1/
Results of the challenge to produce a plausible alternate explanation of the Book of Mormon:

Days: 18
Views: 6,575
Personal attacks on Joseph: ~5
Attempts to alter the question: 20
Personal insults: 6+
Plausible alternate explanations: 0

Believers, remember this.

#DezNat https://twitter.com/Celestialaw/status/1291192086700662784

2/ Almost the only alternate explanation given was that Joseph Smith wrote or "orally performed" the Book of Mormon. It is an answer of desperation, really. Most tried to change the question or say it was somehow not fair or not relevant to the BoM's authenticity.

3/ But a vacuum must be filled, so #antimos ond #exmos have to say SOMETHING, or else admit a crucial defeat.

4/ Ironically, those who deny Joseph's calling as a prophet and seer who translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God attributed to him almost God-like powers to create it.

5/ Though a 23-year-old frontier farm-boy who likely never set foot in a library prior to translating the Book of Mormon, they assume he has read every book existent, scowered every library, mastered literary analysis and rhetorical method, is conversant with ancient cultures,

6/ has a savaant-like memory and focus to detail, is a Tolkien-like fiction-story writer, an Augustine-like theologian, a master of military tactics and strategy, an expert on the outward and inward workings of various types of governments,

7/ of the inner-workings of secret combinations of wickedness that seek their overthrow, and that all this was learned while clearing land in the frontier of upstate New York and working on neighboring farms to help his impoverished family make ends meet.

8/ Also, that he was a Rothschild-like evil mastermind who could cunningly deceive multitudes both during his life and centuries after his death that the Book of Mormon is an authentic ancient text.

9/ Occam's razor was cited, also, which holds that, all else being equal, the simplest answer is the best. So, what is the simplest answer: That these scores of implausible and unbased assumptions about Joseph Smith's experience and genius are false and that

10/ Joseph Smith was God's prophet who translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God.

11/ I testify that God knows us and he always gives us evidence to support our faith. That evidence can come in the form of: (1) personal experiences, (2) testimony of others, (3) physical evidence, (4) recollection of past promises fulfilled, and many others.

12/ The Book of Mormon's importance transcends what is written in it. The Prophet Joseph rarely quoted FROM the Book of Mormon, but spoke often about HOW IT CAME TO BE. The Book of Mormon is the physical sign given to our age that there is a prophet on the earth.

13/ In time, no one with intellectual integrity will be able to dismiss the Gospel's restoration without first answering the question: Where did the Book of Mormon come from? The Book of Mormon is a lifeline for those who do not have the Gift of the Holy Ghost;

14/ an outward sign that can lead them to "experiment on [the] word." It is the tool that will sift the hearts of men and of nations before the coming of the great day of the Lord, when righteousness will be rewarded with life everlasting and wickedness with fire unquenchable.

15/ May we all remember The Book of Mormon, appreciate it, live it. I promise you, in time, joy beyond what the study of any other book can afford and, immediately, a greater desire to oppose evil and accomplish good.

End

#DezNat