Major problems with the book of mormon

A comprehensive list of the problems with mormonism. The ancient near east journal of book of mormon studies, vol. Problems with the book of mormon catholic answers catholic. 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. The christian bible, the book of mormon, the doctrine and covenants and the pearl of great price. The book of mormon is supposed to be the account of people who came from the middleeast to the americas. Apparent problems in the book of mormon jeff lindsay. Hamblin, basic methodological problems with the anti mormon approach to the geography and archaeology of the book of mormon, journal of book of mormon studies 2, no. First, it utterly lacks historical or archaeological support, and there is overwhelming empirical evidence that refutes. One work in progress on the site is a new study edition of the book of mormon, based on the first printed edition of 1830, with textual notes.

The additional problems links provide further evidence of the book of mormon and joseph smiths illegitimacy. Lds historical facts, problems, controversies, and contradictions. The book of mormon both illuminates the teachings of the master and exposes the tactics of the adversary. Problems with the gold plates of the book of mormon. He leans heavily on the phrasing and inconsistencies of the book. The major problem with using these tapes as the source for the words and thus the wordprints of book of mormon authors is that the current edition of the book of mormon is an edited version of the original 1830 edition. Thomas stuart ferguson was one of the most noted defenders of book of mormon archaeology. Except for the few pages in the books of enos, jarom, and omni, all the remainder of the book of mormon comes to us from the literary efforts of four persons. It is either of divine or human origin, and if it is of human origin that means that joseph smith concocted the book. In order to understand the major claims of the book of mormon, we need to understand some of the background and experiences of the four major writers associated with this book. The book of mormon, the first broadway musical by matt stone and trey parker the creators of south park. In the book of mormon, there are many chapters of isaiah directly incorporated from the king james version kjv of the bible, complete with translation errors that were obviously not possible to have been recorded on the gold plates since the kjv was not available until. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. Parker and stone were best known for creating the animated comedy.

Though i tend to agree with welch that plates of pure gold would be too fragile to be useful, the fact remains that mosiah 8. As the title indicates, this thesis is a consideration of selected changes that have been made in major editions of the book of mormon. The book of mormon is a musical comedy with music, lyrics and book by trey parker, robert lopez, and matt stone first staged in 2011, the play is a satirical examination of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints beliefs and practices that ultimately endorses the positive power of love and service. While this is clearly satire, and not historical in any way, it gives a pretty comical view of the mormons at the time. The book of mormon is the word of god, like the bible.

However, i feel that the book of mormon can not only withstand the challenge, but the issue can actually be used to illuminate the nature of isaiah and shed light on why this is such a profound book. Mormon leaders have trust issues religion news service. As we touched on above, the prophet joseph smith translated the ancient book by what he called a revelation from god. The book of mormon is the second sacred text of mormons. How the lds quorum of apostles think enemies list and area business weekends duration. Those discussed here are grouped into 3 categories. Twelve beliefs the mormon church might not want you to. Today, the lds church is most prevalent in the united states, latin america, canada, europe, the. According to the lds church, the garden of eden, where adam and eve lived, is located in jackson county, missouri. Book of mormon historicity ranks ninth, and the other specific historical issues barely register at all. Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed. Even one prominent mormon apologist, john tvedtnes, has rejected such evidence for the book of mormon see dialogue. Some major book of mormon figuressuch as captain moroni, ammon, pahoran, and nephihahare omitted from the list because they had prominent roles.

First of all, the rapid population growth depicted in the book of mormon is highly improbable, if not completely impossible. An analysis of selected changes in major editions of the. However, after a fair and candid examination of the evidence, many thousands of honest mormons have discovered that this claim simply is not true. Because isaiah is quoted so extensively, he deserves mention as one of the major contributors to the book of mormon. He leans heavily on the phrasing and inconsistencies of the book when compared to the kjv bible. The core narrative of the book of mormon is racist. While the bible is written by and about the people in the land of israel and surrounding areas and takes place from the creation of the world until shortly after the death of.

