Mormonism: Untrue and Misleading

It has happened to everyone. You are enjoying a Monday afternoon and you get a knock at the door. There they are... your local Mormon missionaries. This happened to me about two years ago and since I always want to be open minded I have studied for awhile the beliefs of the church of Latter Day Saints. After reading a ton and listening to several podcasts, I am deeply bothered by the inconsistencies and glaring lies within Mormon theology. Let me begin by saying that I am praying to be much more loving towards Mormons. I have never had a bad experience with a Mormon but my heart is against them because I am fully assured that they are misleading millions with a false religion that claims Jesus' name. They are taking the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and twisting it into their own theology that is not consistent at all with the Word of God. Therefore, I do not hate Mormons. I am learning to love them and hope to be patient and share grace, truth and love with them at any opportunity I get. However, we must proclaim truth and the truth is Mormonism is untrue and deeply misleading many.

In the following, I will briefly discuss some of the huge issues with the Mormon faith and attach other resources for your own personal study.

#1 – DNA Here is the introduction in the book of Mormon

One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites… After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.

Here is the first and most detrimental issue of the Mormon faith. In his introduction, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon faith, said that the inhabitants of North America came from Jerusalem. DNA testing has shown this is absolutely false. Unfortunately for Mormons, DNA has proven that the Native Americans are descendants from Asia. This has been devastating to all Mormon scientists. More Info here.

#2 – Geography/Archaeology The Bible writes of many cities and locations which have been found by archaeologists. In other words, I can go to Jerusalem, Capernaum and Bethlehem. Most cities written of in the Book of Mormon have never been found or accounted for in any other historical texts. Also, there are coins mentioned in the book of Mormon (Alma - shibles, seon etc.) Guess how many of these have been discovered? Zero. Now, what about the Bible? Thousands of shekels have been found (Mark 12:17). Also, Smith writes of a huge battle in the Pearl of Great Price (another Mormon book) that took place on Hill Cumorah which is located in New York. Here, he claims that hundreds of thousands died (Mormon 6:15). However, there has not been one artifact found from this supposedly huge battle. To help you understand what you would find after a battle of this magnitude, this author compare it to the Battle of Gettysburg: click here see part C.

There are also anachronisms. For starters, the book of Mormon says there were horses during the events which took place between 600 B.C. and 421 AD. However, what Joseph Smith didn’t realize when he was making up Mormonism is that horses were not introduced in America around 1492 when Spanish conquistadors brought them over. There are several devastating issues like the translation of the book of Abraham (found here).

#3 – Corrections
Last, but not least, the book of Mormon claimed to be the “most correct of any book” and that if any changes are made from the 1st edition they should be few and only grammatical. Now I know there are different interpretations of "a few". However, there have been nearly 4,000 changes made within the book of Mormon and not all of them are grammatical (found here).

Some examples: Unfortunately when Smith made up Mormonism he wasn't well educated. Here are some excerpts from the first edition of the book of Mormon that have been corrected in later editions.

• in the 1830 edition, read, ". . . Adam and Eve, which was our first parents. . . ." In the 1908 edition it was changed to; "Adam and Eve, who were our first parents. . . ." 
• (subject verb agreement) - "They did not fight against God no more" (double negative) - Thousands more found with a Google search. 

Another strange thing you see in the book of Mormon is that it will go from this middle school type vocabulary to Shakespearian language rather swiftly. These portions of the book of Mormon can be quoted directly from the 1769 revision of the King James Bible. It is clear that Joseph Smith made up his portions of the book of Mormon then plagiarized others directly from the Bible.

Now to be fair I probably have some grammatical errors in this blog; however, I am not claiming that this blog is inspired either..

There are key facts of the book of Mormon that have been changed. For example, a king is dead in chapter 6 of Mosiah then alive in chapter 21. But then in a later edition of the book of Mormom, the death of this king is chapter 6 is no longer there. I would deem this outside of the category of a “few grammatical changes”. (More found here)

In conclusion, let me restate that I love all people and I would share my issues with Mormonism with any Mormon with love and respect (1 Peter 3:15). However, I do believe they are extremely misled and are following a false religion that will lead them to eternal separation from God.

I pray that I would understand God’s Word more as I grow older and that I would fight the rest of my life to represent His Son more and more in my daily life.

Great podcast where I got all this information here. (Right click, then click "Save As" to listen)

My name is Jordan Penley and I believe Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no one gets to the Father except through Him.