Claim: The greatest evidence that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church is that any sincere truth-seeker can gain spiritual confirmation directly from God.

Evidence: God has promised that He will manifest the truth of all things to anyone who asks “with a sincere heart and real intent” (Moroni 10:3-5). God has the power to reveal truth to anyone and have that revelation be so convincing that the person can say, “I know the Church is true.” The person who receives this knowledge may not be able to convince another person that he has received a revelation from God, but the skeptic cannot disprove the revelation and must admit that a revelation from God is possible if God exists. Millions of Latter-day Saints have received such knowledge and have publicly testified that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.

Sincere and open-minded study of the Holy Scriptures is a precursor to receiving a spiritual witness from God....

Claim: A prophecy by Parley P. Pratt, an early apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, concerning flight by humans has been fulfilled.

Evidence: One hundred and fifty years ago, Elder Parley P. Pratt prophesied that men would someday be able to fly.  He acknowledged that man had dreamed of “making the air his chariot,” but he further prophesied that man would not be satisfied to someday fly faster than the speed of sound.  (Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, [Salt Lake City, 1855] p. 152.)

On December 17, 1903, nearly fifty years after Elder Pratt made his prophecy, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered airplane flights in history.  On 14 October 1947 Captain Charles E. Yeager of the United States Air Force made the first supersonic flight in his Bell X-1 rocket plane.  Just six years later, nearly one hundred years after Elder Pratt’s prophecy, on 12 December 1953, Captain Yeager set another record by flying at 2.5 times the speed of sound.  Today scramjet airplanes travel at over Mach 7 and the Space Shuttle reenters earth’s atmosphere at over 16 times the speed of sound.  (See articles on “Jet Propulsion” and “Space Exploration” in World Book Encyclopedia, [2004].)

The great progress man has made in air and space travel in recent years represents at least a partial fulfillment of the prophecy that in the latter days there will be great wonders in the heavens (see D&C 45:40-42).

Claim: Joseph Smith defined light as a type of matter (D&C 84:45-46; 131:7‑8).  This doctrine established concepts that were not generally accepted by the scientific community until nearly a century later.

Evidence: While Joseph Smith was not the first person to define light as matter, (Sir Isaac Newton first proposed the idea in 1666), by the year 1801 Thomas Young’s work had established convincing “proof” that light consists of waves rather than particles.  By the time Joseph Smith first received his revelation on the nature of light in 1832 the scientific community was convinced that light was made of waves not matter.  (See article on “The Nature of Light” in World Book Encyclopedia, [1952], vol. 10, pp. 14437-14438.)

In 1905 Dr. Albert Einstein reintroduced this concept with his theory that light was composed of photons, behaving like “a stream of particles” rather than waves of energy as previously believed.  In 1924 Louis de Broglie suggested that wave and particle properties be related in the same way as for light.  (See Halliday and Robert Resnick, Fundamentals of Physics, Second Edition, [New York: John Wiley & Sons 1981], pp. 781, 798.) 

Louis deBroglie further described light as “non-ponderable matter.”  (See Louis deBroglie, Matter and Light, [New York: Dover Publications, 1946], cited in Cook, Science and Mormonism, [1968], pp. 13-14.)

Claim: As interpreted by Joseph Smith, the figure that appears to be pharaoh in Facsimile 3 of the Book of Abraham actually represents “Abraham sitting on Pharaoh’s throne.” Critics have emphatically objected to this interpretation.

Evidence: Modern scholarship has discovered that Abraham did indeed, take the place of Pharaoh as “the substitute king.” During the Egyptian Sed-festival, ritual ceremonies were performed as part of the coronation rites. The outgoing king would play the role of Osiris, while the incoming king or a substitute king would assume the role of Horus. These coronation rites as part of the entire Egyptian initiation ritual were performed during the time of Abraham. Furthermore, Abraham himself did participate in such rites as “the substitute king.” (See K. Seth, “Dramatische Texte,” in “Zur Einfuehrung,” pp. 95, 99; Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri [1975], p. 13; also Ensign, [March 1976], pp. 35-36. All above sources are also cited in Vestal and Wallace, The Firm Foundation of Mormonism [1981], p. 187.)

