"Is Mormonism true? How can I know?"

If true, [the Book of Mormon] is one of the most important messages ever sent from God to man. If false, it is one of the most cunning, wicked, bold, deep-laid impositions ever palmed upon the world, calculated to deceive and ruin millions who sincerely receive it as the Word of God, and will suppose themselves built upon the rock of truth, until they are plunged, with their families, into hopeless despair.Orson Pratt, Mormon Apostle

What Mormons say

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.Moroni 10:4

You can know that Mormonism is true by (from mormon.org):

• Sincerely praying to your Heavenly Father and asking Him if what you are learning is true.
• Continuing to study and give thoughtful consideration to what you are learning.
• Listening with your heart for the Holy Ghost to whisper the truth to you.
• Following God's commandments so you can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost.

Mormons say, "You can know for yourself that these things are true by asking Heavenly Father in prayer" (The Plan of Salvation, p. 16), and that I should ask him to "confirm the truth of the Book of Mormon and what the missionaries have taught" (The Plan of Salvation, p. 16).

Why it doesn't work

1. It is circular reasoning. It goes like this:
   • How can I know Mormonism is true?
   • God will confirm it to you.
   • How do I know God will confirm it to me?
   • Because Mormonism is true.
   Circular reasoning proves nothing. Certainly the true God knows this, and would never argue in such a way.
2. God will not confirm Mormonism as true, because it isn't!
3. It is essentially a non-answer, and could be given by anyone, anywhere, regarding anything. For example, "How can I know Charles Taze (founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses) is telling the truth?" That's easy! God will confirm it to you!
4. It's not how God works. God gives evidence.
   • When John the Baptist (among all people!) asked for a confirmation of who Christ was, Jesus didn't say, "Trust me, I really am the Messiah!" He said, "Go tell John what you hear and see: The blind see, the lame walk...the dead are raised..." (Matthew 11:4-5)
   • When Moses was afraid people wouldn't believe him, God told him to throw down his staff so that it would turn into a snake "that they may believe the Lord...has appeared to you" (Exodus 2:1-5).
   • When the Jewish leaders asked Christ for a sign, Jesus gave them the sign of the resurrection (John 2:18-22).
   • when the experts of the law accused Jesus of blasphemy, he proved his ability to forgive sins by healing the paralytic (Mark 2:5-12).
   • When Paul was willing to bet his soul and the entire Gospel of Christ on the sign of Jesus' resurrection, he didn't tell people "Trust me, Jesus was raised, you really should believe me." He gave them the evidence of the appearances to over 500 eyewitnesses, inviting them to go check it out!
   God gave all this evidence (and much more) to support Jesus and the prophets proclaiming His truth. Yet Joseph Smith claimed to be greater than even Christ, and all he had to give as evidence was that "if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you."
5. Scripture clearly tells us we cannot trust our hearts:

   The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?Jeremiah 17:9

   "Listening with your heart for the Holy Ghost to whisper the truth to you" doesn't sound like a good idea when your heart is deceitful above all things!

Biblical response

As noted above, Scripture tells us we cannot trust our hearts. The real test of truth is not what our hearts say or how Mormonism makes us feel, but whether Mormonism fits with God's Word.

These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so.Acts 17:11, emphasis added

To determine whether Mormonism is true, we can ask, "Does Mormonism teach the true Gospel of Scripture?" In fact, Paul says that if anyone teaches a Gospel other than what the Bible gives us, "let him be condemned to hell!"

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel - 7 not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! 9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!Galatians 1:6-9

And yet current Mormon prophet Gordon Hinckley has admitted that the Mormon Jesus is not the Biblical Christ!

As a church, we have critics--many of them. They say we do not believe in the traditional Christ of Christianity. There is some substance to what they say. Our faith, our knowledge, is not based on ancient tradition.... Our faith, our knowledge comes of the witness of a prophet in this dispensation....Gordon B. Hinckley, Mormon Prophet, at the April 2002 General Conference

Can you really trust your eternity to a whatever makes you feel good? The test of truth is the Gospel according to the Word of God.