Mormon is allegedly a prophethistorian who was the native american believed by mormons to have written the book of mormon the main religious text of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints mormonism. It holds all the other stones in place, and if removed, the arch crumbles. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain. False, because of mistakes in book of mormon, doctrines and covenants, and the pearl of great price. Inclusion within the bmc archive does not imply endorsement.
Also, joseph smith published many things in the times and seasons and elsewhere, which placed the book of mormon in central america, what is now southern us, western united states, florida, kentucky, and more. The book of mormon is supposed to be a history of real people living in a real place. Employing the word cement was cited as anachronistic proof of the book of mormon s fabrication. That implies 4 months of 60hour weeks six 10hour days, which is about what i. Lds church members are taught that the book of mormon bom is scripture, as well as a true record of the inhabitants of the americas from about 2200 bc to 420 ad. Jan 27, 2016 and now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men. Dna evidence and the book of mormon conclusive proof. The first of these peoples, called jaredites, are supposed to have come to.
Since its first publication in 1830, the book of moron has undergone thousands of changes. John gilbert, the compositor for the 1830 edition, added punctuation to this portion of the manuscript prior to typesetting. Book of mormontranslation errors from the kjv fairmormon. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain these translational errors. Over the past couple months, ive personally witnessed in myself what happens as a person neglects to study the book of mormon.
The book of mormon claims to be a perfect translation because joseph smith supposedly used the crystal glasses the get the perfect wordforword translation, yet there have been over 4,000 changes in the book of mormon since the first edition came out. His first ending, in mormon 89, can be called a signature endingthe primary purpose here is to state that the writing is finished and to identify the author and his father and nation. The mistakes of the book of mormon the mormon church claims that the book of mormon is an authentic historical account of the migration of a small number of israelites from jerusalem in or about 600 bc and of the subsequent settlement of the descendants of these israelites in foreign lands. The first is that the book of mormon is the keystone of our religion. Proof that the book of mormon is true, excerpt from. Translating and printing the book of mormon the book of. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints, mormons, have the book of mormon, the doctrine and covenants, and the pearl of great price as the foundations of their faith. Archaeological science versus claims of the book of mormon. The book of mormon, doctrines and covenants, the pearl of great price. Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed to accrue a long list of embarrassments which the church leaders would prefer were kept silent. It was published by the founder of the lds movement, joseph smith, jr.
The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement. They claim that in 1827 joseph smith unearthed near palmya, new york, the book of mormon on golden plates written by the peoples. Bible life ministries absolute proof mormon doctrine is. They claim that in 1827 joseph smith unearthed near palmya, new york, the book of mormon on golden plates written by the peoples of america during time periods between. Fans of peter reynoldss ish and patrick mcdonnells a perfectly messedup story will love the funny, poignant, completely unique storytelling of the book of mistakes. Typographical facsimile of the entire text in two parts. First published in 1830, the book of mormon tells of the transoceanic migrations of two ancient near eastern peoples to the americas. However, the book of mormon has been scientifically proven to be false which means joseph smith was a gross liar and received no revelation from god.
Roberts wrote a letter in 1932 citing a few sources for cement work that predated the book of mormon s publication, but this information was highly obscure until the middle of the 20 th century. Original publication title of the book of mormon which is to show unto the remnant of the house of israel what great things the lord hath done for their fathers. Items in the bmc archive are made publicly available for noncommercial, private use. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. The book of mormon is fraught with other errors as well. Many earthquakes with great destruction and loss of life supposedly accompanied christs death, to show gods displeasure. An anachronism is when an authors writing contains something from a future time period which couldnt realistically be in the time period theyve written it. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from.
The book of mormon begins about 600 bc with a small group who fled jerusalem, landed in america, and quickly split into two antagonistic nations, the nephites and the lamanites. Needless to say, he made all sorts of mistakes, except in places where the book of mormon plagiarized from the kjv. Darkness covered the whole earth at christs crucifixion for 3 hours matthew 27. I was going through my notes when i found this paper that my trainer from my mission gave me. Oliver cowdery as book of mormon scribe religious studies. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. The references to specific changes in the text are fully discussed in volume 4 of the critical text under the appropriate scriptural reference. Mormons claim that this took place in yucatan in mexico. Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. I must agree with weight that is hard to imagine setting, proofing, justifying, and making ready a page of the book of mormon in less than two hours. Ive taken a brief hiatus from a deep study of the book of mormon because ive been writing a lot and had a big stack of books i needed to get through. A book of mistakes, error, and fraud by jon gary williams introduction the mormon church promotes the book of mormon as an inspired writing. He also allowed members of the twelve apostles to declare book of mormon cities in mesoamerica, repeatedly.
Items do not represent the official views of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints or of book of mormon central. It is either of divine or human origin, and if it is of human origin that means that joseph smith concocted the book. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. For the first 150 years of mormonisms existence, everyone thought it was a story about a people who left the middle east and came to south or central america, and who fought wars clear up into new york state where. They teach that as it was first written, it was perfect. If you are sensitive to the holy spirit, he can tell you the truth of all things through honest and sincere study and prayer. The second part of the published book of mormon from mosiah to mormon is mormons abridgement of the large plates of nephi. T he book of mormon is advertized by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints as another testament of jesus christ and specifically of the account of his supposed visit to the american continent the book of mormon, 3 nephi 11. The book of mormon is a translation of golden tablets given to joseph smith who wrote of their account of a plan for salvation and what men must do to gain peace in this life and eternal redemption in the life to come. An anachronism is when an authors writing contains something from a future time period which couldnt realistically be in the time period theyve written it into. However, after a fair and candid examination of the evidence, many thousands of honest mormons have discovered that this claim simply is not true. The book of mormon describes migrations of people from the middle east to central america, and further describes some features of their civilizations in the new world. Royal skousen, a professor of linguistics at byu and a recognized expert of the textual history of the book of mormon, has identified 5,280 variations in all editions of the book of mormon.
