On Thursday, the Fourth of July, I’ll be attending a luncheon at the Independence, Missouri Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offered by the Hill Park Ward. Shortly after the 1 PM lunch, I’ll be giving a presentation on Book of Mormon evidences for about 45 minutes or so. The title of my presentation is “A Journey of Faith Strengthened with Knowledge of the Book of Mormon.”
Some topics I will touch upon include:
- Why does evidence matter? Why did we need witnesses for the Book of Mormon? Why does knowledge in addition to faith matter to the Lord? How can scholarship help us minister?
- Reliable vs. unreliable sources, strong vs. weak or fake evidence, sound vs. flawed scholarship, and the tentative nature of human wisdom.
- Coping with attacks on the Book of Mormon, and the useful things we can learn from the critics.
- A fascinating trend: weaknesses becoming strengths (examples: Bethlehem vs Jerusalem, alleged plagiarism and a lesson from Words of Gad the Seer)
- Useful indicators: explanatory power and convergence of independent evidences
- The witnesses: an abundance of evidences
- The Arabian Peninsula: powerful convergence
- Basic treasures: stone boxes, metal plates, and the brass plates
- The language of the Book of Mormon: multiple voices, incredibly consistent, inconsistent with Joseph’s language, rich in surprises (chiasmus and other ancient literary devices, strong Early Modern English influence beyond the KJV, and bewildering connections to the Book of Moses)
- Suggestions for your journey of faith strengthened with knowledge of the Book of Mormon, including knowledge of evidences and insights from scholarship.
The presentation will be broadcast via the Hill Park Ward’s Zoom account that can be accessed via the Church’s website and in the Gospel Stream app. Go to the Church’s website at https://churchofjesuschrist.org/media/broadcasts and enter event code 429836. The site shows that this begins at 12:50, but I believe my presentation will actually begin around 1:50.
I’m currently in Nauvoo, where I was so fortunate to see a rehearsal of the Nauvoo pageant last night. Love the expanded offerings for visitors to this remarkable site of Church history. And what a beautiful temple!
