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.
Book of Mormon anachronisms/Temple in New World
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
Contents
Criticism
Critics attack the presence of an Israelite temple built by the Nephites. They do so on one or more of the following grounds:
- they claim that Israelites considered the Jerusalem temple the sole legitimate site of worship, and so would not have reproduced it.
- they claim that the Nephite population would have been too small to match the work required to built a temple "like unto Solomon's temple" (2 Nephi 5꞉16).
- they claim that the sacrifices and rituals as presented are not consistent with Jewish ritual
Source(s) of the Criticism
No temple besides Jerusalem:
Not enough people:
- John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Mormonism (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1992), 322.
- Latayne Colvett Scott, The Mormon mirage : a former Mormon tells why she left the church (Grand Rapids : Zondervan Pub. House, 1979), 83.
Ritual problems
Response
Only one temple?
info
Not enough people?
Jewish ritual
Conclusion
A summary of the argument against the criticism.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
Book of Mormon anachronisms/Temple in New World
FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide:
External links
- "Sacrifices and Burnt Offerings in the Book of Mormon," (Provo, Utah: FARMS). off-site
- Template:FR-6-0-1
- David E. Bokovoy, "The Bible vs. the Book of Mormon: Still Losing the Battle: Review of The Bible vs. the Book of Mormon by Joel P. Kramer and Scott R. Johnson," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 3–19. off-site wiki
Printed material
- Daniel C. Peterson, "Is the Book of Mormon True? Notes on the Debate," in Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins (chapter 6), edited by Noel B. Reynolds, (Provo: FARMS, 1997). GospeLink
- John L. Sorenson, "Kingship and Temple in 2 Nephi 5–10," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1992), 66–68.GL direct link