BOM as Scripture

Is the Book of Mormon scripture just like the Old Testament is scripture?

Mormons claim that the Book of Mormon is scripture just like the Old Testament is scripture. What is scripture? First and foremost it’s the Word of God. It’s a love letter from God to His children and He promised to protect it.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16

Paul was speaking about the Old Testament in that verse. He said that we have every thing in the Old Testament that we need to be perfect before God. Jesus told us the same thing. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 17:31 The Old Testament is the “testament” that we’ll be judged by. Either we accept it or we won’t be persuaded even when He rose from the dead.

In fact, Jesus told us specifically that the whole gospel had been preached by the time of John the Baptist. We have everything we needed to be perfect in Him we just need to get after it.

“The law and the prophets were until John (the Baptist): since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” Luke 16:16

The whole gospel had been provided by the time of John according to Jesus Christ, no “further light and knowledge” was needed. There is no need for extra Biblical man made secret/sacred ordinances. Everything that Joseph Smith “restored” contradicts the very words of Christ. Joseph Smith’s excuse that the Bible has been corrupted is just one example. Jesus proclaimed, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matt 24:5 The sky is still over my head, and I can still feel the earth under my feet. Either His words have not passed away, or Jesus is a liar. Who do you trust, Jesus or Joseph?

There is hard physical evidence for the claims of the Bible.

Archeological discoveries are revealing that places like Jericho, and people groups such as the Hittites really did exist.
Geographical maps show us that the places of the Bible still exist; Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Egypt, The Red Sea, etc.
The Languages of the Bible are still spoken. Hebrew children in Israel today can read the Book of Isaiah Scroll that was discovered in Qumran.
The Science of the Bible is starting to make sense as our knowledge of God’s Universe increases.
The People of the Bible still exist. The DNA of the children of Israel is the same.
The History told in the Bible is corroborated by the historians of other nations.
Prophecy in the Bible has been fulfilled to the smallest detail.

Does the Book of Mormon have prophecy? No.
Does the Book of Mormon have archaeological evidence? No.
Have they even found any of the coins and money supposedly used in the BOM? No. In Israel, they still find pottery, coins, weapons, etc. all from King David’s time (which is hundreds of years before Lehi)
Does the Book of Mormon have real geographical evidence? No.
Are any of the cities of the Book of Mormon still there? No.
Are any of the languages of the Book of Mormon spoken? No.
Do any of the people groups in the Book of Mormon still exist? No.
Is there any corroborative evidence of the Book of Mormon history? No.
Is there any hard physical evidence of the Book of Mormon story? No.

DNA and the Book of Mormon

”After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the primary ancestors of the American Indians.”

On their website (www.lds.org) the Church has quietly changed the Introduction to the Book of Mormon to read this way…

“After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.”

(So much for being the most correct book on the earth) The Church had to back off their claim that the Jews were the primary ancestors of the Native Americans. DNA has proven that the Native Americans are of Asian descent. (You can’t use DNA to do your genealogy, and then say that you can’t trust it when it proves that your “scripture” is false.) LDS apologists make the excuse that there were too few Lamanites for the DNA to still be traceable. However our God, who sees the end from the beginning, Blessed be He, prepared a people who also left Jerusalem in 600 BC. They are the Lemba people. Look them up online. They are descendants of eight Cohens/priests (sons of Aaron) and their DNA proves it. Funnier still; God used Black Jews to undermine the most racist religion on the planet. By the way…according to the BOM there were supposedly far more than eight Lamanites.

God promised to preserve His Word

The Bible is proven to be letter perfect.

Is the Book of Mormon?

God promised that we could trust His Word and we know now that He has preserved it letter perfectly. The Dead Sea Scrolls are hard physical evidence that the Torah, and the Book of Isaiah are letter perfect since before the time of Christ. Nobody corrupted it. No angel took the scrolls away. The Bible, not the Book of Mormon is as the voice of one crying from the dust. The religion and god of the Book of Mormon is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or the Torah. There are over 830 Dead Sea Scrolls, as they continue to translate those scrolls I trust that they will prove the rest of the Bible has been preserved in the same manner as the Torah.

“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Psalm 12:6-7

When you know that something has been divinely protected what it says will profoundly impact your position.

Here’s a scripture from Isaiah that destroys Mormonism.

“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Isaiah 43:10-11

The Book of Mormon on the other hand, has had 3913 changes since it was first revealed.

http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm

The leaders of the Mormon Church have no qualms about making changes to the Book of Mormon. (or the Temple ceremony for that matter.) Unfortunately for them, God has a problem with anyone who tries to amend scripture (His Word).

"Our leaders are generally well justified in making the changes that have appeared in later editions of the Nephite sacred record." -Sidney B. Sperry,The Problems of the Book of Mormon, page 191

So if you wanted to believe the BOM is the Word of God, which version should you use? The original that is full of errors? Or the current one “corrected” by false leaders?

The Book of Mormon has absolutely no hard physical evidence of its truthfulness. God has not preserved it’s writings as He has with the Bible, precisely the opposite of Joseph Smith’s claims. It’s the Book of Mormon and not the Bible that has been corrupted. The Book of Mormon is not scripture like the Old Testament. In fact, it’s not scripture at all.