Mormonism is a religion that was founded by Joseph Smith Jr. This religion is practiced by members of the Latter Day Saint Church and this church has more than 6 million members. The mormons founder Joseph Smith reportedly claimed that he received visions from God through an angel called Moroni that he was going to be used to restore the Christian church because it was lost after the death of the original apostles. Smith was put in jail on June 27th, 1884 after there word spread that he had introduced polygamy in Mormonism. He was later assassinated by mob and all the mormons houses burnt. Brigham Young who was the church’s head of the council of twelve apostles was voted in to be the leader of the church. The mormons were forced to move from one place to another due to persecutions and disputes they had with non-mormons. Most mormons live in Utah and the western states surrounding it. They believe in God deity and the God head which is father, son and the holy ghost. The church allowed its members to practice polygamy and was forced to end it after the congress passed laws against polygamy.
Contradictions between the Bible and the Mormons book.
There have always been contradictions between the statements found in the bible and those in the Mormons book. These contradictions have brought controversies to whether the bible is the true word of God or it has been mistranslated. The two books disagree with one another in a number of places even though the mormons claim that both books inspire and they believe in the bible.
One of the contradictions in the two books is about the birth of Jesus Christ. According to the bible in Matthew 27: 4-5, Mark 15:13 and Luke 3:44, the bible tells us that when Jesus was crucified, the world was covered with darkness for three hours. The book of mormons gives a contradictory story of the same event in Helaman 14:20-27 and 3 Neph 8:3, by stating that there was darkness for three days. This two statements from the two books contradict each other but according to the ancient stories written about the death and cruxification of Jesus, it is clearly stated that that there was darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth hour which means that there was darkness for three hours.
The book of Mormons states that Jesus was born of Mary in Jerusalem that is according to Alma 7:10 and this is contradictory to the bible which states in Micah 5:2 about the prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus that He was to be born in Bethlehem. This contradicting statement from the book on Mormons is wrong because even according to the history of Jerusalem, it is known that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and Jerusalem was just a city in Bethlehem.
In the book of Mormons, people were referred to as Christians in about 73 B.C in Alma 46:13-15. In contrary, the bible in Acts 11:26 tells us that the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians in Antioch and it was after the death of Christ. In Masiah 18:17 in the book of Marmons, it also states that the people were called the church of Christ from that time onwards yet the dating was about 147 B.C yet even Christ was not yet born and in the book of Matthew 16;18, we see Jesus establishing His church when He says that He is Building His church upon the rock. The mormons book must be wrong, how can Jesus establish His church even before He was born, churches were established after Jesus died and rose again.
The two books also contradict about the story of Moses and the children of Israel when they were crossing the red sea. In the book of Mormons in 1st Nephi 4:2, 17:26, it states that Moses spoke unto the waters of the read sea and it divided. This statement contradicts the bible in the book of Exodus 14;21, Moses stretched out his hand and the water divided.
Another story that is contradicted in the two books is about the story of the Promised Land. In 1st Nephi 13 in the Mormons book, it is stated that America is the promised land that Christians were promised. According to the bible in Genesis 17:18 and Deuteronomy 27:3-4, it is clearly stated that Canaan is the Promised Land. The book of Mormons is completely wrong because even according to the ancient written stories, it is clear that Canaan Is the Promised Land and in the ancient days, America was not even in existence.
According to the book of Mormons, Jesus pre-existed before He was born that is according to the texts in 1st Nephi 10:17 where we see Jesus talking yet the dating was before Christ. They also claim that Jesus is Jehovah or Yahweh of the Old Testament and He existed by then, (Shipps, 1985). This statements contradicts the bible which states that Jesus is the Son of God who came into existence after He was born of Virgin Mary that is according to Matthew 1:18 and Luke 1:31-32. Jesus’ birth was predicted from the Old Testament and if He already existed then His birth could not have been foretold.
The two books contradict on life after death. The mormons book claim that after people dying, they carry on living as spirits that is according to the book of Alma 40:11-14. In contrast to the bible, when people die, thEy know not anything that is in Ecclesiastes chapter 9:5-6, they cease to exist immediately they die.
The book of Mormons in 2 Neph 2:23-25 teaches that it was necessary for Adam and Eve to commit the sin of eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of truth and evil so as to be able to multiply and have children. In contrast, the bible states in Genesis 3:16-19 and Romans 5:1-2 that Adam’s transgressions was a sinful act of rebellion against God and through their rebellion, the power of sin and death was unleashed to human beings. The mormons insist that God wanted them to break that commandment of eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge and evil in order to multiply and be fruitful.
In 2 Neph5:21, this book teaches that black skin is a curse from God and the religion considers white people to be spiritually and morally superior to black people. In contrast, the bible tells us in Acts 17-26 that all men of the nations were made of one blood and in the book of James 2:1, God confemns favoritism, (Platt, 1989) The contradictoy statement from the book of mormons raises Questions marks since all people are supposed to be equal in the sight of God because they are all His creations.
The book of Mormons they have so many Gods who even commit sexual sins with people yet in the bible, there is only one God who is omni-present. The two books differ on this because if they truly believe the bible then they need to believe in one God. They also support polygamy contradicting the bible which ony allows Christians to marry only one wife and to get married to one husband.
The mormons believe in their book and argue that the bible is problematic. According to their founders teachings, they argue that because the bible has been translated many times and in different cversions, many verses have been corrupted and their book is accurate, ( Givens 2003). The mormons want their book to be accepted other than the bible. They want their claim that the bible has been corrupted due to being translated so many times not to be disputed. Their view point is wrong because even though the bible has been translated so many times, there is still evidence to support it through the Romans and Greeks history, plays, poems and manuscripts. The ancient writings from history has information as the same as that which is the bible. The geographical references from the bible like its cities are still there up-to date and all of them have their history written which is also written in the bible and has never been disputed.
Comparably, the book of mormons was first written in the 19th century in English and it has no material that it can be compared to ( Bushman, 2008). Most of the geography described in the book differs with the physical realities of places in America.
The bible is and will still remain the true word of God according to Christians because it has the highest degree of textual reliability and the texts we read today is the same with the original writing. In contrast, the mormons book has no textual record and so it cannot be trusted. The bible came first and there is evidence from existing manuscripts dating back as far as A.D. 125-30. The bible should be made the standard book for judging the book of mormon not the other way round as the mormons are doing.
References
Bushman R., L. (2008). Mormonism: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Givens, T., L. (2003). By the hand of Mormon: The American scripture that launched a new world Religion. New York: Oxford University Press.
Platt, L, D. (1989). Members Of The Church Of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints . Nauvoo Journal, (1), 18-30
http://www.josephsmithspolygamy.com/FannyAlger/JS-FATheologicalUnderpinnings.html
Shipps, J. (1985), The story of a new religious tradition. Chicago: university of Illinois press.
