One of the unique things about the Book of Mormon is the promise contained in it’s concluding chapter, often called Moroni’s promise, which invites each individual reader to find out for themselves about the truthfulness of the book:

“3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

“4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

“5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:3-5).

To know for oneself whether the Book of Mormon is the word of God, the instruction is clear:

• Remember how merciful God has been from the Creation until now
• Ponder how merciful God has been while reading
• Ask God about the book’s truthfulness
• Ask with a sincere heart with intent to act on the answer
• Ask with faith in Christ

If we follow this guidance, we are promised a witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Millions of people have taken that promise seriously and received an answer that it is!

I was struck by another element among these verses as I studied this promise recently. We typically only read verses 3 through 5 as part of this promise. Yet, verse 6 contains some powerful insight:

“6 And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is” (Moroni 10:6).

The Book of Mormon acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ. In my experience, you only have to read a few pages to discover this. And because it acknowledges that and does not deny Him, it is good.

So, that’s where I think we should start.

Rather than starting with any other assumption, start with the assumption that the Book of Mormon is good because it testifies of Christ.

_{Lead photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash}