Soon after the Book of Mormon was published in March of 1830 opponents of the LDS faith made it an object of ridicule and predicted that, instead of being embraced by the world, it would soon fade into oblivion. An article in the Ohio Atlas had the following to say on the fate of this latter-day scripture.
As a curiosity, we have carefully examined the Golden Bible, and pronounce it not even ‘a cunningly devised fable.’ Every page bears the impress of its human authorship. Though free from vulgar obscenities, it is an absurd collection of dull, stupid and foolishly improbable stories which no person, unless under the influence of powerfully excited feelings, can mistake for truth and inspiration. With its authors, the Book of Mormon cannot survive this generation. The next will remember it, only to smile at the credulity of the present. (Ohio Atlas, 6 December 1832, emphasis added).
Despite this dismal outlook on the future of the Book of Mormon, the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reports that “in April of 2000, the 100 millionth copy of the Book of Mormon was printed [approximately 109 million by 2003]. In the year 2000, 5.7 million copies of the Book of Mormon were distributed,” 2.5 million copies of which were in English. The Book of Mormon has now been translated into over 100 different languages and some statistics indicate that sales of the book make up approximately 3 percent of all religious book sales in the United States of America. About 60,000 missionaries now distribute “The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ” in more than 120 countries around the world.
So much for the predictions of the critics.
Latter-day Saints can direct those who desire to obtain a free copy of the Book of Mormon to the following LDS Church Web address:
http://www.mormon.org/freeBookofMormon/1,10120,1405-1-959-794,00.html
