Book of Mormon

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Articles related to the Book of Mormon

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Book of Mormon
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General information:

Book of Mormon & Bible:

Criticisms:

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Book of Mormon overview

Book of Mormon basics

Summary: What is the Book of Mormon? This article orients new readers to the nature and content of this volume of scripture.

List of editions

Translation of the Book of Mormon

Translation

Summary: What do we know about the method used to translate the Book of Mormon? Were the plates sometimes not in the room while Joseph was translating them? Critics claim that each sentence and word in the 1830 Book of Mormon "had supposedly come directly from God."

Witnesses

Summary: The world was not left with Joseph Smith's testimony alone. The Book of Mormon provided multiple official and unofficial witnesses who corroborated aspects of Joseph's account.Critics have long tried to dismiss or destroy the witnesses' witness. This page links to subpages which discuss various attacks in detail.

Urim and Thummim and seer stones

Summary: Joseph Smith used the Nephite Interpreters as well as his own seer stone (both of which were later referred to as "Urim and Thummim") to translate the Book of Mormon.

Publication of the Book of Mormon

Author and proprietor listed as Joseph Smith

Summary: Joseph Smith is listed as the "Author and Proprietor" of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. Critics use this to claim that Joseph wrote the book himself, despite that fact that the following page clearly states that he translated the book.

Attempt to sell Book of Mormon copyright in Canada

Summary: David Whitmer claimed that Joseph Smith received a revelation and prophesied that Oliver Cowdery and Hiram Page should go to Canada where they would find a man willing to buy the copyright to the Book of Mormon. When they failed to sell the copyright, Whitmer states that Joseph admitted that the revelation had not come from God.

Printing timeframe

Summary: "I've heard that the rate at which the first edition of the Book of Mormon was printed could only have occurred miraculously. Is there anything to this claim?"


Book of Mormon


Language used in the Book of Mormon

As a "familiar spirit"

Summary: Critics ask why, if the words "familiar spirit" in Is. 29:4 refer to the Book of Mormon (as used in 2_Ne. 26:16, why does "familiar spirit" always refer to occult practices such as channeling and necromancy everywhere else in the Old Testament?

Revisions to the Book of Mormon

Textual changes

Summary: The claim is often heard that there are more than 4000 changes to the Book of Mormon text. The majority of these are typographical. Few of the changes are significant. We examine the more noteworthy changes.
    • "the Son of" added to 1 Nephi 11:18, 1 Nephi 11:21, 1 Nephi 11:32, and 1 Nephi 13:40—
      Brief Summary: Critics charge that the earliest edition of the Book of Mormon referred to Jesus as "God," but in later editions this was changed to "the Son of God." They cite this as evidence that Joseph Smith changed the Book of Mormon to conform to his changing beliefs about the Trinity. They claim Joseph was originally a solid Trinitarian (perhaps even a Modalist), and as he later began to teach that the Father and Son were two separate beings, he had to change the Book of Mormon to support his new doctrine. (Click here for full article)
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    • "or out of the waters of baptism" added to 1 Nephi 20:1—
      Brief Summary: The phrase "or out of the waters of baptism" was added to 1 Nephi 20:1 in the 1840 edition Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith. (Click here for full article)
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    • "white" changed to "pure" in 2 Nephi 30:6—
      Brief Summary: The phrase "white and delightsome" was changed to "pure and delightsome" in the Book of Mormon. Critics accuse the Church of attempting to hide a racially offensive statement. (Click here for full article)
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    • "Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah" in Mosiah 21:28 and Ether 4:1—
      Brief Summary: In the text currently found in Mosiah 21:28 of the Book of Mormon, the 1830 edition reads "Benjamin", while all subsequent editions read "Mosiah." Likewise, a reference to Benjamin in what is now Ether 4:1 was changed to "Mosiah" in 1849. Critics claim that "either God made a mistake when He inspired the record or Joseph made a mistake when he translated it." (Click here for full article)
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    • "Words missing in Alma 32:30"—
      Brief Summary: Thirty-five words at the end of Alma 32:30 in the original manuscript were omitted from previous editions of the Book of Mormon. The text was restored in the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon. (Click here for full article)
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Completeness of the Book of Mormon

As the most correct book

Summary: Critics claim that since Joseph stated that it was "the most correct book," that the Book of Mormon should not have contained any errors. Yet, Mormon himself states in the preface that any mistakes contained therein are the mistakes of men.

