The book of mormon contains the purported stories of three different groups which sailed to the americas. Book of mormon, work accepted as holy scripture, in addition to the bible, in the church of jesus christ of latterday saints and other mormon churches. Parker and stone were best known for creating the animated comedy south park. The writers of the book of mormon musical focus their story on two groups of people, but it is clear from the text that they, themselves, are outsiders of both groups. Make sure you check back often to see other issues that we see as problematic for the mormon church. Mormons believe that the book of mormon confirms information found in the holy bible. Mormon is allegedly a prophethistorian who was the native american believed by mormons to have written the book of mormon the main religious text of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints mormonism. How the lds quorum of apostles think enemies list and area business weekends duration. Those discussed here are grouped into 3 categories.
Analytical and contextual commentary on the book of mormon and the gift and power. An angel, moroni, instructs him and shows him where to find. The text gives an account of ancient prophets who lived. They do not seem to realize that such an admission implies that any faults mean that at least at that point the man was not inspired by god. The book of mormon follows the story of two missionaries who are sent from salt lake city to preach in a remote ugandan village. The problem is that the math just does not add up to make it remotely possible. Either the book of mormon is what the prophet joseph said it is, or this church and its founder are false, a deception from the first instance onward. The website wanted to include a debate on some topic related to mormonism, and asked me to submit a first statement. The origin of the book of mormon is miraculous, and it is the only book which promises that by divine power the reader may know it is true. One missionary, elder price, is an enthusiastic gogetter with a strong. The mormon story is that the nephite military commander and prophet moroni buried a history of his people, written on gold plates, in the hill cumorah in ad 421. As members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, we believe the book of mormon to be the word of god. It is either of divine or human origin, and if it is of human origin that means that joseph smith concocted the book. Translating the book of mormon religious studies center.
Problems with the historicity of the book of mormon. Book of mormon stories by the church of jesus christ of. I told the brethren 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. The book of mormon follows two young missionaries who are sent to uganda to try to convert citizens to the mormon religion. The story of the gold plates is an absolutely essential part of the mormon narrative, for in the eyes of many latterday saints, the coming forth of this record, and its subsequent translation into the book of mormon, legitimizes their belief that smith was indeed a prophet sent by god to restore the true christian faith lost long ago due to a. While the church has pinned its hopes on the work of limited geography apologetics, the essay makes no mention of geography at all. They were taking the word of their pastor, or mom, or friend and writing off the book for good. The power of the book of mormon church of jesus christ. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of. Mormon missionaries continue to claim that the science of archeology substantiates the book of mormon, but whether we consider the alleged cities, persons, animals, fabrics, metals, wars and war implements, kings, palaces, or crops, all the. It might be the funniest thing in the world to me when someone tells me with absolute certainty that the book of mormon isnt true after having admitted never actually reading the book themselves.
One of the problems with the book of mormon is that the church teaches a literal interpretation of it as the book is intended to be a true history of the people in it. 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. Looking at the big picture it seems clear that smith never had an ancient record of historical. Mormons will probably cite as an excuse for such errors the passage in the book of mormon bom, which says mormon 8. For most of the history of the lds church, the book of mormon was not used.
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. I love this book for teaching my children the stories from the book of mormon. This is copied word for word into the book of mormon. For example, critics of mormonism have shown convincing proof that the book of mormon is a synthesis of earlier works written by other men, of the vivid imaginings of joseph smith, and of plagiarisms from the king james bible. Joseph smith sees a vision of god and jesus christ. The only bible that joseph smith relied on was the king james version. There is a common misunderstanding among some critics of the book of mormon that the word adieu is not an english word.
The book of mormon is a comingofage story of two young, extremely likeable mormons on their mission to spread the lords word. Under each picture you will see where you can find that story in the. Written by stone, parker and avenue qs cocreator robert lopez. Regarding murphys problem with oats in the book of mormon, i suspect that he has been reading anti mormon literature a little too much, for the word oats does not occur anywhere in the book of mormon. Lds historical facts, problems, controversies, and contradictions. The author also believed this until he was a young minister just twentytwo years old. Enos is the third author in the book of mormon after nephi 1 and jacob. The decision to use the word challenge came from a remark by president spencer w.
The book of mormon is the word of god the church of. There are two possible explanations for the origin of the book of mormon. The book of mormon does not have a story of christmas in the same sense as the bible does, because it was not set in the land of israel except for the very beginning of the book. The book of mormon is a musical comedy with music, lyrics and book by trey parker, robert lopez, and matt stone first staged in 2011, the play is a satirical examination of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints beliefs and practices that ultimately endorses the positive power of love and service. The book of mormon musical synopsis with cunningham now in charge of the mission it becomes clear that his lack of education results in him making things up making things up again. There are multitudes of problems withe the book of mormon, not the least of which is the fact that much of the later official doctrine of the church contradicts much of the book of mormon s doctrine. Besides its obvious plagiarisms, other serious problems plague the book of mormon. Gardner earned a masters degree in anthropology and mesoamerican ethnohistory from the state university of new york at albany. The book of mormon is supposed to be a history of real people living in a real place. Joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon was the most correct book.
