The Book of Mormon, Translation, Errors, and even the Witnesses

Last updated 5/18/18

The Book of Mormon

2.1- Method of translation

            As we all remember the pictures from primary showing Joseph reading straight from the golden plates as if they were a book. Then usually there was also a scribe, this individual should have been depicted as behind a sheet or otherwise unable to see the plates (but not always shown this way). But we were also taught about the Urim and Thummim, being made specifically for translating by the power of God. This item was included with the plates, very convenient, for just that purpose. Why are there so few pictures showing this? Hard to draw, we only have a rough description of the thing? That is beside the point. It turns out, that is not how the majority of the Book of Mormon was translated.

            From the churches essay about the translation of the Book of Mormon we learn; “Joseph Smith and his scribes wrote of two instruments used in translating the Book of Mormon. … One instrument, called in the Book of Mormon the “interpreters,” is better known to Latter-day Saints today as the “Urim and Thummim.” Joseph found the interpreters buried in the hill with the plates. … The other instrument, which Joseph Smith discovered in the ground years before he retrieved the gold plates, was a small oval stone, or “seer stone.” As a young man during the 1820s, Joseph Smith, like others in his day, used a seer stone to look for lost objects and buried treasure.”

            Wait a second, what is this about a stone he found in the ground? “Joseph Smith probably possessed more than one seer stone; he appears to have found one of the stones while digging for a well around 1822.” (Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism [Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984], 69–70.)

“Like many other New Englanders, they were familiar with searches for lost treasure by supernatural means. Joseph Smith's father was reputed to be one of these treasure seekers, and Joseph Smith himself had found a stone, called a seer stone, which reportedly enabled him to find lost objects. Treasure-seekers wanted to employ him to help with their searches. One, a man named Josiah Stowell, hired Joseph and his father in 1825 to dig for a supposed Spanish treasure near harmony, Pennsylvania. The effort came to nothing, and the Smiths returned home, but the neighbors continued to think of the Smiths as part of the treasure-seeking company.” (http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Smith,_Joseph)

“By 1825, [19 yrs old – 5 years after the First Vision] young Joseph had a reputation in Manchester and Palmyra for his activities as a treasure seer, or someone who used a seer stone to locate gold or other valuable objects buried in the earth.” (Elder Steven E. Snow, Church Historian, Ensign, September 2015)

           

           So, a rock he finds 2 years after the first vision takes place, he keeps it, and it is this rock that becomes a “seer stone” to help with translating the BOM? Turns out, the church still has this rock! They even have a picture of it for everyone to see. Now, what we do know of the U&T, they were clear stones that you looked through. This rock however is a “chocolate-colored stone with an oval shape.” Not exactly something that you can look through and see out the other side.

           

So, how does this rock help with the translation of the Book of Mormon? Let’s go back to the essay:

“According to these accounts, Joseph placed either the interpreters or the seer stone in a hat, pressed his face into the hat to block out extraneous light, and read aloud the English words that appeared on the instrument.”

            So with this information, a more appropriate picture would look more like a guy with a hat covering his face, and not the gold plates on a table being read aloud. This brings up another interesting point, why did he need the plates at all? It’s not like he had them in the hat along with the seer stone did he? Another point could be brought up as well; could he have stumbled upon the plates while searching for other buried treasure? This actually has been addressed before it turns out.

“Rumors constantly swirled about hunter’s smiling fortunes, which excited still others to further digging. Smith family reportedly found objects as a cannon ball, a cache of gold watches and according to the viewpoint of some of their neighbors the golden plates which produced the book of Mormon. … Indeed in ways that are yet to be explored, money digging may have influenced two of the nineteenth century’s major social and religious movements Mormonism and Spiritualism. Its touch on American society was not light.” (Ronald W. Walker, The Persistent Idea of Treasure Hunting in America. http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol24/iss4/4/)

            I guess here I’m not so much claiming that this is all false. I think my biggest issue here is that the church seems to keep this under the radar. You have a kid claiming that God talked to him (or an angel, depending on the version), expecting us to believe that; but think we will get hung up on the fact that he translated the plates by placing a rock in a hat? OK, now that I type that part out, it would be a bit much to swallow that one. None the less, why not be more straightforward with this information long before now? There are a few obscure references to “seer stones” in older ensign articles, but nothing about placing them in a hat. I find it odd and disturbing that all of this information is just now being brought to light. All at the same time that we have the internet to be able to search these things out is when they release this essay. If there were no internet, no Google search, would they have ever opened the door to this one? I would love to have seen people’s faces on my mission, “Yeah, he stuck a rock in his had that he found while digging a well, then smashed the hat to his face, and it showed him the English words.” I don’t think that would have gone over well, but it’s not like I had much luck with the story as I originally learned it anyway.

