Whatever success an impostor might have in deceiving people with a fictitious book, there are some things he cannot do. Should he succeed in making the book consistent with all known truths of history, science and religion, he would find it impossible to make accurate predictions concerning the future. This power is not possessed by man, unless conferred upon him by the Lord. The Book of Mormon cannot therefore be classed among human impositions, for it contains prophecies that were not fulfilled at the time it was published, but that have since been verified.
Speaking of the coming forth in this age of the record which he compiled, the Prophet Mormon says,
"And it shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of darkness."
The Book of Mormon was printed before the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, so that it could not be told at that time, except by inspiration that the blood of saints in the present age should cry unto the Lord, because of the works of darkness. There was no religious persecution going on at that time; but it was not long before the blood of many of the Latter-day Saints was shed as the result of persecution.
A BIBLE! A BIBLE!
The Prophet Nephi, referring also to the period when the record should be revealed in the latter time, and when the Lord should proceed to recover His chosen people, the house of Israel, records the words of the Lord to him as follows:
"And my words shall hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, for a standard unto my people, which are the house of Israel. And because my words shall hiss forth, many of the Gentiles shall say, a Bible! a Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible."
Since the publication of the Book of Mormon the Lord's words have gone forth "unto the ends of the earth," and the Latter-day Saints who have carried His words and declared them in nearly all countries have usually been answered with these words, "A Bible! a Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible." The general belief is that the Bible is the only book in existence containing the word of the Lord.
ISAIAH'S PROPHECY.
The Prophet Nephi reiterates the prediction recorded in the twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, concerning the coming forth of a book, and which the Latter-day Saints maintain refers to the Book of Mormon. The prophecy is as follows: