A. Archeology- There is no archeological support for
the Book of Mormon. In spite of the fact that the Nephites
and Lamanites are said to fill the land for hundreds
of years building incredible structures and fighting
huge wars, not one place spoken of in the Book of Mormon,
not one coin, not one person has ever positively been
identified and confirmed by any outside source. This
is why there are no maps in the Book of Mormon. Mormons
will often point to the Indian cities and edifices
of Central America but when they are pressed they will
concede that these nations and ruins cannot be positively
correlated with any of the characters or locations
in the Book of Mormon.
Additionally,
there are numerous anachronisms in the Book of Mormon
that
archeology tells us should not
be there. In other words, not only isn’t the
book supported by archeology, it is actually contradicted
by archeology.
1 Nephi 2:8 speaks of a river that empties into the
Red Sea. No river has ever been found to have emptied
into the Red Sea. This demonstrates that the author
of the book was not familiar with Middle Eastern geography.
If the author of the Book of Mormon was truly from
the land of Israel this mistake would not have been
made.
2 Nephi 5:15 and
several other references speak of the people working
with
steel. The methods used for
producing steel were not discovered until hundreds
of years later and were unknown in the America’s
until its discovery by the Europeans. This passage
is also interesting because this small band of people
which may have contained 20 individuals built a temple “like
unto Solomon’s”. According to 1 Kings 5:13-18
Solomon employed 30,000 laborers, 70,000 carriers,
80,000 stone cutters and 3,300 foremen, a total of
183,300 workers, to build the temple and it took them
approximately seven years to finish the work. But amazingly
Nephi builds a similar structure in no time with just
his family members.
Enos 1:21 and other references mention horses. However,
horses were not introduced on the American continents
until the Spanish invasion.
Mosiah 21:27 says that the people possessed plates
of ore. Ore is the rock from which metal is extracted.
It is not a material from which anything can be made.
Alma 1:29 and other references speak of silk. Once
again silk is unknown in the Americas until the coming
of Europeans.
2 Nephi 10:3 mentions crucifixion. Crucifixion was
developed by the Romans. It was completely unknown
on the American continent. The word would have had
no meaning to the people hearing it.
This is just a sampling of the many archeological
problems within the Book of Mormon. In addition to
these, the book of Mormon speaks of chariots, cement,
armor, swords, synagogues and a variety of other items
and customs completely unknown among the American Indians.
Not only this, but the customs, tools and manners of
the American Indian show remarkable similarity to those
of the inhabitants of Asia, but absolutely no relationship
to the inhabitants of Israel. In short, the Book of
Mormon fails to conform to what is known to be true
from archeology.
B. DNA Evidence. DNA research has conclusively proven
the Book of Mormon to be false. Remember that according
to the Book of Mormon, the primary ancestry of the
American Indian is Jewish. Mitochondrial DNA research
has demonstrated that the American Indians are related
to the inhabitants of Asia who probably crossed over
into this continent across the Bering Strait into Alaska.
DNA research, conducted on over 150 tribes to date,
has found absolutely no link between the American Indians
and Israelites. The results of the study show that
99.4% of the DNA is from Asian sources and .6% is from
European and African sources. None of the DNA correlates
to Jewish or Semitic origins. Additionally, methods
have been developed to extract DNA from skeletons which
enable scientists to test the ancient inhabitants of
America. Once again, the results are the same. The
inhabitants of the American continents came from Asia.
Consider the following statements from leading researchers
in the field of DNA research:
“If you look at those genes most commonly found
in Native American populations and those genes most
commonly found in Jewish populations, they don’t
coincide at all.”
David Glen Smith Ph.D.
Molecular Anthropologist
Univ. of Calif., Davis
“The DNA
data indicate the closest affinities of contemporary
Native American
populations are with
populations in East Asia and Central Asia.”
Dennis O’Rourke, Ph.D.
Molecular Anthropologist
University of Utah
“Archeologists and physical anthropologists
have not found any evidence of Hebrew origins for the
people of North, South and Central America….
The origin of the people in North, South, and Central
America….was North Asia.”
Dr. Stephen L. Whittington
Anthropologist
Univ. of Maine
“ We are in a dilemma now. The DNA evidence shows clearly
that the American Indians are not Hebrews, not Israelites.”
