Mormons, don't you find it hard to keep your faith when there is so much evidence on the internet that discredits the Book of Mormon?

Yep. The evidence is overwhelming and unless one willfully ignores it in favor of clinging to what they "know is true", it is hard to not come to the conclusion that Joseph Smith lied. I went through that process myself, having been born and raised a Mormon.

I have found the pro-Mormon responses to all the evidence to be <ahem> less than persuasive, and many times just downright ridiculous (see Rrosskopf's list, for example). Mostly, Mormon apologetics consists of ad hominem attacks on whomever is criticizing Mormonism, with a few silly counter-arguments that will only convince those who really want to believe in Mormonism. When I first started investigating the "anti-Mormon" claims, I turned to the apologist websites, confident that all the "anti-Mormon lies" would be shot full of holes and all would be well. I was shocked at just how shallow, weak, and in many cases dishonest, apologist responses were. That's what caused me to first think, "Hey, maybe the "anti-mormons" aren't the ones telling lies here...?" Sadly, that is the case.

Why do you think Mormon leaders are so vocal in telling their flock to stay away from "anti-mormon lies" on the internet? They realize just how damning it is and are desperate for the members to stay away from it.

Nope. I had questions and doubts about it's divine authenticity when I was investigating the church. I later came to the conclusion that no 19th century uneducated backwoods farm boy could have written such a book. Too many things are in there that not even the most educated man at that time could have figured out about the middle east, let alone an uneducated teenage boy.

Plenty of ATTEMPTS to disprove it, but they fail every time!

Maybe try some sites which SUPPORT the Book of Mormon's divine origin and authenticity:

https://www.lds.org/new-era/1972/02/chiasmus-in-th...

http://www.jefflindsay.com/BMEvidences.shtml (Even some help for CTR regarding the Book of Abraham here!)

And yes, I received my testimony from God that the Book of Mormon is true, before I found anything on the Internet in support of that. When you have God's answer that it is true scripture containing the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, what can anyone say for or against it to change your mind?

Lol yes, that's why I resigned my membership four years ago at age 17. They always told us not to read or trust things we saw on the internet about the church. For awhile, I just blindly believed it because I was young, but my curiosity got the better of me and I researched away for about a year and then resigned. The thing that really got me was reading about the origins of the Book of Abraham. It was almost comical. =P

Edit: lol just realized my username is still CTR bahaha

On the contrary, I often find it hard to see internet evidence as credible. Granted there certainly is credible evidence on the internet and it is a very useful tool, when used properly. That assertion, indicated by your usage of "so much," that quantity is of importance is one I would disagree with as I find quality of far greater import.

One thing to remember with history of any sort is that it's much more about plausibility and the best idea than absolute facts. Evidence therefore neither proves nor disproves the Book of Mormon. There are many problems about the Book of Mormon advanced by good scholars, but those problems are very often addressed by other scholars and there is evidence to support the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. I won't attempt to run through these arguments and evidences, but here would be some pertinent articles which address a few.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/01/mounting-eviden...

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1984/09/digging-into-th...

www.mormonnewsroom.org/assets/pdf/Jeff_Lindsay_DNA.pdf

I only posted Pro-Book of Mormon articles since you seem to find the anti sources readily available, and they are.

It's also important to remember that the assertion is not only that the Book of Mormon is true, but that it is divine. How is divinity measured? Not in an archeological dig or a DNA lab. The simplest method, or experiment, to determine for oneself if the work is divine is to experiment upon the word. (This is discussed in the Book of Mormon in Alma 32:21-43) Does it teach one to do good? Does it uplift? Does it draw one closer to God? Then after studying it out we may pray and ask God if it is His word. Through such experimentation we may come to know the divinity of the book and that is it's purpose and intent, to draw men to Jesus Christ through it's witness of Him. If we receive a divine witness, then we can check our sources. If a man believes that God has revealed to him that the book is true, that would certainly be a more reliable source to him than any other. We may remember that "faith...is the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) Certainly to every true believer, though it may be difficult for others to understand, that is the greatest evidence of all.

