SUBJECT:  The Book of Mormon

QUESTION:  Is the Book of Mormon another testimony of Jesus Christ as the Mormons say?

ANSWER:

No, we do not believe that it is.  Clearly, anyone may believe anything they wish.  The purpose of this document is to show why we do not believe that the Book of Mormon is another testimony of Jesus Christ.

Let us give you some reasons why we believe this to be so:

1) Logical Argument:

If the Bible is the inspired Word of God (we will discuss that below) then why would He inspired two books?  Logic would tell us that if there were two inspired books, maybe there are three or four or a hundred or a thousand.  If the Book of Mormon is inspired by God, why would He inspire one book (the Bible) for all mankind and the other clearly for and generated from the Mormons?  Why would He inspire the Mormons, a Sunday keeping organization to publish such a book when God is a Sabbath commanding being?  Why would He inspire the Book of Mormon when its doctrine opposes and/or conflicts with established, provable doctrine of the Bible?

2)  Contrary- Blasphemous Doctrines Argument:

Some of the doctrines found in the book of Mormon are contrary to those in the Bible and some are even blasphemous in our opinion.  Following are some to make the point:

a) Adam - God Doctrine:

                              "As man is, God once was;

                                as God is, man may be."

                               God was once just a man!

                                 Man can become God!

b) God had sex with Mary Doctrine:  God had sex with Mary to conceive Jesus. God is considered the literal biological Father of Jesus in the same way that Mary is the literal biological mother of Jesus!

c) Man-wife-Kingdom Doctrine:  If a man didn't like his wife on earth, he controls her eternal destiny in the

Resurrection!

3) The Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible Argument:

Following are some items where the book of Mormon contradicts the Bible:
 

The Joseph Smith/angel Argument:

Did Joseph Smith Really see an angel?  Supposedly an angel named Moroni appeared to

Joseph Smith and gave him the Book of Mormon in the form of Nephi plates.

Galatians 1:6-8

6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
 

Colossians 2:18

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
 

Even if the so called angel, "Moroni", really did appear to Joseph Smith, he is still accursed because the gospel of the Book of Mormon is very different from the gospel of the Bible. Since the Book of Mormon does not conform to the standard of the Bible, it is not Christian, but condemned being a new and false gospel.

Now, one might argue that because Galatians and Colossians were written much earlier they do not contradict the giving of the Book of Mormon but the argument won't hold water.  Clearly God can see into the future and would have known the need of a second book and told us about it.

1 Samuel 23:10-12

10 Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.

12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up.

Isaiah 42:9

9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

Isaiah 44:7

And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.

Isaiah 45:11

Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

Isaiah 46:9-10

9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Isaiah 48:3

I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did

them suddenly, and they came to pass.

Isaiah 48:5-6

5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say,

Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Daniel 2:28-29

28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

Matthew 6:8

Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Matthew 24:36

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Acts 15:18

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

Romans 8:29

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

1 Peter 1:2

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

5) Hard Questions for Mormons Argument

Why did the angel take Nephi Plates back to heaven? Do they not belong with man? Would not their existence prove once for all that Mormonism is truth? God allowed the Jews to carry the 10 commandments for several centuries in their original physical form, written by the finger of God Himself!

If the original 1830 Book of Mormon was inspired than why were there so many errors and changes and additions and deletions, when compared to current editions?

How can we be assured that the translation of the Book of Mormon into French or any other language is correct? Only the English translation is claimed to be inspired!

How do you account for the stunning parallels in both content and order between the Book of Mormon and the View of the Hebrews, by Ethan Smith? Published in 1823 (7 years before the Book of Mormon) less than 100 miles from the Joseph Smith's parents home.

Mormon Article of Faith #8: "We Believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God." Why do you only add the phrase, "as far as it is translated correctly" to describe the Bible and not after the book of Mormon when in fact there are far more translating errors in the Book of Mormon than the Bible?

