A Visit from Two Mormon Missionaries

This past Saturday, just before I had to leave the house for a commitment, my door bell rang. Since we don't get a lot of people ringing our door bell, I wondered who it could be? The mail carrier perhaps? When I opened the door, one look told me who my visitors were. The two young men standing before me were dressed in white shirts, black pants and ties. They were Mormon missionaries.

So even though I had limited time ... I decided to listen to their "pitch." We talked for a good 15 minutes before I had to call it quits. Here is how a portion of our conversation went:


MM (Mormon Missionary): Are you familiar with the Book of Mormon?

PJ: Yes, I'm familiar with the Book of Mormon and its description of these two advanced civilizations that existed in North America into the fourth century AD. But where is the evidence of these advanced civilizations?*

MM: This is where faith comes in.

PJ: Yes, we do need faith. But we don't check our minds at the door. Our faith is a faith that is faith in an objective reality.

MM: Well, I know that the Bible is God's Word because the Spirit witnessed to my spirit that it is true. And I know the Book of Mormon is God's Word because the Spirit witnessed to my spirit that it is true.

PJ: I agree that the Spirit of God has witnessed to my spirit that the Bible is indeed the Word of God. But I also believe because of all the archaeological and historical evidence that exists that point to the reality that the Bible is true. Even Jesus told the unbelieving Jews of his day that if they could not believe in His words, to believe the miracles he did (John 10:38). What Jesus was saying was, look at the evidence and believe!

MM: Can I ask you to take the Book of Mormon and pray to God, asking him to show you if it is true or not?

PJ: I do not have to do that. I have already looked at the evidence and the evidence is clear that the Book of Mormon is NOT the Word of God. (at which point I elaborated on the evidence - or better said, the LACK of evidence!).

I then closed out the conversation with a testimony of my faith in Christ. I walked away frustrated at just how "blind and brainwashed" these two young men were. But I will add them to my prayer list ... right next to the names of two Jehovah Witness young men who came by my house last spring.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

*Concerning the evidence for the historicity of the Book of Mormon, consider the following quote:

Citing the lack of specific New World geographic locations to search, Michael D. Coe, a prominent Mesoamerican archaeologist and Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University, writes (in a 1973 volume of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought): "As far as I know there is not one professionally trained archaeologist, who is not a Mormon, who sees any scientific justification for believing [the historicity of The Book of Mormon], and I would like to state that there are quite a few Mormon archaeologists who join this group."