Thomas Murphy
Mormon Scholar
Chair of Anthropology
Edwards Community College
Doctoral candidate
“The genetic
evidence shows that the American Indian came from
Asia.”
Randall Shortridge, Ph.D.
Molecular Biology
Univ. of N.Y., Buffalo
C. Linguistic Evidence. Linguistic analysis shows that
the language of the American Indian is related to
the inhabitants of Asia. There is no relationship
between the language of the American Indians and
the Israelites. Commenting on the possibility that
the American Indians are descendants of Israelites,
Dr. John McLaughlin, after studying over 900 languages,
made the following comment:
“
All the evidence we have ….points against it.”
Dr. John McLaughlin
Linguist
Utah State University
It’s beginning
to appear that the Indians came from Asia and not
Israel.
D. Logical problems.
There are many items in the Book of Mormon that simply
don’t make sense from a
historical, rational perspective.
• The Book of Mormon was supposedly written
in Reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics. Egypt was the land
of slavery. Why would a Jew write in the language of
an avowed enemy? 1 Nephi 3:19 says that it was in the
wisdom of God that they “preserve unto our chidren
the language of our fathers.” Remember that Nephi
and his family were Jews. How does writing in Reformed
Egyptian assist in the preservation of the Jewish language?
• The presence of Greek words and New Testament
concepts. Remember that the Book of Mormon was written
primarily by Old Testament era Jews, supposedly in
Reformed Egyptian. How then does one explain the numerous
appearances of words that are translations of Greek
words and which contain New Testament ideas? These
include the words; Christ (a Jew would have used the
word Messiah), church, bible, speaking in tongues [occurs
prior to the resurrection of Jesus in the BOM], crucifixion,
epistle, disciple, apostle, martyr, anti-Christ, gospel,
baptism, baptize, carnal, elected, type and Alpha and
Omega. Are we now supposed to believe that a Hebrew
man wrote in Reformed Egyptian using Greek words? Modern
Mormon defenders will sometimes reply that Joseph Smith
had to translate in the words of his day, but this
simply doesn’t work. Do we really believe that
Joseph had to use the word “epistle”, which
means letter, because another word wasn’t available?
It seems like an intentional effort to make the Book
of Mormon sound like the Bible.
•
2 Nephi 22:2 says “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH
is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.” Aside
from this being a plagiarism from Isaiah 12, the word
Jehovah is a problem. Jehovah is a mistranslation of
the Hebrew tetragrammaton, YHWH. This word first appeared
in the 13th century A.D. long after the plates were
buried. How does this word find its way into the Book
of Mormon, especially considering Joseph was given
the book phrase by phrase through the gift and power
of God?
• The presence
of other non-Hebrew words and phrases. Words like
sally
forth, methought, liquors,
cement, headplates, machinery, depressed, faculties,
priestcrafts and extinct are strangely out of place
in this book.
•
Jacob 7:27 ends with the statement, “Brethren,
adieu.” Now the reader is supposed to believe
that a Hebrew man wrote in Reformed Egyptian and
spoke French???
• Alma 56:56
tells us that Helaman and his soldiers have just
finished
a twelve year war in which thousands
of Lamanites were destroyed but Helaman did not lose
a single man. Is this reasonable?
• 3 Nephi 8 describes a tremendous tumult that
occurs to mark the crucifixion of Christ. The bible
mentions several miraculous events taking place in
the land of Israel including the darkening of the sun.
However people in the Americas, according to the Book
of Mormon, are subject to severe judgments. Entire
cities were burned with fire or sank into the sea.
Thousands of people are killed (3 Nephi 8-9). Why??
God didn’t even judge the people who participated
in the death of Christ in this manner. Why would all
of this happen in America?
• Ether
6:5 says that the Lord caused a furious wind to blow
toward
the Promised Land (America in this
story). Yet the trip ends up taking 344 days. It is
estimated that the boat would have only traveled 10
miles a day for the trip to have taken so long.
E. Plagiarisms
The Book of Mormon is replete with plagiarisms from
the King James Version of the Bible. There are literally
thousands of verses that are copied directly; however
space will only allow us to demonstrate a few of these.
