The mormon church the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. The evidence left by the book of mormon witnesses is rich, varied, and uneven, including the following. Nov, 2019 but so far, dna research hasnt found that to be the case. The book of mormon claims to be a history of ancient peoples inhabiting central america until 421 a. And, with more study, the books sturdiness and richness and the. Apologists may walk back population claims at their convenience, but they simultaneously undermine the validity of the book of mormon itself. What are the best evidences to support the authenticity of the book. Problems with the book of mormon catholic answers catholic. Since i knew that validity draws fire, it made me want to read it more and dig deeper into the. Until about 1835, the mormon concept of god, as reflected by the book of mormon, doctrine and covenants and other contemporary sources, was essentially trinitarian alexander 1980.
Attempting to determine the validity of the book of mormon with current mitochondrial dna mdna studies of the native american populations is equally as difficult, according to scott woodward, professor of microbiology at brigham young university, as he addressed the attendees at the fair conference last year. Feb 09, 2007 actually, the name, mormon, comes from moronis father, mormon, who abridged most of the nephite record which is why it is called the book of mormon after him because most of the words are his. I feel like this week has truly showed me the validity of the book of mormon. While this proof of the validity of this sacred book may be enough for some, it is only through the holy ghost that one can truly know of the truthfulness of the book of mormon. Someone commented that this allegory proved the validity of the bom since this style of grafting and pruning was only known at this time in the middle east. The congregation for the doctrine of the faith has given a negative response to a dubium regarding the validity of baptism conferred in the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, more commonly known as the mormons. If one were to design a research program with the stated goal of testing the validity of the book of mormon based on dna information, what specific hypotheses. The bible the bible was originally written languages of the people composing it. Meldrum is a researcher, bestselling lds author, and international lecturer on the validity of the book of mormon with an emphasis on its scriptural and physical evidences. The question of the validity of baptism conferred in the. The earliest documented statement of the three witnessesoliver cowdery, david whitmer, and martin harrisis their statement in the handwriting of oliver cowdery subsequently published in the 1830 edition of the book of mormon. The book of mormon teaches that little children are not capable of sin because they do not have a sinful nature moroni 8.
At first i was surprised that there would be an article entitled mounting evidence for the book of mormon on the official church website. Read the 1830 version or youll miss out on the authors original interpretation of god which was something similar to the trinity. Evaluating the book of mormon witnesses religious studies. Note they are not exactly as written in the bible especially the admonition about b. The nature of this volumein particular its claim to antiquityis the theme of nine groundbreaking essays in american apocrypha. Unless otherwise indicated, bible quotations are taken from the king james version. T he book of mormon is advertized by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints as another testament of jesus christ and specifically of the account of his supposed visit to the american continent the book of mormon, 3 nephi 11. What story in the bible proves the validity of the book of mormon. If the book of mormon is true, then joseph smith was a prophet. But so far, dna research hasnt found that to be the case.
Does dna evidence prove the book of mormon is false. Hinckley was a young man, he established a pattern for scripture study. The contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible constitute a most serious obstacle to accepting the book of mormon as latterday scripture supplemental to the bible. New discoveries in dna research currently allow scientists to test this historical claim. The book of mormon has no claim to validity due to its lack of incorporation into the biblical cannon. Book of mormon archeological andor historical validity.
Understanding this aspect of mormons authorship and joseph smiths translation provides additional evidence to the historical validity of the book of mormon. Book of mormonauthorship theoriesview of the hebrews. It is thus not surprising that in the final analysis, f. Contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible. Meade, a mormon elder from england, affirmed the proposition that, the book of mormon as translated. Murphy discusses the book of mormons view that american indians are descendants of ancient hebrews. Church president defends mormon faith, validity of book of mormon. Many of the original revelations of the mormon doctrine and covenants scripture were published in the 1833 book of commandments. Evaluating the book of mormon witnesses book of mormon. One group of families came from jerusalem in 600 bc and afterward separated into two nations, known as the nephites and the lamanites.
Printed in canada first edition, isbn 9780981146720. The historicity of the book of mormon religious studies center. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. Meldrum, titled book of mormon evidence has taken 8 years of intensive research, 3 years of filming and 9 months of editing to bring together the most compelling evidence supporting the validity of the book of mormon ever assembled. Evaluating the book of mormon witnesses book of mormon central. Debate on the book of mormon, joseph smith, lds church. This is the book that over 10 million people including myself at one time or another in their lives believed to be scripture. Given that no research program thus far has been designed to specifically test the authenticity of the book of mormon, i would like to center my discussion on the following question. The american scripture that launched a new world religion new york.
The book of mormon teaches that these israelites are the principal ancestors of modernday native americans. Another group came much earlier, when god confounded the tongues at the tower of babel. How important was oliver cowdery in bringing forth the book. The sermon on the mount in the nt and the beatitudes in 3rd nephi of the book of mormon are a good start. The historicity of the book of mormon religious studies. I have read this book my entire life and i feel like i still cannot even grasp its wonderful contents. Apr 02, 2007 church president defends mormon faith, validity of book of mormon mormonism mormon church monday april 2, 2007 religion news blog wishing followers safe travels, peace and harmony in their homes, the president of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints closed a twoday biannual conference sunday by reminding the faithful to treat each. Heavenly father has promised that someday we will have the translation of the sealed part too see ether 3. My testimony of the book of mormon came through following the saviors advice in john 7. As a missionary, i read each evening before going to bed a few chapters of the book of mormon, he said, and there came into my heart a conviction which has never left. In the fall of 1987 david padfield and paul meade engaged in a debate on wvhi radio in evansville, indiana. It would seem this event would have been an easy target that would have been aimed at by howe and other critics of the mormon story. Roberts list of parallels, which only had validity if one applied a hemispheric geography model to the book of mormon. I love the stories within the book of mormon, samuel the superhero standing.
