The Testimony of Somebody Well Qualified to Make This Specific Point

Last updated on: April 9, 2019 at 8:03 pm by Dan Peterson

The Testimony of Somebody Well Qualified to Make This Specific Point 2019-04-09T20:03:23-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The cover of the book under discussion (Amazon.com image)

Back 0n 30 March 2017, slightly more than two years ago, I published a column in the Deseret News about a book that I had just read and that I thought (and still think) some will find helpful:

“‘Answers Will Come’ shares how to cope with religious doubts, questions”

Last night, I picked the book up again and happened to notice on page 145 what the author, Shalissa Lindsay, calls “One parting thought . . .”:

Thank you for reading these pages.

Please let errors or weaknesses in this book strengthen your testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

I have eighteen years of formal schooling. I have a laptop, word processing tools, an online thesaurus, and a digital gospel library. I received helpful suggestions from a dozen people. After every interruption or pause, I had to reread several paragraphs or pages to get back into the train of thought I had left. And after all of that, I still had to rework most pages many times to improve the flow and resolve inconsistencies in mood, tone, or logic. Writing this book took two years.

The Book of Mormon is twelve times longer and infinitely more complex and profound than this book. It involves hundreds of people, thousands of years of history, intricate Hebraic literary devices, powerful sermons, detailed foreshadowing, and complicated nuances of politics, economics, warfare, and human nature.

Joseph Smith had three years of formal schooling and no electronics. His wife said he dictated from no reference materials and never asked to have the prior sentences read back to him, even after long interruptions. He translated the Book of Mormon in about three months.

I testify that he did that by the power of God.

I think that Sister Lindsay makes a very important point here, and one well worth serious consideration. The sheer existence of the Book of Mormon is remarkable. That it came from such an unlettered and unbookish young man, that it was dictated so quickly, that (apart from the claimed golden plates) there was no preexisting text, that it is so complex — these facts are, in my judgment, extraordinarily difficult to explain away.

Some critics seem to think that all it took for Joseph Smith to dictate the Book of Mormon was a lively imagination. But, overwhelmingly, the people who speak so casually of creating a book are people who have never seriously tried to write a book. Lengthy, complex volumes don’t just “happen.”

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 9, 2019

“The Mormon as Magus,” Part Two

Next Post

April 9, 2019 They're even older than I am.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Even the wind and the waves obey him!"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John the Baptist Jesus' disciples The Pharisees The Roman governor