Foundational to the authenticity and reality of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth in the latter days is The Book of Mormon. If you can prove the historical accuracy of the book, you could make a huge case for Joseph Smith and the entire faith. However, there is seemingly plenty of evidence disproving The Book of Mormon: DNA connections to the past, animals that didn't exist at the right place, evidence for steel weapons, etc.
Interestingly enough, similar previous evidences denouncing the validity of The Book of Mormon has since been contradicted:
Mark Twain said of The Book of Mormon, "The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old-fashioned sound and structure of our King James’s translation of the Scriptures . . . 'And it came to pass' was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet" (Mark Twain, 1891).
Years later, an Egyptian-born teacher at Oxford who knew six languages including Arabic and Hebrew, "was convinced the Book of Mormon was indeed a translation . . . One example among many he used was the conjunctive phrase 'And it came to pass,' which he said mirrored how he would translate phraseology used in ancient Semitic writings" (Elder Quentin L. Cook; also see Elder N. Eldon Tanner).
Here is another example: Many laughed at the idea that ancient people wrote on gold sheets. One man in 1887 wrote, "No such records were ever engraved upon golden plates or any other plates, in the early ages" (M. T. Lamb). Another man wrote in 1857, "The Jews did not use plates of brass at that time" (John Hyde). There are many other examples. However, it wasn't too long before plenty of evidence for gold plates were discovered.
Scientists, archeologists, and historians are constantly uncovering new information that changes what we know about the past. To base the validity of something on missing information is like saying, "I can prove you don't own a cellphone because I can't see the outline of it in your front pocket." Similarly, historians disbelieved the reality of the city of Troy in Homer's Iliad until Troy was really discovered (Owen Jarus).
With all this being said, please do not base your faith in The Book of Mormon (or any religious text for that matter) on modern science. No scientific inquiry, archeological evidence, DNA test, or historical data can prove Jesus is the Son of God or that He rose from the dead or that Heaven is real. God, our loving Father, intended us to develop faith in Him.
I have no doubt The Book of Mormon is a real historical record as well as a powerful religious text because I have read it and prayed about it and the Spirit of God testified of its truth to my heart.
This blog post is covered with links to various pages, so please click on them. If you are interested in Book of Mormon or restoration apologetics, please see FairMormon.org. I would also love your comments below.
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| The Book of Mormon was written on gold sheets or plates (picture from LDS.org) |
Interestingly enough, similar previous evidences denouncing the validity of The Book of Mormon has since been contradicted:
Mark Twain said of The Book of Mormon, "The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old-fashioned sound and structure of our King James’s translation of the Scriptures . . . 'And it came to pass' was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet" (Mark Twain, 1891).
Years later, an Egyptian-born teacher at Oxford who knew six languages including Arabic and Hebrew, "was convinced the Book of Mormon was indeed a translation . . . One example among many he used was the conjunctive phrase 'And it came to pass,' which he said mirrored how he would translate phraseology used in ancient Semitic writings" (Elder Quentin L. Cook; also see Elder N. Eldon Tanner).
Here is another example: Many laughed at the idea that ancient people wrote on gold sheets. One man in 1887 wrote, "No such records were ever engraved upon golden plates or any other plates, in the early ages" (M. T. Lamb). Another man wrote in 1857, "The Jews did not use plates of brass at that time" (John Hyde). There are many other examples. However, it wasn't too long before plenty of evidence for gold plates were discovered.
 |
| Pyramid at Chichen Itza where writing on gold plates was first discovered in America (picture from LDS.org) |
Scientists, archeologists, and historians are constantly uncovering new information that changes what we know about the past. To base the validity of something on missing information is like saying, "I can prove you don't own a cellphone because I can't see the outline of it in your front pocket." Similarly, historians disbelieved the reality of the city of Troy in Homer's Iliad until Troy was really discovered (Owen Jarus).
With all this being said, please do not base your faith in The Book of Mormon (or any religious text for that matter) on modern science. No scientific inquiry, archeological evidence, DNA test, or historical data can prove Jesus is the Son of God or that He rose from the dead or that Heaven is real. God, our loving Father, intended us to develop faith in Him.
I have no doubt The Book of Mormon is a real historical record as well as a powerful religious text because I have read it and prayed about it and the Spirit of God testified of its truth to my heart.
This blog post is covered with links to various pages, so please click on them. If you are interested in Book of Mormon or restoration apologetics, please see FairMormon.org. I would also love your comments below.
This song is called For Our Day (it's an oldie, but goodie).
You can download it for free on LDS.org by clicking here.
Thanks for this! I learned recently that ancient Vikings accidentally made steel because of carbon from ashes and bones they used in the sword-making process. It made me realize that history by nature isn't always a complete record, and there will always be deviations from the accepted norm, especially when God is present. :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Thanks for your comment. On the "evidence for steel weapons" piece of my blog post, I linked to a FAIR Mormon article about steel in The Book of Mormon.
DeleteI just wanted to make one more comment on DNA connections from Native American people to Middle Eastern people. 1) The "DNA connections to the past" links to a good article on LDS.org. Actually, there are lots of links on this post, so please check them out. 2) My Grandpa was a Biology Professor at Weber State University. He has a PHD in Zoology and knows a little bit about DNA. Currently, he volunteers as a family history librarian in Ogden Utah and wrote an article about DNA and family history in their local family history news publication six years ago. He wrote, "Some patron told me that results from several DNA tests indicated he was more closely related to his daughter-in-law's family than to his son." He teaches a class on DNA research at the Ogden Family History Center and warns people about relying on DNA alone to trace their ancestry. DNA can tell you a lot, but it should not be the only piece of evidence relied on.
ReplyDelete