What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. From that time onward there were no valid baptisms, no laying on of hands for the. If the events it records did not happen, and if it is actually modern rather than ancient in origin, then the book of mormon cannot be the word of god. He was josephs most prolific scribe, one of the three witnesses, and oversaw the printing process, for which he recopied the entire book of mormon by hand. The 1st rule of book of mormon evidence there is no. The opponents of the historicity of the book of mormon must prove that the people whose religious life it records did not live anywhere in the americas. Serious study of the book of mormon by latterday saints is flourishing today as never before. Civilizations of their magnitude and duration would be expected to leave extensive archaeological records. Immediately following his crucifixion jesus in spirit visited these people bringing his message of salvation. Thousands of native americans from more than 150 tribes have been tested to determine their ancestry. Mormon scholar, blogger find evidence proving validity of. The best support for the authenticity of the book of mormon is the testimony of. Since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship.
Significant changes in lds doctrine and covenants 4mormon. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates. There are a significant number of differences between the two books, which are easily discovered upon reading ethan smiths work. There are some serios problems with the book of mormon that the lds. However, ideas of archival science and provenance are recent developments in the western world, unknown to biblical authors or to anyone at joseph smiths time. He was convinced that the book of mormon was an accurate historical document and that it would be relatively easy to uncover artifacts to prove its validity. Howe doesnt mention the first vision even once in his critical 1834 book mormonism unvailed. Consider the book of mormon, first published in 1830. Discussion regarding the historicity of the book of mormon often focuses on archaeological issues, some of which relate to the large size and the long time span of the civilizations mentioned in the book. May 15, 2016 while this proof of the validity of this sacred book may be enough for some, it is only through the holy ghost that one can truly know of the truthfulness of the book of mormon. I would suspect that many of the things you did to gain your testimony of the bible will prove useful in your search concerning the book of mormon. To some people, that alone is enough to discredit the validity of the book of mormon. That is unfortunate as the book is the only book ever written which states god himself will.
Great concepts impressively written bear within them a witness of validity and. I was sitting in sunday school class with my parents, listening to a lesson concerning jacob chptr 5 which includes the allegory of the olive tree. Besides joseph smith, few people were as involved in the bringing forth of the book of mormon as oliver cowdery. Growing up, the book of mormon was just a book full of stories of heroic prophets where battles were fought and the righteous prevailed. Exploring beyond the scale of the land itself, the massive construction projects described throughout the text surely would have endured, just as did the structures of so many lesser advanced early.
Oxford university press, 2003, 4142, emphasis added. There several instances as listed in no particular order. How did you come to know the validity of the bible. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american. It took smith less than 3 months to translate the writings and publish it into a 588 volume. After all, the book of mormon was a topic heavily criticized by howe and others. A contemporary mormon view is that these civilizations rose and fell in mesoamerica. Feb 02, 2020 measured against the detailed history of the pentateuch, the sublime beauty of the psalms, the concisely expressed wisdom of the proverbs and the upbuilding counsel of the pauline letters, the book of mormon stands as a shabby, uninspiring and painfully wordy imitation of gods word.
It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Tvedtnes, has rejected the use of wordprint evidence as the foundation for a testimony of the book of mormons validity, though he did not dismiss its possible usefulness as a scientific tool to investigate the books origins. Two years later, when these revelations were republished in the first edition of doctrine and covenants, significant changes became apparent. Another way of explaining the strength of the positive position on the historicity of the book of mormon is to point out that we who are its proponents are content with a standoff on this question. Actually, the name, mormon, comes from moronis father, mormon, who abridged most of the nephite record which is why it is called the book of mormon after him because most of the words are his. What story in the bible proves the validity of the book of. Measured against the detailed history of the pentateuch, the sublime beauty of the psalms, the concisely expressed wisdom of the proverbs and the upbuilding counsel of the pauline letters, the book of mormon stands as a shabby, uninspiring and painfully wordy imitation of. As each year passed, the foundations scientists were unable to find any evidence that would support the book of mormon.
The evidence for its truth, for its validity in a world that is prone to. May 15, 2002 consider the book of mormon, first published in 1830. Its validity as scripture depends on its being historically authentic. Dec 12, 2017 since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different theories have been proposed concerning its authorship. Mormon archaeological argument that proves the historical accuracy of b of m. Some mormon researchers claim that it is not valid to use genetics to attempt to prove or disprove the historicity of the book of mormon, citing a lack of source. Archaeological science versus claims of the book of mormon. The modern mormon ideas about the nature of god with which this article started, emerged in the second half of the 1830s. The book of mormon purports to be an inspired and accurate translation of an ancient historical narrative covering more than a thousand years. Nonmormon archaeologists speak on book of mormon evidence.
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