Could Joseph Smith have written the Book of Mormon The question of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon is the basis for any discussion on the truthfulness of the LDS church. Just as the arch crumbles if the keystone is removed, so does all the Church stand or fall with the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The enemies of the Church understand this clearly. This is why they go to such great lengths to try to disprove the Book of Mormon, for if it can be discredited, the Prophet Joseph Smith goes with it. The Church maintains that the Book of Mormon is of divine origins, and that Joseph Smith, or any other person, was uncapable of inventing a document of such length and complexity. Overview of LDS position. During his tenure at BYU, Hugh Nibley, a Mormon apologist, issued a challenge to see if any student could compose a history similar to the Book of Mormon BOM within the space of a semester,2 just as Joseph Smith translated the gold plates in less than three months. Not only that, but the history should never contradict itself, observe appropriate literary conventions, and be lavish with cultural and technical details. It is reported that no student ever succeeded in his challenge. The LDS church asserts that for a poorly educated farm boy, this task would be entirely impossible without the power of God. Overview of Critics position. The most important point the critics make concerning the writing of the Book of Mormon deals with the possible, the plausible and the probable which can be summarized by this question What is more probable, that Joseph Smith wrote the book or that a divine being showed a treasure hunting Joseph of 1. Critics believe that Occams razor be used to rule out option 2. However, this page addresses some additional concerns. First, translation of the Book of Mormon did not take place in less than three months it spanned a time period of over a year and Joseph may have been working on the text for years before the date reported as when he started. Second, the most correct of any book on earth has undergone more than 3,0. Some of these corrections included significant changes in doctrine. Third, a large portion of the Book of Mormon simply quotes the Bible, including translation errors unique to the King James Version. Fourth, stories in the Book of Mormon directly parallel stories from Josephs life, such as his fathers dream of the tree of life when Joseph was five years old. Fifth, the Book of Mormon is no more complicated than other works of fiction, such as Tolkiens Lord of the Rings and related works. Book Nathan Prophet Pdf MergerFinally, the ideas in the Book of Mormon bear strong parallels to ideas popular in New England at the time and several other books. Sixth, Joseph may have had help. References Ezra Taft Benson, the Book of MormonKeystone of Our Religion, General Conference, October 1. Hugh Nibleys Book of Mormon Challenge as found in The Translation of the Book of Mormon A Time of Miracles, by Scot and Maurine Proctor, Meridian Magazine. Joseph Smith Translates the Gold Plates, from the Churchs official website on LDS Church history. Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the Priesthood, Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual, 2. Understanding Textual changes in the Book of Mormon, by George Horton, Ensign December 1. Parents of the Prophet,Chapter Two Joseph Smiths New England Heritage, Church History In The Fulness Of Times Student Manual, 2. Template After Effects Book. Contents for this page. Introduction. Member beliefs. BOM written without divine help Josephs childhood. Josephs education. Josephs age. Josephs imagination. Book Nathan Prophet Pdf Compressor' title='Book Nathan Prophet Pdf Compressor' />BOM alternative sources. Early American influences. Others helped Joseph Modern contextual analysis. I/51nm1mJlu1L.jpg' alt='Book Nathan Prophet Pdf Download' title='Book Nathan Prophet Pdf Download' />Translating speed. Emma Smith. B. H. Roberts. Others written comparable work Modern scripture writers Automatic writing. Extraordinary accomplishments. See also. Book of Nathan the Prophet and History of Nathan the Prophet Nathan son of David External links. Sunday of the Holy Fathers Orthodox synaxarion synaxarion. THE PROPHET EZEKIEL INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHETS PART ONE Even though God had redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt and made them a mighty nation, with both. If youve never contacted us before, wed like to welcome you to the Grace to You family with a free copy of Johns book Why Believe the BibleTHE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. The Companion Bible Condensed JEREMIAH Page 1016 1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the. Why would Joseph lie Churchs response. Critics summary. Editors comments. Links. Member beliefs. Members of the LDS Church who have an intellectual testimony of the Church often say they believe in the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and therefore the LDS Church because of the assertion that Joseph Smith could not possibly have written the Book of Mormon. How could a young farm boy with limited education have written a fairly long, complex, flawless religious text like the Book of MormonIf Joseph could not have written the book on his own, his story of the golden plates and the angel must be true, they say. For example, in the Video Guide, Chapter 2, 1 Nephi 9, teachers are instructed to bear their testimony of the Book of Mormon and, You could also indicate that a book this complex could not have been written by an uneducated young man like Joseph Smith. Could someone have written the Book of Mormon without divine help Before trying to answer the question of whether or not Joseph could have written the Book of Mormon, lets examine whether anyone in the 1. Some LDS assert that no man or woman could have written the Book of Mormon without divine intervention. Our first response was made in the Overview of Critics Position in the Introduction above The most important point the critics make concerning the writing of the Book of Mormon deals with the possible, the plausible and the probable which can be summarized by this question What is more probable, that Joseph Smith wrote the book or that a divine being showed a treasure hunting Joseph of 1. Critics believe that Occams razor be used to rule out option 2. The first edition of the Book of Mormon. When the Book of Mormon was first published in 1. The text was all in paragraph form. The original Book of Mormon had the appearance of an average non religious book. The modern Book of Mormon used in the Church looks much more biblical as everything has been put into numbered chapters and verses, cross referenced with footnotes, etc. The first edition of the Book of Mormon was riddled with grammatical errors. This alone questions whether the text was written by man or translated divinely. There were also several more significant errors in the early editions of the Book of Mormon such as changing the name of King Benjamin to King Mosiah King Benjamin was already dead at this point or changing that Mary was the mother of God to the mother of the son of God. Overall there have been some 3,9. Book of Mormon. This is the book Joseph called the most correct book on earth. For more detail on the changes go to Link is here. So when determining whether or not Joseph could have written the Book of Mormon, we should actually be looking at the first edition of the Book of Mormon and not the current version we have today which has been altered by people other than Joseph Smith. How does the Book of Mormon compare to other literary works Most non LDS authors are not all that impressed with the Book of Mormon certainly no non LDS authors are so impressed as to even entertain the idea that the book could not have been written by a man without divine help. Mark Twain thought the Book of Mormon was extremely boring and referred to it as chloroform in print. The book seems to be merely a prosy detail of imaginary history, with the Old Testament for a model followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament.