The Inspiration of the Book of Mormon

There is some debate over the inspiration of the Book of Mormon. For the position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints, one can look to Mormon Apostle, Bruce Mc Conkie in his book Mormon Doctrine 2^nd ed., 1966, page 99 which states:

Almost all of the doctrines of the gospel are taught in the Book of Mormon with much greater clarity and perfection than those same doctrines are revealed in the Bible. Anyone who will place in parallel columns the teachings of these two great books on such subjects as the atonement, plan of salvation, gathering of Israel, baptism, gifts of the Spirit, miracles, revelation, faith, charity, (or any of a hundred other subjects), will find conclusive proof of the superiority of Book of Mormon teachings.

According to the Bible, the Bible is written by inspiration of God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states:

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, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (KJV)

God puts a lot of importance on the Bible. Psalms 138:2 states:

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (KJV)

Since the Bible claims to be written by inspiration of God, and who’s words are elevated above the name of God, the claim of "superiority of Book of Mormon teachings" is not something to be looked over easily. Since the people that bring us the Book of Mormon claim the "superiority of Book of Mormon teachings", one must look at how the Book of Mormon came into hand. Myth of the Manuscript Found by Juvenile Instructor Office, 1888, page 71 states:

OBJECTION has been made to the divinity of the Book of Mormon on the ground that the account given in the publication of the Church, of the time occupied in the work of translation is far too short for the accomplishment of such a labor, and consequently it must have been copied or transcribed from some work written in the English language, most probably from Spaulding's "Manuscript Found." But at the outset it must be recollected that the translation was accomplished by no common method, by no ordinary means. It was done by divine aid. There were no delays over obscure passages, no difficulties over the choice of words, no stoppages from the ignorance of the translator; no time was wasted in investigation or argument over the value, intent or meaning of certain characters, and there were no references to authorities. These difficulties to human work were removed. All was as simple as when a clerk writes from dictation. The translation of the characters appeared on the Urim and Thummim, sentence by sentence, and so soon as one was correctly transcribed the next would appear. So the enquiry narrows down to the consideration of this simple question, how much could Oliver Cowdery write in a day? How many of the printed pages of the Book of Mormon could an ordinary clerk transcribe from dictation in a day? When that is determined, divide the total number of pages in the Book of Mormon by that number and you have the answer in days.

Notice that the translation took place "sentence by sentence, and so soon as one was correctly transcribed the next would appear." The text could not be incorrect because the next sentence would not appear until the previous one was transcribed correctly. This would mean that the original translation would be an exact copy, character by character, of what God himself wanted written, without error.

On page 91 of the same book:

"Martin Harris related an instance that occurred during the time that he wrote that portion of the translation of the Book of Mormon, which he was favored to write direct from the mouth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He said that the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim, and for convenience he then used the seer stone. Martin explained the translation as follows: By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say, `Written,' and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used. Martin said, after continued translation they would become weary and would go down to the river and exercise by throwing stones out on the river, etc. While so doing on one occasion, Martin found a stone very much resembling the one used for translating, and on resuming their labor of translation, Martin put in place the stone that he had found. He said that the Prophet remained silent unusually and intently gazing in darkness, no traces of the usual sentences appearing. Much surprised, Joseph exclaimed, `Martin! What is the matter? All is as dark as Egypt.' Martin's countenance betrayed him, and the prophet asked Martin why he had done so. Martin said, to stop the mouths of fools, who had told him that the Prophet had learned those sentences and was merely repeating them, etc.

Notice that Martin Harris said that if the text was not written correctly then "it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates, precisely in the language then used." In other words, the original translation is free from errors because of the use of a seer stone and the Urim and Thummim. Under this description, even spelling errors are impossible. Also, the Urim and the Thummim are mentioned as being different from the seer stone. To quote again, "the Prophet possessed a seer stone, by which he was enabled to translate as well as from the Urim and Thummim."

Joseph Fielding Smith wrote in Doctrines of Salvation Vol. 3 page 255:

SEER STONE NOT USED IN BOOK OF MORMON TRANSLATION. We have been taught since the days of the Prophet that the Urim and Thummim were returned with the plates to the angel. We have no record of the Prophet having the Urim and Thummim after the organization of the Church. Statements of translations by the Urim and Thummim after that date are evidently errors. The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the Manti Temple when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is now in the possession of the Church.

