It might be the funniest thing in the world to me when someone tells me with absolute certainty that the book of mormon isnt true after having admitted never actually reading the book themselves. One day, my mother showed me a book called the kingdom of the cults. I have seen what i have seen and i have heard what i have heard george godfrey, and martin harriss response to him, after godfrey suggested that harris had been deceived. This view finds no acceptance outside of mormonism. A merely intellectual testimony of the book may be gained in many other ways, but a purely intellectual recognition of the. Howard davis and arthur vanick, recently published by concordia, the highly respected publishing arm of the lutheran church missouri synod. As is appearing happy to others so that they will know that mormonism is superior. Proof that the book of mormon is a fraud christian forums. The following affiliates have contributed to book of mormon central by providing access to articles, images, and various other resources to further the cause of book of mormon research. Over the course of the runup to the 2016 presidential election, everything from conspiracy theories to wholly fabricated stories about the two major parties candidates spread like wildfire, dominating the stories liked and shared on social media platforms like facebook and twitter. A merely intellectual testimony of the book may be gained in many other ways, but a purely intellectual recognition of the authenticity of the book of. In one of the least welcome signs of the success that the musical the book of mormon is enjoying on broadway, representatives said on monday that counterfeit tickets had been sold to and presented by theatergoers on at least five different occasions in recent weeks adam miller, the company manager for the book of mormon, said in a telephone interview. The book of mormon is a record of the ancient people of the americas that had the gospel of jesus christ just as the ancient israelites that accepted jehovah in the.
An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from. The book of mormon claims to be a perfect translation because joseph smith supposedly used the crystal glasses the get the perfect wordforword translation, yet there have been over 4,000 changes in the book of mormon since the first edition came out. I specifically focused on the latter day saints because i had several close mormon friends and many mormon acquaintances in high school. Lest anyone be misled, this is a scholarly undertaking, not a religious work. The book of mormon contains frequent use of explicit language, mild to explicit sexual references and acts. Most, but not all, mormons hold the books connection to ancient american history as an article of their faith. Smith received these golden plates from mormons son moroni who was dead but considered glorified and resurrected on september. The book of mormon says that the jaredites did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee. Book of mormon thought false by lds memberarchaelogist.
Globedemocrat september 29, 1902 book of mormon proved a fraud. Linguistic evidence that proves the book of mormon isnt true. Mahaffey, of grantesville, to be in his possession. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. Sep 22, 2009 each and every person who judges the book of mormon decides if it is true or false will one day answer before god for the conclusions they reach and how they live their life after having reached.
One of the thirteen articles of faith of mormonism that mormon children memorize in sunday school is the mormon belief that the bible is the word of god if translated properly and that the book of mormon is also the word of god. If the book of mormon is true, then joseph smith was a prophet. Each and every person who judges the book of mormon decides if it is true or false will one day answer before god for the conclusions they reach and how they live their life after having reached. The fake book is made really, really, real, by wishing it was so. The legal organization behind book of mormon central is the book of mormon archaeological forum, inc. What sacrifices did lehi offer to god in the wilderness. The king james translators added words italicised to help the. Apr 08, 2008 dna evidence that proves the book of mormon is not true, archeological evidence that proves the book of mormon isnt true.
Dna evidence that proves the book of mormon is not true, archeological evidence that proves the book of mormon isnt true. Well, ive never been harmed in any way by mormons or the mormon church, which is what most mormons assume is the case. Over the past thirty years, an enormous amount of research has been conducted into mormon originsjoseph smiths early life, the book of. Thats why such contraevidenced beliefs are attributed to loving goddelusions, regardless of actual damage to real people report abuse. You are coming up with too many reasons why the book of mormon is fake instead of why it is true. Not to say that all the apparent happiness is fake, but fake ittillyoumakeit is a big part of mormon culture. Joseph smiths perverted habit of marrying teenage girls, and stealing other mens wives to be his polygamous wives. Mormons having a special glow to which others are drawn is an oftrepeated part of mormon lore.
Top 10 embarrassments of the mormon religion listverse. I have heard reasoning against the validity of the book of mormon, so i want to present some of those arguments and give any latter day saints an opportunity to present their own arguments. As far as i know, there is no credible evidence that there ever was a book of mormon people, civilization or ancient record written on gold plates. The first was the jeradites in the book of ether in the book of mormon. The book of mormon musical notsofunny to mormons 89. The theory that the book of mormon is an ancient american history is not accepted. It is definitely a part of the culture to act happy. There is no way that they can deny it now, well i guess that you could, but that would be crazy. Dawkins repeatedly claims the book of mormon is an obvious fake. In 1835, joseph smith purchased 4 mummies and at least 5 papyri from a traveling showman. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of. To profit and learn from the scriptures, we are to liken them unto ourselves 1 nephi 19. Sep 01, 2004 i just wanted to share with you all that there is now solid proof that the book of mormon is a fake. These are classics of literary history, reissued and made available to a wide audience.
