The Book of Mormon is that proof. It is literally impossible for an unschooled farmboy in his early twenties to create such a work within the matter of a few months - unless he had divine assistance, as he claimed.
The many miracles and blessings that have followed the church since its organization are proof of its divine mission and calling.
But most importantly, there is a set method whereby anyone can determine for themselves if the LDS church is true. It consists of reading the Book of Mormon, pondering it, and then asking God in prayer if it is true. He will answer that question.
Do you have anything new to say Bill, or are you just going to retread ground you've already gone over before on this thread?
Based upon what sort of research do you make such a claim? Also, what you say is misleading. His mother said that as a child Smith was fascinated with the native Americans and obsessed with their origins. He had a vivid imagination and often conjured stories and adventures from their past. Smith did not have a few months to invent these tales.
It also helps that he plagiarized the bible. If the Book of Mormon was written as Smith says it was written where he saw this text in "reformed Egyptian" and then looked into his hat at the magic seer stones and saw each of the reformed Egyptian characters transform into English, then there would not be any simularities to the tone and style of writing of the King James Version of the bible whose words and style was intentionally written by King James in an older form of English.
But there are too many simularities to the bible to think the Book of Mormon is authentic.
1 NephiThe mysteries of God -- 1 Corinthians 4:1
1:1, 2:16
Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! -- Revelation 15:3
1:14
Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts -- Mark 3:5
2:18, 7:8, 15:4
To stir you up by putting you in remembrance -- 2 Peter 1:13
2:24
Behold, I dreamed a dream -- Judges 7:13
3:2
Spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began -- Acts.3:21
3:20
It is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. -- John 11:50
4:13
Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath... -- Acts 12:11
5:8
All nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues -- Revelation 14:6
5:18, 11:36, 14:11, 19:17, 22:28
They are not of the world. -- John 17:14
6:5
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. -- John 1:23
10:8
There standeth one among you, whom ye know not ... whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. John 1:26-27
10:8
One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. -- Luke 3:16
10:8
In Bethabara beyond Jordan -- John 1:28
10:9
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. -- John 1:29
10:10
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever. -- Hebrews 13:8
10:18
The kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. -- Matthew 25:34
10:18
Bare record that this is the Son of God. -- John 1:34
11:7
The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. -- Romans 5:5
11:22
And in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. -- Revelation 21:14
11:35-6, 12:9, 13:41, 14:20, 24, 25, 27
Wars and rumours of wars -- Matthew 24:6
12:2, 12:21, 14:15
And have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. -- Revelation 7:14
12:10
Pervert the right ways of the Lord -- Acts 13:10
13:27, 22:14
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. -- Matthew 19:30
13:42
The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth. -- Revelation 17:5
14:10
The great whore that sitteth upon many waters. -- Revelation 17:1
14:11
I am the true vine. -- John 15:1
15:15
The fiery darts of the wicked -- Ephesians 6:16
15:24
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever. -- Revelation 14:11
15:30
And I will raise him up at the last day. -- John 6:40
16:2
Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. -- Isaiah 66:1
17:39
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. -- Exodus 20:12
17:55
Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. -- Isaiah 48:1
20:1
For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name. -- Isaiah 48:2
20:2
I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. -- Isaiah 48:3
20:3
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; -- Isaiah 48:4
20:4
Isaiah 48:5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I showed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. --
20:5
Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. -- Isaiah 48:6
20:6
They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. -- Isaiah 48:7
20:7
Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. -- Isaiah 48:8
20:8
For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. -- Isaiah 48:9
20:9
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. -- Isaiah 48:10
20:10
For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. -- Isaiah 48:11
20:11
Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. -- Isaiah 48:12
20:12
Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. -- Isaiah 48:13
20:13
All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. -- Isaiah 48:14
20:14
I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. -- Isaiah 48:15
20:15
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. -- Isaiah 48:16
20:16
Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. -- Isaiah 48:17
20:17
O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: -- Isaiah 48:18
20:18
Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. -- Isaiah 48:19
20:19
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. -- Isaiah 48:20
20:20
And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. -- Isaiah 48:21
20:21
There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. -- Isaiah 48:22
20:22
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. -- Isaiah 49:1
21:1
And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; -- Isaiah 49:2
21:2
And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. -- Isaiah 49:3
21:3
Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. -- Isaiah 49:4
21:4
And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. -- Isaiah 49:5
21:4
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. -- Isaiah 49:6
21:6
Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. -- Isaiah 49:7
21:7
Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; -- Isaiah 49:8
21:8
That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. -- Isaiah 49:9
21:9
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. -- Isaiah 49:10
21:10
And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. -- Isaiah 49:11
21:11
Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. - Isaiah 49:12
21:12
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. -- Isaiah 49:13
21:13
But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. -- Isaiah 49:14
21:14
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. -- Isaiah 49:15
21:15
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. -- Isaiah 49:16
21:16
Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. -- Isaiah 49:17
21:17
Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. -- Isaiah 49:18
21:18
For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. -- Isaiah 49:19
21:19
The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. -- Isaiah 49:20
21:20
Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? -- Isaiah 49:21
21:21
Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. -- Isaiah 49:22
21:22
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. -- Isaiah 49:23
21:23
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? -- Isaiah 49:24
21:24
But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. -- Isaiah 49:25
21:25
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. -- Isaiah 49:26
21:26
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up. -- Malachi 4:1
22:15
But he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. -- 1 Corinthians 3:15
