Has anyone here ever read the Book of Mormon?

Question

If so, what were your impressions?

If not...check it out. www.lds.org

Brandy...you must be pretty thin-skinned if you consider that "pushing"... lol

Josh,

Your attempts to disprove the Book of Mormon through science will ultimately fail. Very little in the Bible can be proven by archeology, history, or science either. Could it be that we don't know all the history of the Americas as well as we think we do? Could it be that the translation process wasn't quite as Martin Harris and David Whitmer (neither of whom witnessed the translation process first-hand, by the way) described it?

Ultimately the test of the Book of Mormon isn't in its scientific veracity. Ultimately it boils down to Moroni's challenge in Moroni 10:3-5. Pray and ask God if it is true. If it is true, God will let you know. If it is not true, God will let you know. You pray and you make your own decision. It sounds like you are letting others make that decision for you, whether it be the anti-mormon "scholars" or asking me to answer your evidence questions. In the end, I can't give you your answer - it must come from God.

Answer 1

I am actually studing the Book of Mormon at the moment...(I have read some of it online and I'm waiting for a actual copy in the mail)

However, I have found some problems that need to be clarified.

(1)The Book of Mormon has had somewhere around 3900-4000 changes made to it since it’s publication in 1830. Although most of these changes have been minor (such as spelling corrections and grammatical errors) there also have been alterations that alter the meaning of the text. For example:

1830 Version:1 Nephi 11:21
“And the angel said unto me, Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the eternal Father”

Today’s Version

“And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea even the son of the eternal Father”


Mosiah 21:28

“King Benjamin had a gift from God, where-by he could interpret such engravings”

“King Mosiah had a gift from God, where-by he could interpret such engravings”

(There are more alterations that also change the meaning of the text, however in an effort to shorten this I have left them out.)

Now according to David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, The Book of Mormon was translated as follows:
“I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principle scribe, and when it was written down and reappeared to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and nor by any power of man." (Address to All Believers in Christ, David Whitmer, 1887, page 12, reprinted 1960, Pacific Publishing Co., Martinez, CA.)

Martin Harris (Edward Stevenson's 1881 account):
By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say, "Written," and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used.

David Whitmer (Eri Mullin interview, 1874):
. . . the words would appear, and if he failed to spell the word right, it would stay till it was spelled right, then pass away; another come, and so on.


We can see by this that every word should have been spelled correctly. According to these witnesses each character was translated with the help of God through Joseph Smith. Each character is also said to be double checked. Now you could point out that there were different spellings back then, however this does not explain the grammatical errors or the addition or deletion of words. This should be impossible.
I will address the changes made to the Bible later but keep in mind, The bible was written (by men without the help of an angel) over 2000 years ago, and because of the perfection that the Book of Mormon claims it must be held to a higher standard.

