How did I acquire a testimony of the Book of Mormon? I have not acquired it. I am in the process of acquiring it. Because the more I read it and the more I see of life, the more convinced I am that it is true. In my still-maturing testimony, I am constantly reinforcing my testimony by two processes: (1) by proving and (2) by disproving. My testimony involves faith, but it is not by faith alone.
In my 50 years of private, U.S. Air Force and commercial airline flying around this country and the world, I have made it a practice to observe, in each nation that I have visited, the culture of the people, the governments and the religions of those nations. (I also happened to take notice of a few good-looking girls) I know of no nation where the doctrine or the organization of any church equals or even approaches that of the doctrine and the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If there were, I believe I would be aware of it.
One thing that convinces me that the Book of Mormon is true, and is what it claims to be, is the examination of the criticisms waged against it. All such criticisms that I have seen are very shallow. There are thousands of people and many powerful forces who (that) would like to disprove the Book of Mormon. Some claim it was written by Joseph Smith. Nonsense! A 15 year old uneducated farm boy? Some claim it was written by some professor. Nonsense! There is not now nor was there then a professor with enough brains to write the Book of Mormon!!!By the process of elimination, only one claim stands valid as to the origin of the book of Mormon. And that it was transcribed on gold plates and later delivered to Joseph Smith by Moroni.
On the positive side, the Holy Ghost must play a part. I do not possess the natural intelligence to be able to make such a determination on intelligence alone. (And I am smarter than at least half of the people in this country.) One very important factor that convinces me of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon is its explanation of secret combinations of the devil and the great and abominable church of the devil. From independent study, I have come to be aware of the existence, power and tactics of these entities and, to some extent, the identities of some of the people and organizations involved. They are very, very real. And they are definitely inspired by the Devil. Their ideology is the exact opposite of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Any church that would be the church of Jesus Christ would warn its members of these satanic, soul-destroying powers. The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants do this. I know of no doctrine of any other church that does so.
The more I read the Book of Mormon, the more I become convinced of its veracity and legitimacy. It certainly is, as the 8th Article of Faith claims, “…The word of God.”