2.2- Source material for the Book of Mormon

            Now, if Joseph didn’t get the story for the Book of Mormon from the plates, then where did he get it? That is a solid question. Here is a place that I obviously had to search outside the churches realm for possible answers. Was Joseph Smith capable of writing the Book of Mormon himself? Could he have used other sources for its themes and stories?

First and foremost, the source. This source is not from within the church. This source goes over similarities between the Book of Mormon, and another book published in 1816 titled, The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain. This book was marketed “for the use of schools throughout the United states,” and was used extensively in schools of the time.

Needless to say, this book is large. There are hundreds of similarities. I do not have time to go over every one of them, so I will use a quick summary from the website. 

           OK, one more book from the same time period. This one is titled, The First Book of Napoleon. Thankfully, this one has a full scanned copy via google.

            Again, for the essence of time, I will not go into great detail of the similarities. I will only quote a few of the very first verses of the book.

1.      And behold it came to pass, in these latter days, that an evil spirit arose on the face of the earth, and greatly troubled the sons of men.

2.      And this spirit seized upon, and spread amongst the people who dwell in the land of Gaul.

3.      Now, in this people the fear of the Lord had not been for many generations, and they had become a corrupt and perverse people; and their chief priests, and the nobles of the land, and the learned men thereof, had become wicked in the imaginations of their hearts, and in the practices of their lives.

OK, that is literally the first 3 verses of this book. These few verses sound insanely close to what we see in the Book of Mormon. Similar speech patterns, identical terms even. Again, this was a book that was published prior to the Boom of Mormon, this one in 1809.

Alright, this next book I want to point out is extra interesting. This is a book was published by Charles Anthon. You might recognize this name. This is the individual who they took the “Reformed Egyptian” to, trying to get him to authenticate it. Anyway, in 1827 he published a book called, “Classical Dictionary: A Copius Account of All the proper names mentioned in ancient authors with the value of coins, weights, and measures, used among the Greeks and Romans and A Chronological Table.” Part of this book contains a dictionary of ancient names. What names might be included in this? Let’s have a look!

Mormon/Memnon (p.454), Cumorah/Cremera (p.214), Helorum/Helorum (p.334), Zenos/Zeno (p.335,884-887), Sidon/Sidon (p.763), Alma/Almamon (p.n17), Melek (p.668), Teancum/Teanum (p.763), Pachus/Paphus(p.578), Antion (p.106), Antionum/Antium (p.106), Coriantum/Corinthum(p.208), Coriantumr/Corinthium-br (p.208), Chemish/Chemmis (p.577), Mosiah/Mosa (p.504), Omni/Omnis (p.557), Pahoran/Pavorane (p.220), Helaman/Haliacmon (p.325), Zarahemla/Zamora (p.883), Egyptus/Egyptus (p.105), Curelom/Curium (p.219), Nephites/Nepherites (p.520), Antiparah/Antiparos (p.63), Lachoneus/Laconia (p.377), Enos/Ænos (p.19), Ether/Æther (p.282), Neas/Nea (p.516), Morianton/Marmarion (p.460), Gadianton/Gaditanum (p.305), Corom/Coron (p.210,378), Moroni/Morini(p.313,503).

This book also contains sections on Egyptian culture and Egyptian theology. And it is form these Egyptian links that we find many of these names. It also has sections with values of coins, weights, other measurements. And yes, this was out and published years before the Book of Mormon.

The last topic I will go into for other possible sources of the BOM is a dream that Joseph Smith’s Father had in 1811. This dream was so profound to Joseph Smith Sr. that he shared it with his family. His wife recorded the following in her journal about the account.

“I thought,” said he, “I was traveling in an open, desolate field, which appeared to be very barren. As I was thus traveling, the thought suddenly came into my mind that I had better stop and reflect upon what I was doing, before I went any further. So I asked myself, 'What motive can I have in traveling here, and what place can this be?' My guide, who was by my side, as before, said, 'This is the desolate world; but travel on.' The road was so broad and barren that I wondered why I should travel in it; for, said I to myself, 'Broad is the road, and wide is the gate that leads to death, and many there be that walk therein; but narrow is the way, and straight is the gate that leads to everlasting' life, and few there be that go in thereat.' Traveling a short distance farther, I came to a narrow path. This path I entered, and, when I had traveled a little way in it, I beheld a beautiful stream of water, which ran from the east to the west. Of this stream I could see neither the source nor yet the termination; but as far as my eyes could extend I could see a rope running along the bank of it, about as high as a man could reach, and beyond me was a low, but very pleasant valley, in which stood a tree such as I had never seen before. It was exceedingly handsome, insomuch that I looked upon it with wonder and admiration. Its beautiful branches spread themselves somewhat like an umbrella, and it bore a kind of fruit, in shape much like a chestnut bur, and as white as snow, or, if possible whiter. I gazed upon the same with considerable interest, and as I was doing so the burs or shells commenced opening and shedding their particles, or the fruit which they contained, which was of dazzling whiteness. I drew near and began to eat of it, and I found it delicious beyond description. As I was eating, I said in my heart, 'I can not eat this alone, I must bring my wife and children, that they may partake with me.' Accordingly, I went and brought my family, which consisted of a wife and seven children, and we all commenced eating, and praising God for this blessing. We were exceedingly happy, insomuch that our joy could not easily be expressed. “While thus engaged, I beheld a spacious building standing opposite the valley which we were in, and it appeared to reach to the very heavens. It was full of doors and windows, and they were filled with people, who were very finely dressed. When these people observed us in the low valley, under the tree, they pointed the finger of scorn at us, and treated us with all manner of disrespect and contempt. But their contumely we utterly disregarded. I presently turned to my guide, and inquired of him the meaning of the fruit that was so delicious. He told me it was the pure love of God, shed abroad in the hearts of all those who love him, and keep his commandments. He then commanded me to go and bring the rest of my children. I told him that we were all there. 'No,' he replied, 'look yonder, you have two more, and you must bring them also.' Upon raising my eyes, I saw two small children, standing some distance off. I immediately went to them, and brought them to the tree; upon which they commenced eating with the rest, and we all rejoiced together. The more we ate, the more we seemed to desire, until we even got down upon our knees, and scooped it up, eating it by double handfuls. After feasting in this manner a short time, I asked my guide what was the meaning of the spacious building which I saw. He replied, 'It is Babylon, it is Babylon, and it must fall. The people in the doors and windows are the inhabitants thereof, who scorn and despise the Saints of God because of their humility.' I soon awoke, clapping my hands together for joy.” (Lucy Mack Smith, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU, March 2004, pp 58-59)

            So this dream, which undoubtedly Joseph Smith Jr. would have grown up hearing, sounds awfully similar to that dream that Lehi has about the Tree of Life in the BOM. With the striking similarities between both his fathers’ dream and the two book previously mentioned, all he would need is a good imagination to finish writing the Book of Mormon.

2.3- Anachronisms

An anachronism is, per dictionary.com “something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time.” And as it turns out, the Book of Mormon is full of these. This again is something that I have wondered about for a very long time.

Ether 9:18-19 –

18 And also all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep, and of swine, and of goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of man.
19 And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms.

            So from verse 18 it talks about cattle, oxen, cows, sheep, swine, goats, horses and donkeys. We have solid scientific evidence that horses, domesticated or wild, were not found prior to the Spanish conquests. Again, evidence is found for swine as well stating that there were no native species found in the Americas, and were not found until European explorers came to this area. The story is the same for sheep, nothing prior to Columbus.

