I recently read a string of comments on a web site about where indigenous Americans came from. The discussion was among a lot of fellow Latter-day Saints. (And, if you are not a Latter-day Saint, we believe the Book of Mormon to be a history of a people who settled in this land around 600 B.C. and their record ends around A.D. 400. The people in this book came from Jerusalem.)
I cringe when members of the church hinge their belief in the Book of Mormon upon physical evidence.
So, I ask, “How would this affect you?”
How would it affect you if someone came out and published evidence that went completely contrary to your belief in the Book of Mormon?
If you were alive in 1981 when a letter surfaced that claimed that Joseph Smith, III, should lead the church? I was, and it was interesting to see how people took that letter. It later proved to be a hoax perpetrated by Mark Haufman. In fact, before that came to light, the church donated the so-called letter to the RLDS church, and while some questioned at the time why they would do such a thing, in time it proved to be an inspired move.
When it comes down to it, what really matters is personal revelation. You can look to all sorts of physical evidences that either speak for, or against the book, but what really matters is what you learn when you read the book.
This is neither the place or the forum to go in to why I believe the Book of Mormon to be factual and the word of God. What is important is this, no amount of physical evidence is going to sway me one way or the other in regards to the nature of the Book of Mormon. I and others have a sure knowledge of its truthfulness, while others stop short or waste time hoping for some “Holy Grail” (so to speak) to be found.
So, to my fellow church members, I’d have to ask, if someone came forth with very convincing evidence which they claim disproves the Book of Mormon, how would it affect you?
The answer should be, “It won’t. I already have my evidence.”
