Posted by:
zliska
(
)
Date: January 11, 2025 11:12AM
Joseph Smith stated that the Book of Mormon was “the keystone of our religion,” to which the former LDS Prophet Ezra Taft Benson—the 13th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death in 1994—added, “Just as the arch crumbles if the keystone is removed, so does all the Church stand or fall with the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.” The Church is beginning to regret Benson’s statement. Like the Book of Abraham, the Book of Mormon suffers from its own massive set of credibility problems. Only political correctness prevents it from being studied in American Literature courses for what it really is: substandard, early-nineteenth-century fiction. Brigham H. Roberts, the LDS Church historian during the early 20th century, laboriously analyzed the Book of Mormon and determined that it was most likely the product of Joseph Smith’s imagination rather than a history of the indigenous inhabitants of this continent. Interestingly, C. S. Lewis, a Christian scholar and writer who is held in high esteem among Mormons, arrived at the very same conclusion. Robert’s analysis, titled Studies of the Book of Mormon (published by the University of Illinois Press in 1985), has been characterized by Mormon apologists as an exercise in “playing the devil’s advocate”. However, if one reads the document, it is obvious that such a characterization is deceitful. Recently discovered scientific information has made belief in the historicity of the Book of Mormon even more untenable. From DNA sequencing, it is now clear that the indigenous populations of North, Central, and South America have no close genetic ties to the Semitic peoples of the Middle East, but rather, to the inhabitants of Asia. Nor is there any linguistic similarity of the indigenous languages to Hebrew. One would expect to find languages having the same degree of similarity to Hebrew as, say, present-day Romanian has to Latin. Logical problems related to the story, itself, abound. The book chronicles the existence of Old World grains, crops and animals which were not indigenous to the Americas. It also mentions the use of many metals which the archeological record indicates were never mined, worked or used by the indigenous peoples. Lehi and his family supposedly left Jerusalem around 600 BC. The Book of Mormon also chronicles two other migrations from the Old World that occurred during the period of 1600 BC to 600 BC. The wheel, which had been invented no later than 3500 BC was in wide use throughout the Old World. Although present in a number of Mesoamerican wheeled toys, very similar to those found throughout the world and still made for children today, Mesoamericans, never developed the wheelbarrow, the potter's wheel, nor any other practical object with a wheel or wheels. Thus, if we accept as factual the Book of Mormon story, three waves of Old World transplants either forgot or ignored what is probably the most important invention in human history. One thing is certain: the wheel was never put to practical use in Mesoamerica until the Europeans arrived in the late 15th century. It is absolutely inconceivable that such an important invention would be lost over time.
The Book of Mormon civilization also flip-flops between states of extreme religious devotion and extreme wickedness over short periods of time. A mere sixty to one hundred people are chronicled as having mined, smelted, and worked a half a dozen types of metals, and as having sufficient surplus time and resources to construct a temple similar to that of Solomon. Such feats completely defy human reason and experience. The crowning moronic fiction taught by the book is that God simultaneously altered the genetic material of all individuals of a group identified as the Lamanites so that all were cursed for their wickedness with a dark skin. This event supposedly explains the origin of the dark complexion of the native peoples of North and South America. The theme of dark skin being a curse for a group’s past wickedness is prevalent in Mormon history and theology. It is also quite amazing that for each miraculous event recorded in the Bible, the Book of Mormon supercedes it with a similar, yet more spectacular, occurrence. Joseph Smith’s claims of having translated the book seem far fetched, as his primary scribe, Oliver Cowdery, stated that he dictated the majority of the book while peering at a magical, translucent seer stone which he had placed in his hat, making no reference whatsoever to the gold plates. Joseph Smith’s legendary connections with folk magic, as well as money and treasure digging, provoked the filing of a criminal complaint against him, for which he was tried, found guilty and fined for disorderly conduct. In addition, his description of the stack of gold plates, from which the translation was supposedly made, is not at all credible. Given their recorded dimensions, they would have weighed almost exactly 200 pounds, which would have made them extremely difficult for even a muscular man to heft and, because of their density, nearly impossible to carry. Nevertheless, Smith claimed to have run several miles and fought off several attackers while carrying them wrapped in his coat. His wife, Emma, claimed to have moved a box containing them many times while dusting the furniture. For veracity, Smith gets a failing grade. I suspect that the primary reason that the current president of the LDS Church, Russell M. Nelson, wants to minimize use of the word Mormon is because he realizes that the Book of Mormon is seriously, if not fatally, flawed. In fact, he knows that it is poison, and that the Church will soon need to deemphasize its importance. Thus, he hopes to sever the connection between the word Mormon and the Church. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is now known as the Community of Christ, has already accomplished that task, and no longer requires belief in the Book of Mormon, as the word of God, a condition of church membership.
Contemporaneous with his efforts to minimize use of the word “Mormon”, President Nelson held a seminar for new mission presidents at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on June 23, 2016. Here is a quote by him at the seminar: “There are some things the Book of Mormon is not: It is not a textbook of history, although some history is found within its pages; it is not a definitive work on ancient American agriculture or politics; it is not a record of all former inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere, but only of particular groups of people.” However, he then said: “The Book of Mormon will be your most effective instrument in bringing souls unto Jesus Christ.” More than five decades ago, as a missionary, I had concluded that the Book of Mormon was not historical. Had I made the same (Nelson’s) statement to Elder Boyd K. Packer at the time, I would have been excommunicated and sent home from my mission. I would like to ask President Nelson the following question: Of which particular group of former inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere is the Book of Mormon a record? There is not a scintilla of evidence that the book is, in fact, an historical document.
As the Book of Mormon comes under increasing attack, during the next 10 years, the Church will likely issue a new statement that will go further. Like Nelson’s last statement, it will not be made in a session of General Conference, and it is unlikely that the Church will, anytime soon, admit that the Book of Mormon is a work of fiction. Nevertheless, in the not so distant future—certainly by 2045, the Church will be forced to acknowledge that it is merely a book of inspired, allegorical, theological fiction, much like John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, or even Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2025 05:24PM by zliska.