Mormonism; A Life Under False Pretenses by Lee B Baker

Author:Lee B Baker [Baker, Lee B]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, Christianity, History
ISBN: 9781937520755
Publisher: First Edition Design ebook Publishing
Published: 2012-04-22T05:00:00+00:00

The Book of Mormon—An Inspired, Invented, or Imitated Manuscript?

One of the fundamental elements of my conversion to Mormonism in the late 1970s was a belief that the Book of Mormon was authentically a set of ancient Scriptures that had been lost to the modern world. As I became familiar with both the Dead Sea Scrolls164 and the Nag Hammadi Library,165 the elementary concept of lost Scriptures like the Book of Mormon was well established within my personal testimony. In fact, many times, both logically and historically, I defended the general notion of lost Scriptures and specifically the Book of Mormon through precisely those two examples. The world-renowned copper scroll, ancient stone boxes with gold and silver plates, as well as the discovery of thousands of stone and clay tablets all validated the Joseph Smith story that ancient sacred records had in fact been intentionally buried.

Several times during my discussions of the character and integrity of the Prophet Joseph Smith, frustrated Mormons have stated, “Well, if Joseph did make mistakes in his personal life, that does not change the fact that the Book of Mormon is still true.” This section will address the shortcomings of that viewpoint with clear examples of how the Book of Mormon itself cannot withstand even a limited review of its errors, inconsistencies, and spiritually ambiguous statements when taken within Mormonism as a whole.

Words cannot describe the hopelessness I felt when I first learned of and then purchased a copy of the book “View of the Hebrews”, which was first published in 1825. Knowing that the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, I was overwhelmed to learn that the book, “View of the Hebrews” was written by a Preacher, the Rev. Ethan Smith of Oliver Cowdery’s family in Poultney, Vermont. For those unfamiliar with the Book of Mormon story, Oliver Cowdery was the first scribe of Joseph Smith for the Book of Mormon and it could hardly be coincidental that major elements of the first book “View of the Hebrews” would be repeated in the Book of Mormon after Oliver began to work for Joseph. Of the many similarities between the two books, several foundational Mormon points of Doctrine, found within the “View of the Hebrews” completely shattered my testimony of the Book of Mormon. A few of the religiously essential and uniquely foundational Mormon positions that were first published in the “View of the Hebrews”, which are now found in the Book of Mormon are: 1) The origin of the American Indians were from the Israelite Nation, 2) Extensive quotations from the book of Isaiah, 3) Once in America, the sharp division of these migrants from Jerusalem into civilized and uncivilized warring clans, 4) That these clans were of the Ten Lost Tribes, 5) Great wars and extensive military fortifications, 6) The Gospel of Jesus Christ is taught among the American natives, 7) The burial of a “lost book” with “yellow leaves” and much more. So harmful was the rediscovery of this obscure little book that in the 1920’s, that the senior Mormon historian of the day, B.

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