long as it is consistent. Any inconsistent set of ideas are difficult to talk about and the meaning of the word "truth" then becomes problematic. In the Zen school of thought contradictions are used as a way of reaching understanding (this is probably an oversimplified statement and appologies to the Zen Buddhists if it offends them) although I suspect that the ultimate truths within Zen Buddhism would probably be consistent as well. To be honest I have not done a lot of thinking/researching in this direction, but you are right, it may be interesting to do this. What makes any faith true? I think this is the reason why I am asking these questions in the first place. If I can find universal criteria for why a Religion is true then I should be able to find the one true Religion, not?

To the Traveler Thanks for your post, I really enjoyed reading it. If I try to summarize this for myself, you are saying that Mormonism is true to the extent that it guides you on a way of serving your fellow humans. I like it, although it does not help me that much with my search. Service to your fellow human is not an uncommon trend amongst Religions. It does not make Mormonism stand out clearly. You also are basically saying that I will not come to an understanding of Mormonism as the truth unless I live/walk the "Way". Sure, I accept that. I would still have preferred to have some more reason for doing so in the first place. As I said in my first post I am looking for something about Mormonism that makes it stand out clearly above all the other 9 999 Religions. So if I am going to have to live my life as a Mormon for a substantial period of time in order to understand its truth, I am going to have to do this for all the other Religions as well. How else will I know that the Mormon experience of truth is clearly better than that of all the other Religions? Just because you experience truth in the Mormon Religion, does it automatically follow that you cannot experience the same or even bigger truth in the Muslim or any other Religion? I have to assume that Mormoms do believe this but for me, I can see no good reason why this would be the case. Alas, I am going to have to continue my search...

Thanks for a "to the point" answer. I guess this does make sense. If Joseph Smith really was God's prophet then this would point towards Mormonism as the truth. So the question is: how can we come to such a belief? This sounds reasonable, except, this proposal sounds a lot like that of many other Religions. Catholics, Muslims, Reborn Christians, Seventh Day Adventists, they all tell me that studying their doctrines and scriptures and praying to God will lead me to the realization that their Religions are true. Let's say hypothetically I do what you suggest. I study all the scriptures of all the Religions and then pray to God to lead me to the one true Religion. Let's also assume that I do get a clear answer from God that one of those Religions is in fact the true Religion. One thing would still worry me. So many believers from a wide variety of Religions seem to be using this exact procedure to come to a belief that their own Religions are true. This cannot be right. I am therefore forced to accept the possibility that this procedure is perhaps not so reliable. Is there no other way to come to such a belief?

Hi I am looking for a few good reasons why Mormons believe that their Religion is true. For example I know that there is a good historical argument for the authenticity of Mormon scriptures. However, since all Religions have some sort of historical grounding of their scriptures, this is not enough. I am looking for those two or three key aspects that make Mormonism stand out clearly as the only true Religion. Thanks