Ensign, ‘The 
What, then, is the Book of Mormon? It is confirming evidence of the birth, life, and Crucifixion of Jesus and of His work as the Messiah and the Redeemer. Nephi writes about the Book of Mormon: “All ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ.” 7” – James Faust
Matthew 11:22; “But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.”
This is last in the series of our look at Faust’s speech on the BoM. It may seem rather random that I’ve used the verse from Matthew here so let me explain.
Tyre and Sidon were large shipping ports and merchant cities in the OT era. In fact the Hippodrome at Tyre was once used for famous chariot races like the one depicted in Ben Hur. Because of their great demise in numerous wars people were still talking about these two cities centuries later. Even Jesus mentioned them in Matthew 11:22.
The names of people, cities, and even countries always held a message or story about the ‘thing’ being described.
For instance Sidon, #H6721 in Strong’s Concordance, means ‘catching fish’ or a ‘fishery’. It’s the name of the firstborn son of Canaan who was a son of Noah. It should be noteworthy that he would be named this given the experience that his grandfather went through.
Tyre in the Greek or Tsor in Hebrew, #H6865 in Strong’s Concordance, means rock. It ‘just so happens’ that Tyre was built upon a very large rock that protrudes out from the Mediterranean coast.
Let’s review:
For Faust to make the statement that names of places and/or people were just used as an ‘incidental remark’ shows they have no appreciation or understanding for the customs or lives of the events taking place at that time. This makes the BoM a work of man’s imagination and not inspired of God.
Faust’s objective in exalting the BoM was undoubtedly overshadowed by the main subject matters he chose to focus on.
First he said the BoM shouldn’t be used as a historically accurate depiction of what took place.
Then he told us that only sincere people believe their stories.
He closed it all up by reminding people the BoM only mentions names of places just to make it look good.
That summation is what they claim is the keystone to their ‘religion’. Does this sound reasonable to you? As a functioning adult who can reason I know without a doubt I wouldn’t rely on that book for anything.
If only sincere people, aka Mormons, believe their stories this would mean that everyone else in the entire world and all it history are insincere. Is this reasonable?
There is simply no other way to read the Bible without putting it in historical context. We can spiritualize it in any manner we choose, but other methods are incomplete if we don’t use and read the Bible for what it is – a history book.
Lastly, this man quoted their prophet Nephi from the Book of Mormon who told us to believe in Christ and his words, but if we don’t believe in his words then belief in Christ means you’ll believe his words because his words are the words of Christ.
?????
This is a good example of circular reasoning my friends! It’s like saying that because I believe Islam and the Koran exists I’m obligated to believe its message. Uh, I don’t think so!