22:17
Blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke -- Acts 2:19
22:18
A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. -- Acts 3:22-23
22:20
And there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. -- John 10:16
22:25
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. -- Matthew 24:13
22:31
2 NephiFrom whence no traveler can return -- Shakespeare's Hamlet?
1:14
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. -- Hebrews 13:8
2:4
Full of grace and truth -- John 1:14
2:6
The firstfruits unto God -- Revelation 14:4
2:9
O wretched man that I am! -- Romans 7:24
4:17
Seeing we also are compassed about... let us lay aside...the sin which doth so easily beset us -- Hebrews 12:1
4:18
To stir you up by putting you in remembrance -- 2 Peter 1:13
5:25
"I will read you the words of Isaiah." -- 6:4
Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon theirshoulders. -- Isaiah 49:22
6:6
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. -- Isaiah 49:22
6:7
God was manifest in the flesh -- 1 Timothy 3:16
6:9
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? -- Isaiah 49:24
6:16
But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. -- Isaiah 49:25
6:17
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. -- Isaiah 49:26
6:18
Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. -- Isaiah 50:1
7:1
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. -- Isaiah 50:2
7:2
I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. -- Isaiah 50:3
7:3
The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. -- Isaiah 50:4
7:4
The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. -- Isaiah 50:5
7:5
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. -- Isaiah 50:6
7:6
For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. -- Isaiah 50:7
7:7
He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. -- Isaiah 50:8
7:8
He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. -- Isaiah 11:4
7:8
Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. -- Isaiah 50:9
7:9
Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. -- Isaiah 50:10
7:10
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow. -- Isaiah 50:11
7:11
Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. -- Isaiah 51:1
8:1
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. -- Isaiah 51:2
8:2
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. -- Isaiah 51:3
8:3
Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. -- Isaiah 51:4
8:4
My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. -- Isaiah 51:5
8:5
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. -- Isaiah 51:6
8:6
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. -- Isaiah 51:7
8:7
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. -- Isaiah 51:8
8:8
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? -- Isaiah 51:9
8:9
Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? -- Isaiah 51:10
8:10
Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. -- Isaiah 51:11
8:11
I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; -- Isaiah 51:12
8:12
And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? -- Isaiah 51:13
8:13
The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. -- Isaiah 51:14
8:14
But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name. -- Isaiah 51:15
8:15
And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. -- Isaiah 51:16
8:16
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. -- Isaiah 51:17
8:17
There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. -- Isaiah 51:18
8:18
These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? -- Isaiah 51:19
8:19
Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God. -- Isaiah 51:20
8:20
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: -- Isaiah 51:21
8:21
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: -- Isaiah 51:22
8:22
But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. -- Isaiah 51:23
8:23
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. -- Isaiah 52:1
8:24
Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. -- Isaiah 52:2
8:25
Death passed upon all men -- Romans 5:12
9:6
For this corruptible must put on incorruption -- 1 Corinthians 15:53
9:7
And death and hell delivered up the dead -- Revelation 20:13
9:12
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ -- 2 Corinthians 5:10
9:15
he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still -- Revelation 22:11
9:16
endured the cross, despising the shame -- Hebrews 12:2
9:18
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world -- Matthew 25:34
9:18
that your joy might be full. -- John 15:11
9:18
But woe unto you that are rich! -- Luke 6:24
9:30
Ye ... uncircumcised in heart -- Acts 7:51
9:33
...shalt be thrust down to hell. -- Luke 10:15
9:34, 9:36
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life -- Romans 8:6
9:39
to him that knocketh it shall be opened. -- Matthew 7:8
9:42