(2)The Book of Mormon contains many plagiarisms that cannot be explained if it was written between 600 B.C. And A.D. 421
The Book of Mormon contains some 27,000 words directly from the King James Version, For example there are whole chapters that have been lifted from Isaiah. However the most interesting point is that the Book of Mormon copies not only the Old Testament, and some of the New Testament I believe, but it also copies errors in the King James Version (KJV) and italicized words that were inserted by the KJV translators. How is the possible?
Some examples of error which the Book of Mormon copies:
In 2 Nephi 14:5 (which is the same as Isaiah 4:5) the correct translation of the Hebrew "Chuppah" is "canopy" not "defense." Another example is in 2 Nephi 15:25 (which is the same as Isaiah 5:25). The correct translation of the Hebrew "cuwchah" is "filth," not "torn."
But my favorite has to be 1 Nephi 10:9 (John 1:28.)
If look in different translations and you will see that the KJV says "Bethabara", while virtually everything else says " Bethany." The "church father" Origen (c. 230 AD) changed the text from Bethany to Bethabara, honestly thinking that he was correcting an existing mistake, not making one. The original text of John absolutely, positively, read Bethany, and that is absolutely the name of the place where John was baptizing at that time. But the KJV translators didn't know about the textual question, and so the KJV reads Bethabara, as I indicated above. This means nothing in the big scheme of things, but in the case of the Book of Mormon it does, because if the Book of Mormon was of divine origin then the prophecy in 1 Nephi 10:9 about where the Christ would be baptized would have mentioned the proper place, even though in Smith's day it would have seemed wrong since the KJV said something else. But instead Smith copied the "prophecy" out of the KJV and so copied down the wrong place.
(3)The Book of Mormon has not been verified by archeological evidence. Some findings by Mormon archeologists do not prove the Book of Mormon, but merely raise some of the Mormon beliefs from impossible to improbable.
Not only is the whole Book of Mormon unverified, but some extraordinary claims in it are very difficult to believe.
There are 4 crops mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
•Barley Alma 11:7, 15)
•Figs (3 Nephi 14:16)
•Grapes (2 Nephi 15:2, 4, 3 Nephi 14:16)
•Wheat (Mosiah 9:9 Nephi 18:18)
There is no independent (non-Mormon) archeological evidence that Figs, Grapes, or Wheat existed in the area and time frame of the above references. I realize that some of these crops mentioned in context to not say (although it does imply it) that all these crops were in the New World; However, Wheat remains a major problem.
There are 16 animals and animal products mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
•***
•Bull
•Calf
•Cattle
•Cow
•Butter
•Elephants
•Milk
•Flocks
•Goat (The Nephrites claimed to have found the domestic goat.)
•Herds
•Horse (The horse plays a major role in the Nephrite and Laminate societies.)
•Ox
•Sheep (This was a major animal in the Book of Mormon.)
•Sow
•Swine
There is no independent (non-Mormon) archeological evidence that any of these existed in the area and time frame of The Book of Mormon. A common defense is that they had never seen the animals in North American and so associated them with animals of the Old World (e.g. deer could be called horses) However Matheny (former Brigham Young University anthropology professor, Dr. Raymond T. Matheny) argues that this is not legitimate because the Book of Mormon descriptions occur in specific literary contexts that assume complex old world systems for the raising and use of the various domestic animals:
“I mean in Alma there [18:10; 20:6,8] , you know he's using the stable there preparing the horses for King Lamoni, and also he's preparing the King's chariots because they're going to take a trip from one city to another over the royal highway. And also the horses are pastured, no less. So there are contexts within the Book of Mormon itself. These are not just substitutions, it seems to me, but the authors of the Book of Mormon there are providing the context, they're not trying to describe a tape deer or something else, it seems to me. This is a weak way to try to explain the presence of these names in the Book of Mormon.”
The following metals, metal products, or metal manufacturing are mentioned in the Book of Mormon record.
•Bellows
•Brass
•Breast Plates
•Chains
•Copper
•Iron
•Ore (mining)
•Plows
•Silver
•Swords (metal)
•Steel
Independent (non-Mormon) archeological evidence shows that none of these were manufactured or used in the area and time frame of 2 Nephi 5. The Smithsonian Institution's Dept. Of Anthropology declares the Americas did not have steel or horses before 1492. The Book of Mormon (600 B.C. to 421 A.D.) claims both steel (1 Nephi 4:9) and horses (Alma 18:9).
William J. Hamblin, professor of history at BYU, criticizes those who see “large-scale metal ‘industries’” among Book of Mormon people. However, consider the impressive description of metallurgical technology during the time of Kish, a Jaredite king about 1500 B.C.
And they did work in all manner of ore, and they did make gold, and silver, and iron, and brass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth to get ore, of gold and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did work all manner of find work (Ether 10:23
You must keep in mind the distinction between mere metalworking and true metallurgy. Metalworking means the cold hammering and shaping of metal, while metallurgy require temperatures of 700 to 800 C and involves some or all or the following technological processes: smelting, casting gilding, annealing, soldering, and alloying. The Book of Mormon specifically mentions the practice of smelting among the Jaredites, for Ether explained that Shule “did molten out of the hill, and made swords out of steel: (Ether 7:9)
According to Raymond Matheny “The technology of mining is problematical for the Book of Mormon. Where do you find iron ores in sufficient quantity to create an industry?...No evidence has been found in the New World for a ferrous metallurgical industry dating to pre-Columbian times. And so this is a king-size problem, it seems to me, for so-called Book of Mormon Archaeology. This evidence is absent”
Also No Mormon Cities have (to this date) been positively identified. (Although possible sites have been identified, according to Mormon sources, for several cities including the location of “Bountiful”)


If you can answer these questions, please let me know,

thanks,

Josh K.

