While it is easy to criticize (see below) the Book of Mormon, it is THE American Holy Book. It was created in America, for Americans, by an American. According to the Book of Mormon, America, not Jerusalem is the holy land. According to Paul Gutjahr [An American Bible: A History of the Good Book in the United States, 1777-1880], "By offering Americans a version of Jesus' life in which the Savior had so clearly articulated the special nature of America and its inhabitants, Smith gave his readers a chance to be a part of the biblical drama in a way that no other Protestant denomination could claim."
But that does not mean it is a perfect book.
Jesus Christ was to be born "at Jerusalem" according to Alma 7:10. However, the Bible says He was born at Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Luke 2:4).
Helaman 14:20, 27 says that darkness covered the whole earth for 3 DAYS at Jesus' death. Matt. 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44 says it was 3 HOURS.
In Alma 46:15, believers are called Christians in 73 BC. However, Acts 11:26 says that they were FIRST called Christians at Antioch (about 42 AD).
2 Nephi 22:2 quotes Isaiah 12:2 almost verbatim from the King James Bible:
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."
However, this scripture in the BOM is dated at 559 and 545 BCE, the King James Bible was not released until 1611 AD.
The Book of Mormon sounds Biblical because some 27,000 words are from the King James Bible. Hundreds of verses are copied verbatim. For example, II Nephi, chapters 12-24 are copied from Isaiah 2-14, III Nephi 24 & 25 are copied from Malachi 3 & 4, and I Nephi 20-21 are copied from Isaiah 48-49 except for a few additions in the Book of Mormon. Even the italicized words from the King James Version are copied! The words in the King James Version were NOT in the original text but were added by the translators to give clarity of thought. The King James Version was completed in 1611 AD and the Book of Mormon published in 1830. We must conclude then that Nephi was written after 1611!
Ether speaks of steel (7:8,9) and breakable windows (2:23) back in Abraham's time. Neither had been invented at that time.
According to I Nephi 2:5-8, the River Laman emptied into the Red Sea. However, there are no rivers in Arabia and no river empties into the Red Sea.
Ether 9:19 states that in the Americas before Christ was even born there were "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." Archeology denies this. The Smithsonian Institute has on record that "none of the principal Old World domesticated food, plants, or animals (except the dog) occurred in the New World in pre-Columbian times. American Indians had no wheat, barley, oats, millet, rice, cattle, pigs, chickens, horses, donkeys, camels before 1492." Elephants came over from Africa many years after that. And cureloms and cumoms only existed in the mind of Joseph Smith.
We are told in the Book of Mormon that Indians wrote many official records (Hel 3:13), scrolls (Mor 5:23) and other writings (Mor. 9:2; 2 Nephi 9:18). But, every anthropologist will tell you that the American Indians never wrote books but used simple pictures to communicate.
The Book of Mormon also implies that the North American Indians are descended from the Jews. But, it is generally accepted that Indians are "mongoloid", and are descended from east Asia.
Since the KJV uses Elijah and Elias for the same person, Mormon prophet Joseph Smith mistakenly and interestingly had a vision of both (Doctrine and Covenants 110:12-16)!
The Book of Mormon claims that God cursed the Indians with dark skin and that anyone who marries an Indian shall get dark skin too (2 Nephi 5:21-23; Jacob 3:3-9; Mormon 5:15-17; Alma 3:6-10). But, if this were true, there would be no part Indians, only full-blooded Indians.
The statement is obviously false on a genetic level.
The Book of Mormon states that when Indians accept Mormon teachings they will become, "white and delightsome people" (2 Nephi 30:5-7; 3 Nephi 2:15). Because of this teaching, Latter-day Saints early in their history did a great deal of mission work among American Indians, and converted many. Even though today there are third, fourth and even fifth-generation Indian Mormons, there is not an instance of even one ever experiencing a lightening of the skin upon submitting to Mormon doctrine.
The Book of Mormon Contradicts History and Archaeology
1) No Mormon cities have ever been located using Book of Mormon. But, most cities in the Bible have been located with Bible.
2) No Mormon names have been found in inscriptions as a result of archeological finds. But, many Bible names have been found in secular inscriptions.