So no, I don't find it hard to keep my faith.

Those people who claim that there is proof that the Book of Mormon is false all have one thing in common. They read the same statement from someone else. It is a wonderful rumor.

rrosskopf mentioned Chiasmus. You can see this evidence for yourself below. This is a writing style that is a hallmark of Hebrew writing. It came to light in the mid 20th century. Chiasmus is a form of poetry that is used for emphasis. It takes a number of words or concepts and then repeats them is reverse order. The Book of Mormon has some very complex examples but I will list a couple of simple ones from the bible and Book of Mormon. Letters are used to compare idea's:

From Isaiah:

(a) Make the heart of this people fat,

(b) and make their ears heavy,

(c) and shut their eyes;

(c') lest they see with their eyes,

(b') and hear with their ears,

(a') and understand with their heart,

and convert [return], and be healed. (Is. 6:10)

(abc) Come ... to the house of the God of Jacob; and ... and we will walk in his paths...

(d) And he shall judge among the nations...

(e) they shall beat their swords into plowshares

(e') and their spears into pruninghooks

(d') nation shall not lift up sword against nation...

(a'b'c') O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. (Isaiah 2:3-5)

From the Book of Mormon:

Mosiah 3:18,19:

(Men will drink damnation to their souls unless)

(a) They HUMBLE themselves

(b) and become as little CHILDREN

(c) believing that salvation is in the ATONING BLOOD OF CHRIST;

(d) for the NATURAL MAN

(e) is an enemy of GOD

(f) and HAS BEEN from the fall of Adam

(f') and WILL BE forever and ever

(e') unless he yieldeth to the HOLY SPIRIT

(d') and putteth off the NATURAL MAN

(c') and becometh a saint through the ATONEMENT OF CHRIST

(b') and becometh as a CHILD

(a') submissive, meek and HUMBLE.

Mosiah 5:10-12:

(a) And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the NAME of Christ

(b) must be CALLED by some other name;

(c) therefore, he findeth himself on the LEFT HAND of God.

(d) And I would that ye should REMEMBER also, that this is the NAME

(e) that I said I should give unto you that never should be BLOTTED out,

(f) except it be through TRANSGRESSION;

(f') therefore, take heed that ye do not TRANSGRESS,

(e') that the name be not BLOTTED OUT of your hearts.

(d') I say unto you, I would that ye should REMEMBER to retain the NAME

(c') written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the LEFT HAND of God,

(b') but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be CALLED,

(a') and also, the NAME by which he shall call you.

not at all! by my own experience, i would accept every pamphlet ever given to me, and i would go home and research it, every word, and find out that the sources they recite are just not accurately portrayed, so right away its smell like doo do.

first, the authors will tell us what is not true, and then he will quote something thats not even recited correctly, and then he will conclude with a statement, from the bible, often out of context to prove it. it all sounds legitimate while a person reads the words, and then will never actually do the investigation and research.

to confirm it.

prophets have warned by the will of the Lord to test every spirit, and study out the truth for oneself. by direct revelation joseph smith said he saw Jesus and Heaven Father standing side by side. as i have seen an angelic personage and 3 visions of Jesus, myself, i know several things already. self interpretations from re translaations are often not the truth when spoken at the pulpits, as well, and what people are taught rather than what is known from a living prophet are contradictions and at the same time apostasy.

It is a work of fiction turned into a book of faith by Sidney Rigdon as part of his and Joseph Smith;s deception in starting their ridiculous man-made religion 1800 years after Jesus started His true Church. It was a scheme to get power over people and most of all to create wealth for themselves. It should not be taken seriously by reasonable people. God bless!

In Christ

Fr. Joseph

The problem with the so-called "evidence" against the Book of Mormon is that it is highly subjective and frequently taken out of context. Show me some definitive actual evidence that discredits the Book of Mormon.

<cricket....cricket....cricket...>

Don't have any? I didn't think so....

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet.