Is there Scientific Proof of the Book of Mormon?

I cannot tell you how many times I have received this same question. As well as the kind words that Elder Ballard has mentioned here in this You Tube Video; I would caution those that ask this question to judge the Bible on the same standard from an Athiestic point of view. Can one PROVE without a shadow of doubt that Jesus rose from the dead, and accended to his father. A book unto itself cannot prove anything. It is ones faith in the accuracy of that information as testified by the Holy Ghost.

The Eleven Witnesses Seeing Things - Your Kidding Right?

Detractors of the LDS faith in their quest to attempt to prove Mormonism false have sought creative ways to attack the Church and its doctrine. One such area that these detractors attempt to attack is the eleven witnesses of the Gold plates. They question the testimony of the witnesses because the record was shown unto us by the power of God and angle came down from Heaven and laid before our eyes the plates. These detractors stated the following: It is clear that the witnesses were not bearing witness to an actual physical seeing and handling of the gold plates, but to a mythical event of the same kind as visions of angelic beings and visits from god-men. [1]

The first problem I see is that the person who is making the claim either does not understand or does not want to understand that there are two kinds of experiences that the witnesses had. 1st the three special witnesses had what was described as a mythical experience, Mythical being described by the dictionary as fictitious. The problem comes in that if the experience is false because of angelic beings it doesn't cover the entire eleven witnesses that they are claiming to invalidate.

For those that bother to read the Book of Mormon know that in the front of every Book of Mormon is the testimony of the 3 Witnesses and the testimony of the 8 witnesses. It is clear to even the most discriminating mind that the eight witnesses did not see any angels or god-men.

THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES
Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.

Christian Whitmer; Jacob Whitmer; Peter Whitmer, Jun; John Whitmer; Hiram Page; Joseph Smith, Sen; Hyrum Smith; Samuel H. Smith

These witnesses simply saw the plates. One has to ask how the statement above about visions of angelic beings invalidates these witnesses statement. It is clear that in their account that they physically saw the plates. In fact to quote it; Joseph Smith, Jun the translator of this work has shown us the plates of which he has spoken. This clearly shows a physical action by people and has to contain a solid artifact to show. These witnesses even handled the plates by their testimony.

The detractors however by their statement attempt to invalidate the three witnesses instead of all eleven. That stated one has to ask if these same detractors are willing to invalidate all Biblical scripture based on the same type of claim the this is a "mythical" experiance. One has to ask do these detractors have "first hand knowledge" of the events? If not then they can only go by thier feelings in this matter. We as LDS do understand the difference in the witnesses statements, meaning the difference in the three special witnesses and the eight other witnesses. I believe the Lord did this by design so that detractors that bring up these types of arguments against his church have to deal with both.

Wer62

Was there a False Prophecy in 1st Nephi?

The claim made by detractors of the LDS faith states the following:

A false prophesy exists in 1 Nephi 19:10. It predicts the crucifixion of Jesus and the three days of darkness that would follow His death. According to Luke 23:44, there were three hours of darkness.

Detractors to the LDS faith have always come up with inventive ways to attempt to destroy the faith of others. This claim is no execption. Concerning the 3 days of darkness who is to say that one event has anything to do with the other.

The 1 Nephi 19:10 account is a prophecy of what happened on this continent and fulfilled in 3 Nephi accounting. The Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi describes a great disaster that swept over Book of Mormon lands at the time that Christ was crucified in the Old World. This destruction overthrew evil rulers and rocked a society that had become wicked, yet had some righteous people in its midst. The description of the destruction is detailed, mentioning great storms, earthquakes, and risings and sinking of the land. A terrible storm brought violent wind and whirlwinds, accompanied by unprecedented lightning and thunder. The face of the land was changed and what was once solid rock now was cracked in some places. The violent activity lasted about three hours, though it seemed longer to some. Afterwards, a "thick darkness" was present which could be "felt." "Vapor of smoke and darkness" choked or suffocated some, and thick "mists of darkness" prevented fires being lit for three days. Many cities had been destroyed by burning (six burned cities are named), by sinking into the ocean (the city of Moroni, near the coast), by being covered with earth, or, in the case of Jerusalem, by being covered with rising "waters". (Some cities remained, and basic geographical reference points were unchanged, so the great deformation of the land was largely superficial.)

The details about the destruction make excellent sense if volcanic activity was involved. Volcanic ash and fumes can result in thick, tangible, moist mists which can kill people, shut out light for days, and prevent the lighting of fires. (Those who experienced the Mount St. Helens eruption in the United States know about some of this.) Strong volcanic activity can also be accompanied by seismic activity and shifting of earth by either lava flows, ash deposits, mudslides or landslides, and the raising and lowering of portions of the land and by changes in the water levels of nearby lakes. Joseph Smith never experienced a volcano, but the Book of Mormon description is remarkably consistent with modern knowledge of volcanic activity. Therefore the Luke accounting really has no basis for what the signs were for those on this continent. Futhermore there is evidence that shows volcanic activity as described in the Book of Mormon may have occurred around 33 AD in the Mesoamerican region showing further proof of the divinity of the Book of Mormon