Consider the following:
Mark 10:16-18 (KJV)
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these
signs shall follow them that believe; in my name they
shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay
hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Mormon 9:23-24
And he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned; and these
signs shall follow them that believe—in my name
they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new
tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink
any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall
lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.
Consider another short example:
Galatians 5:1 (KJV)
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free.
Alma 61:9
…standeth
fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us
free.
The most dramatic examples are found in 2 Nephi 12-24.
This entire section is copied from Isaiah 2-14. The
author of this section, Jacob, informs us that he is
including the words of Isaiah. What is most amazing
is that the translation is nearly word for word from
the KJV Bible including the italicized words and the
chapter and verse breaks. This is vital because the
italicized words were added by the King James translators
for clarity but are not in the original language. Chapter
and verse divisions were also added much later than
the original writing. This is truly devastating to
the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. For the Book
of Mormon to be true, one must believe that a Hebrew
man took the words of Isaiah and translated them into
Reformed Egyptian around 550 B.C. These words were
then translated into English by an American man in
the nineteenth century and the word choices he used
were exactly the same as a team of English translators
from the seventeenth century translating a document
from the original Hebrew, including the italicized
words. Anyone familiar with the task of translating
one language into another will realize this stretches
believability to the breaking point.
Another large section can be found in 3 Nephi 12-14
which is taken from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew
5-7, although in this section some of the material
has been rearranged and a few quotes from the writings
of the apostle Paul have also made their way in.
Intellectually
honest Mormon scholars are aware of the problem.
Grant Palmer,
commenting on the similarity
between 3 Nephi 28 and 1 Cor. 15:51-53 and 2 Cor. 12:2-4
writes, “What is obvious about this section of
the Book of Mormon is that it was borrowed from the
KJV and placed in an ancient American context.”
F. Evangelical Protestantism in the Book of Mormon
For a book written
by the descendants of Hebrews from 600 B.C. to 400
A.D.,
the author of the book of Mormon
has an amazing understanding of debates and practices
occurring in the Evangelical community in nineteenth
century America. Mormon author, Grant Palmer, recognizes
the evangelical influence on the Book of Mormon stating, “We
have not taken Joseph Smith seriously enough when he
said that he had an “intimate acquaintance” with
evangelical religion and that he was “somewhat
partial” to the Methodists.” Examples of
this evangelical influence include:
• Calvinism. In Alma 31:12-17, Alma encounters
a group of people called the Zoramites with whom he
will contend. Notice carefully their belief in a perverted
form of predestination. “Holy, holy God; we believe
that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy,
and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit,
and that thou wilt be a spirit forever. Holy God, we
believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren;
and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren,
which was handed down to them by the childishness of
their fathers; but we believe that thou hast elected
us to be thy holy children; and also thou hast made
it known unto us that there shall be no Christ. But
thou art the same, yesterday, today, and forever (plagiarized
from Heb. 13:8); and thou hast elected us that we shall
be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast
by thy wrath down to hell;” Since it is known
that Joseph Smith was an exhorter in the Methodist
church for a time and was partial to the Arminian doctrine
, it is not surprising that he would make his Calvinists
anti-Christian heretics. It is, however, difficult
to believe that a group of Indians was holding to a
form of double predestination in 74 B.C.
• Dispensationalism. In 3 Nephi 29:6 we read, “Yea,
wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the
Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh
by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues,
or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost!” This
passage was supposedly written in A.D. 34-35. Would
this really have been a debate at that time when the
apostles were still alive both in Israel and supposedly
in America as well? While it seems out of place in
this context, it fits well into the context of Joseph
Smith’s day.
• Brush Arbor Camp Meetings and Crusade evangelism.
Grant Palmer documents that a Methodist camp meeting
took place one mile from Joseph Smith’s hometown
of Palmyra, New York, on June 7, 1826. Preparation
for the meeting included consecrating the ground, which
was then called the “temple” or the “house
of God”. This meeting in Palmyra attracted 10,000
people. This particular gathering was privileged to
hear the farewell speech of the beloved Bishop McKendree.
The speakers stood on a raised platform. The scene,
as described by those in attendance, is remarkably
similar to the scene described in Mosiah 2-4 when the
people gathered to hear the farewell speech of King
Benjamin. Notice especially, the revival style of response
found in Mosiah 4:1-3, “And now it came to pass
that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking
the words which had been delivered unto him by the
angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about
on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the
earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.
