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<title>HTML clipboard</title><style type="text/css"> .style1 { font-weight: bold; background-color: #FFFFFF; } .style2 { background-color: #F5F5FF; text-align: left; } .style4 { background-color: #F5F5FF; text-align: left; } .style5 { text-align: left; } .style7 { background-color: #FFFFFF; text-align: left; } </style> Problems with the Book of Mormon
<!-- start main content --> The Book of Mormon is supposed to be the account of people who came from the Middle-East to the Americas. It covers the period of about 600 B.C. to 400 A.D. It tells of the Jaredites, people from the Tower of Babel who came to central America but perished because of their own immorality. It also describes some Jews who fled persecution in Jerusalem and came to America led by a man called Nephi. The Jews divided into two groups known as the Nephites and Lamanites who fought each other. The Nephites were defeated in 428 A.D.
The Lamanites continued and are known as the American Indians. The Book of Mormon is supposed to be the account of the Nephite leader who was called Mormon as he wrote concerning their culture, civilization, and appearance of Jesus to the Americas.
Joseph Smith said "that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book" (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461).
The Book of Mormon is not of God.
<table class="style8" border="0" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style7" valign="top">Subject</td> <td class="style7" valign="top">Reference</td> <td class="style7" valign="top">Verse</td> <td class="style7" valign="top">Problem</td> <td class="style7" valign="top">BOM Date</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Adam's Fall</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">2 Nephi
2:25</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.</td> <td colspan="2" class="style5" valign="top">False: Men exist without Adam's fall</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Birth of Jesus</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Alma
7:10</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God. CONTRADICTS Matt. 2:1, Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea</td> <td colspan="2" class="style4" valign="top">Alma 7:10 contradicts the Bible in Matt. 2:1</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Cimeter (Scimitar)</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Mosiah
9:16</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">And it came to pass that I did arm them with bows, and with arrows, with swords, and with cimeters, and with clubs, and with slings, and with all manner of weapons which we could invent, and I and my people did go forth against the Lamanites to battle. (See also Enos 1:20; Mosiah 10:8; Alma 2:12; 27:29; 43:18,20,37; 44:8; 60:2; Heaman 1:14)</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Scimitars (Curved Swords) didn't exist until the 500's.</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">200-187 B.C.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Elephants</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Ether
9:19</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms.</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Elephants weren't in America at the time of the BOM</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">NA</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Honey Bees
</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Ether
2:3</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind.</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Honey Bees were introduced to America by the Spanish</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">NA</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">God Indwells the Righteous</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Alma
34:36</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb. CONTRADICTS D&C 130:3, "The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a manï's heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false."</td> <td colspan="2" class="style4" valign="top">BOM contradicts D&C</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Horses</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">1 Nephi
18:25</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the asses and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper. (Horses see 2 Nephi 12:7; 2 Nephi 15:28; Enos 1:21; Alma 18:9,10,12; 20:6; 3 Nephi 3:22; 4:4; 6:1; 21:14; Ether 9:19; )</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Horses didn't exist in America until the 16th Century</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">590-589 BC</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Steel</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">1 Nephi
4:9</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel. (See also 1 Neph 16:18; 2 Nephi 5:15; Jarom 1:8; Ether 7:9)</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">The Jews didn't have steel at that time.</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">600-592 B.C.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Salvation</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">2 Nephi
25:23</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. After all we can do</td> <td colspan="2" class="style5" valign="top">Salvation by works</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Silk</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Alma
4:6</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And it came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the judges, that the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry; and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel. Jews didn't have silk then.</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">The Jews didn't have silk at that time</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">86-83 B.C.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Sufficiently Humble</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Alma
5:27</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins? sufficiently humble</td> <td colspan="2" class="style5" valign="top">How do you become sufficiently humble?</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Two Churches</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">1 Nephi
14:10</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">"And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church which is the mother of abominations; and she is the ***** of all the earth."</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">If non-Mormon church is the church of Satan, why is Mormonism trying to appear like it?</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">600-592 B.C.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
The Book of Mormon Verses Mormon Doctrine
<table class="carm-table-with-border" style="width: 750px;" border="0" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style1">The Book of Mormon </td> <td class="style1">Mormon Doctrine </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">There is only one God
Mosiah 15:1,5; Alma 11:28; 2 Nephi 31:21</td> <td class="style5">Mormonism teaches there are many gods.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 5</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style2">The Trinity is one God
Alma 11:44; Mosiah 15:5; 2 Nephi 31:21</td> <td class="style2">The Trinity is three separate gods.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 35. 1985.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">God is unchanging
Mormon 9:9,19; Moroni 8:18; Alma 41:8; 3 Nephi 24:6</td> <td class="style5">God is increasing in knowledge.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 120.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style2">God is spirit
Alma 18:24,28; 22:9,11</td> <td class="style2">God has the form of a man.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 3.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">Eternal hell
Jacob 3:11; 6:10; 2 Nephi 19:16; 28:21-23.</td> <td class="style5">Hell is not eternal.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 55.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style2">Polygamy condemned
Jacob 1:15; 2:23,24,27,31;3:5; Mosiah 11:2,4; Ether 10:5,7</td> <td class="style2">Polygamy was taught and practiced.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 266</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
CARM - Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry
<!-- start main content --> The Book of Mormon is supposed to be the account of people who came from the Middle-East to the Americas. It covers the period of about 600 B.C. to 400 A.D. It tells of the Jaredites, people from the Tower of Babel who came to central America but perished because of their own immorality. It also describes some Jews who fled persecution in Jerusalem and came to America led by a man called Nephi. The Jews divided into two groups known as the Nephites and Lamanites who fought each other. The Nephites were defeated in 428 A.D.
