Bom Challenge

[Guest funkyfool416]

How many of you are actually doin the Book of Mormon challenge thing? I was just wondering if ppl were actually doin it...

[Guest Taoist_Saint]

Originally posted by funkyfool416@Dec 16 2005, 02:41 PM

How many of you are actually doin the Book of Mormon challenge thing? I was just wondering if ppl were actually doin it...

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I am not sure this qualifies...

http://www.bookofzelph.com/

[Guest Taoist_Saint]

For those who are unfamiliar...

The Book of Mormon Challenge

If one scoffs at the missionary's explanation of the Book of Mormon, he is in so many words claiming it to be false: That it is a deceiving fraud formulated through the efforts and talents of a common man. What is produced by one man can always be duplicated by another. The challenge that the Book of Mormon makes to the world is that of duplication. Because the book complies with every one of the following conditions, in order to produce a similar record, one must comply with the same conditions.

Here is the challenge: Can you accept it?

1. Write a history of ancient Tibet covering a period from 600 B.C. to 450 A.D. Why ancient Tibet? Because you know no more about Tibet than Joseph Smith (or anyone else) knew about ancient America.

2. You are 23 years of age.

3. You have had no more than three years of formal school education, and have spent your life in backwoods farming communities.

4. Your history must be written on the basis of what you now know. There was no library that held information for Joseph Smith. You must use none. There is to be no research of any kind.

5. Your history must be 531 pages and over 300,000 words in length.

6. Other than a few grammatical corrections, you must have no changes in the text. The first edition as you dictate it to your secretary must stand forever.

7. This record is to contain the history of two distinct and separate nations, along with histories of different contemporary nations or groups of people.

8. You must describe their religious, economic, political, and social cultures and institutions. Cover every phase of their society, including the names of their coins.

9. Change your style of writing many times. Many ancient authors contributed to the Book of Mormon, each with his own style.

10. Weave into your history the religion of Jesus Christ and the pattern of Christian living.

11. You must claim that your smooth narrative is not fiction with moral value, but true and sacred history.

12. You must include in you book fifty-four chapters dealing with wars, twenty-one historical chapters, fifty-five chapters on visions and prophecies. Remember, when you begin to write visions and prophecies, you must have your record agree meticulously with the Bible. You must write seventy-one chapters on doctrine and exhortation, and you must check every statement with the scriptures or you will be proven a fraud. You must write twenty-one chapters on the ministry of Christ, and every thing you claim he said and every testimony you write in your book about Him must agree absolutely with the New Testament.

13. Many of the facts, claims, ideas, and statements given as absolute truth in your writing must be entirely inconsistent with the prevailing beliefs of the world. Some of these worldly beliefs must be the direct opposite of your claims.

14. Included in your narrations will be authentic modes of travel; whether or not those ancient people used fire; description of their clothing, crops, mourning customs, and types of government. You must invent about 280 new names that will stand up under scrutiny through the years as to their proper application and derivation.

15. You will have to properly use figures of speech, similes, metaphors, narrations, exposition, descriptions, oratory, epic lyric, and parables.

16. You must invite the ablest scholars and experts to examine the text with care, and you must strive diligently to see that your book gets into the hands of those eager to prove it a forgery, and who are most competent to expose every flaw in it.

17. Thorough investigation, scientific and historical evidence, and archeological discovery for the next 125 years must verify its claims and prove detail after detail to be true, for many of the details you put in your history are still buried beneath the soil of Tibet.

18. You must publish it to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people declaring it to be the word of God and another witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.

19. The book must not contain any absurd, impossible, or contradictory statements. Your history must not contain any statement that will contradict any other statement elsewhere in the volume.

20. Many theories and ideas as to its origin must arise, and after discovering and examining the facts, they must fail. You have claimed that your knowledge had come from divine origin, and this claim continues to stand as the only possible explanation. The strength of this explanation must not decrease as time passes, but actually increases to the point where it becomes the only logical explanation.

21. Your record is to fulfill many Bible prophecies, even in the exact manner in which it shall come forth, to whom delivered, its purposes, and its accomplishments.

22. Call down an angel from heaven in the middle of the day and have him bear testimony to four honest, dignified citizens of your community that the record is the word of God. These witnesses must bear the angel's testimony to the world, not for profit or gain, but under great sacrifice and severe persecution, even to their death beds. You must put that testimony to the test by becoming an enemy to these men.

23. Thousands of great men, intellectual giants, national and international personalities, and scholars for 165 years must accept your history and its teachings even to the point of laying down their life rather than deny their testimony of it.

24. You must include with within the record this promise: "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 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."

25. Missionaries must bear record to the world for the next 165 years that they know the record to be true because they put the promise to the test and found it to be true. The truth of it was manifested to them by the power of the Holy Ghost.

26. Over 52,900 plus competent salesman must be so sold on your book that they gladly give up two or more years of their lives to take it to all parts of the world for distribution. They not only pay their own way during these years, but return bearing testimony that the time spent will remain as one of the highlights of their lives. They receive nothing in return for their efforts but the joy of having shared your book with others.

27. Your book must not only raise the standards of millions of people but do it in such a way that they become one of the great moral, ethical, and dynamic marvels of the day. They must become world renowned for this.

28. For the next 20 years you must watch those that follow and you, your family, and the dearest of your loved ones persecuted, driven time after time from their homes, beaten, tortured, starved, frozen and killed. Tens of thousands must undergo the most extreme hardships in your presence just because they believe your claims concerning the origin and content of what you have written on ancient Tibet.

29. You must gain no wealth from your work, but many times lose all that you have. Like those that believe you, you must submit yourself to the most vile persecution. And finally after 20 years of this, give your own life in a very savage and brutal manner, for your testimony concerning your history book. This must be done willingly on your part.

30. Start right now and produce this record which covers 1,000 years of history, doing it, not in the peaceful atmosphere of your community, but under the most trying of circumstances which include being driven from your home several times, and receiving constant threats upon your life. Please have your book completed, talk a friend into mortgaging his farm to raise money to have it printed - all in 60 days.

There is only one answer: The Book of Mormon is a divine record. If not, its origin must be stated and its claims must be explained by the critic. It isn't enough to merely discard it as false and forget about it!

The first thing to do in examining any ancient text is to consider it in the light of the origin and background there is no need to look farther, since historical forgery is virtually impossible.

[BenRaines]

Oh I thought the Book of Mormon challenge was the one laid down by President Hinkley in August that we read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. My wife has finished and I will finish by the end of next week.

If that is the challenge you meant.

The other challenge is for those that think Joseph Smith wrote the book himself and did not translate it.

[Guest Taoist_Saint]

Originally posted by BenRaines@Dec 16 2005, 05:26 PM

Oh I thought the Book of Mormon challenge was the one laid down by President Hinkley in August that we read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year.  My wife has finished and I will finish by the end of next week.

If that is the challenge you meant.

The other challenge is for those that think Joseph Smith wrote the book himself and did not translate it.

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Maybe that is what she meant...I hadn't thought of that...

I challenge all of you to read the Book of Zelph (see above) by the end of the year

[prisonchaplain]

Originally posted by funkyfool416@Dec 16 2005, 02:41 PM

How many of you are actually doin the Book of Mormon challenge thing? I was just wondering if ppl were actually doin it...

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I do not imagine that the Muslim prophet, Muhammed, was trying to take such a challenge. Yet, he did make many similar claims--that what he received was to be counted a Scripture, etc. I know that many Muslim apologists claim that the Qur'an is very scientific.

Do LDS believe that Muhammed was a false prophet, or is it possible that both writings are Scripture?

[ldsgurl_2002]

ok im so confused..what is with the book of zelph?? i hope im not the only confused one..

[paul6150]

I DON'T HAVE TIME TO ANSWER ALL TAOIST SAINT'S POINTS BUT I AGREE WITH PRISON CHAPLAIN. IF YOU AGREE THAT THESE QAULIFIERS VALIDATE THE BOM THEN YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THE KORAN AND MANY OTHER SO CALLED WORDS FROM GOD BY MANY OTHERS. NOW TO SOME OF THE SPECIFIC QUALIFIERS

1. Write a history of ancient Tibet covering a period from 600 B.C. to 450 A.D. Why ancient Tibet? Because you know no more about Tibet than Joseph Smith (or anyone else) knew about ancient America. MANY OF THE STORIES IN THE BOM ABOUT ANCIENT AMERICANS DO NOT REQUIRE ONE TO HAVE BEEN THERE. ANY PERSON WITH A VIVD IMAGINATION COULD COME UP WITH SIMILAR STORIES OF WAR AND DEATH. THEN BY PUTTING SOME BIBLE VERSES IN IT AND SOME OTHER BIBLE SOUNDING THINGS THEY COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT SOUNDS RELIGIOUS.

