I received an email from someone asking for help in helping a family member navigate a faith crisis. The family member was raised LDS, but has decided to abandon all LDS-only ideas as a result of the LDS leadership having been so wrong about COVID. The family member apparently takes issue with their impression that there is no archeological evidence for the Book of Mormon. He asked: "Any suggestions on what I might do to help him accept the Book of Mormon as scripture?"
Here is my reply:
It sounds like he's told you that he has no reasons to believe it is true. So the solution would be to provide some reasons that it is true.
It turns out there is plenty of archeological evidence for the Book of Mormon, some of which is extremely strong. I personally wouldn't go down that path, because anyone honest enough to be persuaded by it will have already found it. It's not that hard to do.
And this gets us to the point. Who cares if he thinks the Book of Mormon is true? Some twenty million people say they believe the Book of Mormon is true. Maybe a handful actually live what it says. The same sort of problem exists with the Bible.
Believing a book is true is not apparently sufficient to do what it says.
Instead of getting him or anyone else to say they believe in the book, get him and everyone else to live what it says. This has to be done line upon line.
Find the smallest increment of truth that would take him from where he is to a place closer to God in how he thinks, feels, and acts, and use all the reason you can to help him get there. Then rinse and repeat until he stops honestly responding, or until you run out of ideas.
Here's a video all about it:
-Rob