If the Book of Mormon is true, then why has the Mormon church changed it? Examples are: 1 Nephi 11:21; 19:20; 20:1 and Alma 29:4. Compare these with the original Book of Mormon. (Gerald and Sandra Tanner have counted 3913 changes in the book of Mormon, excluding punctuation changes.)

How did Joseph Smith carry home the golden plates of the Book of Mormon, and how did the witnesses lift them so easily? (They weighed about 230 lbs. Gold, with a density of 19.3 weighs 1204.7 lbs. per cubic foot. The plates were 7" x 8" by about 6". See Articles of Faith, by Talmage, page 262, 34th ed.)

When Christ died, did darkness cover the land for three days or for three hours? (Luke 23:44 and 3 Nephi 8:19, 23).

Joseph Smith said that there are men living on the moon who dress like Quakers and live to be nearly 1000 years old. Since he was wrong about the moon, is it safe to trust him regarding the way to Heaven? (The Young Woman's Journal, Vol. 3, pages 263-264. See repreint in Mormonism --Shadow or Reality? by Jerald and Sandra Tanner, page 4.)  And why would man go to heaven when the Bible does not support that doctrine?

Joseph Smith prepared fourteen Articles of Faith. Why has the original No. 11 been omitted? (Joseph Smith Begins His Work, Vol. 2, three pages after page 160, among the photos.)

Why did the Nauvoo House not stand forever and ever? (Doc. & Cov. 124:56-60).

How can a man who is not a descendant of Aaron hold the Aaronic Priesthood? (Numbers 16:40; Hebrews 7:13,14).

Since Mormonism teaches that only God the Father had a physical body at the time Adam was created, why did God say, "Let us make man in OUR image"? Why didn't He say, "Let us make man in MY image?" (Genesis 1:26).

 If Jesus was conceived as a result of a physical union between God and Mary, how was Jesus born of a virgin? (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, page 50).

How did Nephi with a few men on a new continent build a temple like Solomon's while Solomon needed 163,300 workmen and seven years to build his temple? (1 Kings 5:13-18 and 2 Nephi 5:15-17).

Why was Joseph Smith still preaching against polygamy in October 1843 after he got his revelation in July 1843 commanding the practice of polygamy? (Doc. & Cov. 132; and History of the Church Vol. 6, page 46, orTeachings of the Prophet, page 324).

God rejected the fig leaf aprons which Adam and Eve made (Genesis 3:21). Why do Mormons memorialize the fall by using fig leaf aprons in the secret temple ceremonies?

How do you explain the fact that 2 Nephi 16:2 is copied from an older version of the KJV of the Bible in Isaiah 6:2? This is proven because this older KJV (the mistake is corrected in current versions) made a rare grammatical error by using the incorrect plural form of "seraphims" rather than "seraphim".

Why does the B of M use old KJV type English at a time when it was not currently used.

Why is about 1/8th of the B of M copied directly from the KJV (1611AD) when it was alleged to have been written some 1200-2000 years before the KJV existed?

How do you explain the fact that Joseph Smith copied from the KJV but deleted the italicized words in the KJV because he figured they were not in the original? "Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips" Isa 6:5, The words "is & am" are deleted in the Book of Mormon.

Why are portions of Isaiah quoted off of the plates of brass when these items weren't written until after Nephi supposedly got the plates out of Laban's treasury?

Why was Paul referred to before his time? (Paul said, "Death where is thy sting")

Why is it that of the 350 names in the Book of Mormon, 100 are found in the Bible, others are place names found on early 19th century maps, and the rest are derivatives of Bible names?

Why didn't Joseph Smith ever acknowledge using the KJV of the Bible to "translate"?

Why were the following phrases used out of the New Testament supposedly before the New Testament was even thought of--much less written?

          1. "oh wretched man that I am" Romans 7:24 / 2 Nephi 4:17

          2. "earthquake, rocks rent" Matt 27:51 / 1 Nephi 12:14

          3. "old serpent, which is the devil" Rev 20:2 / 2 Nephi 2:18

          4. "one faith, one baptism" Ephesians 4:5 / Mosiah 18:21

          5. "One man perish" Jesus/Laban / John 11:50 / 1 Nephi 4:13

Why is a Greek word like "Christ" used throughout the Book of Mormon?

