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With that in mind, let me suggest two reasons why the Isaiah passages in the Book of Mormon are more like those in the King James Version than those in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The problem giving birth to the multiple-authorship theory is the prophecies of Isaiah. For example, Isaiah identifies King Cyrus of Persia by name and indicates that Cyrus will set the Israelites free of Babylon. This event actually occurred many decades after Isaiah lived. To a person with a testimony of prophecy, such a pronouncement isn’t astonishing. But to a person who lacks that testimony, it’s impossible. Those who reject the existence of prophecy as we know it have no choice but to conclude that the book of Isaiah must have been written by more than one man.
Critics also question whether Isaiah was the author of the book that bears his name. One of the assumptions they make is that a prophet cannot foretell. Hence, since Isaiah named Cyrus as the future deliverer of the Jews from captivity (see Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:1), critics assume that a later person, a “deutero,” or second, Isaiah—someone who lived after Cyrus—must have written this part of Isaiah in approximately 540 B.C. (See Encyclopedia Judaica, s .v. “Isaiah.”)For some readers, this issue casts doubt on the integrity of the Bible and on its value as an inspired authority. But those who believe the Book of Mormon know that prophets can prophesy. Christ’s name was known centuries before his birth (see 2 Ne. 10:3), and so was his mother Mary’s (see Mosiah 3:8). Joseph Smith was identified by name some 3500 years before he was born. (See 2 Ne. 3:15.) If one understands the role of a prophet, it’s not hard to believe that a prophet could have identified Cyrus by name two hundred years before he was born.
The Nephite copy of the book of Isaiah came to America in 600 B.C., several decades before so-called Deutero-Isaiah supposedly lived and wrote. And it includes quotes from both the “first-Isaiah” chapters (Isa. 1–39) and the “second-Isaiah” chapters (Isa. 40–66), giving credit to Isaiah for all. Book of Mormon prophets and the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ refer to the prophet Isaiah many times—as a man who wrote (see 1 Ne. 15:20), who spoke judgments (see 2 Ne. 25:6), who saw the premortal Messiah (see 2 Ne. 11:2), and who testified of future events (see Hel. 8:18–20).
Notes
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