In Moroni 10:3-5, we read the following (emphasis
added):
Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read
these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would
remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the
creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things,
and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would
ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; for 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. And by the power of the
Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
Some may ask why LDS ask people to pray if the Book of
Mormon is true when, based on this pericope, one is instructed to ask if it is
not true. However, what is interesting is that the Book of Mormon may reflect a
possible Hebraism where a negative rhetorical question having a positive
meaning is intended by the author. Ben Spackman has an article in this issue,
"Negative Questions in the Book of Mormon." Biblical examples Ben
give includes Deut 11:30:
Are they not on the other side of Jordan, by the way
where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the
champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?
The intended answer to this rhetorical question is yes, they were indeed on the other side of Jordan.