3) Archaeologists have never successfully used the Book of Mormon as a guide in locating ancient ruins. But, archaeologists have in the past and still do successfully use the Bible as a guide in locating ancient ruins.
4) The Book of Mormon was supposedly translated from "reformed Egyptian". Nothing on the western hemisphere has been found that even remotely resembles Egyptian. Officially "reformed Egyptian" does not even exist. But on the other hand, the Bible was translated from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. We know these languages well. These languages are taught in today's
universities.
5) Furthermore, there are no manuscripts or "reformed Egyptian" writings available. None of the "gold Nephite plates" exist from which the Book of Mormon was supposedly translated to examine and compare the English translation of the Book of Mormon. However, the Bible is supported by thousands of Greek & Hebrew manuscripts along with at least 2 compete copies of the Bible from 300AD. All manuscripts are available to public at any time. Even archeological scholars of the Latter Day Saints admit that the Book of Mormon cannot be supported by archeology. Dee F. Green, who at one time served as editor of the University Archaeological Society Newsletter, published at the church's Brigham Young University, made it plain that archaeological evidence did not prove the Book of Mormon: "The first myth we need to eliminate is that Book of Mormon archaeology exists."
Thomas Smart Ferguson was one of the most noted defenders of Book of Mormon archaeology. Mr. Ferguson planned the New World Archaeological Foundation which he hoped would prove the Book of Mormon through archaeological research. The Mormon Church granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to this organization, but in the end, Thomas Stuart Ferguson admitted that although the Foundation made some important contributions to New World archaeology, all his work with regard to the Book of Mormon was in vain. He admitted, in fact, that he had wasted twenty-five years of his life trying to prove the Book of Mormon.
Concerning books written by Mormons to support the Book of Mormon through archeology, Dr. Ray T. Matheny, professor of Anthropology at the church's Brigham Young University stated, "While some people choose to make claims for the Book of Mormon through archaeological evidences, to me they are made prematurely, and without sufficient knowledge... I do not support the books written on this subject including The Messiah in Ancient American, or any other. I believe that the authors are making cases out of too little evidence and do not adequately address the problems that archaeology and the Book of Mormon present. I would feel terribly embarrassed if anyone sent a copy of any book written on the subject to the National Museum of Natural History - Smithsonian Institution, or other authority, making claims that cannot as yet be substantiated .... Speculation, such as practiced so far by Mormon authors has not given church members credibility." (Letter by Ray T. Matheny, dated Dec. 17, 1987).
Conclusion: "'What you have is just plain charlatanry by Joseph Smith, who created Mormonism,' [Bill] Craig replied. 'It's interesting that Smith and his father, when they lived in New York, were obsessed with finding Captain Kidd's buried gold. Then what does Smith later claim he finds? Golden plates from the Angel Moroni, and then they disappear and are supposedly taken to heaven and never seen again. What he have here is an elaborate hoax, compared to the gospels, with the evident sincerity of the people in what they were reporting. The problem with Mormonism is basically one of credibility because of the unreliability of Joseph Smith and a blatant lack of corroboration. Unlike the gospels, whose credibility has been greatly enhanced by archaeology, archaeological discoveries have repeatedly failed to substantiate the Book of Mormon.'"
p.71, The Case for Faith, by Lee Strobel
Again:
No Book of Mormon cities have ever been found!
No Book of Mormon person has ever been found!
No Book of Mormon nation has ever been found!
No Book of Mormon name has ever been found!
No Book of Mormon inscriptions have ever been found!
No Book of Mormon artifacts have ever been found!
No Book of Mormon scriptures have ever been found!
Having said all the above though, I do find that Mormons (the Latter Day Saints) are nicer people than most and they make great neighbors and great citizens.
"I have a very high opinion of the Mormons . . . they are excellent citizens." Franklin D. Roosevelt
"This remarkable people, hounded by poverty and persecution, emigrated to Utah and nearby states in the nineteenth century, and by thrift and hard work raised themselves to a general level of prosperity and affluence. Very few Mormons are on welfare; Mormons are taught to be independent, self-reliant, and to shun the public dole. Mormons are devout believers and have therefore successfully internalized these admirable values." Murray Rothbard
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