The book of mormon preserves some demonstrable mistranslations of the king james version of the bible. Greek and latin words and other problems in the book of mormon part 1 this is the first of several articles dealing with the problems in the book of mormon. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. After you read the stories in this book, you will also want to read them from the book of mormon. Problems with the book of mormon are documented in, an incredible story part i the book of mormon. God has so declared it, so have its writers, so have its witnesses, and so do all those who have read it and received a personal revelation from god as to its truthfulness. As we begin to explore mormon archaeology, it seems appropriate to introduce the fascinating history of thomas ferguson, an attorney by trade, whose true passion manifest as an amateur archaeologist who dedicated decades of his life to the search for evidence to validate the book of mormon as a historical record. Knowledge that the book of mormon is true brings a conviction of the truth of many other things, such as joseph smiths prophetic calling and the truthfulness of. The false translation of the book of abraham, therefore, casts serious doubt on the book of mormon as well, forever debilitating josephs claim he was a true, inspired prophet of god. Book of mormon stories the church of jesus crist of latterday saints. The underlying premise of mormonthink is that many of the issues, or at least the details of the issues, covered on mormonthink are unknown to most latterday saints.
Marilyn has studied and researched the book of mormon for years. If this is true, then the book of mormon should be full of errors. Problems with the book of mormon by matt slick the book of mormon is supposed to be the account of people who came from the middleeast to the americas. A young bishop in england describes how the book of mormon came to life for him and changed his perspective forever. The challenge of the book of mormon religious studies center. Is it time to pull the curtain on the book of mormon. Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed to accrue a long list of embarrassments which the church leaders would prefer were kept silent. Joseph smith translated the book of mormon from gold plates. She also teaches a scripture study class weekly for a group that religiously attends and, those of us who cannot attend due to work commitments, sorely miss the opportunity to drink in all that marilyn has to offer. At that time, he decided to write a book proving to the christian world that the book of mormon is indeed the word of god, and should be. My topic for discussion here is the challenge of the book of mormon.
Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. She was able to follow the story and keep track of the different groups of people and the battles. Therefore, there is no coverage of the birth of the baby jesus and the events surrounding it. Thousands of mormons left the church as the result of this discovery, while thousands more are completely unaware of this important piece of evidence. In 2 nephi 5, we have the story that a temple was built in the first 20 years in the new world.
Book of mormon problems hope, faith, and reading glasses. The book of mormon, a larky buddy story about two american mormons who go to uganda in an attempt to convert the natives, is utterly irresistible. On the east wind in the book of mormon dan peterson. His stories however begin to relate to the people and gets them to listen, and he decides that bending the truth cannot hurt, as it will ultimately help them. Top 10 embarrassments of the mormon religion listverse. The book of mormon was conceived by trey parker, matt stone and robert lopez. The problem stems from the fact that adieu is both an english word and a french word, and most english speakers are. He is best known for his lengthy prayer while hunting in the wilderness, wherein he first asks for personal forgiveness, then for gods blessings upon the nephites, then his blessings upon the lamanites, then that a record of the nephites will be preserved and brought into the lamantes at some future day should. Another major problem for the book of mormon is archeology, a major embarrassment for the mormon church. The enos problem in the book of mormon adventures in.
Lehi and his party obviously had knowledge of the wheel. The story primarily follows the adventures of two mormon missionaries who are sent to a wartorn village in uganda to convert the townsfolk to the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Book of mormon play, book of mormon stories, book of mormon quotes, lds books, lds scriptures, lds church, church ideas, family home evening. The story of pharaohs dream of seven thin ears of corn that are blasted with the east wind genesis 41. The first group and the one that gets the most respectful, nuanced and researched treatment in the play. By richard packham the original version of this essay was written pursuant to an invitation from the website public square, which features online debates on a wide range of topics politics, society, philosophy, religion. The jaredites book of ether came to the new world at the time of the tower of babel. Twelve beliefs the mormon church might not want you to. For more exhaustive analyses of this matter, i recommend looking here, here, here, here, here and here joseph smith, history of the church, 4. In 2014 the church quietly published book of mormon and dna studies, an essay which distills an avalanche of mormon apologetics published solely in lds journals, and attempts to address population genetics. Whatever dark places the story takes its characters, the book of mormon ends on a high of genuine, cheesy, totally earned optimism an emotional departure from the destructionladen final. Book of mormon stories the church of jesus christ of latterday.
The highly acclaimed musical the book of mormon opened on broadway in 2011 and is still playing to soldout crowds there. Elder price and elder cunningham terrific international leads. Problems of the book of mormon hardcover january 1, 1964 by sidney branton sperry author 5. Its touring company has successful runs in numerous cities every. The book of mormon uses the term chariot many times and in many different time periods which shows that the bom peoples used the concept of the wheel. Problems with the gold plates of the book of mormon. The book of mormon is claimed to be the most correct book on earth and the keystone of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. The text gives an account of ancient prophets who lived in the americas.
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