Fake or genuine, the book of mormon would need that. The book of mormon, like the bible, contains a record of gods dealings with a part of the house of israel. The work in question is who really wrote the book of mormon. The reasons are numerous and difficult to confine to a few words in a post on this web site. I would also love to hear some reasoned arguments about your views on the book of abraham and why no other translations match that of js. Please, i would love to hear some reasoned arguments as to why it is true. The forums in the christian congregations category are now open only to christian members. The mormon leadership, therefore, is free to rewrite or retranslate the bible as they see fit. Book of mormon doctrines relating to the power of the scriptures. I have looked at the historical accounts and supposed evidences for the book of mormon. It contains prophecies of christ and also reveals how christ, after his resurrection and. The book of mormon claims to be the history of the inhabitants of the western hemisphere from about 2200 bc to.
Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed to accrue a long list of embarrassments which the church leaders would prefer were kept. The book of mormon if the book of abraham was a fraud. Documented evidences are given to show that the major doctrines and teachings of the mormon church are contrary to the teachings of the book of mormon. For example, critics of mormonism have shown convincing proof that the book of mormon is a synthesis of earlier works written by other men, of the vivid imaginings of joseph smith, and of plagiarisms from the king james bible. Mormon is allegedly a prophethistorian who was the native american believed by mormons to have written the book of mormon the main religious text of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints mormonism. Its story focuses on two young mormon missionaries who travel to africa. For the first 150 years of mormonisms existence, everyone thought it was a story about a people who left the middle east and came to south or central america, and who fought wars clear up into new. In like manner it is shown that the claims made for the book of mormon are in disagreement with true archaeological data, as well as not being in accord with the word of god, the holy bible.
Why does a translation of the papyri that supposedly contain the book of abraham have no resemblance to joseph smiths translation. What is the significance of the great and spacious building. Joseph smith ostensibly translated the majority of the book of abraham text in july and a few days in november 1835 and did. The book of mormon is based on the king james version of the bible, a relatively recent translation. Book of mormon proved a fraud globedemocrat september. The book of mormon, true or false budvarson, arthur. The book of mormon is a translation of golden tablets given to joseph smith who wrote of their account of a plan for salvation and what men must do to gain peace in this life and eternal redemption in the life to come. And, fake or genuine, the prophets attempt at oldfashioned formal english should reveal his lack of education which it does, with numerous grammatical errors and misuses of archaic forms, many of which survive even in current editions of the book of mormon.
An insiders view of mormon origins by grant palmer. The musicals namesake is the holy book of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. Two views of the mormon book of abraham bible query. My response generated other responses, one of which indicated joseph was a fraud and wrote the book of mormon himself, which was an easy task to do. Christian members please remember to read the statement of purpose threads for each forum within christian congregations before posting in the forum.
Many members of the latter day saint movement claim historical authenticity of the book of mormon. The old testament, new testament and book of mormon is a library of gods dealings with holy prophets that believed in him and wrote their testimonies about him to help others. Book of mormon central is not an official part of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, but rather an independent organization. The book of mormon frequently asked questions imdb. Ive taken a brief hiatus from a deep study of the book of mormon because ive been writing a lot and had a big stack of books i needed to get through. In this way, the mormon system is expanded to other planets. The theological implications are great, if you cant trust the book of abraham then plurality of gods, premortal existence, and more, have zero validity in the lds faith. The nephites, the rest of the book were destroyed by the lamanites native americans today. A few years ago i responded to a news article in which the author stated that joseph was a polygamist. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. The theory that the book of mormon is an ancient american history is not accepted as scientifically verifiable by. The book of mormon is the most correct of any book on this earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to god by abiding by its precepts, than any other book. Fake news, leaked documents, and the book of mormon.
Not to say that all the apparent happiness is fake, but fakeittillyoumakeit is a big part of mormon culture. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed to accrue a long list of embarrassments which the church leaders would. Fact of the matter is you cant reason your way to convince anybody out of their particular faith even if there is damning evidence to discredit their most sacred prophet. Most, but not all, mormons hold the book s connection to ancient american history as an article of their faith. Proof the book of mormon isnt true the book of mormon contradicts the bible and was actually a work of fiction written by joseph smith in the 1800s, who copied much of it from the king james version, trying to make it look like an ancient manuscript. This was originally written as a letter to a friend, a mormon, who wanted to know why i left mormonism. An anachronism is when an authors writing contains something from a future time period which couldnt realistically be in the time period theyve written it into. Oct 23, 2012 dawkins repeatedly claims the book of mormon is an obvious fake.
The most well known scripture of the mormon church is the book of mormon, even though most mormon theology does not derive from this book. The only bible that joseph smith relied on was the king james version. See also the translations in the analysis of the joseph smith papyri section of this. Additionally, journal of discourses and and history of the mormon church contain official records and teachings of various mormon leaders and founders. Book of mormon central collaborates with various organizations also interested in furthering research and study of the book of mormon. The book of mormon by church of jesus christ of latterday.
If you attempted to produce something like the book of mormon today, using the best science fiction writers, fully aware of all that we know about the culture of mesoamerica, fully aware of everything that we know about how you create a fake document, it would still be obvious, if not immediately, then within 15 or 20 years. Death blow to mormonism the book of abraham is a fake. The book of mormon if the book of abraham was a fraud, is. Jun 14, 2009 the book of mormon, like the bible, contains a record of gods dealings with a part of the house of israel.
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