The Book of Mormon
An Incredible Story
Rich Kelsey
TO THE
HOMEPAGE
What comes to mind when people think of Mormons?
Many of us envision clean-cut young adults riding bicycles or
knocking on doors.
That’s because Mormons between the ages of 19 to 25 are encouraged
to go on a fulltime, two year mission.
Over the course of this mission, these young adults follow a
rigid schedule of evangelizing which includes “bearing testimony.”[1]
The most common testimony Mormon missionaries share is called
the “burning in the bosom.”
Mormons are taught that if people ask if something is true,
with a sincere heart, with real intent, and having faith in Christ,
God will cause their bosom to burn[2] as a confirming sign.
Mormons often encourage potential converts to ask[3] God about the truthfulness
of the Book of Mormon, and to look for this sign confirming it.
The implication is, if the seeker does not get the burning
bosom experience, then he or she was not sincere, lacked faith, or
possibly did not show real intent.
Mormons are taught that God will give them a personal witness,
or revelation, as to what is true.
The Book of Mormon substantiates this:
And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all
things (Moroni, 10:5).
The Mormon Church teaches that:
“Feelings from the
Holy Ghost are personal revelation to you that confirm the truth of
the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Jesus Christ as restored
through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”[4]
New converts are assured that they don’t need to try to prove
the Book of Mormon,
intellectually, or on paper, because the Holy Ghost will lead them
in matters of truth. The
following transcript from a Mormon video further demonstrates this
teaching:
A young woman named Jennifer is bearing testimony;
she was baptized into the Mormon Church in 1993:
“It was not a decision I made with my head, it wasn’t.
That was what was so odd about it, was that I was raised in
academia, everything made sense.
I studied. I was
a math brain, a science brain, everything had to make sense and this
was the first time in my life, that I was making the biggest
decision that I had ever made, based on something that I didn’t feel
that I could or had to prove on paper.
I knew that God told me this was true, I knew that I’d read
the Book of Mormon and that I had prayed, and that I had done
everything the Missionaries told me to do and that I, without any
question, knew that this 14 year old boy in New York — Joseph Smith
— was actually a prophet of God and that the
Book of Mormon was actually the word of God and that the truth
had been restored, and I couldn’t prove it, I didn’t, I didn’t have
any proof, and, and so it wasn’t, it wasn’t anything that was
logical, to ask me what I was thinking, I wasn’t thinking.
I was feeling.
And, I hadn’t ever really been in touch with my emotions before,
and, I didn’t realize how much more powerful that would be.”
(Narrative from, The
Restoration of Truth – How
Can I Know This Is True, 2008, video, @ Mormon.org)
Mormon Faith
Dallin H. Oaks, one
of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, said:
“Our individual, personal testimonies are based on the witness of the
Spirit, not on any combination or accumulation of historical facts.”[5]
Possibly the reason Mormons have such strong testimonies is because
from the first moment they encounter the Mormon Church, they are
taught, and also encouraged, to give such testimonies.
Usually once a month, on the first Sunday of each month, a Fast and
Testimony Meeting is held.
During these meetings, faithful members of the Mormon Church
are invited to bear a verbal witness of their feelings.
New converts are often encouraged to give a pure testimony,
such as:
"’I know the church is true.’ ‘I know Joseph Smith is a
prophet of God.’ And, or, ‘I know the Book of Mormon is true.’"
In Mormon ideology, if one doesn’t have a testimony yet, one
can get a testimony by bearing one.
Mormons often find that their
testimony gets stronger each time they bear it; but, is confessing
faith in something over and over again, until people firmly believe
in it, really the way to determine truth?
This Mormon principle has encouraged untold numbers of new
converts and other faithful Mormons to testify that they are strong
in the Mormon faith, when in reality, they still have doubts.
The very fact that Mormons get together, bearing and listening
to testimonies, such as, “I know the Book of Mormon is true,” points
to the possibility that they still need more convincing
themselves.
Reasons for Doubt
One might wonder why the Mormon Church downplays
the need to prove the Book of Mormon. Maybe, it's because
there isn't any tangible evidence available to indicate the book's
truthfulness.
