The faith in Christ comes automatically as you read the book. You don't have to have it right now. It would be like saying that a byproduct of the first step of an experiment is needed for the final step in the experiment.
How does this assertion square with your earlier observation:
When I was in high school, I read the book and prayed about it and didn't get an answer at all. I found that I had not performed the experiment correctly. I lacked a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ I was looking to disprove it and for an excuse to go party instead of being "religious".
If the faith in Christ comes "automatically" then why didn't you get it when you read the Book of Mormon in high school?
If I read the book and
don't then have faith in Christ, should I proceed to the prayer stage or not?
I get what you're saying. It's not just a "feeling" I get after reading a book but nobody here can understand that until they have tried the experiment. It is a bit difficult for me to explain, but the nature of the result is such that someone else getting a negative result just means they didn't do the experiment correctly. I know you'll are going to hate that response, but it's true. Try it and find out. Refusing to even try the experiment because it doesn't match what you've seen in the past is strange to me.
I'm not necessarily refusing; I'm just trying to clarify some of your conditions.
Is it possible that there is a different way to acquire knowledge than what you're used to?
I am not aware of any evidence that would support the acquisition of knowledge otherwise than through the five senses and the application of reason to the observations gained thereby.
It's only subjective to the person who hasn't run the experiment yet. It's completely objective to the one who has run the experiment.
BS. If only the person who does the experiment can experience the result, then it's subjective.
Again, there is another way to acquire knowledge - rejecting it simply because it doesn't match other ways of proving something is like saying you don't like carrots before you've tried them.
Again, have you read (in their entirety) the holy books of all the other religions - the Qu'ran, the Bhagavad Gita, Dianetics, the Tao, the Guru Granth Sahib, the Tripitaka, etc.? If not, how do you reject them? And don't say that you don't reject them - you must if you have faith that Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth and the life; no-one will come to the Father except through" him.
Truth is compatible with all other truth no matter where it is found.
When you find parts of the Book of Mormon that are incompatible with scientifically proven truths, which will you reject?
I've read parts of the Qu'ran and have found truth in it, certainly. I have done this experiment on the new testament and I have found that this method works to find the truth of all things regardless of the name of the book or whether the item in question is "religious" or not. I have found truth in a lot of different sources. Truth doesn't come from books, books can document pieces of the truth though. The experiment doesn't require faith in anything other than Christ, which again, is a byproduct of the first part of this experiment.
In other words, you haven't done this experiment with any book other than those particular to your religion. Why? How do you think this affects the results of your experiment?
I would assume that men are fallible and help them continue their research until they found the truth of the matter. You'll hate that response too and unless you've tried the experiment, you'll not understand that response. Once you've successfully tried the experiment, you'll understand why I would take such a stance.
So you would assume that the scientists are wrong? Why not assume that Joseph Smith was wrong? Better yet, why not put the two together and see if there is an explanation that fits both?
You don't have to assume anything. Start at the first step and move from there.
Is anyone out there willing to run the experiment?
If (and it's a big IF) I were willing to read the Book of Mormon through, and provide my feedback as I went, would you be willing to:
(a) stick around these boards to respond to any questions I might have as I read;
(b) read a book of my choosing with an open mind and be prepared to either accept it or refute it with reasoned arguments; and
(c) if the experiment "fails" (ie. I do not, at the end of the process, accept the truth of the Book of Mormon), consider my data point to be as valid as your own?