            Then from verse 19 it talks specifically about elephants. Elephants, mastodons and mammoths evolved from a common ancestor about 10-20 million years ago. While elephants stayed in Africa and Asia, mastodons and mammoths migrated into America across the Bering Strait during the last Ice Age. Mastodons and mammoths were hunted to extinction during the Pleistocene era, about 13.7-14.8 thousand years ago. While the fossil record shows contact early humans, these animals disappeared long before the Jaredite story begins. Source from Scientific American.

            As for whatever cureloms and cumoms are? Your guess is as good as mine, but thankfully, we have google to help us out. So, here is what I was able to drum up from a quick google.com search.

1.      Wikipedia (if you know me, I hate Wikipedia, but it is a good enough starting place). “According to Latter-day Saint belief, Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from an ancient language. In this line of thinking, the words curelom and cumom were transliterated instead of translated, meaning that while the ancient word is roughly transmitted, the actual animal intended is ambiguous. The context may imply beasts of burden.”

2.      This source is titled Mormon Beliefs, never heard of it until now. “These are possibilities for a curelom and cumom, but no one knows for sure. The scholarly research into the Book of Mormon provides an interesting perspective into the lives and cultures of these ancient peoples. Although science and scholars can answer some questions raised by the animals in the Book of Mormon, they cannot answer all of them. This is where the reader must rely on a spiritual witness that the book is true.” So, not helpful at all.

There were a handful of other sources, but they all try and jump around the same things. There is loose talk about llamas or possibly some camel family member of some sort, but there has been no scientific evidence for that. When finally going to LDS.com I found this, “Unidentified animals.” Again, nothing scientific, nothing that can help answer questions, and nothing that can clear up the obvious confusion about these listed animals that we have no scientific or fossil evidence of having existed at the same time as either the Nephite/Lamanite or the Jaredite people.

2.4- DNA evidence

            Here is a subject I found specifically interesting, DNA, the basic proof of everything living. Over the years, prophets, apostles, and missionaries have preached an ancestral link between the ancient Hebrews and Native Americans.

“As I look into your faces, I think of Father Lehi, whose sons and daughters you are. I think he must be shedding tears today, tears of love and gratitude.... This is but the beginning of the work in Peru.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, God’s Holy Work in Peru, Ensign, February 1997, p.73)

“We also bare testimony that the Indians of North and South America are a remnant of the tribes of Israel; as is now made manifest by the discovery and revelation of their ancient oracles and records.” (Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 1845)

“Central America, or Guat[e]mala, is situated north of the Isthmus of Darien and once embraced by several hundred miles of territory from north to south. The city of Zarahemla, burnt at the crucifixion of the Savior, and rebuilt afterwards, stood up on this land as will be seen from the following words from the Book of Alma: ‘And now it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful, and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi, and the land of Zarahemla was nearly surrounded by water: there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward.’” (Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, October 1, 1842, vol.3, no.23)

            We know from the BOM that Lehi was a decedent of Joseph who was sold into Egypt, whose family ended up settling in Jerusalem. The BOM confirms that Lehi came from Jerusalem. So it should stand to reason, that if Lehi and his family is the primary (or even a portion of) the ancestry of the Native Americans, then they should be able to trace their DNA back to a similar line to those found in and from the Israel area.

            So, what does the data say? Information from the international Human Genome Project shows some fantastic finding on the movement of DNA lineages.

“Lying at the intersection of what is today Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, the region known as the Altai. The Altai region has played a critical role in the peopling of northern Asia as an entry point into Siberia and a possible homeland for ancestral Native Americans. It has an old and rich history because humans have inhabited this area since the Paleolithic. To untangle Altaian genetic histories, we analyzed mtDNA and Y chromosome variation in northern and southern Altaian populations. Based on these data, we noted differences in the origin and population history of Altaian ethnic groups. Moreover, high-resolution analysis of Y chromosome haplogroup Q has allowed us to reshape the phylogeny of this branch, making connections between populations of the New World and Old World more apparent and demonstrating that southern Altaians and Native Americans share a recent common ancestor. These results greatly enhance our understanding of the peopling of Siberia and the Americas”. (The American Journal of Human Genetics, 10 February 2012, vol.90, issue 2, pp.229-246, in association with the University of Pennsylvania and the American Society of Human Genetics, Matthew C. Dulik, et al.)