2. You are 23 years of age. THERE ARE MANY AUTHORS YOUNGER THAN THIS.

3. You have had no more than three years of formal school education, and have spent your life in backwoods farming communities. REFER BACK TO MY COMMENT ABOUT VIVID IMAGINATION AND STRYTELLING CAPABILITIES

4. Your history must be written on the basis of what you now know. There was no library that held information for Joseph Smith. You must use none. There is to be no research of any kind. THERE IS STILL NEWSPAPERS AND PEOPLE PASSING ON THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT SOME FINDINGS. ALSO REMEMBER OLIVER COWDERY WAS A SCHOOL TEACHER. HOW DO WE KNOW IF HE DIDN'T HELP THE DRAFT ALONG.

5. Your history must be 531 pages and over 300,000 words in length. MANY NON FICTION AS WELL AS FICTION BOOKS ARE THIS LONG

6. Other than a few grammatical corrections, you must have no changes in the text. The first edition as you dictate it to your secretary must stand forever. IF YOU COMPARE THE ORIGINAL TO THE BOM WE HAVE NOW YOU WILL FIND MORE THAN GRAMMATICAL CHANGES

7. This record is to contain the history of two distinct and separate nations, along with histories of different contemporary nations or groups of people. STILL COULD BE A VIVD IMAGINATION

8. You must describe their religious, economic, political, and social cultures and institutions. Cover every phase of their society, including the names of their coins. MANY STORIES TELL DETAILS LIKE THIS

9. Change your style of writing many times. Many ancient authors contributed to the Book of Mormon, each with his own style. NOT A LINGUIST SO I CAN'T COMMENT ON THIS ONE. ARE YOU A LINGUIST TO BE ABLE TO VALIDATE THIS?

10. Weave into your history the religion of Jesus Christ and the pattern of Christian living. AGAIN VIVID IMAGINATION PLUS A LOT OF BORROWING FROM THE BIBLE

11. You must claim that your smooth narrative is not fiction with moral value, but true and sacred history. MANY OTHERS HAVE DONE THIS

12. You must include in you book fifty-four chapters dealing with wars, twenty-one historical chapters, fifty-five chapters on visions and prophecies. Remember, when you begin to write visions and prophecies, you must have your record agree meticulously with the Bible. You must write seventy-one chapters on doctrine and exhortation, and you must check every statement with the scriptures or you will be proven a fraud. You must write twenty-one chapters on the ministry of Christ, and every thing you claim he said and every testimony you write in your book about Him must agree absolutely with the New Testament. I HAVE POSTED ELSEWHERE THAT THE BOM WORK DOES NOT AGREE WITH THE BIBLE

13. Many of the facts, claims, ideas, and statements given as absolute truth in your writing must be entirely inconsistent with the prevailing beliefs of the world. Some of these worldly beliefs must be the direct opposite of your claims. NOT SURE YOU CAN PROVE THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD

14. Included in your narrations will be authentic modes of travel; whether or not those ancient people used fire; description of their clothing, crops, mourning customs, and types of government. You must invent about 280 new names that will stand up under scrutiny through the years as to their proper application and derivation. AGAIN VIVID STORYTELLING FROM SOMEONE WHO LIVED IN THE 1800'S

15. You will have to properly use figures of speech, similes, metaphors, narrations, exposition, descriptions, oratory, epic lyric, and parables. AGAIN STORYTELLING

16. You must invite the ablest scholars and experts to examine the text with care, and you must strive diligently to see that your book gets into the hands of those eager to prove it a forgery, and who are most competent to expose every flaw in it. MANY PEOPLE HAVE PROVED THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT SEEM FISHY ABOUT THE STORIES

17. Thorough investigation, scientific and historical evidence, and archeological discovery for the next 125 years must verify its claims and prove detail after detail to be true, for many of the details you put in your history are still buried beneath the soil of Tibet. NAME SOME QUALIFIED ARCHEOLOGISTS WHO SAY THEY USED THE BOM TO VERIFIY AN ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDING

18. You must publish it to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people declaring it to be the word of God and another witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. THE KORAN IS PUBLISHED TO THE WORLD AND HAS MANY ADHERENTS

