In 2017, I went on trek with my stake to Nebraska. On the third night, there was a horrendous thunderstorm. There was a torrential downpour, strong winds, and even hail. We took shelter in a nearby building, leaving all of our belongings in the tents. One boy in particular helped many others reach the building, but then the exhaustion, combined with the wet and cold got to him. He became very sick. When the pa’s and one brother were allowed to retrieve belongings, his family asked him what he wanted. He asked for his trek journal and Book of Mormon.
They went to the soaked tent. The journal was found, mostly dry, with just a little water damage around the edges. Then they saw his Book of Mormon. It was lying flat on the floor in the middle of a puddle. When they picked it up out of the puddle, it was almost entirely dry. This experience really strengthened my testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon and was a witness to me of the truth of it. There are many other witnesses or evidences of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon today.
There are many evidences of the Book of Mormon, even archeological evidences. Throughout history, one of the arguments brought against the Book of Mormon is that Native Americans did not build structures like watchtowers or roads. Near St. Louis, there is a site called Cahokia. It was the location of ancient Native American mounds. Archeologists have found evidence that the Native Americans who lived there built watchtowers and defensive walls around the city. In Mesoamerica, ancient roads have been discovered via a new high-tech scanning technology called Lidar. The archeologists discovered an ancient city buried in the depths of the rainforest with 17 roads over 240 kilometers long. (Ancient Maya)
In modern day Yemen, in 1999, an important archeological discovery was made. An altar stone was discovered which was inscribed with the letters NHM. In 2000 and in 2001, two more altars were discovered with the same inscription. The altars proved the existence of the tribe NHM. Because ancient Hebrew did not write vowels, it is very likely that this was the Nahom from the Book of Mormon. (deseret)
Another evidence for the Book of Mormon is the language. There are many phrases which would not naturally be English. For example, it is the Book of Mormon -not Mormon’s Book. This is perfectly normal in the Hebrew language, as it is the only way to denote a possessive. An example of another Hebrew language pattern found in the Book of Mormon is the usage of cognate accusative.
This would be a phrasing such as, “he did judge righteous judgements” (Mosiah 29:13) or “cursed with a sore cursing (Jacob 3:3). Another grammatical concept displayed in the Book of Mormon is the lack of adverbs, because in Hebrew, they do not use adverbs. Instead of saying ‘hastily’, it says ‘with haste’ and instead of saying gladly, it says ‘with gladness.’ Another Hebraism is the usage of a Chiasmus. This is a poetic device, a form of parallelism, used for emphasis on certain points. There are many examples of this throughout the Book of Mormon, such as Mosiah 5:10-12.
“And now whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ
Must be called by some other name
Therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God
And I would that ye should remember that this is the name
That should never be blotted out
Except it be through transgression
Therefore take heed that ye do not transgress
That the name should not be blotted out in your hearts
I would that ye should remember to retain this name written
always in your hearts.
That ye are not found upon the left hand of God
But that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called
And also the name which he shall call you.”
While a chiasmus might be found in any language, it is especially prevalent in Hebrew, especially during the time of Lehi. These are just some among the many evidences that the Book of Mormon was originally written in some form of Hebrew (encyclopedia).
Very little of this archeological and literary evidence was available to Joseph Smith during his lifetime. For someone who did not even know that Jerusalem had a wall, he would never have known that ancient Native Americans built watchtowers and roads, or that adverbs were not used in the Hebrew language. There is also other evidence that Joseph Smith did not write the Book of Mormon. Wordprinting tests have been done on the Book of Mormon that have shown that Joseph Smith was not the author. These tests have also identified that Alma and Nephi were different authors, giving more credit to the fact that the Book of Mormon was composed by different authors.
Despite all of the physical evidence for the Book of Mormon, the most important evidence is the Spirit. Elder B. H. Roberts wrote, “[The Holy Ghost] must ever be the chief source of evidence for the truth of the Book of Mormon. All other evidence is secondary to this, the primary and infallible. No arrangement of evidence, however skilfully ordered; no argument, however adroitly made, can ever take [the] place [of the Holy Ghost]. . .” The most important evidence of the Book of Mormon is the Spirit. No other evidence, whether it be archeological, or literary, will be as crucial to building a strong testimony. The other evidences can build upon that foundation, but unless that foundation exists, they will do little good.