“A comparison of Native Americans, Siberians and Asians reveals that the same mtDNA lineages in all groups share mutations in the control region that are specific to the haplogroups. The simplest explanation is that the control region mutations arose in Asia in the founding mtDNA lineages and were carried to the New World by the ancestral Native Americans.” (Theodore G. Schurr, Mitochondrial DNA and the Peopling of the New World, American Scientist -The Scientific Research Society, May-June 2000)

            Looking at both of these studies, it is rather definitive that after having taken DNA samples from every known tribe of Native Americans, there was not a drop of middle eastern blood found. Everything appears to have originated from Asia, nothing from the Middle East or Jerusalem at all. Thomas W. Murphy, chair of the Department of Anthropology at Edmonds College in Washington, wrote:

“Now that quantitative scientific methods can indeed test for an Israelite genetic presence in ancient America, we learn instead that virtually all Native Americans can trace their lineages to the Asian migrations between 7,000 and 50,000 years ago. While molecular anthropologists have the technological capability to identify descendants of ancient Hebrews, no traces of such DNA markers have appeared in Central America or elsewhere among Native Americans. . . .From a scientific perspective, the Book of Mormon's origin is best situated in early nineteenth-century America, . . . The Book of Mormon emerged from an antebellum perspective, out of a frontier American people's struggle with their god, and not from an authentic American Indian perspective” (Thomas W. Murphy, Lamanite Genesis, Genealogy, and Genetics, in American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon, 2002, p.68)

            So, how do we take all of this data? Joseph Smith stated that, “We are informed by these records that America in ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first were called Jaredites and came directly from the Tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites of the descendants of Joseph. … The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country.” (Joseph Smith, The Went Worth Letter. www.lds.org/ensign/2002/07/the-wentworth-letter?lang =eng)

            So while this is what is being taught, the current scientific evidence is saying the exact opposite. There appears to be no DNA to support that any of the Native Americans share any similarities with those from the area of the Tower of Babel or of Jerusalem.

2.5- Locations and archeology finding

The Book of Mormon chronicles two major civilization-ending battles at the Hill Cumorah: With the first being the Jaredites. In the book of Ether (the story of these people) chapter 15, right from the chapter heading we read:

“Millions of the Jaredites are slain in battle—Shiz and Coriantumr assemble all the people to mortal combat—The Spirit of the Lord ceases to strive with them—The Jaredite nation is utterly destroyed…”

            So here we have listed “Millions” of individuals all killed in a single battle (that yes, took place in more than one day). All in the same area. As it says in the eleventh verse of chapter 15, the will was called “Ramah; and it was that same hill where my father Mormon did hide up the records unto the Lord, which were sacred.”

            The next group of people to find this area were the Nephites and Lamanites. In the 6^th chapter heading in the book of Mormon it reads:

“The Nephites gather to the land of Cumorah for the final battles—Mormon hides the sacred records in the hill Cumorah—The Lamanites are victorious, and the Nephite nation is destroyed—Hundreds of thousands are slain with the sword. About A.D. 385.”

General authorities confirm that both these battle took place on the Hill Cumorah, the same hill in upstate New York where Joseph retrieved the plates.  

"The great and last battle, in which several hundred thousand Nephites perished was on the hill Cumorah, the same hill from which the plates were taken by Joseph Smith, the boy about whom I spoke to you the other evening." (Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, February 11, 1872, vol. 14, p. 331)

“Both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations fought their final great wars of extinction at and near the Hill Cumorah or Ramah as the Jaredites termed it, which hill is located between Palmyra and Manchester in the western part of the state of New York ... Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and many early brethren, who were familiar with the circumstances attending the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in this dispensation, have left us pointed testimony as to the identity and location of Cumorah or Ramah.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 175).

So what exactly is here? The Hill Cumorah in Palmyra, New York occupies less than half a square mile. The last Nephite battle had casualties in the hundreds of thousands as recently as 385 A.D., only 1,630 years ago. But the largest battle, in Ether, recounts casualties of at least 2 million people. For perspective, that is roughly three to four times as many deaths than occurred during the entire American Civil War, which was spread across 26 states.

