A Brief Examination of Alleged Proofs that the Book of Mormon is of Divine Authenticity
A Brief Examination of Alleged Proofs That the Book of Mormon
Is of Divine Authenticity
_______________ First -- "It makes claim to have originated from the proper source - God."
Reply -- So does the Koran of the Mohammedans, the Tri-Pitikes of the Buddhists, the Five Kings of the Chinese, the Three Vedas of the Hindus, the Zendavesta of the Persians, the Eddas of the Scandinavians.
Second -- "It claims to be a proper message to mankind."
Reply -- So does the revelations of Ann Lee, James J. Strang, who gave to the world "The Book of the Law" from gold plates which he found in the earth under a tree, he being directed there by an angel. This Strang claims to be the successor of Joseph Smith, that he was ordained by an angel like Smith, received plates out of the ground, like Smith. Both preached what they called the message of salvation, both taught and practiced polygamy and both were killed by people whom they had outraged, yet both the Mormon Church in Utah, and the Reorganized Mormon Church ridicule the angel story and the Book of the Law as preached by James J. Strang.
Third -- The object of the book is a proper one, as recorded on the title page of the book itself, "The Convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ."
Reply -- So far as convincing the Gentiles that Jesus is the Christ, what has Mormonism done in the matter? First the origin of the book has been exposed in many ways, as seen in most every book printed on the question, and is proved in this little work. The book has been altered and corrected in thousands of places since its first publication in 1830. The claims made for it have been proven groundless and the fruits of Mormonism is revealed in the Polygamy, Murder, Robbery and wholesale corruption of Mormonism, wherever it has had a home. See the history of the Mormons in Ohio, Missouri and many other places, till the Gentile world looks upon Mormonism as the lying wonder of the latter days. So far as convincing the Jews is concerned, that people look upon the story as a huge joke. Personally we have been associated with the church for over forty years, we recall but one Jew that ever joined the church, and he left it. We also knew of one Jewish lady who married a Gentile and came into the church. The Book of Mormon has been on its mission for about ninety years, the Re-organized Church sent missionaries to Jerusalem some years ago, they saw the country, took pictures, held some meetings, baptized three or four, and the mission failed. One Jewish Rabbi coming to Toronto from Jerusalem told me that the man whom our Elders baptized in Jordan was dead drunk the next day, and is now dead. So in the first ninety years the object of the book has failed.
Fourth --The much circulated testimony of the Three Witnesses, that God commanded them to bear testimony to the divine authenticity of the book, and that he sent an Angel to show them the gold plates from which it is said to have been translated all left the Church inside of eight years, and have testified that Joseph Smith was a liar, murderer, polygamist, chief Danite. One of them says Christ appeared to him and told him to leave the church. Another says an Angel appeared to him and told him to leave the church. Smith, in turn, called upon witnesses to prove in the courts that these Three Witnesses (who talked with talked with God and Angels and handled the gold plates of the Book of Mormon) "were liars, counterfeiters and blacklegs of the blackest and deepest dye." For proof of all this, see other parts of this little work and read Whitmer’s Address, page 4, 27, 28,38; The True Origin of the Book of Mormon by Shook, pages 48-61; The Foundation of Mormonism by La Rue, pages 75, 76.
Question -- If the Three Witnesses told the truth about Smith, who can believe that God, Christ, and Angels talked to Smith face to face, and that he received the Book of Mormon to convert the world? On the other hand, if Smith tells the truth about the Three Witnesses, who will believe that God and Angels talked to them? May it not be true "That birds of a feather flocked together," and that "when rogues fell out they told the truth about each other." We leave that part of the matter with the reader.
Fifth -- The claim is made for the book that "it shall go forth unto the people unto the confounding of false doctrine and the laying down of contention." Book of Mormon, page 8.
Reply -- The Mormons have not been able to establish peace, or set aside false doctrine, nor stop contentions, for we have the Mormon church itself divided into several warring sections, each denouncing the others. The Utah Mormons and several other factions claim that polygamy is provided for in the Book of Mormon, while others deny it. The great church that has become infamous through its practice of polygamy says that the Book of Mormon while condemning polygamy under certain conditions and at certain times, yet makes provisions for its introduction under other circumstances, and that Joseph Smith, when he introduced polygamy into the church, was acting according to the promise made in the Book of Mormon. They claim that the Reorganized Church is dishonest in quoting a part of a statement in which polygamy is condemned, when if they would quote the balance of the paragraph they would prove that God made provisions for the introduction of polygamy. Read Book of Mormon, page 116, Jacob 2:6 : "For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto Me, I will command My people, otherwise they shall hearken unto these things." Nearly a half-million Mormons claim that through Joseph Smith God did command His people to practice polygamy, and the evidence is abundant that Smith had such a revelation.
Sixth -- The claim is made that America was inhabited by great nations before Columbus discovered it, and that the Book of Mormon was the first book to give a history of these great nations and of their cities.
