THE BOOK OF MORMON IS
NOT FROM GOD
Smith claimed that God gave him power to translate golden plates into English. When Smith translated 116 pages of the Book of Mormon, these pages were lost and were never recovered. He says in the above that God told him not to translate the same over again as the words would differ. The explanation is that the enemies would change the words in the lost manuscript. This indicates that Smith was claiming to make a verbally inspired translation of the Book of Mormon. It is important that Smith merely says they will change the wording - he says nothing about them changing anything else: stories, character names etc. Smith was just making an excuse for being unable to come up with the exact words if he allegedly retranslated.
If the manuscript turned up altered surely it would be easy to see where it was interfered with!
A Witness to the Book of Mormon plates stated that it was indeed a verbally inspired translation.
The Book of Mormon was allegedly translated from golden
plates containing Reformed Egyptian by the gift and power of God by Joseph
Smith. First published in 1830, it is the only sacred volume that claims to
have been an inspired translation. None of the myriad sects of Mormonism can be
the true Church when the Book of Mormon is a hoax.
Joseph Smith made false prophecies and so failed the test of Deuteronomy 18
which says that one false prophecy is enough to show a prophet is not from God
even if his other predictions are all right. Smith left this portion untouched
in his Inspired Version of the Bible so it is the word of God according to him.
Some breakaways from the Mormons say that Smith was indeed a false prophet but
the Book of Mormon is still true and the work of God for it is only an inspired
translation. They say God authorised Smith to dictate what he saw on his magic
stones which did the translating but not to prophesy. But would a God trust
Smith just to say what was on the stones when he could not be trusted in the
more serious matter of claiming to be a prophet? Jesus said that a man who
cannot be trusted in big things cannot be trusted in less.
The Book of Mormon contains prophecies that were made after the events and any
that are still to be fulfilled are unimpressive. This is a sure indication that
God was not involved because any allegedly inspired book could manage these
things. Deuteronomy 18 says that even a prophet who is right nearly all the
time is still a false prophet which implies that anybody who makes unimpressive
predictions is to be dismissed as a crank.
Smith got three witnesses and then eight to testify that the golden plates
existed. This shows he was a hoaxer for it was more important that the
translation be verified than that the existence of the plates be verified. Yet
God seems to be only concerned about the plates. There is no evidence that the
translation was right. The man who falsely claimed to be Smith’s successor and
forged a letter to help him along James Jesse Strang is dismissed by Mormons as
a fraud though he chose reputable men to be the witnesses to the plates he
translated. Smith’s were all notoriously gullible and he said that they were
wicked men. Cowdery one of the three witnesses was known to be a conman.
What really makes the testimony of the witnesses worthless is that Smith
inserted changes into the Book of Mormon after its publication which was a
plain testimony that he didn’t believe in it himself. Adjustments were made to
fit changing Mormon dogma. When the prime witness testified by his actions and
actions are louder than words why bother with the rest? Smith translated 116
pages of the Book of Lehi. They were lost and Smith got a revelation not to
re-translate Lehi’s writings but to use a part of the plates that covered much
the same period. The Lord told Smith this had to be done for if he
re-translated Lehi, Smith’s enemies would change the 116 pages and then use
them as proof that Smith’s new translation did not match the old one so thereby
seeming to prove that he was not translating at all. It is obvious that Smith
was making it all up for his enemies could not change the pages that much. They
could have forged a new 116 pages and still did that to contradict Smith’s
account of what happened. The episode certainly indicates that no testimony
however good could salvage Smith’s story of the plates and the miracle
translation.
The Book of Mormon says that three witnesses are needed before any charge
against an elder can be listened to (
Smith claimed that Professor Charles Anthon authenticated his translation of a
bit of the plates which Martin Harris took to him. Anthon always denied this
claim. Yet Mormons use it as evidence for the Book of Mormon. But the whole
point of bringing in the Professor was to back Smith up and all we have is
Smith’s testimony
The Book of Mormon and the revelations that accompanied it make it clear that
the work could only be carried out and the plates seen only by faith. The Book
of Mormon teaches that that only when faith is totally strong will God work to
do miracles (1 Nephi
The blunders made in the Book of Mormon are truly dreadful.
2 Nephi 2:23 states that if Adam and Eve had not sinned they would have had no
children and would not have known any joy for they knew no misery and being
unable to do good for they did not know what sin was. This is utter rubbish.
Sinlessness was no bar to making babies. And you can have joy when you forget
about misery and do good when you forget about sin so
you don’t have to know what sin is to be happy.
Joy is caused by chemicals in the brain. You never create your joy. The chemicals do. You might do certain things to trigger joy
off but you do not cause the chemicals to react this way.
In 2 Nephi 11:7 we read that if there is no Christ there is no God. This seems
to mean that if there is no Christ to die to satisfy the justice of God and
atone for sins there can be no God for God does not care about us to save us
(see 2 Nephi 9:26). But one person cannot atone for another. Our good works
should be infinitely pleasing to God for God likes them infinitely and should
be able to atone. Jesus could not atone if we are already atoned. The Christian
gospel says that we do not deserve to be saved so God would be perfect right and
just not to bother saving anybody if he didn’t want to.
