“I thank God for truth. I’ve thanked God for many things in my life, but never thought about thanking God for allowing me to truly know Him.”

These powerful words were spoken by one of my students last night as we debriefed from our mission trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. She was heartbroken that so many well meaning people believe a false gospel and yet, for the first time, she was truly grateful to know the truth. My heart was truly touched to hear a high school student speak these words.

For the past three days our team of six leaders and twenty-three students have been interacting with Mormon students at BYU, knocking on doors throughout Salt Lake City to talk about the gospel, and touring Temple Square to learn about the history and doctrine of Mormonism. My friend and fellow conversantlife blogger Brett Kunkle planned and organized the trip for us.

I often tell my students to seek truth with all their hearts and minds, for that is what sets us free (John 8:32). If Christianity were not true, then don’t follow it (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17). But if it is true, then follow it with all your heart. Thus, we approached mission to Mormons as truth-seekers wiling to be persuaded if the case for Mormonism were convincing. This doesn’t mean we lack convictions or commitments to Scripture, but that we truly want to hear people out and understand why they believe as they do.

My first conversation at BYU was with a couple young Mormon missionaries. After we chit chatted for a few moments I asked them how they know Mormonism is true. In other words, why should I believe Joseph Smith is a real prophet? He gave the standard Mormon response from Moroni 10:4, which says: “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.” In other words, he asked me to pray about the book of Mormon and to trust my heart.

I kindly pointed out that this is circular reasoning (there’s also a problem about trusting the heart: Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21). In other words, if we want to know the truth of the Book of Mormon (BM) we can’t use a verse in the BM as our standard. To follow this advice is to assume its truth, which is the very issue at stake. Here’s what such reasoning looks like:

QUESTION: “How do I know the BM is true?”

RESPONSE: “Follow the advice of Moroni 10:4, which says to pray about it and trust your heart.”

QUESTION: “But if the truth of the BM is at stake, how can I trust Moroni 10:4.”

RESPONSE: “Because the BM is the Word of God and Moroni 10:4 is in the BM.”

QUESTION: “Wait a minute, if we want to know the veracity of the BM, how can we use the BM?”

Such reasoning is obviously circular. Muslims do this as well. One of the missionaries asked me how I know the Bible is true, so I pointed to both internal and external evidence such as non-biblical writers and archaeology. I requested one external verifiable fact that corroborates the BM and they couldn’t give me one—not one. According to Mormons the golden plates that Joseph Smith translated were taken to heaven, and any remains from the huge cities and wars in America have disappeared. Such lack of confirmation would be quite disconcerting to me if I were a Mormon. And yet many seem either unaware or unconcerned.

As I walked away one of the missionaries said, “Be sure to keep an open mind.” So I asked him how many books he’s read that are critical of Mormonism. Of course he had not read a single book. None! I listed off many of the anti-Christian books I’ve read by Dawkins, Russell, Hitchens and others and then simply left him with a question: “In light of this, who of us is the most open-minded?"

I don’t point this out to pretend I have a ready-answer for everything. That would be very far from the truth. Many times I thought of a better answer after the conversation. But I’ll be ready next time. My goal was not necessarily to convert him, (or the other people I talked with) but to lovingly challenge him to reconsider his convictions. Or to put a stone in his shoe, as Greg Koukl says.

This is only one sample of a conversation from our trip. To me, the most significant aspect of the trip was how willingly the students were to engage in conversations as well. They loved the challenge! In fact, after the first night of ministry they were so motivated to learn theology that half the group stayed up until about 1am studying the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I had to make them go to bed. They wanted to be better prepared for the next day. And many of them were.

Trips like these can really be life changing for students. In fact, every student needs to experience it. One girl had a long conversation with a Mormon student who was very hostile to Christianity. She cried afterwards because she was so heartbroken that he (and the rest of the 30,000 or so students at BYU) believes a false gospel (See 2 Corinthians 11:13-14).