The Facts on the Mormon Church (The Facts On Series) by Ankerberg John & Weldon John & Burroughs Dillon

Author:Ankerberg, John & Weldon, John & Burroughs, Dillon [Ankerberg, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736939119
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Published: 2009-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

In conclusion, anyone who wishes can prove to their own satisfaction that the Book of Mormon cannot possibly be divinely inspired. Its occult method of translation, plagiarisms, internal inconsistencies, archaeological lack of verification, and many other problems reveal that the Mormon Church is in serious error when it claims otherwise.26

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Are the Mormon scriptures really the Word of God? If so, why has the Church made significant changes in them, and why do they contain demonstrable errors and undeniable contradictions?

The Mormon Church declares that the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants are genuine scriptures inspired by God. But this cannot possibly be true.

Jerald and Sandra Tanner have reprinted the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, noting in the text the places where it differs from the modern edition. Many significant changes and more than 3,000 minor changes are made apparent. But even one single minor change would be incompatible with the word-by-word divine translation avowed for the Book of Mormon.27

For example, the 1830 edition of Mosiah 21:28 refers to King Benjamin, while modern editions read “King Mosiah.” According to the Book of Mormon’s chronology, Benjamin was no longer king at the time (he was dead: see Mosiah 6:3-7; 7:1), so the name was changed to read King Mosiah.

Similarly, serious doctrinal problems have been corrected. For example, in 1 Nephi 11:18 the 1830 edition teaches, “The virgin which thou seest, is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh.” However, since Mary could not literally be the mother of the earth deity “Elohim,” modern editions read “the mother of the Son of God” rather than “the mother of God.”

The foregoing are a small sample of what could be listed. We have two choices: Either Smith copied errors that were originally on the supposed gold plates, or the Book of Mormon is not “a perfect translation by the power of God” as Mormonism asserts. Either way, the Book of Mormon cannot be trusted.

The Mormon scripture Doctrine and Covenants presents more serious problems. Its original edition was called the Book of Commandments and was published in 1833. This book alleged it contained direct, word-for-word revelations from God to Joseph Smith. But in 1835 the Book of Commandments was reissued under its present title with literally thousands of changes made from earlier revelations. In fact, there are at least 65,000 changes in Doctrine and Covenants from the Book of Commandments.28

Nevertheless, the Mormon Church frequently claims that the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants have never been changed. Supposedly, there has been no tampering with “God’s Word.”29 But the evidence is there for anyone to see. All interested readers may examine the issue for themselves by comparing modern versions with the first editions of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.30

The third inspired scripture of the Mormon Church is The Pearl of Great Price. The Church also maintains this book has not undergone changes. However, yet again there have been literally thousands of words deleted and hundreds of words added during reprints over the years.

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