The golden plates, along with the special glasses used for
translation, were allegedly taken[6]
from the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, by a divine messenger, and
nothing from the ancient civilizations mentioned in the Book of
Mormon has ever been discovered.[7]
For example:
The National Geographic Society,
“does not know of
anything found so far that has substantiated the Book of Mormon."[8]
The Smithsonian Institution reports,
“Smithsonian
archeologists see no direct connection between the archeology of the
New World and the subject matter of the book.”[9]
It’s not just the lack of evidence that makes the Book of
Mormon difficult to prove; there are also a number of things that
appear wrong with the book:
"the terminologies and the language used and
the methods of explaining and putting things down are 19th century
literary concepts and cultural experiences one would expect Joseph
Smith and his colleagues would experience” (Dr. Ray T. Matheny,
Mormon professor of Anthropology, Brigham Young University).
Scholar, Seeker of Truth, and Regrettably, Finder of Truth
Thomas Stuart Ferguson, a distinguished[10]
and devout Mormon archeologist, set out to prove to the world
that the Book of Mormon was true.
Ferguson thought it would be possible to find artifacts from
archaeological digs that would confirm its truthfulness.
All he had to do was use the Book of Mormon as a guide
because it spells out a time when a people called the Nephites lived
in the New World, and it mentions several Nephite cities by name,[11]
along with Nephite lands and villages.
The
Book of Mormon records that the Nephites constructed houses of
cement,[12] as well as temples, synagogues and sanctuaries[13]
throughout their territories.
Yet, with all of the digs and research Ferguson and his team
undertook, they failed to find a single artifact to prove that Book
of Mormon Nephite cities, villages, or territories ever existed.
After twenty-five years of research, Ferguson concluded:
"…you can’t set Book of Mormon geography down
anywhere,
because it is fictional… what is in the ground will never conform to
what is in the book.”[14]
Ferguson, whose original goal was to prove to the world that the
Book of Mormon was true,[15] eventually
lost faith in the Book of Mormon.
Yet Ferguson had reasons why he never left the Mormon Church.
Here is a letter he wrote to an associate about his decision
to stay with Mormonism:
"Perhaps you and I have been spoofed by Joseph
Smith. Now that we have the inside dope—why not spoof a little back
and stay aboard? Please consider this letter confidential—for
obvious reasons. I want to stay aboard the good ship, Mormonism—for
various reasons that I think valid.
First, several of my dearly loved family members want
desperately to believe and do believe it and they each need it.
It does them far more good than harm.
Belonging, with my eyes wide open is actually fun… I never
get up and bear testimony... You might give my suggestions a trial
run.”[16]
Ferguson felt that revealing the truth about the Book of Mormon to
his dearly beloved family would be bad for them.
This type of reasoning reminds me of a quote from Herbert
Spencer, who was a 19th Century philosopher:
“The greatest of all infidelities is the fear
that the truth will be bad.”
The word infidelities means: “absence of religious belief.”
What greater “absence of religious belief” could one possibly
have, than to fear that “the truth will be bad?”
True religion is all about truth.
If the truth might, or will be bad for people, then something
is seriously wrong with their faith!
Book of Mormon Story
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, claimed that
he obtained golden plates upon which were written an account of the
former inhabitants of America; this alleged history of America is
recorded in the Book of
Mormon.
Smith claimed that in 1823 he experienced a heavenly
visitation in which he was directed by God to a hill in Western New
York to uncover a box containing golden plates.
Four years later, in 1827, an angel allegedly allowed Joseph
Smith to take possession of the plates, along with a special set of
glasses, so he could translate the language on the plates into
English. The language
written on the plates was said to be a form of Egyptian called
“reformed Egyptian.”
Mormonism teaches that America’s former inhabitants were white
and had sailed to America from the Holy Land, speaking both Hebrew
as well as Egyptian.
Problems with the Story
There is no evidence that people in ancient America ever spoke
or wrote in Hebrew or Egyptian.[17]
How is it possible that civilizations mentioned in the Book
of Mormon left “absolutely nothing”[18] to point to their
existence? One looking
into the people and lands of the Bible, as well as other ancient
civilizations, including those in North, Central, and South America,[19]
can find plenty of evidence that those civilizations existed,
including pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican civilizations[20]
dating back to the same period mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon states:
The whole face of
the land had become covered with buildings, and the people were as
numerous almost, as it were the sand of the sea (Mormon 1:7).
If the Book of Mormon were true, we should expect to find
remnants of these buildings across the American Continent.
Yet, there is no archeological evidence to show that about
1,700 years ago, buildings covered America.
Also, strictly from a logistical point of view, it would be
impossible to cover the whole face of the land due to America’s
diverse mountain terrains; desert regions, and forests.
Neither is there evidence that people once inhabited all of
America like this passage claims:
And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go
forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread
insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from
the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east (Helaman
3:8).
Zelph the Lamanite?
In 1834, after some Mormons unearthed a skeleton from an
Indian burial mound in Illinois, Joseph Smith claimed that God
showed him that the Indian bones were from “an officer who fell in battle, in
the last destruction among the Lamanites, and his name was Zelph.”[21]
Because the buried man’s skeleton was almost intact,[22] Joseph Smith indicated
that descendants of Book of Mormon
peoples were living, battling, and dying in Illinois in recent
history. Instead of
Smith solving the mystery of this Indian man’s origin, Smith’s
revelation only adds to the ongoing puzzle.
On this subject, a noted Mormon[23] Anthropologist maintains:
"I have serious problems with the
Book of Mormon's representations of American Indians.
Not only does it claim that Lamanites are the principle
ancestors of American Indians, but throughout the text it repeatedly
refers to them as Israelites, as descendants of Joseph; of
descendants of the Biblical Patriarchs of Abraham.
Those repeated references to an ancient Israelite connection
have been clearly invalidated by scientific research…” (Thomas
Murphy).
Lehi’s Voyage to America
In the Book of Mormon, a story is told
of a Hebrew family that flees the city of Jerusalem about 600 B.C.
Their father's name is Lehi, an alleged descendant of the
Bible’s Joseph. Lehi's
son Nephi was his most righteous son.
Nephi became the leader over his rebellious brothers.
God instructed Lehi and his family to
sail across the ocean to the American continent at about 589 B.C.
After arriving, Nephi and his oldest brother Laman had a
conflict and separated.
This conflict created two nations; the Nephites and the Lamanites.
The Nephites had God's favor, they are
described as being:
white and
exceedingly fair and delightsome (2 Nephi 5:21).
The Lamanites supposedly were cursed to have black skin and were
primitive compared to the Nephites.
These two nations fought against each other, on and off, for
centuries.
Eventually, the prophet, Mormon became the leader of the Nephites
and he proposed[24] that the entire Nephite nation should gather at the hill Cumorah
in western New York to battle the Lamanites.
In this battle, the Nephite nation was destroyed.[25] Yet, Mormon’s son
Moroni lived. Moroni
then engraved an account of the battle on golden plates and buried
those plates, along with other plates,[26] which his father had passed onto him, in the hill Cumorah, in
present day western New York.
Several things seem wrong with this story:
·
In the first place:
It’s hard to imagine how an entire population of Nephites, which had
migrated throughout the entire Northern American Continent, could be
summoned to battle. For
example: How would all the Nephites get the message?
·
Logistically, it
would seem impossible for every Nephite family in America to battle
the Lamanites, on, and around, that small hill in New York.
If these peoples were as numerous as the Book of Mormon
claims they were, they could not have fit in that small section of
western New York.
·
There is the story
itself: of an entire nation being destroyed in a single battle.
It provides readers with an answer as to why only the
primitive dark-skinned Lamanites (American Indians) were found in
America when Columbus set foot on the Continent.
Yet, this Book of Mormon story raises more questions than it
answers; like, why would Mormon have the Nephites bring their wives
and children to battle?
The Book of Mormon records:
And it came to pass
that my people, with their wives and their children, did now behold
the armies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that
awful fear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did
they await to receive them.
And it came to pass
that they came to battle against us, and every soul was filled with
terror because of the greatness of their numbers.
And it came to pass
that they did fall upon my people with the sword, and with the bow,
and with the arrow, and with the ax, and with all manner of weapons
of war. (Words of Mormon, 6:7-9)
According to the Book of Mormon, this was not the first time
an entire nation fought in a single battle.