Answer 2

I have. I can't believe that people believe this religion. Joseph Smith has a very shady background. But like every other religion they blindly believe everything they say.

In the early 70's, the Mormon church would not allow black people go to BYU. The government threatened to take away their tax exempt status so the leader of the church had an epiphany and all of a sudden blacks were o.k.

The original religion didn't believe that Jesus was the son of God so they couldnt' be called Christian. Now they're making the line fuzzier in their beliefs so that they will be accepted. Some young Mormons now say they're spreading Jesus' love when their religion believes that Jesus was a good teacher and not the son of God. It's very misleading.

In my opinion this religion is very strange and is up there with Scientology which isn't a religion but a philosophy. Tom Cruise is also nuts.

I think these are just examples of cults. Both have made millions over the years and it's not coincedence.

Rat dog is wrong. I have been in churches for years and all of the Christian churches I've been in view the book of Mormon as false and not any where near of God. Study it and seek the truth instead of trying to sell the rhetoric. It is not a Christian religion. Not even close.

Answer 3

Absolutley, and it is of God. Even non-mormon pastors and preachers are accepting it as true scripture these days. That being said, most of the answers you get will be negative. Just like atheist scientists mainly look at the things "against" the bible and then act as if they are experts on it, the same is done against the book of mormon. You can't look at "anti" literature and expect to find out if something is of God. That is not faith, it is the opposite. Jesus said we must be as little children. Little children believe most what their parents say to them. Therefore the only way to get a true answer if the book of mormon is real, is to first read it and then pray to your Heavenly Father and ask if it is true. Any other answer is just one persons opinion brainwashing you to believe what they believe.

Answer 4

I did and converted briefly in the army...then I left and am no longer a member. I am living in APOSTASY...I just love than word.
Well, no offense, I only converted because I was about to marry my ex. I still have a book of Mormon is French, it;s just not my cup of tea.
I wasn't too convinced in the entire book, specially the idea that an entire tribe of Israel came to this continent and now their decendants are the Native Americans? Nope, not in my book, the Torah.

Answer 5

I live in Utah. I have to know what is what so I have studied the B of M. I have concluded that if you remove all the chapters copied from the King James Bible, all the Bible stories where the names have been changed but the stories remain, and all the "It came to pass" entries you would have 1/3 the book that it is. This is only a small part of why the Book is a sham. If you want it all email me but be warned I'll tell you the truth.. Jim

Answer 6

No, but I did read an article called "Problems With The Book of Mormon" on the Catholic Answers web site.

I've met a lot of Mormon missionaries -- especially when I lived in Japan -- and I think they're nice people. I just don't believe in the religion, is all.

Answer 7

Actually I have read it... I was a Mormon when I was younger.. I am not one now because I don't believe everything they do nor do they believe everything I do.. I have to say that Mormons are usually very nice... It is just I believe in other things like only the bible.. But that is me...

Answer 8

YES! it seems like a million times, but i get sumthin new everytime. the book of Mormon was not made to replace the bible but to go alongside it.
i dont see why mormons get such a bad rep. we dont do anything to harm the rest of the world. we believe what is true and no matter what you all say or do you can never stop that.

Answer 9

I found it more difficult to believe than the Bible.. things like people who are supposed to be old Hebrews saying "Church" when there was no word in the Hebrew language for Church back then... talking about honebees and horses in Ancient America when neither were over here until the Spanish brought them... you know.... historical things like that.

Answer 10

And rejected it.

Read Swedenborg and find out why there is not two Gods like Joseph Smith said.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit is like the soul, the body and the works in a single person.

Answer 11

Yes. A dozen times, I learn something new every time I read it. It's had a tremendous positive impact in my life. Sounds like it's done the same for you:)

Best wishes.