19. The book must not contain any absurd, impossible, or contradictory statements. Your history must not contain any statement that will contradict any other statement elsewhere in the volume. EVEN FROM MY STUDIES I HAVE FOUND MANY PLACES WHERE THE BOM CONTRADICTS ITSELF

20. Many theories and ideas as to its origin must arise, and after discovering and examining the facts, they must fail. You have claimed that your knowledge had come from divine origin, and this claim continues to stand as the only possible explanation. The strength of this explanation must not decrease as time passes, but actually increases to the point where it becomes the only logical explanation. NAME A FEW OF THESE IF YOU WOULD

21. Your record is to fulfill many Bible prophecies, even in the exact manner in which it shall come forth, to whom delivered, its purposes, and its accomplishments. WHICH BIBLE PROPHECIES HAS IT FULFILLED

22. Call down an angel from heaven in the middle of the day and have him bear testimony to four honest, dignified citizens of your community that the record is the word of God. These witnesses must bear the angel's testimony to the world, not for profit or gain, but under great sacrifice and severe persecution, even to their death beds. You must put that testimony to the test by becoming an enemy to these men. I QUESTION THE COMMENT ABOUT "HONEST DIGNIFIED MEN" MUCH TESTIMONY ABOUT JS AND OTHERS TREASURE SEEKING

23. Thousands of great men, intellectual giants, national and international personalities, and scholars for 165 years must accept your history and its teachings even to the point of laying down their life rather than deny their testimony of it. PEOPLE USED TO THINK THE WORLD WAS FLAT. MANYM INTELLIGENT PEOPLE HELD ON TO THAT BELIEF SO IS THE WORLD FLAT AFTER ALL

24. You must include with within the record this promise: "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 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." CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR SOMETIMES WE RECEIVE OUR OWN THOUGHTS AND THINK THEY CAME FROM GOD. GOT TO COMPARE IT WITH PREVIOUS WORDS FROM GOD

25. Missionaries must bear record to the world for the next 165 years that they know the record to be true because they put the promise to the test and found it to be true. The truth of it was manifested to them by the power of the Holy Ghost.

KORAN FITS IN THAT CATEGORY ALSO

26. Over 52,900 plus competent salesman must be so sold on your book that they gladly give up two or more years of their lives to take it to all parts of the world for distribution. They not only pay their own way during these years, but return bearing testimony that the time spent will remain as one of the highlights of their lives. They receive nothing in return for their efforts but the joy of having shared your book with others. JEHOVAH WITNESSES SPEND HOURS OUT ON THE STREETS DOES THAT MAKE THERE TEACHING CORRECT ALSO

27. Your book must not only raise the standards of millions of people but do it in such a way that they become one of the great moral, ethical, and dynamic marvels of the day. They must become world renowned for this. MANY TEACHERS OUT THERE DO THE SAME TO STUDENTS EVERY YEAR

28. For the next 20 years you must watch those that follow and you, your family, and the dearest of your loved ones persecuted, driven time after time from their homes, beaten, tortured, starved, frozen and killed. Tens of thousands must undergo the most extreme hardships in your presence just because they believe your claims concerning the origin and content of what you have written on ancient Tibet. MANY OF THE THINGS THEY CALL PERSECUTION WERE BROUGHT ON BY THEMSELVES WHEN THEY TRIED TO TAKE LEGAL THINGS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS. THEY WEREN'T AS INNOCENT AS YOU SEEM TO PRESENT

29. You must gain no wealth from your work, but many times lose all that you have. Like those that believe you, you must submit yourself to the most vile persecution. And finally after 20 years of this, give your own life in a very savage and brutal manner, for your testimony concerning your history book. This must be done willingly on your part. THE LAW FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH HIM FOR BURNIG THE PRESS OF A RIVAL PAPER. CAN'T SAY HE DIED AS A MARTYR BECAUSE HE HAD GUNS TO FIGHT BACK WITH. MOST MARTYRS DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT BACK TO DIE FOR THEIR FAITH

30. Start right now and produce this record which covers 1,000 years of history, doing it, not in the peaceful atmosphere of your community, but under the most trying of circumstances which include being driven from your home several times, and receiving constant threats upon your life. Please have your book completed, talk a friend into mortgaging his farm to raise money to have it printed - all in 60 days. IT TOOK THEM MORE THAN 60 DAYS TO TRANSLATE IT WHERE DO YOU COME UP WITH 60 DAYS

There is only one answer: The Book of Mormon is a divine record. If not, its origin must be stated and its claims must be explained by the critic. It isn't enough to merely discard it as false and forget about it! IT FIRST MUST BE EXAMINED IN LIGHT OF THE BIBLE GOD'S ORIGINAL WORD THEN WE WILL DETERMINE IF IT IS DIVINE OR FALSE

The first thing to do in examining any ancient text (IF IT IS ANCIENT? ) SOME REAL SERIOUS CONCERNS IT IS NOT... since historical forgery is virtually impossible. MANY FICTIONAL STORIES DECLARE THEY ARE HISTORICAL

SO BRIEFLY TAOIST SAINT I THINK YOU HAVEN'T PROVED YOUR POINT ABOUT THE BOM BEING FROM GOD. SIMPLE ANSWERS AS SHOWN ABOVE CAN CONTRADICT WHAT YOU CLAIM ARE VALIDATION POINTS.

[Snow]

Originally posted by paul6150@Dec 17 2005, 04:30 PM

4. Your history must be written on the basis of what you now know. There was no library that held information for Joseph Smith. You must use none. There is to be no research of any kind. THERE IS STILL NEWSPAPERS AND PEOPLE PASSING ON THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT SOME FINDINGS. ALSO REMEMBER OLIVER COWDERY WAS A SCHOOL TEACHER. HOW DO WE KNOW IF HE DIDN'T HELP THE DRAFT ALONG.

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I think your comments are mostly worthless. They consist mainly of "So" and "Refer to my 'so' comment.

But for the sake of conversation, lets see if you can back up your rebuttals. What evidence do you have that Oliver Cowdery helped draft the BoM?

[paul6150]

Originally posted by Snow+Dec 17 2005, 06:48 PM-->

<!--QuoteBegin-paul6150@Dec 17 2005, 04:30 PM

4. Your history must be written on the basis of what you now know. There was no library that held information for Joseph Smith. You must use none. There is to be no research of any kind. THERE IS STILL NEWSPAPERS AND PEOPLE PASSING ON THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT SOME FINDINGS. ALSO REMEMBER OLIVER COWDERY WAS A SCHOOL TEACHER. HOW DO WE KNOW IF HE DIDN'T HELP THE DRAFT ALONG.

←

I think your comments are mostly worthless. They consist mainly of "So" and "Refer to my 'so' comment.

But for the sake of conversation, lets see if you can back up your rebuttals. What evidence do you have that Oliver Cowdery helped draft the BoM?

←

SNOW

I may not have any proof the Oliver Cowdery co-authored the BOM but there is much information that suggests that he was involved such as the fact that he was a teacher in the Vermont community where Ethan Smith (no relation to Joseph) a few years earlier wrote and published the book "A View of the Hebrews" which has similar stories of the rise and fall of ancient Indian groups who were part of the 10 lost tribes. Note also that it took a long time for the Smith/Harris combination to write the "lost 116 pages of manuscript" but when the Smith/Cowdery team took over they finished in record time. YES IT MAY BE SPECULATION ON MY PART BUT WHEN ONE LOOKS AT THESE FACTS PLUS THE MANY BORROWED BIBLE TEXTS, USE OF MODERN DAY TERMS THAT DON'T FIT IN THE BOM TIMELINE, ETC. ETC. ONE HAS TO CONSIDER THAT IT IS A POSSIBILITY THAT COWDERY ASSISTED IN PUTTING THE WORDS DOWN. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU READ ABOUT THE SMITH/COWDERY BREAK-UP AND SEE THAT IN THE BEGINNING COWDERY BELIEVED HE WAS KEY TO THE REVALTORY WORK BEING PUT TOGETHER.

My speculation is as good as the story of Smith's many adventures before he was given the plates. None of us were there so we are asked to accept the word of Smith that he did indeed speak to the Father and Son together in the First Vision and that the Angel Moroni came in 1823 and so on and so on. What proof do you have that these events really happened other than you accept the words of Smith. How about when John the Baptist supposedly reappeared to Smith/Cowdery and baptized them into the Aaronic Priesthood. Again you only have these two guys word on the matter. So you all speculate it is true and I speculate it is not. Unless you were ther your speculation is no better off than mine.

What about archeological proof that there was ever such a thing as Reformed Egypt. Surely there should be some proof of that to verify the claims.