The Civil War’s more than 5 thousand separate battles claimed the lives of over 600 thousand soldiers across half the country. Collected from these battles, and still being found to this day, are an enormous amount of skeletons, bullets, weapons, clothing, and various military paraphernalia. The Hill Cumorah, at only 110 feet tall and less than a half a mile in area, is supposed to contain the bodies of nearly 3 million casualties from less than 2,000 years ago, yet not a single Jaredite, Nephite or Lamanite remain has ever been found.

Dr. John E. Clark, professor of Archaeology at BYU, comments on the Book of Mormon’s archaeological remains in the Hill Cumorah,

“If any place merits archaeological attention, it is Cumorah. The very word elicits a series of empirical questions that can only be addressed through archaeology. […] When we pay attention to time and to cultural context, it becomes clear that the events described in the Book of Mormon did not occur in New York. […] In accord with these general observations about New York and Pennsylvania, we come to our principal object— the Hill Cumorah. Archaeologically speaking, it is a clean hill. No artifacts, no walls, no trenches, no arrowheads. The area immediately surrounding the hill is similarly clean. Pre- Columbian people did not settle or build here. This is not the place of Mormon’s last stand. We must look elsewhere for that hill.” (John E. Clark, Archaeology and Cumorah Questions, Journal of Mormon Studies, 2004.  http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1412&index=15)

I don’t know about anyone else, but that right there is some very damning evidence against the BOM. Supposedly these millions of people fought and died there, but we cannot find anything that supports this claim in any way. And when you have a professor from BYU saying it, you know the church has no further options but to deal with that very damning lack of evidence.

2.6- Translation errors in the Book of Mormon

            The Book of Mormon includes what appears to be mistranslated biblical passages that were later changed in Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible. These Book of Mormon verses should match the inspired JST version instead of the incorrect KJV version that Joseph later fixed. Here is one example of those differences between the BOM, the KJV, and the JST:

3 Nephi 13:25-27:

25: …Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26: Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27: Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Matthew 6:25-27 (from the King James Version Bible – not the JST):

25: Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26: Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27: Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

            The above Sermon on the Mount passages are identical between the KJV and the BOM, which is makes sense as Christ should have said the same thing to both groups of. Below is what we find in the JST version of the above identical scriptures:

Joseph Smith Translation of the same passages in the LDS Bible for Matthew 6:25-27:

25: And, again, I say unto you, Go ye into the world, and care not for the world: for the world will hate you, and will persecute you, and will turn you out of their synagogues.

26: Nevertheless, ye shall go forth from house to house, teaching the people; and I will go before you.

27: And your heavenly Father will provide for you, whatsoever things ye need for food, what ye shall eat; and for raiment, what ye shall wear or put on.

            If the Bible is wrong, and needed to be corrected, why does it have the same thing in the BOM? We are taught that the Bible has errors due to translations, omissions, and additions; that is why the JST was needed. But the BOM shouldn’t have any of those problems, right? It was only translated once, by a prophet, with the power of God.

2.7- The Witnesses

Ok, so there is some crazy stuff going on with the translation of the BOM, what about the witnesses to the plates and how do their testimonies lend credibility to the entire narrative. But again, research turns up issues of their own. These included the fact that no scribe ever saw the plates, the 3 and 8 witnesses only saw the plates with their spiritual eyes, the printed testimony did not reflect literal events, and nearly all the witnesses left the Church.

During the translation process, Joseph was either behind a curtain or the plates sat on a table underneath a cloth in another room. No scribe to the translation process (Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris or Emma Smith) was ever allowed to see the plates. Emma only felt the plates through a cloth on the table. Why wouldn’t Joseph want anybody to see the plates? (By the Gift and Power of God, Elder Neal A. Maxwell January 1997 Ensign quoting David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness, ed. Lyndon W. Cook, [1991], p173) and (Joseph Smith III, "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," pp289–90).

The 3 Witnesses

The History of the Church records the event where Martin Harris, David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery became the first witnesses to the gold plates after Joseph Smith. Joseph describes how the men gained their witness of the plates in a purely visionary setting.