Claim: In 1 Nephi 19:16-17, the Lord promises that “every nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall be blessed,” and that the Lord remembers “the isles of the sea.” These children of God were to be gathered by the gospel being proclaimed among them so that they could become part of the one fold led by the Good Shepherd. Throughout the latter half of the 1800’s, missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who sailed to New Zealand, were surprised to find that the Maoris appeared to be waiting anxiously for the true gospel. It is a fact of history that the Maori people flocked into the Church in such great numbers that for many years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand was known as the “Maori Church.” Indeed, most church membership in New Zealand at that time were Maori. The following several evidences demonstrate why the Polynesians, and in this case, the Maori of New Zealand, accepted the Gospel so readily. These evidences are presented in the form of predictions of the coming of the true church by various prophetic chieftains of the several Maori tribes.

Evidence: In 1881, Elder John Ferris wrote that Maoris had told him that “more than a year ago the king [Tawhiao] said a white man would come across the sea and preach to them the true gospel, and they affirm that they believe he [Ferris] is the man. Elder Ferris wrote to the Deseret News in Salt Lake City that three Maori chiefs considered him to be the man spoken of by the king two years before. He had come from “a far country and would give them the good church.” (Deseret News, November 23, 1881, p. 683, cited in Britsch, Unto the Islands of the Sea, [1986] P. 276.)

The complete text of King Tawhiao’s prophecy was later quoted in the Improvement Era: “Our church is coming from the east-not a church paid with money. Its ministers go two by two; when they pray they raise their hands. They will not come to go among the Pakeha (Europeans) but will dine, live, talk, and sleep with you. The sign will be the writing of the names of males, females and children… Those churches that have already come are nothing, but when these come that I speak about, do not disturb them-that will be your church!” (Nolan P. Olson, “New Zealand-Our Maori Home,” Improvement Era, vol. 35, May 1932, p. 446, cited in Britsch, Unto the Islands of the Sea, [1986] P. 276.)

Claim: Eternal marriage as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is also consistent with ancient Jewish, Christian and Native American beliefs.

Evidence: Evidence for ancient Christian belief in eternal marriage comes from the Gospel of Philip. It states that “the main purpose of Christ’s coming to earth was to reunite Adam and Eve in a covenant of marriage which would last for the eternities” and that those who are united in the bridal chamber will no longer be separated. Furthermore we learn that “If anyone does not receive [eternal marriage] while he is in this world, he will not receive it in the other place” (See Wilson, The Gospel of Philip [1962], 116; 118:19,70; 134:6-7. Also cited in Nibley, Since Cumorah, [1988], p. 466; and Nibley on The Timely and the Timeless, [1978] p. 40.)

From the Jewish Zohar (which dates back to the early Christian era) we learn that the Jews also accepted this doctrine. Commenting on Ecclesiastes 9:9, (“Enjoy life with the wife whom thou lovest…”) the Zohar says: “This verse has been thus esoterically explained. ‘Enjoy life’ is an allusion to the life of the world to come, for happy is the man who is privileged to gain that life in its fullness.” Commenting on the next verse, “What­soever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy strength…” (Ecclesiastes 9:10), the text continues: “‘by thy strength’ alludes to the wife mentioned above, she being a source of strength for both this world and the world to come.” (See R. Simeon, The Zohar, II:196b, cited in Bennett, The Writings of the Rabbis and Other Important Discoveries, [1990] p. 15.)

And finally from Native American tradition: “The Hopi marriage is not for this life only, but extends into life after death … If a man or woman loses his or her mate through death … the deceased spouse will claim his [or her] … partner throughout eternity. (See Helen Sekaquaptewa, Me and Mine, The Life Story of Helen Sekqquaptewa as told by Louise Udall, (Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1969], pp. 119-120.)

Claim: The women’s Relief Society, the “greatest, oldest, largest women’s organization on the face of the earth” was established in 1842 to help the sick, the poor, and others in need of compassionate service. It is an essential auxiliary in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which blesses countless lives both in and out of the Church in temporal as well as spiritual ways. It exists as a counterpart to the priesthood. (See Julie A. Dockstader, “Transition to Relief Society,” Church News, June 27, 1998.)

Evidence: It has recently been discovered that the early Christian women were similarly organized in admin­ister­ing to the needy. It is written in the 71st Instruction of Commodianus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Erdmans, 1953], vol. 4, p. 217, American Edition):

And similarly, if thy poor sister lies upon a sickbed, let your matrons begin to bear her victuals. God himself cries out, break thy bread to the needy. There is no need to visit with words, but with benefits. It is wicked that thy brother should be sick through want of food. Satisfy him not with words. He needs meat and drink. Look upon such assuredly weakened who are not able to act for themselves. Give to them at once. I pledge my word that fourfold shall be given you by God. (Cited in Crowley, Statement of Beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, [1963], p. 19.)

Claim: The Mexican Revolution of the early 1900's produced one of the most famous rebels of Mexico's colorful history-General Francisco “Pancho” Villa (whose real name was Doroteo Orango). In 1916, the revolutionary leader objected to the United State's interference into their revolution by giving its support to his rival Carranza. When United States President Wilson sent General John Pershing to capture Villa, the bandit leader announced “Death to the Americans!” In a raid on Columbus, New Mexico, Villa's men killed 16 Americans. Knowing a number of “American” Mormon colonies were located just south of the United States border, Villa determined to march in that direction toward the easy targets as a protest against the U. S. Government and everything American. Villa's army was committed to kill all the Americans in the colonies, and take their food and provisions for their cause. However, when the army reached Colonia Dublan, a miracle occurred which caused them to turn away without harming the residents nor taking supplies.

Evidence: When the Mormon colonists heard that Villa was coming, many wondered if they should resist with arms to defend their families-still others wanted to retreat into the hills. However, the local Church leaders inspired them to remain in their homes and unite in prayer and fasting. Due to some intervening miracle, when Villa arrived at the colony late at night, he did not attack, but detoured around Colonia Dublan. The reason for Villa's detour is not clear. Some accounts have stated that as he arrived, Villa saw a huge army surrounding it and fled in fear. Other accounts state that Villa saw the colony surrounded by flames. Still others record that he saw both armies and flames. (See Hannah S. Call, The History of Colonia Dublan, p. 64; and Wayne Stout, A History of Colonia Dublan, pp. 30-31; Preston Nibley, Faith Promoting Stories [Independence, Missouri: Zion's Printing & Publishing Co., 1943], pp. 53-58.)

Regardless of what Villa may have seen, it was indeed a miracle that he did not attack such an easy, vulnerable target. The following morning the Saints scouted about the town and found the tracks where the army had stopped then turned away-but they found no evidence of the fires that had been seen the previous night.

Claim: The antiquity of Latter-day Saint temple ceremonies have been confirmed by ancient documents discovered since 1947.

Evidence: Among the volumes of ancient scripture discovered in the Dead Sea area during the 1950’s is a most remarkable scroll that confirms what the Latter-day Saints have always believed: that their temple ceremonies have ancient origins, were lost from the world during the dark ages, and restored anew through the gift of prophecy to the prophet Joseph Smith.

"Today there is a Temple Scroll, still not completely translated into English, twenty-eight feet long confirming Latter-day Saint understanding of the temple. (This scroll is currently being translated by Yigael Yadin and Father Miller.) …There is also talk of geographic changes in the cosmos, of worlds without number, of temples with their molten seas and qualifications of entry and holies of holies, of ordinances-including marriage-and even of mirrored bridal chambers." (See the Gospel of Philip, saying 61 [113:12]; Madsen, “Are Christians Mormon?” Brigham Young University Studies, [Autumn 1974] vol. 15, pp. 91, 93.)

For photos of Latter-day molten seas (now called baptismal fonts) and mirrored bridal chambers (now called sealing rooms) see “In His Holy House,” Ensign, March 1993, pp. 33, 41; and James Talmage, The House of The Lord, (1979) pp. 2, 26. See also Figure 20 in this chapter for an early Christian version of the molten sea baptismal font resting on the back of twelve oxen.