And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal
state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they
all cried aloud with one voice, saying; O have mercy,
and apply the atoning blood of Christ [this is occurring
in 124 B.C.] that we may receive forgiveness of our
sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe
in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven
and earth, and all things; who shall come down among
the children of men. And it came to pass that after
they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord
came upon them and they were filled with joy, having
received a remission of their sins, and having peace
of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which
they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according
to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.” Once
again, it is difficult to picture a revival meeting
of this nature taking place in the historical setting
of American Indians living prior to the birth of Christ
but not at all difficult to reconcile with the time
period in which Joseph Smith translated [or wrote]
the Book of Mormon.
• Universalism. Alma 1:4 tells of a man named
Gideon who “testified unto the people that all
mankind should be saved in the last day, and they need
not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their
heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men,
and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all
men should have eternal life.” Universalism was
another of the great debates of Joseph Smith’s
era when much of the church was deeply influenced by
liberalism.
G. Poor Literary Value
The Book of Mormon
is inferior literature. Mark Twain is quoted as calling
it “chloroform in print.” There
are no books of praise comparable to Psalms. Nor is
there wisdom literature of the likes of Proverbs. Whereas
even non-Christian professors of literature agree the
Bible contains some of the greatest writing in the
ancient world, the Book of Mormon pales in comparison.
• “It came to pass”. This phrase
or a form thereof, occurs over 1,600 times in the 239
chapters of the Book of Mormon. While this is bad enough,
it becomes even more dramatic if one removes the entire
chapters plagiarized from the KJV Bible from the text
and considers only what is left. It appears 31 times
in the 39 verses of 1 Nephi 16 alone. Surely, God could
write a better book. This over-use of a particular
phrase throughout the entire Book of Mormon also testifies
to the book having a single human author as opposed
to the multiple authors it claims. Compare this to
the bible. The writings of Paul are markedly different
from those of John or Peter or Isaiah, etc. Other worn
out phrases are inasmuch, insomuch, behold and exceedingly.
Incidentally, in the Joseph Smith Translation of the
Bible, in which Joseph claimed to have corrected the
errors in the King James Bible, the first phrase in
the Bible in Genesis 1:1 is, “And it came to
pass…”
• Meaningless passages. Consider this gem of
revelation from 4 Nephi 1:6, “And thus did the
thirty and eighth year pass away, and also the thirty
and ninth, and forty, and first, and the forty and
second, yea, even until the forty and nine years had
passed away, and also the fifty and first, and the
fifty and second; yea, and even until the fifty and
nine years had passed away.” Feel inspired? Mormons
may respond that the numerous genealogies in the Bible
have similar irrelevance but this would not be true.
In Israel, under the covenant, one’s ancestry
was extremely important in determining property rights
as well as one’s ability to serve in the temple.
Upon returning from captivity, those who were unable
to prove their ancestry were denied such opportunities.
Another meaningless section in the Book of Mormon is
the first eleven verses of the book of Omni.
H. Absurdities
There are passages in the Book of Mormon that would
be laughable were it not for the millions of people
living in deception because of this fraud. Space will
allow us to reference only a few.
• Ether 2:20. God has commanded and given instructions
for the construction of a boat to sail across the ocean.
The boat could travel above or beneath the water. Unfortunately,
God forgot to leave the people a way to breathe in
the boat because it is air tight. So God gives the
following instruction, “And the Lord said unto
the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt make a hole
in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt
suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive
air. And if it be so that the water come in upon thee,
behold ye shall stop the hole, that ye may not perish
in the flood.” Can anyone explain the value of
the hole in the bottom of the boat?
• Alma 44:12-16. This passage records one of
the many large battles in the book. It contains the
following humorous passage, “and he also smote
Zerahemnah that he took off his scalp and it fell to
the earth. And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them
into the midst of his soldiers. And it came to pass
that the soldier who stood by, who smote off the scalp
of Zerahemnah, took up the scalp from off the ground
by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword,
and stretched it forth unto them…Now it came
to pass that Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth, and
he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger,
to contend more powerfully against the Nephites.” One
is asked to believe that Zerahemnah has a section of
his scalp removed by the blow of a sword to his skull.