“Not many days after the above commandment was given, we four, viz., Martin Harris, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself, agreed to retire into the woods, and try to obtain, by fervent and humble prayer, the fulfilment of the promises given in the above revelation—that they should have a view of the plates. We accordingly made choice of a piece of woods convenient to Mr. Whitmer’s house, to which we retired, and having knelt down, we began to pray in much faith to Almighty God to bestow upon us a realization of these promises.
According to previous arrangement, I commenced by vocal prayer to our Heavenly Father, and was followed by each of the others in succession. We did not at the first trial, however, obtain any answer or manifestation of divine favor in our behalf. We again observed the same order of prayer, each calling on and praying fervently to God in rotation, but with the same result as before. Upon this, our second failure, Martin Harris proposed that he should withdraw himself from us, believing, as he expressed himself, that his presence was the cause of our not obtaining what we wished for. He accordingly withdrew from us, and we knelt down again, and had not been many minutes engaged in prayer, when presently we beheld a light above us in the air, of exceeding brightness; and behold, an angel stood before us. In his hands he held the plates which we had been praying for these to have a view of. He turned over the leaves one by one, so that we could see them, and discern the engravings thereon distinctly. He then addressed himself to David Whitmer, and said, ‘David, blessed is the Lord, and he that keeps His commandments;’ when, immediately afterwards, we heard a voice from out of the bright light above us, saying, ‘These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.” (History of the Church, vol.1, pp.54–55)

Joseph Smith, David Whitmer, and Oliver Cowdery saw an angel and the plates after Martin Harris withdrew from the group. Joseph goes on to tells how he, “…left David and Oliver and went in pursuit of Martin Harris, whom I found at a considerable distance fervently engaged in prayer.” Then they both joined in prayer, and according to Joseph, “the same vision was opened to our view.” Remember, the word “vision” is another word for dream, hallucination not necessarily reality.

It is important to note that Joseph never claimed to have carried the plates into the woods where they prayed. Did the angel go and get them from Joseph’s house and bring them into the woods? Praying to see the plates in the woods seems rather odd if Joseph actually had the physical plates. Why was prayer necessary to see the plates if they were in fact, a physical object? Martin Harris’ behavior also seems strange if the plates actually existed.

On March 25, 1838, Martin Harris testified in public that none of the 3 or 8 witnesses saw or handled the physical plates. This statement caused apostles Luke S. Johnson, Lyman E. Johnson, John F. Boynton, high priest Stephen Burnett and LDS Seventy Warren Parish to leave the church. A letter on Josephsmithpapers.org dated April 15, 1838, Stephen Burnett wrote the following to Lyman Johnson:

“I have reflected long and deliberately upon the history of this church and weighed the evidence for and against it — loth to give it up — but when I came to hear Martin Harris state in public that he never saw the plates with his natural eyes only in vision or imagination, neither Oliver [Cowdery] nor David [Whitmer] and also that the eight witnesses never saw them and hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it, the last pedestal gave way, in my view our foundations was sapped and the entire superstructure fell a heap of ruins, … I was followed by W. [Warren] Parish, Luke Johnson and John Boynton, all of who concurred with me. After we were done speaking, M[artin] Harris arose and said he was sorry for any man who rejected the Book of Mormon for he knew it was true, he said he had hefted the plates repeatedly in a box with only a tablecloth or handkerchief over them, but he never saw them only as he saw a city through a mountain. And said that he never should have told that the testimony of the eight was false, if it had not been picked out of air but should have let it passed as it was.” (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/letterbook-2?p=69)

On April 5, 1839 member of the Church, Theodore Turley, challenged John Whitmer, one of the 8 witnesses, to either affirm or deny his testimony regarding the gold plates. Whitmer responded by saying “I now say, I handled those plates...they were shown to me by a supernatural power.” (History of the Church, vol.3 p307). Why would a supernatural power be necessary if the plates actually existed? Couldn’t Joseph just invite the men he wanted to be witnesses over to his house, take the plates out of the box where he kept them and pass them around? Why are visions and supernatural means necessary to see these plates?

Josephsmithpapers.org published the original source document for the statements by the 3 and 8 witnesses that are printed in the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Half way down the first page marks the beginning of the testimony of the 3 witnesses and concludes on the top of the second page with their signatures. The second page then contains the entire testimony of the 8 witnesses and their signatures.

