Is the Book of Mormon Biblical

Is the Book of Mormon Biblical?

By Kurt Van Gorden

As a minister of the Gospel, I am often asked about other books that are considered holy that are outside of the scope of the Bible. Such books are usually written by someone who claims to hear from God in any number of ways, like visions, dreams, revelations, audible voices, automatic writing, or even visitors from other planets. The world is filled with modern scripture, as their followers would call it. The question facing the Christian is whether these revelations are from God or not. The Book of Mormon is one of the widest published books that is considered to be in harmony with the Bible. Some 200 million copies have been printed and distributed the world over. Therefore, it is important that we seriously examine this book to see if it meets the same standard as what the Bible maintains. To answer such a question, though, we first need to see exactly what the Bible says about true revelation in contrast to false prophets.

In Deuteronomy 18:20-22, we read the following:

20. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.

21. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?

22. When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

In the next passage of Scripture, we will see that one of the tests for a prophet is whether their word agrees with what we already have as God’s word. If their words disagree with the Bible then we should not “be afraid of him,” which means, we should not respect them in any way.

In Isaiah 8:19-20, we read this:

19. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

20. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

In Isaiah, we see that when someone claims to be hearing from God, and it does not agree with the “law” and the “testimony” (which is the Law of Moses and the testimony of the Prophets that followed Moses), then their disagreement proves thy have no light within them. In other words, they are in darkness. God forbids us to follow someone whose message disagrees with his Word. God wants his people to seek and follow Him and message.

In Galatians 1:6-9, we read:

6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

7. Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

The book of Galatians gives clearly warns us about an angel bringing another gospel, while claiming that it is the same gospel. This is precisely what the Book of Mormon does. The angel called Moroni in Mormonism allegedly gave the golden plates to Joseph Smith who was to translate them into English. This was supposed to be the “restoration” of the gospel, which assumes that the gospel needs to be restored. Dear friend, approach carefully when you tread upon areas that God forbids. How much clearer does God need to make it other than what is in Galatians?

But still, there is another Scripture passage that is important to our discussion. In 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, we are warned a second time about “another gospel.”

3. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

4. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Much can be written about the logical problems, historical problems, and other inconsistencies within the Book of Mormon. This study, however, will specify contradictions between the Bible and the Book of Mormon. The following points are clear contradictions where the Book of Mormon and Bible disagree:

1. True biblical history shows that King Zedekiah began his reign over Judah in 597 BC. In an effort to make the Book of Mormon look genuine, the writer, in 1830, paralleled the first chapter with Zedakiah’s reign in the Bible, but he incorrectly dated it at 600 BC. Contemporary thinking in 1830 was that Zedakiah reigned in 600 BC, but newer archeological evidence has proven the Book of Mormon chronology incorrect by showing that Zedakiah’s reign began in 597 BC. Would God give false dates in a true book? Clearly the Book of Mormon was written by a man in 1830 who tried to make it agree with contemporary thinking of the day. (Similarly, another prophet-type person of the 19^th Century, Emmanuel Swedenborg, wrote alleged supernatural revelations about the seven planets of our solar system, which was later disproved by the discovery of two new planets. Both Smith and Swedenborg wrote their revelations by using contemporary thinking of the time, which was later disproved.)

The significance of the false date in the first chapter of the Book of Mormon is shown in how it threads the same false dating throughout the book. Since Zedikiah’s reign is wrong in 1 Nephi 1:4, then, which is three years off, then all subsequent Book of Mormon dates are directly tied to this are false too (2 Nephi 5:28, Jacob 1:1). The Book of Mormon’s incorrect chronology results in the crucifixion of Christ being three years prior to when it actually took place!

2. Bethabara is a town mentioned in the Book of Mormon as the place where John the Baptist was baptizing (1 Nephi 10:9). Joseph Smith got this name from John 1:28 in the King James Version of the Bible. What Smith didn’t know is that John 1:28, in the King James Version, was translated incorrectly from the Greek. The Greek manuscripts of the New Testament identify the real town as Bethany (see the modern translations, such as the New American Standard Bible or the New International Version). The Book of Mormon, in its introduction, quotes Joseph Smith as saying that the Book of Mormon was “the most correct of any book on earth” (see the Introduction in the 1986 edition). If the Book of Mormon is the “most correct book,” then we would expect it to agree with the New Testament Greek manuscripts instead of the King James English translation (1611). Rather than that, Smith reveals his work to be by man’s genius and not God’s inspiration. Equally detrimental to the Book of Mormon translation is that certain words in Greek lacked an English equivalent. Moroni 7:45, for example, quotes 1 Corinthians 13:5, without Smith knowing that the word “easily” is not in the Greek New Testament manuscripts. Smith put it in the Book of Mormon as a “translation.” These actions not only betray Smith’s so-called inspiration, but it contradicts the true essence of the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible.

