The Dodo the other day [2015] declared dolorously the Book of Mormon was uncontestable, of divine origin, crafted without fault, and a construct without equal. They make the same claims for the Koran of course. But we may ask - where do Mormons keep their literary critical faculty? The Book of Mormon is an insipid dreadful doleful dollop of donkey-doo-doos crammed with cliches, full of loose ends, improbabilities, stories with a remarkable similarity to those in the Bible, whole chapters of Isaias ripped, needless repetition on seemingly gold plates where space is at a premium, and fails the first hurdle of a test of the English language - Joseph Smith and the golden bible company - are limited by their sense of the English language disguising the faults in mock-seventeenth century cliches. We know more or less what books were loaded in the local library, to which manuscripts they had access, who influenced to a high degree of probability which sections. I would call brothers and sisters from this Board to appear for the prosecution and the evidence for the prosecution would go on for weeks. So let's play the dodo-deterrent guide to randomly spotting the plagiarism, the oddism, the anachronism, tautology, repetition, or just plain insanity when Brother Joseph loses it. Uncontestable? You're having a Turking bath. Here's verses at random awash with tautology, plagiarism ... For the most perfect course read a cluster-frack of the English language.

1. I Nephi 1:1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

See I Corinthians 4:1 - The mysteries of God

· Why does Nephi feel the need to boast of goodly parents? How does Nephi know he is highly favoured of the Lord? Who instructed Nephi in the mysteries of God? 'Therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days' is circumlocution and a waste of gold plate CIRCUMLOCUTION PLAGIARISM IMPROBABILITY

2. I Nephi 1:14 And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth, and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!

See Revelation 15:3 – Great and Marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty CIRCUMLOCUTION PLAGIARISM TAUTOLOGY

3. I Nephi 2:24 And if it so be that they rebel against me, they shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.

See 2 Peter 1:13 A Facist intergallactic empire-building God does away with free agency and can't resist a damned good cursing. CIRCUMLOCUTION PLAGIARISM FASCIST GOD

4. I Nephi 4:13 Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.

See John 11:50 – It is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

·God's first advice to Nephi is that Nephi should lop the dude's head off, and Nephi raid the pad for its gold loot. God does a nice line in murder for 'righteous purposes' CIRCUMLOCUTION PLAGIARISM FASCIST GOD - Is God a scrap-metal merchant with a panchant for murder?

5. I Nephi 15:15 And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God?

·See John 15:1
·God is mixing his metaphors!

6. I Nephi 20:1 Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness.

·Joseph Smith lifts two chapters from Isaiah – 48 & 49. Baptism, eh? Kinky.

7. II Nephi 1:14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth.

- See Hamlet III i: The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns - multiple plaigarisms

8. II Nephi 9:18 But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever.

·See Hebrews 12:2 & Matthew 25:34 & John 15:11

9. II Nephi 31:18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

·See Matthew 7:14 PLAGIARISM NEW TESTAMENT NOT YET WRITTEN

10. Helaman 14:25 And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.

See Matthew 27:52-53 Michael Jackson's Thriller video foreseen by Joseph Smith

11. Jarom 1:8 And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war - yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war.

·No evidence of these civilisations

12. Mosiah 4:4 And king Benjamin again opened his mouth and began to speak unto them, saying: My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, I would again call your attention, that ye may hear and understand the remainder of my words which I shall speak unto you.

This is a terrible tautology!

13. Ether 9:19 And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants, and cureloms, and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants, and cureloms, and cumoms.

No horses, elephants, cureloms and cumoms found! ANACHRONISMS

14. Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment. II Nephi 28:23

There goes that Fascist God again!

15. And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools.

·How did Nephi extract the ore without tools?

16. I Nephi 18:13 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest, and we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days; and they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the sea; nevertheless they did not loose me.

·Smith recreates Shakespeare’s The Tempest!

17. I Nephi 22:20 And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.

·See Acts 3:22-23. This verse quotes Peter’s paraphrase of Deuteronomy rather than the original Old Testament verses!

18. II Nephi 5:16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon's temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

·Half a dozen men build a temple like unto Solomon! Respect!

19. II Nephi 10:10 But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land.

·God favours one country over the others! What does 'blessed' mean? That doesn't sound much like a God. The Book of Mormon assumes the Bible theme of a God playing the old game of fascists and favourites.

20. Mosiah 10:20 And it came to pass that we did drive them again out of our land; and we slew them with a great slaughter, even so many that we did not number them.

Silly hyperbole and tautology

21. Alma 18:43 And it came to pass that his servants took him and carried him in unto his wife, and laid him upon a bed; and he lay as if he were dead for the space of two days and two nights; and his wife, and his sons, and his daughters mourned over him, after the manner of the Lamanites, greatly lamenting his loss.