About a thousand years earlier there was another battle on
that same hill.[27]
In this battle the Jaredite nation consisting of the people
of Coriantumr and the people of Shiz was utterly destroyed:
Millions of the Jaredites are slain in battle—Shiz and Coriantumr assemble
all the people to mortal combat—The Spirit of the Lord ceases to
strive with them—The Jaredite nation is utterly destroyed—Only
Coriantumr remains
(Introduction to
Ether 15).
Once again, gathering millions[28]
of Americans from every corner of the continent would have been
nearly impossible.
Obviously 2,600 years ago people couldn’t turn on the nightly news
and learn about the call to go to war.
There were no televisions; phones, or any other type of
device that could have provided long distance communication.
Because horses weren’t present[29]
in America until Cortes brought them over in 1519 A.D., messengers
would have needed to traverse the whole face of the land on foot in
order to summon all the people:
Wherefore, they were
for the space of four years gathering together the people, that they
might get all who were upon the face of the land, and that they
might receive all the strength which it was possible that they could
receive. (Ether 15:14)
Then everyone would have needed to walk to get to the
battleground. Why would
every family in America decide to go on such a laborious journey?
The supposed influence which Coriantumr and Shiz had upon
people seems far fetched.
Why would
families
living hundreds, if not
thousands of miles away from these two monarchs have such
strong political ties to them?
Furthermore, there’s the food and supplies people would have
required to travel the distance.
Can you imagine all of the families of America walking to New
York, carrying with them extra clothes, cooking implements,
food, and possibly weapons, etc. for the great
battle they were summoned to:
And it came to pass
that when they were all gathered together, every one to the army
which he would, with their wives and their children—both men, women
and children being armed with weapons of war, having shields, and
breastplates, and head-plates, and being clothed after the manner of
war—they did march forth one against another to battle; and they
fought all that day, and conquered not. (Ether 15:15)
Again, wives and children were involved in this battle.
This would answer why the entire Jaredite nation was
destroyed. Yet, it
doesn’t make much sense: can you imagine five-year-old boys and
girls wearing body armor and being armed with weapons of war?
Then, there is the battle itself, which would have been a
bloodbath, seeing that millions were supposedly slaughtered on and
around a hill. Walking
to that scene would have meant that families waded through blood and
stepped over countless dead bodies.
It seems hard to believe, that none of these families, seeing
that huge bloody mess didn’t make a decision to turn around and go
home. Instead, they all
decided to fight and die for the cause.
If the gathering of every American family, and also the
slaughter of every person gathered was not too hard to believe, what
also seems strange is that out of the millions of people dying on
the battlefield, the two monarchs who summoned the people to battle
in the first place ended up being the only two people left standing.
Then there is the account of how the monarch Shiz died:
And it came to pass
that after he (Coriantumr) had smitten off the head of Shiz, that
Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he struggled
for breath, he died. (Ether 15:31)
Brigham Henry Roberts, who was
an LDS General Authority
and Assistant Church Historian, examined the literary style within
the Book of Mormon and
concluded:
“The narrative proceeds in characteristic disregard of conditions
necessary to its reasonableness, as if it were a tale told by a
child, with utter disregard for consistency."[30]
Then, there is the unbelievable account of every single person
from both the Nephites and the Lamanites converting to the Church of
Christ:[31]
And it came to pass
in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the
Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites,
and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every
man did deal justly one with another. (4 Nephi 1:2)
The Book of Mormon goes on to explain:
… there was no
contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell
in the hearts of the people.
And there were no
envying, nor strife, nor tulmults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor
murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could
not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by
the hand of God.
There were no
robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner
of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to
the kingdom of God.
And how blessed were
they! …and there was no contention in all the land. (4 Nephi
1:15-18)
Can you imagine two entire nations — consisting of hundreds of
thousands of people, if not millions — living sinless lives, year
after year for 74 years[32]
in a row? How is
it possible that in all those years no one told a lie?
Why didn't anyone
envy what another person had, or lust
after another person's spouse, or steal a single thing?
Or, contend with anyone about anything?
This sounds more like a fairytale rather than the true record
of early American life.
Book of Mormon Prophecy
Consider the ease in which holy men from the book of Book of
Mormon prophesied:
And he shall be
called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth,
the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall
be called Mary.
And lo, he cometh
unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men
even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall
consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge
him, and shall crucify him.
And he shall rise
the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the
world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous
judgment might come upon the children of men (Mosiah 3:8-10).
In the Book of Mormon we find that our ancient American
ancestors had a good understanding of Christ’s future ministry
hundreds of years before Jesus lived.
The Book of Mormon has prophets in America teaching men to
believe in Christ; teaching about Christ’s kingdom; teaching about
Christ’s suffering and death on the cross; and, persuading people to
come unto Christ, a whopping 500[33] years before Jesus was born:
And we also had many
revelations, and the spirit of much prophecy; wherefore, we knew of
Christ and his kingdom, which should come.
Wherefore we labored
diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come
unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God…
Wherefore, we would
to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to
provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and
view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the
world... (Jacob 1:6-8)
The Book of Mormon paints a picture of New Testament times in
America hundreds of years before Christ instituted the New Covenant:
Nephi tells why Christ was baptized—Men must follow Christ, be baptized,
receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end to be saved—Repentance
and baptism are the gate to the strait and narrow path—Eternal life
comes to those who keep the commandments after baptism. Between 559
and 545 B.C.
(Introduction to 2
Nephi 31)
Christ’s Baptism Foretold
According to the Book of Mormon, over 545 years[34]
before Jesus was born, people knew that after Christ’s
baptism the Holy Ghost would descend upon him in the form of a dove:
Wherefore, after he
was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the
form of a dove. (2 Nephi 31:8)
Compare to:
And Jesus, when he
was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (Matthew 3:16, KJV)
The Book of Mormon also contains the sayings of Jesus Christ
supposedly 500[35] years before Christ spoke them:
And I soon go to the
place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him
I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on
immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face
with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed,
there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen
(Enos 1:27).
Compare to:
In my Father’s house
are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you (King James Version, John 14:2).
The Book of Mormon also records that the Nephites knew
Christ’s name, well over 500[36] years before Christ was born:
And as I spake
concerning the convincing of the Jews, that Jesus is the very
Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that
Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God (2 Nephi, 26:12)
That 2 Nephi text also spoke of the gentiles needing to be
convinced that Jesus is the Christ.
This is noteworthy because Christ’s Apostles learned that the
gospel was open to the gentiles only after the New Testament Church
was established. Yet,
holy men in the Book of Mormon supposedly understood that the gospel
would be open to the gentiles a whopping 577 years before Christ’s
own apostles did.
The Book of Mormon also spells out that believers in Christ
were called Christians, 72 years[37]
before Jesus was born:
And those who did
belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true
believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or
Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ
who should come (Alma 46:15).
In the Bible, believers weren’t called Christians until after
the New Testament Church was established.
Holy
Ghost Poured Out Before Pentecost
The Book of Mormon even has believers receiving the Holy
Ghost, with evidence of speaking in tongues, about 578 years before
the Holy Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem:
And also, the voice
of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to
him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore,
follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.
Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full
purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God,
but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the
Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by
baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the
water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy
Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost;
and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises
unto the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 31:12-13)
In contrast, the Bible records that Jesus told his disciples:
For John truly
baptized with water: but yea shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence. (Acts 1:5, KJV)
Christ’s own disciples did not have the Holy Ghost when he
spoke those words. They
received the Holy Spirit in 34 A.D. — on the day of Pentecost.
Not in 545 B.C. like Book of Mormon peoples supposedly did.
Let’s do some math:
The King James Version of
the Bible was published over 200 years before the Book of Mormon.
All of the New Testament concepts found in the Book of Mormon
were also recorded in the
King James Version, which was popular at Smith’s time.
It would have certainly been
possible for Joseph Smith to reproduce portions of the
Book of Mormon storyline from the
King James Version.
But was Smith really the type of person who would plagiarize
the Bible? The answer to
this question can be found in Smith’s own work, called the
Joseph Smith Translation.
In the Doctrine and Covenants, which is official Mormon dogma,
we find that section 73 mentions a Bible:
In the introduction to that section it reads:
Joseph Smith and
Sidney Rigdon are to continue to translate the Bible until it is
finished.