The book of first nephi, the first book in the volume, describes the actions of lehi and his family in leaving jerusalem before its destruction, following the counsel of the lord, and wandering through the wilderness for several years before embarking on a transoceanic voyage to somewhere in or near central america. I wont repeat all of them here, but ill copy one because i think it. Smith received these golden plates from mormons son moroni who was dead but considered glorified and resurrected on september. There are only two options when it comes to the book of mormon. Dna evidence and the book of mormon conclusive proof that. The book of mormon kjv quotes contain multiple mistranslations from the source text that are best explained as being copied from the kjv. The book of mormon relates the religious history of the nephite nation for a thousand years until widespread apostasy about 400 ad. According to the church of jesus christ of latterday saints mormon church, the book of mormon is a divinely inspired revelation that is complimentary to the bible. Welch while he was on an lds mission in regensburg, germany, chiasmus or poetic parallelism is a nested ancient hebraic form of explaining an idea, where the ideas are set out in series of statements and then repeated with the first being last. Top 10 embarrassments of the mormon religion listverse. The fact is proven with final and irrefutable evidence that joseph smith wrote the fictitious tale in the early 19th century and founded the lds church what he falsely claimed was revelation from god. The book of mormon is a book of holy scripture that as you read, you will be able to feel the influence of gods holy spirit testifying of its truthfulness.
Wherefore condemn not the things of god, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of christ. That implies 4 months of 60hour weeks six 10hour days, which is about what i think it actually took. For example, there is the mention of the most precious steel in 1 nephi 4. Any mistakes and changes are the mistakes of mortals. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. As such, it is written in thirdperson narrative by mormon with quotes from the original text in firstperson narrative plus. Despite these errors, manmade decisions, and complications, mormons revere the bible as the word of god. Supporters of the book of mormon claim it uses chiasmusa figure of speech utilizing inverted parallelismand claim it is evidence to support the books ancient origin. Many a learned person has asked the same thing about the bible or even the existence of god. The book of mormon begins in a wellknown location, jerusalem, in 600 b. For example, critics of mormonism have shown convincing proof that the book of mormon is a synthesis of earlier works written by other men, of the vivid imaginings of joseph smith, and of plagiarisms from the king james bible. Many a learned person has asked the same thing about the. There are two possible explanations for the origin of the book of mormon. Five compelling archeological evidences for the book of mormon.
For example, benjamin was changed to mosiah when mormon leaders realized that in the chronology of the book of mormon king benjamin had already died thus he would have been hard pressed to interpret the engravings mentioned in. Faults or errors in the book of mormon scott woodward. It is regarded by latter day saints as divinely revealed and is named after the prophethistorian mormon who, according to the text, compiled most of the book. For example, there is the mention of the most precious steel in. Roberts has already stated that the first edition of the book of mormon was singularly free from typographical errors and that the printer could not be blamed for the many mistakes that are found in the book of mormon. The book of mormon is the true word of god, another testiment of jesus christ our beloved saviour who was given as a sacrifice by god the eternal father to ultimately atone for and pay the price of the sin of the whole world, ye the whole of mankind from the time of adam to the present day and beyond. Such evidence is not proof but should encourage readers and seekers of truth to give the book of mormon a chance. The book of mormon title page, which was translated by joseph smith, 1 ends with a rather intruiging disclaimer for a book of scripture. Proof that the book of mormon is true book of mormon facts. As for factual errors, there are a number of anachronisms in the book of mormon. The book of mormon contains accounts by many different people, mostly prophets, over a thousand years, harmonized and abridged into a whole narrative by a father and son, mormon and moroni, who lived around 400 ad. Today mormon missionaries tell people that they are christians too.
An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi, who claimed that it had been. Joseph smith said that the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to god by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book history of the church, vol. For an interesting discussion of the varieties of spelling that were common and even acceptable in the period immediately preceding joseph smiths time, see george a. Contrary to the claims of our critics, there are many interesting findings that make it difficult to explain away the book of mormon as a nineteenthcentury fraud from joseph smith. If the book of mormon is true, then joseph smith was a prophet. Moroni, the final writer and compiler of the book of mormon, provides three endings to the book. Youll meet david, a young man who with each passing day is more disheartened and stressed. Oliver cowdery, one of the three witnesses of the book of mormon, in 1838 confronted joseph smith with adultery with fanny alger, lying and teaching false doctrines. The only bible that joseph smith relied on was the king james version. The ancient near east journal of book of mormon studies, vol. It might be the funniest thing in the world to me when someone tells me with absolute certainty that the book of mormon isnt true after having admitted never actually reading the book themselves.
The book of mormon incorporates text which seems to be taken from the king james version, including passages which are now considered to be mistranslations in the king james version. And now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men. Title page moroni and now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men. If the book is accurate, archaeologists would expect to find numerous pieces of hard evidence in central america that confirm the presence of these societies. Jan 01, 2009 also, joseph smith published many things in the times and seasons and elsewhere, which placed the book of mormon in central america, what is now southern us, western united states, florida, kentucky, and more. Smith points out that the 360day year of mesoamerica seems to solve the problem nicely, and argues that what critics saw as a gaffe actually adds to the plausibility of the book of mormon as an. May 02, 20 despite these errors, manmade decisions, and complications, mormons revere the bible as the word of god. It seems clear that the book of mormon is the most correct book on earth because by living and applying its teachings one can come closer to god than by any other book. Although it serves primarily as a religious text, it is to be interpreted literally as being an actual, historical record of the inhabitants of the ancient americas.
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