Reply -- We have heard that for forty years, believing it, we taught it, but when the clearer vision came we learned of a host of works that had been published in America, England and elsewhere describing the ruined cities of Mexico, Central America, Peru and other parts of America. Let the reader consult any good work on American Antiquities (we have given elsewhere in this little book a list of more than twenty books of this kind, published before the Book of Mormon was in print), and a most significant fact may be stated here, that the celebrated Josiah Priest wrote a work on this subject, it was copyrighted by him, June 24th, 1824, in the office of R. R. Lansing, clerk of the district of Northern New York and printed in Rochester, New York, in 1824. Will the reader remember that The Book of Mormon was copyrighted by Joseph Smith in the same office before the same man June 10th, 1829 and printed in Palmyra, N. Y., just twenty miles away from Rochester, in 1830. From the above it may be seen how easy it was for Spaulding, Rigdon or Smith to have copied the works referred to and from them make the historical part of the Book of Mormon.
Seventh -- Joseph Smith’s mother is a good witness against him, in that she proves beyond a doubt, that before Joseph obtained the plates, years before he translated them, he had acquired what might be considered a perfect knowledge of the cities and people of ancient America. Listen: "During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined, he would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of travelling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings with every particular; their mode of warfare, and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease seemingly as if he had spent his whole life with them." Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors, by his mother, page 87.
Reply -- This is evidently why Smith did not require the Plates to be in his hat when he translated, but they could lie covered up on the table or even be in the woods when he did the job, as testified by his wife and her father, who tells of his talking through his hat. See other part of this book where they so testify.
Smith evidently was well acquainted with the "Plates," or Spaulding manuscripts, long before he received them from the angel (?). Yes, several years before.
Eighth -- They claim that the Bible prophecies foretell the travellings of the Book of Mormon people from Palestine to America, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon out of the ground -- Isaiah , 29 th chapter, and that it is the Stick of Ephraim referred to in Ezekiel 37 th chapter. Let us see.
Reply -- A work was published in London, England, some time ago, by a Mohammedan, quoting and applying most of the same prophecies to the Ishmaelites, to the Arabs and to the Koran. Others apply the Stick of Ephraim to England. They have been twisted by many other cranks to suit their fancies.
These prophecies apply to the scattering of Israel over the old continent: they went to Spain, Italy, the Islands of the Mediterranean, into Morocco, Congo, in West Africa, Northern Africa, into Egypt and Ethiopia, China, India, and over Central and Western Asia.
Isaiah 16:8: "Wandered through wilderness, gone over the sea."
Isaiah 11:11-16: This shows that it refers to Israel in the Assyrian Empire.
Isaiah 1:1: "The vision of Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem." Not a word about Book of Mormon or America, but Judah and Jerusalem.
Isaiah 28:14;Isaiah 28:21: God will curse Jerusalem and perform his strange work.
Isaiah 29:1-4: "Ariel," "Heaviness, Sorrow," "camp against," "lay siege," "To raised forts," Ariel -- The city where David dwelt, one of the names given to the capital city of Moab, which means Lion of the Lord. It is the name given to Jerusalem, and sometimes to the temple there." Gardner Ch. Cyc., page 98.
2 Kings 25:1-30: Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, laid siege, raised forts, famine, broken up, burned with fire, Judah carried away.
Jeremiah 39:1-8: Nebuchadnezzar, took Jerusalem, killed King Zedekiah and his family..
Jeremiah 52:1-9: Nebuchadnezzar pitched against, raised forts, besieged.
Isaiah 29:4: "Bought down, speak out of the ground," excavations give history of Jerusalem, thus making them speak out of the ground.
Isaiah 29:7: "Those who fight against her be as dream of night vision." Babylon, Syria, Egypt, Assyria, all fought her and were destroyed later.
Isaiah 29:9-12: The people were in deep sleep, their learned men in a stupor like a drunken man; they could not read the judgments coming any more than a man could read a scaled letter or a book. The margin says "sealed letter." Jeremiah says she came down wonderfully,Lamentations 1:9.
Isaiah 29:11-12: Words of book delivered to learned, cannot read sealed book. Joseph Smith writing in Times and Seasons, Vol. 13, No. 13, May 2nd, 1838, says that Martin Harris made a certain statement regarding his visit to Prof. Anthon and Dr. Mitchell. This was Smith’s statement, not Martin Harris. It was written many years after it is said that Harris made the statement to Smith. Why not have Harris make his statement according to law, but we receive it from the pen of Smith many years after the visit.
Just think, Smith says, that Harris said that Prof. Anthon and Dr. Mitchell said: "I cannot read the words of the book for it is sealed."
Now let us take the statement found in Isaiah 29, 11 just as it reads: "And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, ’Read this, I pray thee:’ and he saith, ’I cannot; for it is sealed:’"
All Mormonism agrees with Apostle Kelley that neither Prof. Anthon nor Dr. Mitchell were able to read the characters presented. Presidency and Priesthood, page 205.
