Mormon Scripture -
Conviction or Contradiction?

 

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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