Session 3 – The Canon of Mormonism

1. Session 3 – The Canon of Mormonism The Mormon Church has four Canonical books Book of Mormon (1830 by Joseph Smith) Pearl of Great Price (By Joseph Smith, Canonized in 1880) Doctrine and Covenants (By Joseph Smith and others, Published 1835) The Bible (So far as its translated correctly.)

2. And LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie said: "Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known informally by the nickname Mormons) believe the Bible. Indeed, so literally and completely do their beliefs and practices conform to the teachings of the Bible that it is not uncommon to hear informed persons say: 'If all men believed the Bible, all would be Mormons.' Bible doctrine is Mormon doctrine, and Mormon doctrine is Bible doctrine. They are one and the same" (What The Mormons Think of Christ, p. 2).

3. There is an angel of light on top of every Mormon temple The Angel of light named Moroni, told Joseph Smith where the golden plates were hidden in Palmira New York. The writing on the Golden plates (in reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics) was translated with the help of Moroni and occultic seer stones.

4. Moroni or Nephi The angel Moroni story has also been changed since the first edition of the P.of G.P. was published in 1851. That edition said that the angel "Nephi" revealed the gold plates to Smith (p. 41). Other early Mormon sources which mention the angel Nephi are: The Millennial StarVol III, pp. 53, 71 and Times and Seasons Vol. III pp. 749, 753. In the latter volume on page 710, Joseph Smith said, "This paper commences my editorial career. I alone stand responsible for it." Thus, if the angel's name is wrong, Smith is at fault.

5. In 1853, Joseph's mother, Lucy Mack Smith, also said the angel's name was Nephi (Biographical Sketches, p. 79). Most Mormons today have never heard that the angel Nephi revealed the gold plates to Joseph Smith.  Everyone today understands it to have been Moroni who gave Joseph Smith the plates

6. The book of Mormon is supposed to have been written long before it was found, and was translated into perfect King James English. • There are over 25,000 words plagiarized out of the King James Bible The Book of Mormon is supposed to be a history of North/South America, and the lost tribe of Israel

7. According to Mormon lore, Smith claimed to receive the “few plates” from Moroni in 1827 and from them translated the Book of Mormon. When he was finished translating the plates he gave them back to the angel who he claimed “has them in his charge” (Joseph Smith History 1:60). In talking about the location of the plates Cameron J. Packer, in his article “Cumorah’s Cave, (where the plates were)” printed in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (v.13, no.1-2, 2004), said “Was this a real cave that Joseph and others actually walked into, or was it a visionary, or ‘virtual,’ experience?”

8. The Story of the Golden Plates As with much of LDS history, Smith’s retrieval of the gold plates is a story of incredible drama. Several LDS historians and Church manuals have repeated the story given by Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of the Mormon prophet.1 In her account, she says that her son took the plates from their secret place and, “wrapping them in his linen frock, placed them under his arm and started for home.”

9. After “traveling some distance,” he “came to a large windfall, and as he was jumping over a log, a man sprang up from behind it and gave him a heavy blow with a gun. Joseph turned around and knocked him down, then ran at the top of his speed.”2 She said her son was attacked twice more, and since there is no record of Smith rendering his assailants unconscious or incapacitated, we must assume he outran them for at least a portion of the distance necessary to reach the Smith home three miles away. We must also assume that he did all this with a slight limp that he received from a childhood surgery.

10. Smith claimed the record he received from the angel was “six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin.” He also said the “volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed.”3 Given these dimensions, we can conclude that the plates were one-sixth of a cubic foot. Since gold weighs 1,204 pounds per cubic foot, we can agree with LDS Apostle John Widtsoe who said, “If the gold were pure, [the plates] would weigh two hundred pounds, which would be a heavy weight for a man to carry, even though he were of the athletic type of Joseph Smith.