3. Joseph Smith copied many lengthy passages verbatim from the King James Version of the Bible. All schooled Bible students know that translating from the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek texts into English is not a perfected science. The King James translators assisted readers with italicized words that represent implied meaning, but not directly translated from the literal text. However, Smith copied the King James italicized words into the Book of Mormon without indicating that they were only implied meanings by the King James translators. By Smith adding them to the Book of Mormon (the most correct book on the earth, so he said), then they are no longer viewed by God as implied, but now they are fully inspired. The King James translators didn’t see it that way. They italicized them specifically to let the reader know that it is not directly translated. Smith’s oversight on the italicized King James words, shows the dishonesty and untrustworthiness of the Book of Mormon.

4. 2 Nephi 25:23 contradicts the Bible with these words, “for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” Nowhere does the Bible present merited grace or merited love from God! We have to part with the Book of Mormon on the issue of God’s grace. We are not saved by grace “after all we can do.” Ephesians 2:8-10, in the New Testament, sets the Book of Mormon straight on grace. In this passage we find that we are saved by grace through faith, it is the gift of God, and it is not of works, lest any man should boast.

5. The Book of Mormon says the Nephites, who were descendants of Manasseh (Alma 10:3), “offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses” (Mosiah 2:3). This contradicts Exodus chapters 28-31, which says that a descendant of Levi must offer sacrifices. That is the Mosaic law! One cannot be from the wrong tribe and then claim that they are offering sacrifices “according to the law of Moses.” They are, in fact, violating the Law of Moses while they claim to be fulfilling it.

6. Ether 1:34-37 contradicts the book of Genesis on the confusion of the languages at the tower of Babel. In the book of Genesis, we find that the Lord confused the languages of the whole earth (11:9). The Book of Mormon differs. It said that a special group was spared this confusion, “he did not confound the language of Jered . . . their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded” (Ether 1:34-37). The reader must choose whether the Bible or the Book of Mormon is truthful.

7. Moroni, in the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible on the subject of sin, saying, “wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me . . ..” The Bible says that Adam’s transgression is imputed to all (Romans 5:18), and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Even children are conceived with sin (Psalms 51:5) and the wicked go astray as soon as they are born (Psalms 58:3). We are sinners because we are born with the nature of sin, including from childhood. The Book of Mormon promotes a false doctrine on children’s nature of sin.

8. The Book of Mormon has geographical contradictions with the Bible, such as 1 Nephi 2:5-8, which states that a river empties into the Red Sea from the north. Historical and archaeological evidence disproves this. Dr. Gleason Archer has listed this and other geographical and historical problems with the Book of Mormon in his book, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), which is valuable reading for further information.

9. The Book of Mormon contradicts the book of Acts in the Bible. After Jesus ascended in Acts chapter 1, His followers were known by a number of names, including; disciples, followers of the way, sect of the Nazarenes, and believers. They were not called Christians until Acts 11:26, where it says, “And the disciples were called Christians first I Antioch.” Not so, if one believes the Book of Mormon. It calls Christ’s followers Christians in 73 BC, as found in Alma 46:13. This is not some meaningless point since the New Testament specifically said that this title was “first” used of Christians in Antioch. Either the Bible is true or false on this point. First means first, so the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible on this.

10. The Book of Mormon makes many religious books from around the world equal in their inspiration from God. At the same time, the Book of Mormon rejects the Bible as God’s only measure of truth. In 2 Nephi 29:10-12, “Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. For I command all men both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.”

Two problems surface in these verses. First, the Bible makes Israel’s relationship to God unique, that is, they are the only covenant people on the earth. Amos 3:1-2 says, “Hear this word that the Lords hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth . . ..” In contradiction to the Book of Mormon, God said through Amos that “only” Israel was known of all families of the earth. (As a side note, the Book of Mormon claims the Western Hemisphere was already inhabited by an earlier migration from Genesis 11, at the tower of Babel. It weaves an entire story of God’s relationship to these people in direct contradiction to Amos 3). The Book of Mormon portrays books from the north, south, east, west, and islands that are from the God. What books are these? This indicates that the Book of Mormon gave a false prophecy.