This piece of scalp is large enough that a man can
place it on the tip of his sword for all to see. Zerahemnah
retreats into the middle of his soldiers, does not
die but rather becomes angry and stirs up his soldiers
to battle more fiercely against the Nephites. In fact
Zerahemna is still alive at the end of the battle and
surrenders to Moroni.
• Ether 15:30-31. A great battle has taken place
leaving only two men alive, one from each of the armies. “And
it came to pass that when Coriantumr had leaned upon
his sword, that he rested a little, he smote off the
head of Shiz. And it came to pass that after he had
smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on
his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled
for breath, he died.” These verses, obviously,
require no comment.
• Helamen 9:6 reads, “Now, immediately
when the judge had been murdered—he being stabbed
by his brother by a garb of secrecy…” How
does one stab someone by a garb of secrecy?
I. Poor Grammar
This may seem
like a small issue but it would seem that if God
wrote a book,
He would be able to do so
with proper grammar. Yet in the Book of Mormon one
consistently comes across phrases such as, “he
was exceedingly rejoiced”, “more part”, “cite
your minds forward”, “the more idle part”, “so
dearly beloved us”, “unwearyingness” and
many others. 3 Nephi 21:2-7 is all one sentence, containing
344 words. Imagine trying to diagram that in English
class. These can not be passed off as being the result
of Joseph Smith’s lack of education because the
Book of Mormon was supposedly given to him phrase by
phrase. Each phrase was said to remain in front of
his eyes (which were looking in his hat at a seer stone)
until it had been copied correctly. (It should also
be noted that Joseph was far more educated than is
at first admitted by many Mormons. Though he may have
only had a third grade formal education, his father
was a school teacher and Joseph was homeschooled. His
writings, including the charter for the city of Nauvoo,
demonstrate a grasp of the English language sufficient
for him to have been the author of the Book of Mormon.)
Conclusion: It is very difficult to see how the Book
of Mormon passes the test of conformity. It has problems
archeologically, linguistically, scientifically and
logically. Furthermore, the book is full of outright
plagiarisms from the King James Bible and many of its
events have more in common with nineteenth century
evangelicalism than with the period around the time
of Christ. Lastly, some of the stories and events in
the writing are patently ridiculous. For these reasons,
the Book of Mormon is not true and cannot be the word
of God.
Consistency- Is the Book of Mormon consistent with
other scriptures?
This section will demonstrate that the Book of Mormon
fails the test of consistency. In fact, the Book of
Mormon is inconsistent with what God has revealed in
the Bible, is inconsistent with modern Mormon doctrine
and is inconsistent with the Book of Mormon itself.
Once again, space only permits a few examples of each.
Internal Inconsistency
2 Nephi 5:15-16
states, “And I did teach my
people to build buildings, and to work in all manner
of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass,
and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious
ores, which were in great abundance. And I, Nephi,
did build a temple; and I did construct it after the
manner of Solomon save it were not built of so many
precious things; for they were not to be found upon
the land.” So which is it? Were the precious
ores in great abundance or were they not to be found
upon the land?
2 Nephi 3:3 contains a false prophecy. Lehi tells
his son Joseph that his descendants will not be utterly
destroyed. Yet the end of the book of Mormon tells
that all the Nephite people were completely destroyed.
Inconsistency with the Bible
Moroni 10:32 gives
the conditions for receiving the grace of God and
they
not only contradict scripture,
they are impossible. It states, “Yea, come unto
Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves
of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves
of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might,
mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for
you, that by His grace ye may be perfect in Christ;”.
This passage should make every Christian thankful for
the simplicity of the gospel of Christ.
Alma 45:13-15 states that the believers began to be
called Christians before the birth of Christ (73 B.C.).
But Acts 11:26 says the disciples were first called
Christians in Antioch.
1 Nephi 22:20
is actually humorous. The author tells us that he
is quoting
Moses. The passage should come
from Deuteronomy 18:15-18. This would have been possible
since the scriptures up to that time were brought with
the travelers from Jerusalem to America. However, the
author actually quotes Peter’s paraphrase of
the words of Moses found in Acts 3:22!! Obviously,
Acts was not available to Nephi.
