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The Book of
Mormon, first published in 1830, is the main publication that Mormon
missionaries will try to place into the hands of prospective converts. Upon
reading the very first page of its introduction, you will notice the boast
that it “contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting
gospel”. It continues on to quote Joseph Smith, the Church’s founder, who
said 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”. Although this may sound very
impressive, a potential convert will soon discover that the Latter-day Saint
Church (LDS) surprisingly places the Book of Mormon as just one of its
inspired works. In addition to the King James Version of the Bible, its two
other written works are Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. All
of these alleged scriptures, according to LDS teachings, were inspired by
God and contain further revelations and truths imperative to our spiritual
lives today. If this claim is true, if all the major Mormon works were
equally God-breathed, we would expect to see a consistency of doctrine,
practice and revelation throughout all of them. Considering what we already
know about the immutable nature of God from the pages of the holy Bible, for
us to even consider the LDS works as scripture they must first harmonize
and agree with the previous revelations of the Bible, and each other. After
all, God is not the author of confusion, neither does He change His mind (1
Corinthians 14:33; Numbers 23:19). However, we will see that the following
chart contains many contradictions between the three unique LDS works – The
Book of Mormon (BOM), Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) and Pearl of Great Price
(PGP). The chart is not meant to be exhaustive; it is just intended to
reveal obvious problems with the LDS’ claim that God is the author of its
works.
Contradictions
in Mormon Scripture
There is one God
BOM - Alma
11:22, 26-31 |
There are many Gods
PGP
- Abraham chapters 4 & 5 |
God is a Spirit
BOM - Alma 18:26-28; 22:9-11 |
God has a physical body
D&C - Section 130:22 |
God’s Word is unchangeable
BOM - Alma 41:8 |
God’s Word can change
D&C - Section 56:4-6 |
No salvation after death
BOM - Alma 34:32-35; Mosiah 3:24-27 |
Salvation possible after
death
D&C - Section 88:99; 76:106-112 |
Polygamy condemned
BOM - Jacob 1:15, 2:24-27; Ether 10:5 |
Polygamy
commended
D&C- Section 132:1, 37-39, 61-62 |
God dwells in our heart
BOM - Alma 34:36 |
God doesn’t dwell in our
heart
D&C
- Section 130:3 |
Murder can be forgiven
BOM - 3 Nephi 30:2 |
Murder can not be forgiven
D&C - Section 42:18 |
God can not lie
BOM - Ether 3:12, 2 Nephi 9:34 |
God commands lying
PGP - Book of Abraham 2:22-25 |
No pre-existence of
mankind
BOM - Jacob 4:9 |
Mankind pre-existed
D&C - Section 93:23, 29 |
Key:
BOM-Book of Mormon
D&C- Doctrine and Covenants
PGP- Pearl of Great Price
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