Joseph Smith informs us that he received the gold plates, the Urim and Thummim and the breast plate, the 22nd day of September, 1827. He soon found a friend, (Martin Harris) a farmer near by, who gave him fifty dollars to help him along. Joseph copied a number of the characters of the plates, and by means of the Urim and Thummim he translated some of them. In February, 1828, Mr. Harris secured the characters which Smith had drawn off the plates, and started with them to the city of New York. On his return home Smith says that Harris told him the following story:
"I went to city of New York, and presented the characters which had been translated, with the translation thereof, to Prof. Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary attainments. Prof. Anthon stated that the translation was correct, more so than 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, Chaldaec, Assyriac and Arabic, and he said they were the 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 translation was also correct. I took the certificate and put it into my pocket, and was just leaving the house, when Mr. Anthon called me back, and asked me how the young man found out that there were gold plates in the place where he found them. I answered that an angel of God had revealed it unto him.
"He then said to me: "Let me see that certificate." I accordingly took it out of my pocket and gave it to him, when he took it and tore it to pieces, saying that there was no such thing now as ministering of angels and that if I would bring the plates to him, he would translate them. I informed him that part of the plates were sealed and that I was forbidden to bring them. He replied: "I cannot read a sealed book." I left him and went to Dr. Mitchell, who sanctioned what Professor Anthon had said respecting both the characters and the translation."Church History, Vol. 1, page l9.
Reply- Prof. Anthon denies the statement as made above in these words: "The whole story about my pronouncing the Mormonite translations to be reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics is perfectly false." Ibid page 21. Were we to admit that Prof. Anthon made the statement and that Dr. Mitchell confirmed them as true, this in our in our judgment would destroy the very thing that Smith and Mormonism has tried to prove by quotingIsaiah 29:11-12, where the learned man was to have the words of the book delivered to him, and when requested to read he was to say "I cannot for it is sealed."
First: Prof. Anthon did read it and pronounced the translation correct.
Second: He declared they were translated from the Egyptian.
Third: He also was able, and did read the parts that were not translated by Smith, saying "They were Egyptian, Chaldeac, Assyriac and Arabic, and said they were true characters which he could not have done unless he was able to read and translate.
Fourth: He offered to translate the plates if Harris would bring them to him.
Fifth: Harris had to lie when he made the excuse for not bringing the plates to him to be translated, because part of the plates were sealed and he was forbidden to bring them. There is no evidence that he ever tried to bring them, or that he was forbidden to bring them, and worse or more of it, the seal has been broken and the plates that Smith translated were all ready for translation by Smith or anyone else able to do the job. Smith bad to break the seal before he could translate the part he translated, so the part that Anthon would have translated was not at that time sealed.
Sixth: According to Isaiah "men" two or more, were to deliver the words of the book to "One" that is learned, but Smith turned this upside down, and only one man did the delivering, Harris, and Two did the reading, Anthon and Mitchell, in place of One.
Seventh: Smith added eight verses to the twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah in his new Bible. One verse containing more than a hundred words, in order to have it fit in to the Book of Mormon, so it is not to be wondered at that he would make up this story about Harris going to Prof. Anthon and Dr. Mitchell. Surely it is the lying wonder of the latter days.
Eighth: Joseph Smith has informed us that it was he who copied the characters of the plates, that Harris took to Prof. Anthon. Having discovered beyond a doubt that Smith was an impostor, some learned men have made an examination of these characters which Smith copied, and they have made a photograph of them and I have them, published in different books, showing that Smith in drawing the transcript employed different kinds and styles of English letters, changing a few of them to make the imposture less observable. I have a copy of the original paper received from David Whitmer and I agree with those already published, that those characters are English letters and figures. I can see the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, and many of the letters of the English alphabet, so we leave this clumsy fraud.
Ninth: Ezekiel 37, 15-22 : We are told by the Mormons that these two sticks are books, one the Book of Mormon, the other the Bible. But let us examine - stick, rod, staff, sceptre; they were symbols of power, authority, not books.
Numbers 17 : Take twelve rods, write name on it; Aaron’s rod budded. He accepted.
Genesis 49, 10 : The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.
Numbers 24, 17 : A sceptre shall rise out of Israel.
The stick of Judah represented the Southern Kingdom, and the Stick of Ephraim represented the Northern Kingdom. The prophet was to show that these kingdoms were to be united again; nothing is said about the Book of Mormon and America, but "The stick whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes." God in verse 22 says: ’He will take Israel and gather them together to their own land, and there would be no more two kingdoms but One Nation, and he would be their God.
Joseph Smith had a rod with which he searched for water and did wonders. He told Cowdery by revelation "You have another gift, of working with the Rod, behold it has told you things, behold there is no other power save God that can cause this Rod of nature to work in your hands - whatsoever ye shall ask me to tell you by that means that will I grant unto you." Book of Commandments, Chap. 7, 3. In Doctrine and Covenants 8:3, the words are somewhat changed in this revelation, in place of calling it "The gift of working with the Rod," it says: "which is the gift of Aaron."
We have tried to be fair in our examination of this question, but without hesitation say that the so-called proofs for the Book of Mormon are not proofs, but glaring misrepresentations of the plain wording and historical statement of the Bible and the histories referred to.
CHAPTER XI.