It gets worse. 2 Nephi 2:13 argues that if there is no law there is no sin and
if there is no sin there is no righteousness and if there is no righteousness
there is no happiness and if there is no happiness there is no unhappiness and
if there is no happiness or righteousness there is no punishment or sadness and
if they do not exist there is no God and if there is no God there is no earth
or creation.
These arguments are outrageously silly. Happiness can exist without us freely
doing what is right. Rewards and punishment do not infer that God exists. And
the teaching that heaven and earth must have been made by God is childish for
who made God? If they had to have been made then what about God? The Mormon God
is a material being and is not a being that has a chance of having to exist
like 2+2=4 like the Christian one. Heaven and earth could have been made by an
impersonal spiritual intelligence that is not a person and is not entitled to
be believed to be God or worshipped.
The Mormon Church cannot say that these arguments are just part of what the
speaker in the Book was saying and not necessarily endorsed by God or the inspired
author of the Book. The Book of Mormon makes it clear that it is an abridgment
of the Nephite scriptures meaning that Mormon the abridger was going to use
only material that was doctrinally correct for it would be madness to put stuff
like that in when the space could be used for divinely approved teaching.
Moreover, once you start using that excuse that the text might be inspired but
what it says might not be endorsed by God, you could come to the epistles of
Paul in the New Testament with the same approach. Scripture is no good to you
if you accept the excuse. You could say that God inspired the four gospels and
that he does not approve of everything in them. So unless a teaching in a
scripture is specifically stated to be just the opinion of the speaker it has
to be taken to be the word of God and the teaching of God. You could say that
when the Old Testament reports God as having commanded something that you don’t
like you could say the author was only on about what he thought God was saying
and was not claiming to be always right.
The recording of miracles in the Book of Mormon prove that it is inauthentic.
This was a book that was allegedly revised and abridged and edited by Mormon
and then by his son
The Book of Mormon says that Satan appears like a good angel (Mosiah 30:53) and
miraculously appeared and spoke to Eve from a serpent (2 Nephi 2:17, 18) and
supernaturally supervised the people who set up the abominable Church (1 Nephi
13). When Satan has such powers that millions think are good miracles from God
and which are clever deceptions in ways we cannot see it follows that the only
thing that gives us the right to believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of
God is its ability to foretell the future. But there is no evidence for that.
Any prophecy that was fulfilled could have been written after the event or was
going to happen anyway by human deliberation. Though the Devil can make a
prophecy and then force secretly possessed people to fulfil the prophecy
meaning that even fulfilled prophecy does not prove that anybody or God can see
the future we know that no believer can accept this and will have to put down
prophecy as evidence. Anybody can write a pack of religious lies and say it is
the word of God so God has to put some mark of authenticity on his real book.
Had the Book of Mormon not attributed supernatural powers to Satan there might
have been some hope for it. Smith then made the mistake of thinking that
visions of angels and golden plates and feeling that the Book of Mormon was
true would be enough which contradicts his book and makes it contradict itself
for it promises these things.
Moroni 10:3-5 promises that those who sincerely pray about whether or not the
Book of Mormon is true will find that it is true. Mormons interpret that to say
that they will get a burning feeling that it is true from God which tells them
that it is true. It mentions knowing and not feelings and the Book says that
feelings can mislead so it means that the Book will be credible which is
completely untrue. It is saying that there will be plenty of archaeological
evidence for its claims. This is untrue.
The real test of a true prophet according to Deuteronomy 18 is that the prophet
must not be sinless but that he must be extremely honest and truthful for God
wouldn’t speak through anybody that would tell or tells something even only the
once that is supposed to be from God and which is not from God at all. This
implies that we will be able to know if the prophet was this kind of man. But
we do not know this of Moses or even Jesus for we are missing the favourable
first-hand witness of those who knew them best and intimately and the testimony
from Smith’s neighbours and friends was that Smith was born liar. Deuteronomy
18 also implies that a false prophet can make loads of predictions that come
true but error shows that he is not speaking for God at all so miracles prove
nothing according to this chapter. But at the same time, it is better to do
miracles for it shows you should get attention but not necessarily faith. A
real prophet will always do miracles. Smith did none. He made no predictions of
the future that are convincing evidence that he was able to see the future by
the power of God. When a prophet has to be accurate in everything he says that
is supposed to be inspired by God it follows that it is only right that the
prophet make predictions and not be accepted until the prophecies have all come
true (this automatically excludes Isaiah and Ezekiel who made prophecies that
have not been all fulfilled yet from the Bible canon). For if a man making one
false prophecy in the name of God is enough to take away any right to authority
from him then a man who makes none and claims to be God’s mouthpiece is worse.
The Jews and Christians did not insert Deuteronomy 18 for it makes good sense. It would only have made it harder for their
false prophets who allegedly rewrote the Bible and added to it to succeed. If anything they would have taken it out.
Conclusion
The Book of Mormon is a hoax and it is illogical to believe that it is really the word of God.