The Lamanites continued and are known as the American Indians. The Book of Mormon is supposed to be the account of the Nephite leader who was called Mormon as he wrote concerning their culture, civilization, and appearance of Jesus to the Americas.
Joseph Smith said "that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book" (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461).
The Book of Mormon is not of God.
<table class="style8" border="0" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style7" valign="top">Subject</td> <td class="style7" valign="top">Reference</td> <td class="style7" valign="top">Verse</td> <td class="style7" valign="top">Problem</td> <td class="style7" valign="top">BOM Date</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Adam's Fall</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">2 Nephi
2:25</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.</td> <td colspan="2" class="style5" valign="top">False: Men exist without Adam's fall</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Birth of Jesus</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Alma
7:10</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God. CONTRADICTS Matt. 2:1, Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea</td> <td colspan="2" class="style4" valign="top">Alma 7:10 contradicts the Bible in Matt. 2:1</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Cimeter (Scimitar)</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Mosiah
9:16</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">And it came to pass that I did arm them with bows, and with arrows, with swords, and with cimeters, and with clubs, and with slings, and with all manner of weapons which we could invent, and I and my people did go forth against the Lamanites to battle. (See also Enos 1:20; Mosiah 10:8; Alma 2:12; 27:29; 43:18,20,37; 44:8; 60:2; Heaman 1:14)</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Scimitars (Curved Swords) didn't exist until the 500's.</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">200-187 B.C.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Elephants</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Ether
9:19</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms.</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Elephants weren't in America at the time of the BOM</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">NA</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Honey Bees
</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Ether
2:3</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind.</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Honey Bees were introduced to America by the Spanish</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">NA</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">God Indwells the Righteous</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Alma
34:36</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb. CONTRADICTS D&C 130:3, "The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a manï's heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false."</td> <td colspan="2" class="style4" valign="top">BOM contradicts D&C</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Horses</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">1 Nephi
18:25</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the asses and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper. (Horses see 2 Nephi 12:7; 2 Nephi 15:28; Enos 1:21; Alma 18:9,10,12; 20:6; 3 Nephi 3:22; 4:4; 6:1; 21:14; Ether 9:19; )</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Horses didn't exist in America until the 16th Century</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">590-589 BC</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Steel</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">1 Nephi
4:9</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel. (See also 1 Neph 16:18; 2 Nephi 5:15; Jarom 1:8; Ether 7:9)</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">The Jews didn't have steel at that time.</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">600-592 B.C.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Salvation</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">2 Nephi
25:23</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. After all we can do</td> <td colspan="2" class="style5" valign="top">Salvation by works</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Silk</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">Alma
4:6</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">And it came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the judges, that the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry; and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel. Jews didn't have silk then.</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">The Jews didn't have silk at that time</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">86-83 B.C.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5" valign="top">Sufficiently Humble</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Alma
5:27</td> <td class="style5" valign="top">Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins? sufficiently humble</td> <td colspan="2" class="style5" valign="top">How do you become sufficiently humble?</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style4" valign="top">Two Churches</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">1 Nephi
14:10</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">"And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church which is the mother of abominations; and she is the ***** of all the earth."</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">If non-Mormon church is the church of Satan, why is Mormonism trying to appear like it?</td> <td class="style4" valign="top">600-592 B.C.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
The Book of Mormon Verses Mormon Doctrine
<table class="carm-table-with-border" style="width: 750px;" border="0" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style1">The Book of Mormon </td> <td class="style1">Mormon Doctrine </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">There is only one God
Mosiah 15:1,5; Alma 11:28; 2 Nephi 31:21</td> <td class="style5">Mormonism teaches there are many gods.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 5</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style2">The Trinity is one God
Alma 11:44; Mosiah 15:5; 2 Nephi 31:21</td> <td class="style2">The Trinity is three separate gods.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 35. 1985.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">God is unchanging
Mormon 9:9,19; Moroni 8:18; Alma 41:8; 3 Nephi 24:6</td> <td class="style5">God is increasing in knowledge.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 120.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style2">God is spirit
Alma 18:24,28; 22:9,11</td> <td class="style2">God has the form of a man.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 3.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style5">Eternal hell
Jacob 3:11; 6:10; 2 Nephi 19:16; 28:21-23.</td> <td class="style5">Hell is not eternal.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 55.</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="style2">Polygamy condemned
Jacob 1:15; 2:23,24,27,31;3:5; Mosiah 11:2,4; Ether 10:5,7</td> <td class="style2">Polygamy was taught and practiced.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 266</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
CARM - Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry
