Elder Holland gave a riveting sermon about the Book of Mormon in General Conference yesterday (Sunday, Oct 4, 2009). This talk will be quoted for a long time to come, and Elder Holland has quickly become a favorite for many LDS apologists. One notable quote among many:
For 179 years this book has been examined, and attacked. Denied and deconstructed. Targeted and torn apart, like perhaps no other book in modern religious history. Perhaps like no other book in any religious history, and still, it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born, parroted and died. From Ethan Smith to Solomon Spalding, to deranged paranoid, to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination, because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young, unlearned translator.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, General Conference talk, Oct. 4, 2009
Here is that sermon, which is better watched then read.
Part 1
Part 2
October 23, 2009 at 12:35 pm
I have often thought the same way… knowing that their were many after their lives, particularly Joseph’s, knowing that certainly he was going to die soon (or even in old age), how could he lie or make up the Book of Mormon knowing that eternal damnation was the only reward that he would receive for misleading all the LDS Saints then, now and until the end of time…
Elder Holland says it better than I could ever depict or ponder it. Even said, I am certain that it was our Lord, Jesus Christ, only using Elder Holland as a vessel to deliver the truth of this message (Jesus is the Truth!)
Amen…