Contains the fulness of the gospel

Summary: If the Book of Mormon contains the "fulness of the gospel," then why are certain ordinances such as baptism for the dead and eternal marriage not mentioned?

Archaeology and the Book of Mormon

Archaeology

Summary: Critics charge that what is known about ancient American archaeology is not consistent with the Book of Mormon account. Sectarian critics often add the claim that the Bible has been "proven" true by archaeology, unlike the Book of Mormon.

Anachronisms claimed to exist in the Book of Mormon

Anachronisms

Summary: Critics point to some items or concepts in the Book of Mormon which they claim are not consistent with what is known about ancient American geography, history, or anthropology. They claim that these "errors" prove that Joseph Smith was producing the Book of Mormon in the 19th century, and that the Book of Mormon is therefore not an ancient record.

Deutero-Isaiah in the Book of Mormon?

Summary: The "Deutero-Isaiah" theory is the claim that parts of Isaiah were written later than others. This theory claims that there were three individual authors, whose works were later compiled together under the name of the first author Isaiah (referred to as "Proto Isaiah"). The critical issue raised is that the Brass Plates of Laban quote from sections of Isaiah that this theory ascribes to Deutero-Isaiah, so how could the Nephites have these writings if they weren't written until after they left Jerusalem?

Dead Sea Scrolls and their relationship to the Book of Mormon

Summary: Mistranslations of the King James version of Isaiah have been corrected using the Isaiah version found with the Dead Sea scrolls. Why is it that the quotes from Isaiah contained in the Book of Mormon have the same translation errors contained in the King James version instead of matching the original ancient text?

Demographics and population numbers

Summary: Do Book of Mormon population numbers grow too rapidly?

Doctrinal issues related to the Book of Mormon

Plain and precious doctrines

Summary: Critics claim that the Book of Mormon is nothing more than a "bad copy of the Bible"; that anyone could have churned out such pedestrian, warmed-over ideas by borrowing liberally from the Bible and his own personal experiences.

Great and abominable church

Summary: What is the "great and abominable church" referred to in the Book of Mormon? Critics claim that Latter-day Saints believe that the scriptural terms "church of the devil," the "great and abominable church," and the "whore of all the earth" refer to a specific religion. Critics claim that the Book of Mormon teaches that "all mainstream Christians fall into the world system know as the devil's church (or Satan's kingdom)."

Nephi's killing of Laban

Summary: How can Latter-day Saints point to Nephi's killing of Laban as an example of a positive example of a Book of Mormon character? Wasn't this cold-blooded murder? And doesn't this passage then justify the killing of "the wicked" by anyone who feels that God has told them to do so?

Book of Mormon Geography

Geography

Summary: The geographical setting of the Book of Mormon has been the subject of serious study and casual speculation since before the book was first published. We describe the various theories and examine the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Location of the Hill Cumorah

Summary: If Mormon chapter 6 is a literal description of the destruction of the Nephites by the Lamanites — approximately 100 thousand were killed by swords and axes — why hasn't any evidence of the battle been found at the site that was traditionally identified as the hill Cumorah in western New York state?

Historicity of the Book of Mormon

Calendar

Summary: The Book of Mormon calendar is not identical to the calendar used by modern peoples. Learn about Nephite calendar(s) here.

Historicity

Summary: Several efforts have been made to "prove" that what the Book of Mormon has to say about the history of the new world cannot possibly have been the case.

Warfare in the Book of Mormon

Summary: Some criticisms of Book of Mormon warfare are anachronistic; other elements of Book of Mormon warfare contain authentic ancient elements about which Joseph Smith could not have known.

