Beloved Mormons. Can anyone answer this question honestly?

Question

Joseph Smith was given the golden plates from God and he translated them. He is considered a prophet of God and his translation the revised word of God for modern times. If that is so, then why have Mormon leaders changed his writings and teachings to fit recent scientific DNA evidence that proves that he was in error when he said that Native Americans descended from the Jews? If they changed the text to say something different, which they did, then they are saying that the original text was flawed. And if the original text was flawed, then that would mean Joseph Smith did not translate them accurately and was not a prophet from God. How do you reconcile these things? Hope I didn't offend anyone. I am truly baffled.

Here is a link that states the new changes made concerning this error.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7403990

Professor Cuddles - The Mormon church has always maintained that the Lamanites and Nephites, 2 vast empires in the America's from which the Native American's have their ancestry, were descendents of Lehi (spelling?) who was a Jewish exhile who settled in the America's. Yet not one Native American tribe has any Jewish DNA. They are all from Asian descent. So what you are saying is not at all true.

I'm sorry to correct you again but your facts are wrong. Read the interviews on this site with the Scientist who participated in those DNA test. They all say that there is no, nada, none evidence that any Native American's have any Jewish DNA. Thousands of people were tested from more than 150 tribes.

Watch this video to here more scientific fact.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svfxSscxh8o&mode=related&search=

Answer 1

Mormons are evolutionist, they evolve, you didn't know, LOL
For they are men that become gods and their God was once a man.

Answer 2

Mormon leaders have not changed Joseph Smith's writings as you imply. The article clearly states that the introduction, written by Bruce R. McConkie in the 1980's, was changed. The introduction was not written by Joseph Smith nor does it reflect on his work as prophet.

I am no expert and I do not have the time to actually look at the study that was conducted, but the research cited in the article can hardly be seen as conclusive. Only 12,000 Native Americans were tested but from where, from what tribes? Do people even realize that there are literally millions of Native Americans throughout the americas and from thousands and thousands of tribes. Colombia alone has 85 distinct cultures and more than 1,378,884 indigenous peoples. This does not even take into considerations the millions upon millions of Mestizos and other mixed peoples nor the thousands of tribes that have become extinct.

I have to agree that you are placing way to much faith in science. If you want to know if the Book of Mormon is true, then read it, pray to God about it, live the teachings it contains, and you will know for youself.

Answer 3

Your question is flawed on several fronts.

1) Mormons do not believe the original translation of the Book of Mormon was "perfect," just as we do not believe that Bible translations are "perfect." Making minor, modifying clarifications to the Book of Mormon text would be well within the right of the church President, who members consider to be a prophet.

2) The text of the Book of Mormon has not been recently modified. What was modified was the introduction to the Book of Mormon, which was written in 1981. The introduction was not translated from the ancient record, nor was it written by Joseph Smith.

3) Scientific evidence does not prove that Native Americans are not descended from Lehi. Trust me, I'm currently pursuing a combined MD/PhD in medicine and biomedical science, so I understand the limitations of the research techniques. DNA evidence does suggest that Lehi was not the sole or even principal ancestor of Native Americans. This is what many Mormons have believed for decades.

4) It is also not true that the LDS Church has always taught that American Indians were uniquely descendent from the "Lehites." Consider, for example, this 1966 quote from Bruce R. McConckie, a world-wide Mormon leader at the time. "The American Indians, however, as Columbus found them also had other blood than that of Israel in their veins. It is possible that isolated remnants of the Jaredites may have lived through the period of destruction in which millions of their fellows perished. It is quite apparent that groups of orientals found their way over the Bering Strait and gradually moved southward to mix with the Indian peoples. We have records of a colony of Scandinavians attempting to set up a settlement in America some 500 years before Columbus. There are archaeological indications that an unspecified number of groups of people probably found their way from the old to the new world in pre-Colombian times. Out of all these groups would have come the American Indians as they were discovered in the 15th century."

I think it is very entertaining what a big deal everyone is making out of this minor edit. It really is just a question of putting in writing what many Mormons have believed for decades.

If you'd like to learn more about the Mormons, visit my site at http://www.allaboutmormons.com .

Answer 4

The Mormon Church is still saying that the people in the Book of Mormon descended from the Jews. They are now saying that the people in the Book of Mormon were not the only people in America at that time. If you read the Book of Mormon you will see even in it the people were traveling around and found other people that arrived in America before they did.
A little about the DNA study. They researched 12,000 Native Americans and found no evidence of any Jewish ancestry. 12,000 is a small number in relation to a whole population. You could take 12,000 people in Japan and test their DNA and say that there is no Caucasian DNA in Japan but I know for sure that there is some Caucasian DNA in Japan because I personally know some Japanese living in Japan that are mixed races.
Another example: They could take 12,000 DNA tests in Utah and say that no one in Utah has any ancestry from Africa. The African American population in Utah is so low that the likeliness of testing an African American in the 12,000 people from Utah is unlikely.
DNA testing a whole population does not prove that everyone in the whole country is from the same place.

Answer 5

Thank you for asking politely. I can tell that you aren't trying to bring us down and that you actually want an answer. I read the article, and said that they changed it from "The ancestors of the American indians" to "Among the ancestors of the American Indians." So, what it is saying is that the American Indians have some Jewish ancestors, but they have other ancestors, too. So the original writing wasn't incorrect, it just left out a detail that has now been revealed.
You didn't offend me at all. I am glad that there are still people who can ask honest questions about different religions and actually want to know the answer. I hope my answer has helped you understand. Cheers!

Answer 6

Your faith in modern science is amazing. DNA evidence proves very little, as there were multiple groups of people led to the promised land. Of course the Church did not change its stand on anything to make it suit new age thinking, as you suggest. The only correction to scriptures is for syntax and clarity, as it was transcribed by hand and often from much trial by the mobs.

DNA evidence has a way to go to be what people think it is. Especially when identifying what they think was the DNA of ancient people. The Lord led many groups separately to the Americas. We don't know the DNA of the ancient world, as they have only recently returned to the Holy Land, and they have mixed with many nations.

Like Mormon said, if he could have written in Hebrew, then there would have been no mistakes, but writing in reformed Egyptian was a trial, but it made the writing go faster so they didn't have to use so much engraving.

Don't mock the things of God or try and trip Him up. He is perfect. We are not. No prophet was or is perfect, but they are doing what the Lord commands. Who cares if there are minor flaws in the English, or German, or French translations of the text. The Catholics think Peter was a rock, but he went right out and denied Christ three times. Some rock!

Answer 7

In regard to the DNA of the Laminites, your are incorrect that they were Jewish. They were of the tribe of Manasseh. I am very interested in how you have obtained a base sample from people in that tribe.

Answer 8

If you believe in absurdities, you can rationalize *anything*!