Then, it’s recorded:
Now, verily I say
unto you my servants, Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, saith
the Lord, it is expedient to translate again; …it is expedient to
continue the work of translation until it be finished.
What Smith and Rigdon were working on is called the Joseph
Smith Translation of the Bible, also known as the Inspired Version.
Please note: this alleged command from the Lord could not be about
translating the Book of Mormon because this revelation was said to
be given to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in January of 1832.[38] The
Book of Mormon was already published when this revelation was
received.
Let’s take a look at the beginning of the Joseph Smith
Translation to get an understanding of what this Bible is all about:
Joseph Smith Translation
Genesis: Chapter One:
1 And it came to pass, that the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven
and this earth; write the words which I speak.
2 I am the Beginning and the End; the Almighty
God. By mine Only Begotten I created these things.
3 Yea, in the beginning I created the heaven,
and the earth upon which thou standest.
Compare to:
King James Version
Genesis:
Chapter One:
1 In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let
there be light: and there was light.
It may only seem appropriate that the phrase, “And it came to pass”
starts off the Joseph Smith Translation.
This phrase is used throughout the Book of Mormon.
But one might wonder: Is there any textual evidence available
to support a different beginning to Genesis than what is found in
Bibles penned before the Joseph Smith Translation?
No.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon)
explains that Smith’s Translation of the Bible is more revelation
than literal translation:
The Lord inspired
the Prophet Joseph Smith to restore truths to the Bible text that
had become lost or changed since the original words were written.
These restored truths clarified doctrine and improved scriptural
understanding... Because the Lord revealed to Joseph certain truths
that the original authors had once recorded, the Joseph Smith
Translation is unlike any other Bible translation in the world. In
this sense, the word translation is used in a broader and different
way than usual, for Joseph’s translation was more revelation than
literal translation from one language into another. (LDS.org, The
Scriptures Internet Edition: introduction to Joseph Smith
Translation).
Smith maintained that, “Ignorant translators, careless
transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests”[39] had
introduced many errors into the Bible.
This Inspired Version
was meant to correct what the ignorant, corrupt, and or,
careless transcribers, had done.
But what’s so obvious about Smith’s version of the bible is
that he is the one who has added to, and also changed, God’s word.
Prophecy about Joseph Smith in Genesis
And that seer will I bless, and they that seek
to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise I give unto
you; for I will remember you from generation to generation; and his
name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his
father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord
shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation.
(Genesis 50:33, Joseph Smith Translation)
Not one Bible manuscript has ever been found which contains
this prophecy. The
manuscripts we do have end at Genesis 50:26.
The Inspired Version,
by Joseph Smith, contains twelve more verses ending at Genesis
50:38.
These 12 extra verses from Genesis touting Joseph Smith
himself as a “seer” in and of themselves indicate that Smith has
corrupted God’s Word. If
Smith was capable of dictating to his scribes a false record within
his own translation of the bible, it only stands to reason that the
Book of Mormon could contain a false record as well.
Changes to the Book of Mormon
When the Book of Mormon
was still in the manuscript stage, its spelling was different than
the first printed edition.
For example, in what is now I Nephi 7:20, ware sorraful
in the manuscript was changed to were sorrowful in the first
printed edition.
Plaits in the manuscript (1 Nephi 13:23) became plates in
the printed edition.
These and similar changes show why editing was necessary to make the
manuscript more understandable.[40]
Another way to explain this is to say: The manuscript that became
the Book of Mormon was
somewhat crude and difficult to understand because of extensive
spelling and grammatical errors.
Then, even after the initial printed version of 1830, the
Book of Mormon still had enough spelling errors and problems with
grammar to warrant thousands[41] of more
changes to the text. The
suggestion that Smith dictated a God-inspired-record to his scribes
would imply that God had trouble with grammar.
This is a real problem for Mormons, because Mormons insist
the Book of Mormon is the word of God.[42]
One thing we can be sure of: Smith made changes to the Book of
Mormon. In Smith’s
lifetime, under his direction, words were added,[43]
words were deleted;[44]even
the name of a king was changed:
…king Benjamin
had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings…
(Mosiah 21:28, 1830 edition)
Became:
…king Mosiah
had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings…
(Mosiah 21:28, 1837 edition)
Also:
…and for this cause did king
Benjamin keep them… (Ether 4:1, 1830 edition)
Became:
…and for this cause did king
Mosiah keep them… (Ether 4:1, 1837 edition)
Starting with the second edition of the Book of Mormon;
and all subsequent editions, what king Benjamin once did, in those
passages, was now attributed to king Mosiah.