Evidences

Summary: Summary page for evidences supporting the Book of Mormon
    • Olive culture—
      Brief Summary: Does the Book of Mormon's account of olive culture in Jacob 5 match what we know about this subject? The Book of Mormon provides a remarkably accurate portrait of olive horticulture. There are two points at which the allegory/parable deviates from the known principles of growing olives; in both cases, the allegory's characters draw the reader's attention to these deviations with some amazement. Thus, these 'mistakes' play a dramatic role in demonstrating the allegory/parable's meaning. (Click here for full article)
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    • Book of Mormon geography in the Old World—
      Brief Summary: A discussion of the Arabian, or Old World, geography of the Book of Mormon enjoys many advantages over discussion of New World matters. Chief among these is the fact that we know we certainty where the story begins—in Old World Jerusalem. The details of Lehi's desert travels had been extracted from the text by the 1970s. It is important to note how early these models were developed; current-day critics sometimes charge that LDS scholars have "retrofitted" their models to accommodate chance discoveries like "Nahom," but this is false. (Click here for full article)
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Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon

Summary: The Book of Mormon does indeed have authentic Semitic constructions in it, but LDS need to tread cautiously in establishing them. Each must be evaluated on its own merits. Hebraisms that could have been known to Joseph Smith may still be authentic, and may still enhance our appreciation of the text, but they are weak evidence for Book of Mormon antiquity.
    • If-and conditionals—
      Brief Summary: The first edition of the Book of Mormon contained several examples of a grammatical structure not known in English, but common in Hebrew: the so-called if/and conditional. (Click here for full article)
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    • Names: authentic Old World names in the Book of Mormon (Click here for full article)
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    • Chiasmus—
      Brief Summary: A literary structure known as "chiasmus" exists in the Book of Mormon. Critics claim that the presence of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon is either coincidental, an artifact of the observer, or not impressive since examples of chiastic patterns have been found in the Doctrine and Covenants or other 19th century writing. (Click here for full article)
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    • Sami Hanna on the Book of Mormon—
      Brief Summary: I have read a talk written by Elder Russell M. Nelson in which he discusses a friend of his who translated the Book of Mormon back into Arabic. What are the facts behind this story and the talk? (Click here for full article)
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Lamanites and the Book of Mormon

DNA evidence

Summary: DNA samples taken from modern Native Americans do not match the DNA of modern inhabitants of the Middle East. Critics argue that this means the Book of Mormon's claim that Native Americans are descended from Lehi must be false, and therefore the Book of Mormon is not an ancient record as Joseph Smith claimed.

Lamanites

    • Curse—
      Brief Summary: Critics claim that the Church believed that Lamanites who accepted the Gospel would become light-skinned. "Mormon folklore" claims that Native Americans and Polynesians carry a curse based upon "misdeeds on the part of their ancestors." (Click here for full article)
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    • Referenced in the Doctrine and Covenants—
      Brief Summary: Since in the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord refers to American Indians in North America as "Lamanites" (e.g., DC 28:8-9,14, DC 30:6, DC 32:2, DC 54:8), does this cause problems for the Limited Geography Theory (LGT) or issues of Amerindian genetic data? (Click here for full article)
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    • Relationship to Amerindians—
      Brief Summary: Are all Amerindians descendants of Lehi? Critics claim that Church leaders "seem reluctant or powerless to curtail" the belief among Mesoamerican and South American saints that they are descendents of the Lamanites. Critics say that Joseph Smith said that the angel Moroni told him that all American Indians were "literal descendants of Abraham," but that DNA has disproved this. (Click here for full article)
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    • Relationship to Polynesians—
      Brief Summary: Critics claim that the Church has expanded the definition of "Lamanite" to Polynesians. Modern day prophets have repeatedly declared that Polynesians are Lamanites. The patriarchal blessings of Polynesians often state that they are of the tribe of Manasseh (through Lehi). (Click here for full article)
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Book of Mormon textual analysis

Wordprint studies

Summary: What are wordprints? What do they have to do with the Book of Mormon?

Truthfulness of the Book of Mormon

Moroni's promise

Summary: Critics claim that praying about the Book of Mormon is not an objective standard for determining if the book is true or not, and should therefore not be trusted. They claim that many people have read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and have either received no answer, or that they have received an answer from God that it is false.

Stick of Ephraim—Erastus Snow statement

Summary: How is it that the prophesy of the sticks found in Ezekiel 37 is fulfilled in the Book of Mormon if Lehi and Nephi are descendants of Manasseh and not of Ephraim?
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