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FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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|link=Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript|subject=The Spalding manuscript | |link=Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript|subject=The Spalding manuscript | ||
− | |summary= | + | |summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith either plagiarized or relied upon a manuscript by Solomon Spaulding to write the Book of Mormon. There is a small group of critics who hold to the theory that the production of the Book of Mormon was a conspiracy involving Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery and others. These critics search for links between Spalding and Rigdon. Joseph Smith is assumed to have been Rigdon's pawn. |
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|link=Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/View of the Hebrews|subject=View of the Hebrews | |link=Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/View of the Hebrews|subject=View of the Hebrews | ||
− | |summary= | + | |summary=It is claimed that a 19th century work by Ethan Smith, View of the Hebrews, provided source material for Joseph Smith's construction of the Book of Mormon. Critics also postulate a link between Ethan Smith and Oliver Cowdery, since both men lived in Poultney, Vermont while Smith served as the pastor of the church that Oliver Cowdery's family attended at the time that View of the Hebrews was being written. |
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|link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Apocrypha|subject=Apocrypha | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Apocrypha|subject=Apocrypha | ||
− | |summary= | + | |summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith created the story of Nephi and Laban by plagiarizing concepts and phrases from the story of Judith and Holofernes in the Apocrypha. It is also claimed that Joseph Smith copied the name "Nephi" from the Apocrypha. |
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|link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Westminster Confession|subject=The Westminster Confession | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Westminster Confession|subject=The Westminster Confession | ||
− | |summary= | + | |summary=It is claimed that the content of Alma Chapter 40 derived from a Presbyterian document called The Westminster Confession}} |
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|link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/The Wonders of Nature | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/The Wonders of Nature | ||
− | |subject=The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed|summary= | + | |subject=The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed |
+ | |summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith plagiarized Josiah Priest's The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed in order to write portions of The Book of Mormon. Critics also claim that Joseph Smith plagiarized Shakespeare. | ||
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− | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Place names from North America|subject=North American place names|summary= | + | |link=Book of Mormon/Plagiarism accusations/Place names from North America|subject=North American place names |
+ | |summary=It is claimed that Joseph Smith is clearly the author of the Book of Mormon because many Book of Mormon place names supposedly have clear evidence of "borrowing" from geographic locations in the United States and Canada. | ||
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The Book of Mormon is the word of God, like the Bible. It is holy scripture, with form and content similar to that of the Bible. Both books contain God’s guidance as revealed to prophets as well as religious accounts of different civilizations. While the Bible is written by and about the people in the land surrounding Israel, and takes place from the creation of the world until shortly after the death of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon contains the history and God’s revelations to the people who lived in the Americas between approximately 600 BC and 400 AD. The prophets in the Book of Mormon recorded God’s dealings with His people, which were compiled by a man named Mormon onto golden plates.
The faithful Christians among them died out, but not before their record was safely hidden away. Joseph Smith obtained these gold plates in 1827, and with the Lord’s help Joseph was able to translate the ancient writing into what we have today. The Book of Mormon, along with the Bible, testifies that Jesus Christ is our divine Redeemer and that by living according to His gospel we can find peace in this life and eternal happiness in the life to come.
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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