Why does the Book of Mormon always follow KJV errors?

Why don't the Book of Mormon quotes from out of the Old Testament agree to earlier Latin, Syriac, Coptic, or Patristic texts?

Example: Matthew 5:27 and 3 Nephi 12:27 "by them of old time" not included in earliest Greek (should have said "to them of old")

Matthew 6:4, 6, 18 and 3 Nephi :4, 6, 18 "openly" added later Matthew 6:13 and 3 Nephi 13:13 "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" should have said, "and do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one".

Why does the phrase "the lamb of God" appear only in the New Testament portion of the Bible yet it appears in the Book of Mormon over 30 times--28 times in 1 Nephi alone?

Why do the words of Malachi 4:1 appear in 1 Nephi 22:15 over a hundred years before Malachi wrote them?

Why do so many stories seem like exaggerated borrowings from the Bible? Examples:

Ammon killed six sheep rustlers with a sling (Alma 17:36) vs. David's killing of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:50).
 

Pillar of Fire. (Exodus 13:21) vs. (1 Nephi 1:6)  Lord instructs Noah to build the Ark (Genesis 6:14) / Lord instructs Nephi to build ship (1 Nephi 17:8) / Lord instructs Jaredites to build barges (Ether 2:16)

Jaredites brought flocks, two of a kind, seeds. (Ether 2:1) vs. Noah doing the same in (Genesis 7:9)

Raising dead. (Matthew 10:8) vs. (3 Nephi 19:4) Temple of Solomon supposedly took 180,000 people seven and a half years to build (1 Kings 5, 6) / The few in number Nephites supposedly did it in less than 20 years after arriving (2 Nephi 5). 

Calming Storm (1 Nephi 18:8-21) vs. (Matthew 8:23-27). 

Men in Fire (Helaman 5:22-24) vs. (Daniel 3).

Feeding Multitude (3 Nephi 20:3-7) out of nothing / In Bible, Christ multiplied existing food (Matthew 14).

Christ heals masses in Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 17:9) / in Bible Jesus healed as he encountered (Luke 9:42).

         
Multitude feels wounds in Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 11:13) / In Bible, Thomas felt wounds (John 20:27).
 

Book of Mormon prophecies of Christ specific / Bible prophecies veiled (actually non-existent unless scripture misquoted or "prophecies" stretched to have two meanings).

Book of Mormon Christ is completely accepted / In Bible he is rejected.

Aminadi deciphered writing on the wall (Alma 10:2-3) like Daniel (Daniel 5).

Daughter of Jared danced before the king (Ether 8) like the daughter of Herodias (Matthew 14)

 (decapitation followed in both cases).

Daughters of Lamanites abducted like the daughters of Shiloh.

Jews of Old Testament were monotheists / Pre-Christ Jews of Book of Mormon were not.

6) Conclusion:  Why we do not believe in the Book of Mormon:

1. There is no room for the Book of Mormon because the Bible itself claims to be all-sufficient, compete and incorruptible and our judge on the last day.

2. The Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible.

3. The Book of Mormon makes many scientifically false statements.

4. Absolutely none of the specific historical content of the Book of Mormon has been verified through Archeological finds.

5. We do not have the Gold Nephi Plates for the world to examine.

6. Although the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon was alleged to be inspired in its English translation, there have been thousands of changes, corrections, additions and deletions. Most Mormons have never seen the original 1830 "inspired" edition and would be shocked if they did.

7. Although they claim direct guidance by God, the Mormon church is among the most divided church in the world with more than 89 different sects who will not cooperate with each other.

8. The book of Doctrines & Covenants is very different depending upon which sect you are talking to.

9. The three witnesses of the Book of Mormon were all excommunicated by the Mormon Church and were of less than ideal character.

 
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