Alma 7:10 prophecies that Jesus will be born of Mary
at Jerusalem. However, Micah prophesied, and the New
Testament confirms, that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
2 Nephi 10:3 says
that Christ “should be his
name”. Christ is a title and corresponds to the
Hebrew word messiah. It is not a name.
2 Nephi 2:22-25 effectively makes God the author of
sin since God had commanded Adam and Eve to multiply
before commanding them not to eat of the fruit of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yet here we
find that they were unable to multiply until they sinned
by eating the forbidden tree. This means that God placed
Adam in a catch 22. Either Adam would sin by eating
of the forbidden fruit or by default he would sin in
his inability to multiply as God had commanded.
2 Nephi 25:23
states that we are saved by grace after all we can
do. Compare
this with Ephesians 2:8-9 among
other verses. At this point it is important to distinguish
between Mormon folk doctrine and official doctrine.
The average Mormon believes essentially, “I must
do my best and God will do the rest.” This is
not, however, what the Book of Mormon nor the Mormon
Church teaches. It is good to remind the Mormon that “all” is
not a 50% word or even a 90% word. It is a 100% word.
How does one know when one has done “all you
can do”? Is it even possible for fallen man to
do “all you can do”? When the Mormon lays
their head down at night could they have prayed ten
more minutes? Could they have found one more person
who needs to hear the gospel? Could they have read
the scriptures a little more? To do “all we can
do” is impossible. Praise God that Jesus Christ
has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.
1 Nephi 14:3 indicates hell was prepared for wicked
men. Compare Matthew 25:41 which states that hell was
created for the devil and his angels.
Mosiah 23:16 states that Alma was the founder of their
church. In Matthew 16:18 Christ claims that He will
establish His church. Who is the true founder of the
church?
Inconsistency with Mormon Doctrine
Jacob 1:15, 2:24,27,31,33 all teach against having
more than one wife. Verse 24 calls it an abomination.
Compare this with Doctrine and Covenants 132:34-35,37,39,52,54,61-63,
which command a plurality of wives.
2 Nephi 31:21
states, “And now, behold, this
is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine
of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
which is one God, without end. Amen.” This verse
seems to teach the doctrine of the Trinity which Mormons
reject.
Alma 7:10 states that Jesus would be conceived by
the power of the Holy Ghost. This disagrees with current
Mormon teaching as stated by Bruce McConkie in his
book, Mormon Doctrine, that Jesus was conceived by
a sexual union between Heavenly Father and Mary. James
Talmage, former prophet and Mormon president, also
states that Jesus was conceived in this way.
Alma 11:28-29
plainly teaches that there is not more than one God.
This contradicts
Mormon teaching found
in the “King Follet Discourse”, “Pearl
of Great Price”, and “Doctrine and Covenants
132”, among others, that there are many gods
and man can become a god.
Alma 34:34-35
teaches that there is no opportunity for repentance
after death
which stands in opposition
to Mormon teachings of spirit prison and baptism for
the dead. Spirit prison is the place where persons
go who did not accept the Mormon gospel in their lifetime.
If a Mormon is baptized for them after they are dead,
Mormon missionaries will come to them in spirit prison
and offer them the chance to accept this baptism. If
they accept this baptism performed in their behalf
by a living Mormon, they will be released from spirit
prison and enter spirit paradise to continue their
progression. This Mormon doctrine also directly contradicts
passages in the Bible like Hebrews 9:27 which states, “It
is appointed unto man once to die and after this, the
judgment.” (KJV).
Mosiah 3:5 teaches that God was and is from all eternity
to all eternity. This negates Mormon doctrine that
God was once a man.
3 Nephi 28 tells of three Nephite apostles who were
promised by Jesus that they would never endure the
pains of death but would live to behold all the doings
of the Father and would be changed in the twinkling
of an eye at the second coming of Christ. This does
not square with the teaching in the Book of Mormon
that all the Nephites died or with the Mormon doctrine
that the church endured a total apostasy and had to
be restored by Joseph Smith. If these three apostles
never died, how can the church have endured a total
apostasy? Incidentally, Doctrines and Covenants 7 teaches
that the apostle John also never died. This is one
more problem for the teaching of total apostasy.