11. How do Mormon’s reply to this problem? For the purpose of record keeping, plates made of gold mixed with a certain amount of copper would be better, for such plates would be firmer, more durable and generally more suitable for the work in hand. If the plates were made of eight karat gold, which is gold frequently used in present-day jewelry, and allowing a 10 percent space between the leaves, the total weight of the plates would not be above one hundred and seventeen pounds—a weight easily carried by a man as strong as was Joseph Smith.

12. When people try lifting up lead plates (118 pounds) everyone seems to agree there is no way you could run three miles with them Realizing that the story, as told, is quite impossible, many Mormons resort to assuming that God gave Smith supernatural strength to carry the plates.

13. Mormons who offer this explanation at least seem to recognize that the story needs a bit of revision to be believable. However, such an explanation is nothing more than an argument from silence. Smith never said he needed God’s help to carry (or run with) the plates, and he certainly never gave God credit for enabling him to do so.

14. Kirk B. Henrichsen (Mormon Apologist) boldly affirms, “Neither Joseph nor any of the witnesses said that the ancient record was made from solid gold. Nor did they use the term ‘gold plates,’ or ‘plates of gold.’”6 Henrichsen’s assertion is not entirely correct. In 1989, thirteenth president Gordon B. Hinckley cited the words of Book of Mormon witness Oliver Cowdery, who said, “I beheld with my eyes and handled with my hands, the gold plates from which it was translated.”7 In an interview that appeared in the Saint’s Herald, David Whitmer, another one of the Three Witnesses, stated that the plates were made of “pure gold.”

15. In 1829, Lucy Mack Smith wrote a letter to Mary Smith Pierce explaining how God showed Joseph “where he could dig to obtain an ancient record engraven upon plates made of pure gold and this he is able to translate.”9 How did Lucy arrive at this conclusion? Is it possible she learned that from her son? In 1999, the LDS Church News printed an editorial titled “Hands on Opportunity” that stated how Joseph Smith was “entrusted with plates of solid gold.” We have ample evidence from Mormon sources that the plates were gold

16. What about the eye witnesses Mormon historian Marvin Hill concedes that the “evidence is extremely contradictory in this area, but there is a possibility that the three witnesses saw the plates in vision only.”

17. In a revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 17:2, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris were told that it was by faith they would obtain a view of the plates. This event did not take place in the room where Smith had allegedly been translating the plates, but out in the woods. It was after retiring to the woods that Smith and the three men tried “to obtain, by fervent and humble prayer,” the fulfillment of that revelation. One might ask why they needed prayer to see a tangible, physical object. When praying did not result in a “manifestation of divine favor,” Martin Harris excused himself, thinking he was the hindrance.

18. Once he left, the remaining three men prayed again and an angel stood before them holding the plates. Smith then went to find Harris who was a “considerable distance” away. The two men prayed and the “same vision” was opened to their view. Eight more men insisted they, too, “saw” the plates, but again the evidence suggests that they saw them with spiritual eyes or in “vision.”

19. Outside sources verify the plates? Pearl of Great Price – Joseph Smith, History 63-65 • “Sometime in this month of February, the aforementioned Mr. Martin Harris came to our place, got the characters which I had drawn off the plates, and started with them to the city of New York. For what took place relative to him and the characters, I refer to his own account of the circumstances, as he related them to me after his return, which was as follows: “I went to the city of New York, and presented the characters which had been translated, with the translation thereof

20. to Professor Charles Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary attainments. Professor Anthon stated that the translation was correct, more so than any he had before seen translated from the Egyptian. I then showed him those which were not yet translated, and he said that they were Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyriac, and Arabic; and he said they were true characters. He gave me a certificate, certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were true characters, and that the translation of such of them as had been translated was also correct.” February 17, 1834 – Mr. E. D. Howe wrote Charles Anthon and asked him about this (Kingdom of the Cults pg.212)

21. The Book of Mormon on the Bible The B. of M. also predicts a great and abominable church has "taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away" (I Nephi 13:26). The bottom of that page of the B. of M. dates this perversion of the gospel around 600 B.C., which was long before the "gospel of the Lamb" was even given in the New Testament! LDS claim the B. of M. has restored these "plain and precious things," and that it is the "fullness of the gospel" (B. of M. I Nephi 13:34-35; D. & C. 20:8-9; 27:5). 