Josephsmithpapers.org states that both statements and all signatures are in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery. The official statements printed in the Book of Mormon are not dated, signed with original signatures, or given a specific location where the events occurred. These are not 11 legally sworn statements; rather it seems possible that they are simple accounts pre-written and agreed upon at some later time.

Consider this fact in conjunction with the statement by Martin Harris:

“…and also that the eight witnesses never saw them and hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it.”

Reportedly this source document is printer’s manuscript and the original was partially destroyed; however no remains can be found. But there was another individual to have written something similar. A one Warren Parrish wrote in August of 1838 the following:

“Martain Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says that he never say the plates, from which the book is purported to have been translated, except in a vision and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph [Smith] not expected.”

            So, none of the witnesses saw the plates with their “natural eyes.” Everything had to be done via a vision. I find this very troubling. Why could they not just take a walk over to the house, have a cup of whatever drink they were allowed to have at the time, and Joseph just pull the cloth off of the plates? Maybe it was because moving the plates would have taken an extremely strong man. The plates are described as being around 6 inches wide, 8 inches long, and around 6 inches thick, this equals 1/6^th of a cubic foot. Gold weighs 1,206 lbs per cubic foot, leading the plates to weigh in at right around 200 lbs. I would let the angel be the one to carry them around too I guess.

2.8- Middle Eastern Geography issue

            Having read the BOM multiple times this year alone, and countless times before that, the first part of the book does have a good hook to it. All of a sudden you have this large group of people, two families, trekking across the desert. From 1 Nephi chapter 16 we learn that their trek stating from Jerusalem, and took a “south-southeast direction.” We also are told that they kept going “in the most fertile parts of the wilderness, which were in the borders near the Red Sea.”

            Then right at the start of Chapter 17 it says that they then started to go “nearly eastward”. So with these instructions, it would make the most sense that they are keeping in the Arabian Peninsula. Otherwise it would have needed to state that they at some point turned north to go around the Persian Gulf. So they ended up at the seashore and it was there that they built the boat. The most likely place for this to have taken place would be in either modern Oman or possibly Yemen. Thanks to the chapter headings, we can deduce that this trek from Jerusalem took approximately 8 years.

I like looking at google maps for this kind of information. So here I just started at Jerusalem, and had it finishing at a shore town village called Sahel Abyen in Yemen. For some reason, google maps won’t give me a walking time along this route. The drive time says 32 hours, and approximately 2,866 km total distance (1,780 miles). When you switch over to the walking route, it takes you up through Iraq and then back down. Even with this course (4,186 km, almost twice as long) it should only take like around 35 days to walk it. Granted, they are a large group, they do stop for weeks or months at a time. Even with these delays, how does one go from a journey of just over a month, to become 8 years?

Another issue that should arise during this investigation, this was not an empty area in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula. There were a handful of other people living down in this area. One of the largest groups was known as Saba, or as mentioned in the Bible, Sheba. This area was at the very center of the spice trade at that time. Saba had land routes and sea lanes connecting it to cities and kingdoms in Asia, Africa and Europe. Ships we're traveling between India and Saba. It really was a major center of trade during this time. They had written records; in fact when Lehi was supposedly trooping through his area, Saba was under the rule of Karib'il Watar who was probably the most important and well documented ancient ruler of Saba.

So now with this information it again begs the question, why did it take 8 years for this group to travel that far? This is not a completely barren landscape. Besides having populated cities, there are also multiple roads and trade routes along this way. This area was also know for doing trade via ships to at least India. Couldn’t they have just bought a boat and used it to sail to the Promised Land? But they never even mention meeting another individual along the route. Again, this is a heavily used trade route, it would be extremely suspicious that a group as large as this wouldn’t come across someone along the journey.

So, if Lehi et al. are traveling through populated lands on long established routes why did it take 8 years (instead of a few weeks). Also, why did they need to build a boat when there were already boats available traveling to and from India? Also why do they fail to mention all the cities and towns they passed through on the way? What really was the point of having the Liahona when you are going on the ancient spice trade equivalent of I-15 (now days Saudi Arabia Route 5)?