These are five problems with the book of mormon, and to doubt its authenticity as an ancient document. Another major problem for the book of mormon is archeology, a major embarrassment for the mormon church. Much has been said recently about changes and modifications in this record but, unfortunately, most of it has been said by those who have been unfriendly toward both the book itself and the church which endorses it. Much of the book of mormon is a nephite record, so most of the prophets are nephites. The book of mormon claims that moroni, a prophet, originally wrote the book and that it was translated by joseph smith. Deuteroisaiah verses in the book of mormon overview of the deuteroisaiah problem in the book of mormon.

Joseph smith translated the book of mormon from gold plates. The only bible that joseph smith relied on was the king james version. The text covers many doctrinal and historical issues plaguing the lds, including. Ive done some statistical analysis of the use of the phrase it came to pass and the word exceedingly in the book of mormon, which is discussed in the book of mormon authorship page. A biblical scholar looks at the book of mormon mormons. There are four major problems with book of mormon claims regarding the population of the americas. Ferguson planned the new world archaeological foundation which he hoped would prove the book of mormon through archaeological research. Absence of archeological evidence for book of mormon smiths apparent. The mormon story is that the nephite military commander and prophet moroni buried a history of his people, written on gold plates, in the hill cumorah in ad 421. The mormon church granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to this organization. Mormon missionaries continue to claim that the science of archeology substantiates the book of mormon, but whether we consider the alleged cities, persons, animals, fabrics, metals, wars and war implements, kings, palaces, or crops, all the evidence points to their nonexistence. There is the problem of famous and infamous mormons who pop up in media coverage, and the need to decide if they are allowed to represent mormonism. The same is true for many animals, such as horses, elephants, goats, donkeys, etc. Next to the bible, the lds church believes in the book of mormon.

Twain wrote a piece on the book of mormon, in chapter 16 of his book roughing it. Joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon was the most correct book. Mormon missionaries continue to claim that the science of archeology substantiates the book of mormon, but whether we consider the alleged cities, persons, animals, fabrics, metals, wars and war implements, kings, palaces, or crops, all the evidence points to. 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. Below are some of the contradictory and often anachronistic items in the book of mormon text. A testimony of the book of mormon church of jesus christ. Book of mormon wordprints reexamined a look at the byu. Ammon bundy, the church decided, could not be allowed to use book of mormon references without comment. The underlying premise of mormonthink is that many of the issues, or at least the details of the issues, covered on mormonthink are unknown to most latterday saints. The book of mormon, the hit musical by matt stone and trey parker, creators of south park and bobby lopez avenue q, frozen. We could not find this issue answered by the lds church in any official church publication or website. It tells of the jaredites, people from the tower of babel who came to central america but perished because of their own immorality. Textual criticism, the bible, and the book of mormon.

Not a single mainstream scholar has provided proof that the new world hebrew culture chronicled in the book of mormon existed. Mormonism charges the bible with the loss of major sections and deliberate and careless tampering with the original text. In the english language edition, more than half about 233. Although historians and archaeologists consider the book to be an anachronistic invention of joseph smith, many members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church and other denominations of the latter day saint. Both books contain gods guidance as revealed to prophets, as well as religious histories of different civilizations. The book of mormon is more correct than the bible, history of the church, 4. The phrase, and it came to pass, is so common in the book of mormon.

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. Thus, in order to remove the problem, later editions have changed the text by adding. The mormon religion was officially founded in 1830 when the book of mormon was published. Top 10 embarrassments of the mormon religion listverse.

Now, some critics also claim that smith gained most of his theories from a manuscript of a novel written by solomon spaulding. The devil was born as a spirit after jesus in the morning of preexistence, mormon doctrine, p. Besides its obvious plagiarisms, other serious problems plague the book of mormon. Major problems of mormonism by jerald and sandra tanner 1989 utah lighthouse ministry 58 s. The challenge of the book of mormon religious studies center. We recently completed a major reorganization of the book of mormon part of our website, adding a lot of brandnew content and organizing the materials into six major categories. The claims made for the nephites in the book of mormon in this regard are summarized by vogel. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents. According to our teachings, satan and an army of supporters were cast down to earth from the premortal spirit world. A book of mistakes, error, and fraud by jon gary williams introduction the mormon church promotes the book of mormon as an inspired writing. The rest of mormonism did not want to be conflated with his own interpretations of the faith. Mormon prophets who lived from 600 bc to ad 400 wrote the book. Since the publication of the book of mormon in 1830, mormon archaeologists have attempted to find archaeological evidence to support it.