If, after a rigid examination, it be found an imposition, it should be extensively published to the world as such the evidences and arguments upon which the imposture was detected, should be clearly and logically stated, that those who have been sincerely yet unfortunately deceived, may perceive the nature of the deception, and be reclaimed, - and that those who continue to publish the delusion, may be exposed and silenced, not by physical force, neither by persecutions, bare assertions, nor ridicule, but by strong and powerful arguments - by evidences adduced from scripture and reason. Thus the Book of Mormon has become the focal point of attack by many of our critics: disprove the Book of Mormon and you disprove the Church and undermine testimonies.Īlthough Callister paints work by scholars to support the modern origin theory and demonstrate flaws or contradictions in the ancient model an “attack”, if a person genuinely believes that the data best support a modern origin model, then it does seem reasonable to follow after Orson Pratt (emphasis added): Still, because other faiths (e.g., FLDS, AUB) also hold the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, belief in the Book of Mormon alone does not seem sufficient to resolve questions of authority, for instance. Why? Because the keystone of our religion-the Book of Mormon and its witness of Jesus Christ-has also become the keystone of our testimony, which keystone holds our testimony securely in place.Īlthough other kinds of supernatural scenarios could account for the transmission of the Book of Mormon from an ancient source, it seems fairly reasonable to conclude that if the ancient model is correct, then the Book of Mormon is from God and some form of Mormonism is divinely inspired. Once we have a foundational testimony of the Book of Mormon, then any question or challenge we confront in life, however difficult it may seem, can be approached with faith, not doubt. Most members and former members of the LDS Church agree on these points. On the other hand, if its origin is God-given, then Joseph Smith was a prophet, and if he was a prophet, then The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. As a result, if the Book of Mormon can be proved to be man-made, then the Church is man-made. … Because the Book of Mormon is “the keystone of our religion,” as described by Joseph Smith, the Church rises or falls on the truth of it. The Book of Mormon is the Keystone of our Religion (“Keystone”) Virtually all modern non-LDS scholars seem to view the oral composition model as most likely, but other models exist and will occasionally be referenced. To easily distinguish Callister’s voice from other block quotations and orient the reader, all Callister quotes are colored red and prefaced “" (so, corresponds to Callister's Argument #2, first paragraph). Callister’s headings are duplicated below to help orient the reader. 4 ResponseĬallister’s devotional is quoted in full except for the omission of a few relatively small chunks of text that are tangential to his primary thesis. Given that Callister carefully and emphatically lays out a case in defense of the orthodox LDS position, and given his status as a general officer of the Church and the forum where the address was delivered, it seems appropriate to offer up a detailed counter-response to Callister’s core arguments. 2 More recently, he published a book on the topic, A Case for the Book of Mormon.Īlthough some responses were made to his conference address, very partial responses have been made to his book, 3 and some responses have addressed portions of his devotional, none have yet responded to his arguments in full. Shortly after, he gave a highly condensed and slightly modified version of the talk in general conference. Callister argues against these theories and then offers counter-evidence and argumentation supporting the orthodox LDS narrative. On November 1, 2016, Tad Callister, general president of the Sunday School and former General Authority, delivered a BYU Devotional entitled The Book of Mormon: Man-Made or God-Given? The talk is somewhat unique among recent addresses by general officers of the Church in that it addresses in scholarly fashion 1 various theories about the creation of the Book of Mormon.
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