Laid low as if dead is a terrible cliche!

22. Alma 47:30 And the army which pursued after them returned, having pursued after them in vain; and thus Amalickiah, by his fraud, gained the hearts of the people.

'Pursue after' is a rotten tautology!

23. III Nephi 10:4 O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.

Repetition: the hen gathers her chickens four times!

24. III Nephi 17:15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.

How convenient that Jesus' prayer wasn't recorded!

25. Mormon 2:14 And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.

As close as Joseph Smith comes to humour.

[Repost 15th June 2015]

The Book of Moron already does that.

Truth is NOT Fiction
Fiction Is NOT Truth

M@t

Haha. I love 25. Joseph was pretty humorless, wasn't he. Loved it all actually, especially your introduction. Thanks. This is something to save.

"As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly"

...Pearl of Great Price and the D&C.

yes, we can!!! OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV1NYP60274

Even as a kid I wondered why and how is the bible plagiarized in this book that is totally separate from the bible by an ocean back then.

1 Nephi 1:4 For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed.

Zedekiah was appointed king after the destruction of Jerusalem, not before.

But you can debunk the BoM without the Bible. The Late War was a major source for the BoM, as was the 1767 KJV Bible (complete with errors). The Jaredite story is completely impossible on several fronts. The whole book is riddled with anachronisms and descriptions of pre-columbian America that have been scientifically disproven.

Add to this the kind of character Joseph really was. God appeared to this lying philandering con man and told him to start a religion, when nothing of the sort ever happens to honest upright people or even the Pope.

How firm a foundation? Only because there’s a crust on this deep pile of poo. Don’t jump too hard.

'proof' is for courtrooms.

faith in falsehoods is for fools & those who've been heavily indoctrinated; often tough to discern the difference, ha ha

That's what Mormonism is set up to do: fool some, for some time, and cause others to question, yea, even flee, and climb, to bigger and better things, such as life itself.

You need not do anything. But eat pudding.
The public has simply to laugh and point.
Many have to weep-

And say, see, I told to so.
I was the still small voice.
Too sad you didn't listen.
But I did my job. Truth.

You can't prove Life on The Mississippi isn't true.
That's the nice thing: you don't (feel the) need to.

M@t

Mistakes from God..lol:

Alma 10:5
5 Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people.

Make up your mind:

15 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.

16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

Go back to school

14 For I, Nephi, was constrained to speak unto them, according to his word; for I had spoken many things unto them, and also my father, before his death; many of which sayings are written upon mine other plates; for a more history part are written upon mine other plates.

Put on a disguise and then tell them I am Abinadi?

1 And it came to pass that *after the space of two years that Abinadi came among them in disguise, that they knew him not, and began to a prophecy among them, saying: Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying—Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this my people

And it came to pass that the storm troopers said, “These aren’t the droids we’re looking for”. And after Abinadi had done these things, he spoke unto the people formerly known as Mormon but whose current name is to long to be written on these precious plates, saying: These is nothing to see here. Move along, move along. And it came to pass that they were satisfied once again with their bad 19th century fiction.

{{quote}} {{24. III Nephi 17:15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.

How convenient that Jesus' prayer wasn't recorded!}}

This is a recurring theme in Mormonism. The thing that is so special that it turns out that the only witness/person who is in a position to tell you the details was left speechless by the specialness of it and the specialness of it defied description and ordinary expression, so you just have to trust that it was all that, without knowing a single detail about it or what made it so special. If you're inclined to want to believe that special witness of exceedingly great specialness, then you have to suspend all disbelief and fill in the blanks and gaps with your own imagination.

It's like the LSD Church "Apostles" being "special witnesses of Christ" and frequently in the past indicating that they have had special experiences in the temple that qualify them to be special witnesses of Christ...but...they can't tell you anything about it in detail because...you know...it was too special.

Great! Just what we need. "Special witnesses" who can't talk about what they witnessed. So forkin' ridiculous!

It's on par with perpetually "unnamed sources" who always back up whatever position someone wanted to have backed up but who can never be named because they will then not be able to continue being a valuable unnamed source.

...the Book of Mormon was uncontestable(OPINION),
of divine origin(OPINION),
crafted without fault(OPINION),
and a construct without equal(OPINION).

Claims without evidence are meaningless.
Jeffery is meaningless.

"teeming with semitic complexity."

That's got to be one of the funniest bullsh*t lines uttered since Joseph Smith told some lady that she had to have sex with him because an angel with a sword was making threats.

"Hey man, it's gotta be true. Look at all the semitic complexity."

"What's semitic complexity?"

"You know, it's like, you know...stuff. Complicated stuff that seems to be sort of semitic."

"Like the Bible that Joseph Smith used as a template for lots of his Book of Mormon stuff?"

"Uh...yeah. Like the Bible."