22. Apostle Orson Pratt also claimed, "The Bible has been robbed of its plainness; many sacred books having been lost, others rejected by the Romish Church, and what few we have left, were copied and re-copied so many times, that it is admitted that almost every verse has been corrupted and mutilated to that degree that scarcely any two of them read alike" (The Seer, p. 213). This is a problem when we look at the manuscript tradition of the New Testament and see that the Bible hasn’t been changed

23. Joseph Smith’s story and Biblical errors Smith's first vision in which he claims to have seen God, also conflicts with the Bible, which says, "No man hath seen God at any time" (John 1:18, I John 4:12). In Exodus 33:20, God also says, "There shall no man see me and live." Men cannot see God because He is Spirit (John 4:24), and spirit is invisible (Col. 1:15, I Tim. 1:17). Invisible means it cannot be seen. John 1:18: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

24. Joseph Smith and the occult Joseph Lewis said that Joseph Smith should not be kept on the Methodist Class roll because he was a "practicing necromancer" and "dealer in enchantments and bleeding ghosts." On March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith was brought to trial for deceiving people into thinking he could find buried treasures by looking through a certain stone. He was charged court costs of $2.68 by Justice Albert Neely. (Fraser's Magazine, February, 1873, Vol. VII, pp. 229-230). Not only was he involved in the occult before Mormonism, but also after

25. Stones named Urim and Thummim were used by Joseph Smith to translate The Mormon church tries to deny that Joseph Smith used occultic seer stones before/during the translating the book of Mormon The proceedings of a court hearing dated March 20, 1826 – New York vs. Joseph Smith – revealed that Joseph Smith “had a certain stone which he had occasionally looked at to determine where hidden treasures in bowels of the earth were” Joseph Smith was also involved in the Masonic Lodge

26. More on the four standard works Book of Mormon (1830 by Joseph Smith) A history of North and South America The Jaredites (Book of Ether) came to the new world at the time of the tower of Babel. They were instructed to build eight barges in which to sail to America. This journey took three hundred and forty four days. After years of occupying the land and numbering in the millions, their civilization was destroyed by war. The last survivor, Coriantumr, was found by the Mulekites sometime before 200 B.C.

27. The Mulekites came to America from Jerusalem in 586 B.C. They were led by the last living son of Zedekiah, Mulek. Although they lived in America during the same period as the Nephites and Lamanites, they did not encounter them until around 200 B.C. They then became amalgamated with the Nephites. This group is not important in Mormon history, the next two groups are the primary focus

28. The two main groups in the Book of Mormon are the Nephites and Lamanites. The story tells of a family group led by an Israelite prophet named Lehi. He is warned by God to flee Jerusalem at 600 B.C. He and his family make their way to the southern part of Arabia where they build a ship to sail across the Pacific Ocean to America. Two of his sons, Nephi and Laman struggle for leadership. This leads to the division of the group into two warring factions, the Nephites (usually the good guys) and Lamanites (usually the bad guys).

29. The last battle between the two groups, in 421 AD, wipes out almost all of the Nephites. Moroni, the last surviving Nephite, buries the records of his civilization in the hill Cumorah. Hundreds of years later, Joseph Smith is directed to the spot by Moroni (some records say Nephi), now a resurrected being who has become an angel. At the Hill Cumorah, around 230,000 Nephites were supposed to have died… and know where the hill is and have no evidence for a war

30. What has history and science told us? • Mormon anthropologists from Brigham Young University (BYU) took 5000 DNA samples from 140 Indian tribes to “prove” that they were all • related to the Jews… • It turns out that not one of them is… Native Americans originated in Mongolia and • Northern Siberia. So close is the connection that surviving Native American connection to Asiatic origin is close to 99%.

