My Review on The Book of Mormon

The Mormon Church has been in the news as of late. It reminded me of the time I read much of the Book of Mormon myself. I don't wish any ill will towards anyone that believes in Mormonism. The doctrines themselves are a little strange though. I wrote about my experience with it a while back so I thought I'd share my brief insight.

Mormonism is a sect of Christianity that has very unique teachings. So unique that they even have their own “inspired book” called the Book of Mormon. You may have seen these elegant people at your doorstep. They will most likely have on white, button down shirt and khakis and they always want to talk to you about the Jesus.

This branch of Christianity was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1820. He claims that he was given a vision by Jesus in response to a question in which he asked what denomination he should join. Jesus told him that none of them were correct so he should start a new one. This is when the angel Moroni showed him where some golden plates were and Smith was to translate them into English. These plates would later become the Book of Mormon.

Throughout history, archeologists have dug up things that prove the Bible's accuracy. People and places that only the Bible had said to exist, it seems we unearth just about every day. This is the first red flag of Mormonism. Not one of the places have been unearthed. Not one person in the Book of Mormon has ever been found in any archeological site. Not even the golden plates themselves have ever been discovered. And we supposedly live on the same continent as these things were written. Where are these things? If you look in Alma 11, there is even a money system talked about in detail and not one coin has ever been found. Why would God need to make up a money system? We'll talk more about this later.

Another reason why the Book of Mormon is flawed is the errors it contains within the book. For starters, let us take a look at 2 Nephi 25:19. This is a prophecy about the coming Messiah whose named would be “Jesus Christ”? Not even the Old Testament writers prophesied about Jesus' name! If you look up Mosiah 3:8, it even tells of His mother named Mary. These things were allegedly written before Jesus was even born so it's just a little too detailed. It was obviously written after the fact. Too, throughout the “Old Testament” books of the Book of Mormon, they use New Testament terms such as baptism (1 Nephi 20:1) and Messiah (Jarom 1:11). How did they know these Greek terms when it hadn't even existed yet?

Another flaw can be found in 1 Nephi 18:21. In this section, Nephi takes a compass that God had given him and they sail away to find the promise land (North America). Sounds legit on the outside but then you find out that the compass of today wasn't even invented until the 1300's. Even the earliest models only go back til about the 1100's. And making my way back to the “money” of Alma 11. Native Americans actually didn't even use money. They used their crops and things in exchange for goods and services.

Lastly, if the Book of Mormon were to compliment the bible, as Mormons allege, then one would not find any contradictions in it. Such is not the case. Not only does the Book of Mormon contradict the bible but also its own religion. Smith wrote that Jesus was born in Jerusalem (Alma 7:10) but He was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1). Smith wrote that the church of Christ was started by Alma (Mosiah 18:17). How can you have the church of Christ started before there even was a Christ? We know that the church of Christ was started in Acts 2 and that the disciples of Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26) not in 73 B.C. (Alma 46:15). We can also see in Jacob 3:5 that polygamy is condemned but in “later revelations” it's not.

Folks, God's word never changes (Malachi 3:6). There are no later revelations. What He said in Scripture is still for us today. If you are a member of this denomination, I pray that you will see the truth and only go by God's word, not man's.

#churchofJesusChrist #bookofMormon #Christianity #churchofChrist #JosephSmith