Miraculous, Not Ridiculous

"We love the goofiness of Mormon stories.  Some of them are incredulous, and we loved almost all the Mormons that we had ever met.  So this was sort of this conundrum that we like to talk about-- we think what they believe is really, really ridiculous, and yet they seem like pretty happy people."

- Trey Parker, creator of the irreverent Broadway musical 'The Book of Mormon'

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In the past when people have discovered that I am a Latter-Day Saint, I have often been met with open curiosity.

The look on their face more times than not has seemed to say-- in a similar vein as Mr. Parker:
"Um, seriously?  But you seem pretty well-educated and normal.  How could you believe such an unbelievable story?"

Would you like to hear my honest answer?

To me, believing that Joseph Smith truly had a vision and received golden plates is no different than believing Moses spoke to a burning bush and received the Ten Commandments.  Both accounts are-- upon first glance-- unbelievable.  To the believer, however, both accounts are simply miraculous.   

Unlike a 2006 article from Slate Magazine which asserted, "One may object that all religious beliefs are irrational—what's the difference between Smith's "seer stone" and the virgin birth or the parting of the Red Sea? But Mormonism is different because it is based on such a transparent and recent fraud," I don't see why I should be branded as an imbecile for believing God spoke to a prophet in 1820 or even that He still speaks today in 2011.  What difference should a date in time make?  If God spoke in Old Testament times, I personally don't see why He would be incapable of speaking today.

(Many thanks to my friend Bryce for the quote from Slate, please visit his blog for an interesting post on this subject.) 

Critics of my faith would have you believe that Joseph Smith was a charismatic con man, seeking fame or power, or some other worldly accolade.
That the five hundred and thirty-one pages of the Book of Mormon, which were transcribed in approximately 75 days, are a complete and utter fabrication. 

Now, I like to think of myself as a writer of sorts, and that statistic alone boggles my mind.
75 days?!?!

In fact, as someone who writes fairly compulsively, there are many things about the Book of Mormon that cause me to take it seriously, even just from an authorial standpoint.  (Chiasmus, anyone?)  Acclaimed science fiction novelist Orson Scott Card has even written a pretty extensive article on this topic, which I have found incredibly fascinating.  

However, all these interesting little tidbits are not the why of my core belief in the Book of Mormon.  

My testimony comes from a spiritual confirmation that can only result from reading its pages and humbly petitioning the Lord in prayer.  I have read the Book of Mormon, every word.  And, like the Bible, I know it is an inspired book.  The peace I have felt while immersing myself in its pages has been life-altering.  It has answered prayers, and led me to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with my Savior.

That is why I believe.

And although many may scoff and wonder at the implausibility of the Joseph Smith story, I can only stand and wonder at the miracle of it all.  

“All the ingenuity of all the men under heaven could not compose and present to the world a book like the Book of Mormon. Its principles are divine—they are from God. They could never emanate from the mind of an imposter, or from the mind of a person writing a novel. Why? Because the promises and prophecies it contains are being fulfilled in the sight of all the earth.”


- President Wilford W. Woodruff  (1807–98), Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff (2004), 119.

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To learn more about the Book of Mormon, please visit this website. 

This post is part of a series hosted by the Book of Mormon Forum!