Joseph Smith the Prophet, or, Why the Book of Mormon is tangible evidence of Christ

Is the Book of Mormon true or is it made up?

"No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." -George Cannon

And once again, I have to share something that was so well said

but not written by me.  Enjoy:

Have you ever heard people say: “Show me some real evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet, then I’ll believe”?

“Through the Book of Mormon, God has provided for our day tangible evidence that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is His prophet” (President Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, November 1988, p. 86).

Here is what it would take to make up the Book of Mormon:

•  Write the religious, social, and political  history of some ancient people, like the Mongols or people from Greenland
• Write the book off the top of your  head, using no reference material (no Google in Joseph’s day! And no  library nearby either. 
• You must have only between 2-3 years of formal schooling (Joseph’s wife said that Joseph couldn’t compose a “well-worded   letter” at the time of the translation of the Book of Mormon, let alone  make up a whole book (Emma Smith (Preston Nibley, The Witnesses of the      Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1968, p. 28.)
• You must complete the whole book in 65-75   working days.  Joseph sometimes  would produce 8 pages a day of finished text.  Eight pages!  Anyone who has written anything knows how difficult that would be.  In     comparison, modern translators who are working on translating the Book of Mormon    consider 1 completed page of translation per day to be productive, and      they are working from earlier translations with an entire team of help and  modern technology to assist!
• Your book must be full of evidence that science  will discover many years after you publish your book that verify your work  is authentic.  A great example of  this in the Book of Mormon was the last art of Hebrew poetry “chiasmus,”  unknown to Joseph Smith and learned America but later re-discovered in the  20th century in the Bible.  And lo and behold, the Book of Mormon is full of chiasmus.  Lucky guess Joseph!  Nothing like a backwoods farm boy who   knows lost Hebrew poetry.  Them type of boys are all over the place.  Read Alma 36 to see a really cool one (compare the main message of verse 1 to verse 30, verse 2 to verses 28-29, verse 3 to verse 27 and so on).
• You must invent over 280 new names the world  hasn’t heard, many of which properly derive from your ancient people’s  language (a language which you don’t know.  Have fun with that one.)
• Your book must include the fullness of the  gospel of Jesus Christ, including sermons that are so inspiring that people willingly read them again and again and again. However, your book      must also teach “new” truths unknown to common society that make unknown passages in the Bible clear.
• Your book must teach more about Jesus Christ than the New Testament does.  The Book of Mormon mentions Jesus on average of every 1.7 verses compared to  2.3 in the New Testament.  Another Testament  of Jesus Christ.  Um, yeah. (See  Susan Easton Black, Finding Christ through the Book of Mormon [1987],  6-18).
• Your book must be over 500 pages long and 300,000  words
• Your first draft must stand forever (other than very minor grammatical changes)
• You must have three honest members of your  community bear testimony to the truthfulness of the book throughout their whole lives, even when you are no longer friends.
• You must be willing to give your life, and the  life of a family member, for the book you write
• Last, the Holy Ghost must bear witness to  millions of people the world over that your book is indeed the very word of God.

We have the tangible evidence sitting in front of us. The book is either divine or it is a deception. Those who claim that the Book of Mormon is not true are claiming that the book was made up—fabricated by Joseph Smith, his friends, or someone else and pulled off as one of the great hoaxes of this world.
Note: Some of list is summarized from “Brother Joseph” by Kay Briggs.  Bookcraft, 1994, p. 13-15

 “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.” (George Cannon, as cited by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Safety for the Soul, Ensign November 2009, p. 89).