Notice that according to Joseph Fielding Smith that Urim and the Thummim was the seer stone used. However, Martin Harris said described the Urim and the Thummim as being different than the seer stone. What comes into question is who is correct, Martin Harris or Joseph Fielding Smith.

According to Joseph Smith, in Volume 1 pages 54-55 in History of the Church:

The Visitation of the Angel—Viewing the Plates.

Upon this, our second failure, Martin Harris proposed that he should withdraw himself from us, believing, as he expressed himself, that his presence was the cause of our not obtaining what we wished for. He accordingly with drew from us, and we knelt down again, and had not been many minutes engaged in prayer, when presently we beheld a light above us in the air, of exceeding brightness; and behold, an angel stood before us. In his hands he held the plates which we had been praying for these to have a view of. He turned over the leaves one by one, so that we could see them, and discern the engravings theron distinctly. He then addressed himself to David Whitmer, and said, "David, blessed is the Lord, and he that keeps His commandments;" when, immediately afterwards, we heard a voice from out of the bright light above us, saying, "These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear."

Notice that he said that they were "translated by the power of God", and later that it was "correct."

In Volume 4 page 461 in History of the Church, Joseph Smith states:

The Prophet's Estimate of the Book of Mormon.

Sunday, 28.—I spent the day in the council with the Twelve Apostles at the house of President Young, conversing with them upon a variety of subjects. Brother Joseph Fielding was present, having been absent four years on a mission to England. 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.

Notice that he said that it is the "most correct of any book."

According to Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, and others, is that through the use of the Urim and the Thummim, a translation was made that was error free, since it was the exact words that God commanded to be transcribed. Since Joseph Smith was the one that translated it as well as being the first president of the church, the original, 1830, Book of Mormon should be with out error. However, since the original 1830 Book of Mormon, there have been around 4000 changes to make the Book of Mormon today. This is no secret, at the end of "A Brief Explanation About The Book of Mormon" in the front of the modern day, 1981, Book of Mormon it states:

About this edition: Some minor errors in the text have been perpetuated in past editions of the Book of Mormon. This edition contains corrections that seem appropriate to bring the material into conformity with prepublication manuscripts and early editions edited by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

How could this be when Joseph Smith himself said that it was "translated by the power of God", and "correct"? The question arises to the types of changes done to this book that Joseph Smith call "the most correct of any book." Below is a sample of just a few from the almost 4000 changes that have been made to the 1830 Book of Mormon. The underlining was added.

Although the above changes could not be tolerated if in fact the Urim and the Thummim produced a "correct" translation, they do not change the ‘person’ of the Trinity. Below are verses were the changes made changed the ‘person’ of the Trinity.

The question then becomes, can changes like the ones mentioned be made to a translation that was "translated by the power of God"? If so, then the errors would be the fault of God, and that is impossible according to Deuteronomy 32:4, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" KJV. God could not change according to Malachi 3:6, "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." KJV. Would changes like this be done to the "most correct of any book"? If the answer is no to any of the above questions, then the validity of the Book of Mormon comes into question.

The Bible has been translated into different languages, but the original language texts are available for comparison. The grammar, punctuation, or meanings of these original language texts do not change periodically. With the Bible, the writers of the original text were inspired and they were written by the power of God. The translations were not necessarily inspired. Since any translation can be compared to the original language text that the translation originated, there is a ‘checks and balance’. This cannot be done with the Book of Mormon. The original plates that were allegedly used for the Book of Mormon are not available. It has been shown above that either God made mistakes or the information regarding the correctness of the Book of Mormon is incorrect. Since we know God does not make mistakes, then the statements made about the Book of Mormon authorship are incorrect. It is important to note that 2 Corinthians 11:14 states that "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." KJV, and the words of Paul in Galatians 1:8, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." KJV The Bible needs to be the standard that we hold all other books. Unfortunately, the Book of Mormon does not hold up to the same scrutiny.

All quotes from Mormon material were taken using GospeLink 2001 from Deseret Books.

A more complete list of the changes made to the 1830 Book of Mormon can be found in a book by Jerald and Sandra Tanner, called 3913 Changes in the Book of Mormon. Their web site is www.utlm.org.

posted 4-25-02