Joseph smith said that the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to god by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book history of the church, vol. Mormons, do you really believe that the book of mormon is. Mormon apologists have proposed multiple theories to explain apparent inconsistencies wi. The book of mormon is a broadway musical by trey parker and matt stone of south park and robert lopez of avenue q and later frozen note the story follows two young mormon men who are assigned to uganda for their mission. Trey parker, matt stone and robert lopez bring their tonywinning broadway.
Sharing gods nature and bible accuracy with mormons author. The annotated book of mormon and book of jasher its. How accurate are the songs in the musical, the book of mormon. The theory that the book of mormon is an ancient american history is not accepted as scientifically verifiable by the mainstream academic community. Second, the book of mormon contains none of the key mormon doctrines. Excluding the bible and similar writing, can you prove to an atheist or to someone that is agnostic that god exists. It isnt something we hide at allwe make a point of openly addressing it. I believe that the problem of our missionaries in our day, too, might be not so much. But these are real characters with real beliefs and thats why the book of mormon is really good. I believe that the flow of additional evidence nourishes and enlarges faith.
All of this was foreshadowed by an ancient prophet in the book of mormon. In this musical there is a catchy tune called i believe sung in which elder price expresses his crisis of faith and finds reaffirmation of it. In a previous post, i discussed questions about the exodus. The book of mormon shall stand as a testimony against the world, ether 5. Music, lyrics and book by trey parker, matt stone and robert lopez. Are we to believe joseph smith and the book of mormon that claim that plain. Nonlds people who still believe in the book of mormon april 4, 2009 in book of mormon i recently read a great post over on the mormanity website on a guy named bookslinger who has been flooding the earth with the book of mormon as well as the bible. The song contains many statements of belief which claim to be true expressions. Is this how we should test the accuracy and the truthfulness of the book or mormon. Id like to discuss both biblical and book of mormon archaeology. Nonlds people who still believe in the book of mormon.
This indicates that the jst does not in fact correct scribal a. The book of mormon is supposed to be a history of real people living in a real place. For the first 150 years of mormonisms existence, everyone thought it was a story about a people who left the middle east and came to south or central america, and who fought wars clear up into new york state where. However, i dont find this summary of the evidence to be particularly accurate, comprehensive and coherent, fruitful, aesthetically pleasing, or promising compared to what i know of the arguments in favor of historicity that i know about. How the plates of the book of mormon were translated part 2.
Many books have questionable authorship, and many places remain unidentified. Metallurgy in the book of mormon i explain in my story that metallurgy in the book of mormon was one of the reasons i no longer believe the book of mormon to be a story of real people. By describing in such precise detail a fertile arabian coastal location, as well as the route to get. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of. Of the 295 additions, the book of mormon agrees with 173 or 59% of them and disagrees with 122 or 41%. We also believe that we are our brothers keeper and therefore seek. A response to mormonisms attack upon the bibles accuracy what is the. They believe god will give confirmation of its truthfulness by a burning in the bosom. In fact all of the earliest accounts, which started in 1829 after publication of the book of mormon, describe moroni as a spirit coming in a dream, not an angelic physical visitation. They still believe that god speaks through the bible, and they certainly believe that god speaks through the book of mormon. Plus, they let a plucky mormon hero proudly assert some of the more eyebrowraising minutiae of that religion with a julie andrewslike confidence. Think joseph smith could have gotten that right by sheer chance. An examination of whether these changes are also reflected the joseph smith translation jst of the kjv reveal that they are not. Then again, i was also raised to believe one of the seminal pleasures of.
Of those 122 additions with which the book of mormon disagrees, 100 are stylistic in nature, and do not. A mormon explanation of the i believe book of mormon musical number from the tonys. If the book of mormon is true, then joseph smith was a prophet. The doctrines and teachings of the book of mormon have brought and continue to bring millions of people closer to god. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. Some latterday saints believe that there is some archaeological evidence supporting the. Many people believe that they cant do anything to protect their privacy online, but. Dont expect proof for any religion or matter of faith, but yes, there are many issues that support the concept that the book of mormon is of ancient origin and not a. All about mormons, also known as all about the mormons. The mormon claim of accurate and precise translation for the book of mormon cannot.
Here is an article about a portion of the book of mormon metallurgy. The episode revolves around the religion and culture of mormons, as a. Many members of the latter day saint movement claim historical authenticity of the book of mormon. As speakers of a semitic language, the authors of the book of mormon would have made a distinction similar to the thou vs. Ever since i was a child, i tried to be the best so what happened.