[Guest Taoist_Saint]

Originally posted by ldsgurl_2002@Dec 17 2005, 12:21 PM

ok im so confused..what is with the book of zelph?? i hope im not the only confused one.. 

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That website is just a joke...sorry to have confused you :)

On that website they quote LDS Prophets regarding a skeleton that they had found...

"His name was Zelph. He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus, who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea to the Rocky mountains."

- Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 2:79-80; June 3, 1834 

"We learn that Zelph was slain during one of these battles during the great last struggle between the Nephites and Lamanites and was buried near the Illinois River."

- Joseph Fielding Smith

"While on our way we felt anxious to know who the person was who had been killed by that arrow. It was made known to Joseph that he had been an officer who fell in battle, in the last destruction among the Lamanites, and his name was Zelph.

- Heber C. Kimball

The owner of the website decided to write a parody...where he tells the story of how he translated the Book of Zelph, similar to the way Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Zelph is mostly just a parody of the Book of Mormon, but also makes fun of some of the controversies surrounding it.

Just a warning...there is some stuff written in there that is maybe rated "R".

My favorite part is the last chapter, which challenges you to "roll dice" to determine if it is a true book of scripture:

http://www.bookofzelph.com/melph/05.html

I mentioned this website because I thought that the BoM Challenge mentioned in the initial post was the challenge where we are challenged to write a scripture as "realistic" as the BoM...and we would supposedly fail...thus proving that Joseph Smith could not have written the BoM by himself, and it was a true translation.

But I think the BoM challenge being referred to was a challenge by President Hinckley to read the BoM...which is easier to do.

[Guest Taoist_Saint]

Originally posted by paul6150@Dec 17 2005, 05:30 PM

I DON'T HAVE TIME TO ANSWER ALL TAOIST SAINT'S POINTS BUT I AGREE WITH PRISON CHAPLAIN. IF YOU AGREE THAT THESE QAULIFIERS VALIDATE THE BOM THEN YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THE KORAN AND MANY OTHER SO CALLED WORDS FROM GOD BY MANY OTHERS. NOW TO SOME OF THE SPECIFIC QUALIFIERS

Just to clarify...I did not write that challenge...it was quote from some apologist.

Personally, I agree with you that if someone worked hard enough they could do this. Just my opinion.

But...

I think that the challenge she was referring to was simply Hinckley's challenge for people to read the BoM by the end of the year.

Which is a strange challenge, because haven't all baptized LDS read the BoM? Is President Hinckley suggesting that most LDS members have not read the BoM?

Why would anyone be baptized without reading the most important scriptures first?

[BenRaines]

I don't believe that it is necessary for someone to read the whole Book of Mormon to be baptized.

I think that there are important parts that can be read and a testimony of the book can be obtained.

I also believe that at times during the world there have been men who were prophets. They did not claim to lead a religious organization, they were just inspired men.

I have read the Book of Mormon many times along with the Bible. I will continue to read them during the rest of my lifetime. Neither is a book that I would consider reading only once.

[Guest sugarbay]

We were challenged to read the Book of Mormon again because as we read the scriptures we receive personal revelation. I have read it many, manytimes and each time I discover something else and usually and answer to questions I have. We can cerebralize this subject to death regarding the authenticity of this book, but unless we read it, pray about it, we will not know if it is indeed an inspired work, and if it is exactly as Joseph Smith maintained and died for. B)

[Guest Taoist_Saint]

Ah...I misunderstood.

If we are challenged to read it AGAIN, then it all makes sense.

[Guest Taoist_Saint]

Originally posted by BenRaines@Dec 19 2005, 05:24 PM

I don't believe that it is necessary for someone to read the whole Book of Mormon to be baptized.

I think that there are important parts that can be read and a testimony of the book can be obtained.

Personally, I believe that if someone read the entire book...giving them a chance to read parts that they might find more difficult to believe...it would give them a more accurate testimony. Meaning that they will have much stronger feelings about it being true or false. And if they can get past the controversial issues (mainly the lack of evidence), and still believe in it, it will mean their testimony is greater...because it takes stronger faith to believe in something that on the surface appears to be false.

So basically I think reading the whole book, and understanding the historical context...and using honest prayer...will give investigators better quality testimonies, and weed out the potential skeptics early on.

[Guest funkyfool416]

never read the BOM actually. Dont think i can do the challenge of readin it by the end of the year either...oh well. Im on 1 Nephi chapter 2 and proud that i even got that far. B)