Changes to Christ’s Divinity
And the angel said
unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!... (1
Nephi 11:21, 1830 edition)
Became:
And the angel said
unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even
the Son of the
Eternal Father!... (1 Nephi 11:21, 1837 edition)
In the 1837 edition, Smith added the words: “the Son of” to
this verse. One might
wonder, “Did Smith not read the words ‘the Son of’ to his scribe as
he dictated 1 Nephi 11:21 from the golden plates?
Or, did Smith’s scribe fail
to pen the words ‘the Son of’ as Smith was dictating?”
The problem with trying to justify this change is that neither
of these possibilities can explain why the Book of Mormon’s three
witnesses said that God’s voice declared to them, the work is true:
“And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and
power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we
know of a surety that the work is true.” (Excerpt from 1830
Testimony of Three Witnesses)
If the work were true,
then changing the words would make the changed words false!
One might think this is an isolated case?
Perhaps the typesetter made a mistake?
After all, the Book of Mormon itself points out:
And if there be
faults they be the faults of a man. But behold, we know no fault;
nevertheless God knoweth all things; therefore, he that condemneth,
let him be aware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire. (Mormon
8:17)
Any notion that faults
in the 1830 Book of Mormon were the faults of a man will not solve
this mystery, because Smith also added the words “the Son of” to
other verses in the 1837 version:
...And I looked and
beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the
Everlasting God, was judged of the world... (I Nephi 11:32, 1830
edition)
Became:
...And I looked and
beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea,
the son of the Everlasting God, was judged of the world... (I
Nephi 11:32, 1837 edition)
And:
...that the Lamb of
God is the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world... (I Nephi
13:40, 1830 edition)
Became:
...that the Lamb of
God is the son of
the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world... (I Nephi 13:40,
1837 edition)
The early reader of the Book of Mormon was led to believe that
Jesus Christ was “the Eternal Father” and
“the Everlasting God.”
Later versions, where the words, “the son of” were inserted before
titles of God, clearly changed the meaning of the text.
Other Changes
With the 1837
edition of the Book of Mormon,
some of the language was changed, which gave that edition a more
modern writing style.
For example: the words “saith” and “sayeth” were changed to “said”
229 times.[45]
Here is one example:
For behold it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even
in a dream, and sayeth
unto him,… (1 Nephi 2:1, 1830 edition)
Became:
For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even
in a dream, and said
unto him:.. (1 Nephi 2:1, 1837 edition)
Also:
And the spirit saith unto
me again, behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands; yea,…
(1 Nephi 4:11, 1830 edition)
Became:
And the Spirit said unto
me again: Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands. Yea,…
(1 Nephi 4:11, 1837 edition)
Smith also changed
the word “which” to “who” 707 times.[46]
Here is one example:
…and my elder brothers, which
were Laman, Lemuel and Sam. (1 Nephi 2:5, 1830 edition)
Became:
…and my elder brothers, who
were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam. (1 Nephi 2:5, 1837 edition)
These 936 changes
seem typical of an author[47] polishing his work. With the
next edition, printed in 1840, more polishing is documented:
For example:
Two words were
deleted in Ether 13:31:
…all the people upon all
the face of the land were
a
shedding blood,… (Ether 13:31, 1830 edition)
Became:
…all the people upon the face of the land were shedding blood,… (Ether
13:31, 1840 edition)
The original
wording:
were a shedding blood
seemed like a poorly
educated farmer was speaking.
It hardly sounds like divine prose, nor does it appear to be
the writing or speech one would expect from ancient peoples.
One more example:
…to remove the cause of diseases
which was subsequent to man, by the nature of the climate.
(Alma 46:40, 1830 and 1837 edition)
Became:
…to remove the cause of diseases
to which men were subject by the nature of the climate.
(Alma 46:40, 1840 edition)