The second problem is that the above quoted passage from the Book of Mormon conflicts with the Bible, in that it says, “for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world.” Nowhere in the Bible do we find that “books” from other nations will be used by God in judgement. Contrary to this, when one reads about the New Testament missions of Paul and other Apostles, they always judged the foreign nations, the Gentiles, from the Old and New Testament accounts, rather than from their own books (Acts 17:31).

11. The Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible concerning the children of Joseph. According to the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith was prophesied by Joseph from the Old Testament to be of his lineage—yes, Joseph Smith was to be of the fruit of Joseph of Egypt. 2 Nephi 3:11 states, “But a seer I will raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of they loins . . ..” Is Joseph Smith of the lineage of Joseph the Patriarch, from the book of Genesis? In contradiction to the Bible, Joseph, the Patriarch of Israel, is not a progenitor of Joseph Smith. Joseph, the Patriarch, was Semitic, whereas Joseph Smith was of European Caucasian stock.

12. Alma 36:17 makes Jesus “a son of God” in contrast to “the son” of God. The indefinite article “a” leaves open that more than one existing son of God who is equal to Jesus. The definite article “the son,” which in always used of Jesus in the Bible, closes the door on other sons of equal status existing. Jesus is never called “a son” of God in the Bible, but He is always “the son of God.”

13. The word “Jehovah” is known to be a verbal construct from Hebrew cultural tradition. “Yahweh” is the most accurate way to pronounce God’s sacred name from the Old Testament texts. How, then, did the word “Jehovah” end up in a 559 BC text of the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 22:2)? The Book of Mormon contradicts the Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible by supplanting the original name of God, “Yahweh,” with the incorrectly pronounced “Jehovah.” How did the “most correct book” on the earth mispronounce the sacred Hebrew name of God?

14. The Book of Mormon gave a false prophecy about the birthplace of Jesus, “And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers . . .” (Alma 7:10). Anyone who reads the Bible knows that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. What makes this even more strange, is that Alma 7:13 says, “. . . the Spirit knoweth all things . . ..” Can the “spirit” know all things and incorrectly predict the place for Jesus’ birth?

Defenders of Mormonism have tried to answer this in three main ways. First, they say that Jerusalem is only five miles from Bethlehem, so it was in the vicinity of this prophecy. Second, they sometimes say that Alma gave a familiar name since people would not have known anything about Bethlehem. Third, they say that the words “land of Jerusalem” have been found in recent Qumran discoveries. None of these answers really answer the problem in this prophecy. Prophecy must be fully accurate. It does not fail, according to Jesus, in one jot or stroke of the pen (Matthew 5:18).

In answer to the first objection, giving a general location instead of the correct location only clouds the subject. When people give general locations, like Los Angeles, New York, or Chicago, they are not “prophesying” of the Savior’s birth, which if they were, we would expect accurate pinpointing, like what we have in the Bible.

In answer to the second objection, the familiar-name argument falls down within the Book of Mormon itself. According to its story, Lehi took the books of Moses with him to the new world, therefore the subsequent generations would have been just as familiar with Bethlehem (mentioned in Genesis) as what they would have Jerusalem.

In answer to the third objection, the supposed parallel from the Qumran caves has a prepositional phrase and it lacks the restrictive clause found in the Book of Mormon. However, I found an early American book available at Joseph Smith’s time that has a closer parallel to the Book of Mormon phase than what the Qumran caves do. It would seem more likely that since it matches Smith better, then it is closer to the source than what Qumran would be. The phrase is found in the History of Herodotus (published in 1791 and 1806). It uses the restrictive clause “which is the land,” just as does the Book of Mormon. With all of this said, we come full circle to our original premise; that is, the Book of Mormon incorrectly prophesies the birth of Jesus “at Jerusalem.”

If the Book of Mormon and the Bible were from the same God, then we would expect uniformity instead of contradiction. Both the Bible and Book of Mormon cannot be telling the same truth when they contradict one another on these points. My encouragement to the reader is to consider the Bible as God’s inspired Word instead of the Book of Mormon. God has blessed the Bible in the lives of millions upon millions of people throughout the history of mankind. Turn to God’s Word today, the Bible. He will bless you for it.

Jude 3 Missions

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