31. What do Mormon’s say about this? “A spiritual witness is the only way to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  Although DNA studies have made links between Native Americans and Asians, these studies in no way invalidate the Book of Mormon despite the loud voices of detractors.” (John Butler, Mormon author) Nothing in the book of Mormon has been confirmed by archeology

32. Pearl of Great Price (By Joseph Smith, Canonized in 1880) The first paragraph of the Introductory Note in the LDS edition of the Pearl of Great Price reads: “The Pearl of Great Price is a selection of choice materials touching many significant aspects of the faith and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These items were produced by Joseph Smith Jr. and were published in the Church periodicals of his day.”

33. The P. of G. P. contains the books of Moses, Abraham, Joseph Smith-Matthew, Joseph Smith—History and the Articles of Faith. There are been much debate on the book of Abraham, we don’t have time to go into detail though

34. Doctrine and Covenants (By Joseph Smith and others, Published 1835) “The Doctrine and Covenants is unique among our books of scripture. It is the constitution of the Church. While the Doctrine and Covenants includes writings and statements of various origins, it is primarily a book of revelation given through the Prophet of this dispensation. “In the Doctrine and Covenants we learn of temple work, eternal families, the degrees of glory, Church organization, and many other great truths of the Restoration.” (lds.org)

35. LDS Apostle James Talmage wrote, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accepts the Holy Bible as the foremost of her standard works, first among the books which have been proclaimed as her written guides in faith and doctrine" (A. of F., p. 236). Joseph Smith also declared, "Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors" (T. of P.J.S., p. 327). And LDS Apostle Mark E. Peterson said, "Many insertions were made, some of them 'slanted' for selfish purposes, while at times deliberate falsifications and fabrications were perpetrated" (As Translated Correctly, p. 4).

36. According to Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon is the most important book of all time Obviously the D. & C. and the Bible cannot both be in "first" place above other LDS scriptures! But Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, said, "I told the brethren that the B. of M. 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" (T. of P.J.S., p. 194).

37. Many Mormons do not hold the Bible in high regards “If it be admitted that the apostles and evangelists did write the books of the New Testament, that does not prove of itself that they were divinely inspired at the time they wrote.... Add all this imperfection to the uncertainty of the translation, and who, IN HIS RIGHT MIND could for one moment suppose the Bible in its present form to be a perfect guide? Who knows that even one verse of the Bible has escaped pollution, so as to convey the same sense now that it did in the original?” (Divine Authority of the Book of Mormon, pp. 45, 47;

38. The B. of M. is not a big fan of the Bible The B. of M. also says, "Many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible... Thou fool, that shall say a Bible, we have got a Bible and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?" (II Nephi 29:3,6). Notice that only "fools" trust in the Bible alone! Verse 10 of the same passage goes on to say, "Wherefore, because ye have a Bible ye need not suppose it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written."

39. Is Doctrine and Covenant the most important book on earth? Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the LDS Church wrote, "In my judgment there is no book on earth yet come to man as important as the book known as the Doctrine and Covenants, with all due respect to the B. of M. and the Bible, and the P. of G.P. which we say are our standards in doctrine. The book of D. & C. to us stands in a peculiar position above them all" (D. of S., Vol. III, p. 198).

40. Mormons don’t know which book of scripture is the most important While Dr. Talmage said the Bible is the most important book to Mormons, Joseph Fielding Smith said the D. & C. was the most important, and the founder of Mormonism declared the B. of M. was the book that would get men nearer to God.

41. Summing it up President Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth LDS prophet said: “Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground. If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to mislead the people, then he should be exposed; his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false,..

42. …for the doctrines of an impostor cannot be made to harmonize in all particulars with divine truth If his claims and declarations were built upon fraud and deceit, there would appear many errors and contradictions, which would be easy to detect” (D. of S. Vol. 1, p. 188). Memory verse Exodus 33:20: “But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”