The book of mormon was written for the intent that we may believe the bible, morm. Music, lyrics and book by trey parker, matt stone and. Mormon people came to my house the other day and said its more accurate than my bible. If a mormon was asked this question the standard answer is for you to pray over the book of mormon to see if it is true. Some people believe the book of mormon is a new revelation from god. The eyewitnesses reported that the plates were always covered or hidden away when joseph dictated the book of mormon, and that he did so while looking at his seer stone in his hat the same stone he had used to search for buried treasure. A mormon explanation of the i believe book of mormon. So i watched the tony awards last night, where the book of mormon musical cleaned up. This manner of translation, allegedly guided by god, was the same mechanism by which joseph claimed to translate the book of mormon. As a missionary, i told people about this story all of the time. Mormons had accepted the book of abraham for decades, believing the churchs assertion joseph smith translated it by the power of god as he had claimed. Episodes of mormon miscellaneous, a talk show on mormon history, scripture, doctrine and many controversial topics, by lds host, van hale, now in its 38th year.
Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. It should come as no suprise that the mormons believe the book of mormon to be consistant, and they believe that the places described therein exist, and that the cultures also existed. Meldrum of the firm foundation and book of mormon evidence was the associate editor, who joined this venture for the last two years of its inception. Twelve years in the making, david, author and managing editor, first published the annotated book of mormon last year. Examining the book of mormon a christian view probe ministries. Most, but not all, mormons hold the books connection to ancient american history as an article of their faith. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Why does lds church artwork misleadingly depict joseph smith translating the book of mormon by directly examining the gold plates. In another post, there was a challenge to explain away a number of evidences of the book of mormon. If one is to believe josephs smiths claim that the book of mormon is the most correct book on earth, one cannot help but question the integrity of the biblical text as one reads the wholesale attack upon the bibles accuracy found in the pages of the book of mormon. A reply to jeremy runnells ces letter which has damaged faith of many mormons.
Analysis of the accuracy of the joseph smith translation. You may have heard about a popular broadway musical currently showing called the book of mormon. Just as the sunshine radiates from the intricate glass work in the display case of the glass blower, our lives can radiate the light of christ to others. The book of mormon can be true without being historical. The easiest part of the book of mormon to substantiate is the first 40 pages, which describe the journey of a family of israelites across the arabian desert, to. Ive read a number of the wordprint studies, so i responded to it. Most people believe the bible is on solid archaeological footing, but that isnt actually true.
As i reflect on my conversations with elder fenn, elder chapman and liza morong, what i see as the thread that weaves their stories together is a desire to seek and find god in the world. If joseph smith was a prophet, then the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is the same church that christ established while he was on the earth. Elder prices partner, elder arnold cunningham, is a nerdy. Sharing gods nature and bible accuracy with mormons. On many grounds, the book of mormon is intellectually respectable. These are five problems with the book of mormon, and to doubt its authenticity as an ancient document. If this show were a spoof, it wouldnt be the success that it is. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi, who claimed that it had. Elder kevin price is a freshfaced, eager young man and the most devout, holy member of his mormon church. There are no contemprary accounts of the appearance of moroni to joseph smith. We can help our families to create their own beautiful glass. The song contains many statements of belief which claim to be true expressions of mormon faith. I am open to feedback from church leaders regarding tone and accuracy of information, but i believe very strongly that our inability as mormons to openly discuss difficult issues. The quality of the typeface is no longer as clear and sharp as it should be.
The church has more than 16 million members, the book of mormon, another testament. A total of 295 words or phrases were added by the king james translators to the same isaiah chapters as appear in the book of mormon. Ashs claim about hun horse bones is unfortunately not accurate. The plain doctrine of jesus christ is taught in the book of mormon, and by following this doctrine, one receives the fruit of peace, joy, light, knowledge, and truth. My family and friends all said i was blessed so what happened. The evidence shows that the lord fulfilled his purpose in the creation, preservation and use of the divine interpreters, called urim and thummim, for the translation of the book of mormon from the plates held in trust by joseph smith, jr. Concerns of the historicity and origin of the book of mormon. This view finds no acceptance outside of mormonism. The lord will never allow the president of the church to lead us astray. This is important because the latterday saints make such a point about it containing the fullness of the everlasting gospel. The more i study the book of mormon, the less i believe its historical, but the greater i appreciate its spiritual value. To those who believe the book of mormon to be inspired, no doubt the. Mormons believe in the prophets of the old testament, but they also believe that in 1830, another prophet, joseph smith, received revelations from god.
The lds church has produced an update to the scriptures, following 8 years of work by historians on the joseph smith papers project you may have heard about some of the changes, as our own andrew s was the one that alerted me, but by common consent has some fantastic posts on the subject as well, to go along with allison at mormon momma with the recent work of the joseph. How could there be so many witnesses of the book of mormon and the plates and not one of them deny their testimony even when some of them became bitter toward joseph smith. The book of mormon stands as the juggernaut exception to george s. The current printing masters of the 1979 edition of the king james version of the bible and the 1981 edition of the book of mormon, doctrine and covenants, and pearl of great price have deteriorated because of age and long use. The theory that the book of mormon is an ancient american history is not accepted as scientifically verifiable by the mainstream. Of course there is room for viewing the book of mormon as true without being historical. Its another record of gods dealings with his children. How is the church of the devil, as spoken of in the book. Among those evidences was a reference to wordprints.
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