Category: Book of Mormon
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A Twelfth Witness to the Book of Mormon?
A twelfth witness to the Book of Mormon? By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the July-August 2013 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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When it comes to the plates, there was no miracle
For the past several years Bill McKeever has been bringing a replica set of “gold plates” to the Mormon Miracle Pageant held annually in Manti, Utah. By encouraging Mormon visitors to lift the plates, it gives Bill an opportunity to explain the many problems he sees with the official account of how Smith allegedly retrieved…
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Wagonloads of Plates in Cumorah’s Cave?
Wagonloads of plates in Cumorah’s cave By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the March-April 2010 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Confirming Lucy Mack Smith’s Gold Plate Story
Confirming Lucy Mack Smith’s Gold Plate Story By Bill McKeever The following was originally printed in the Nov-Dec 2009 edition of Mormonism Researched. To request a free subscription, please visit here.
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Should LDS Church Art Coincide With the Facts?
For many years the LDS Church has used staff artists to provide illustrations for its church manuals and magazines. Book of Mormon and Bible stories are commonly depicted, as well as historical church events. One favorite scene for LDS articles is Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon. For example, the front cover of…
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Are Racist LDS Scriptures Still Deemed “Utterly Reliable” and “Pure Truth”?
In the recently released statement on lds.org on Race and the Priesthood, the modern Mormon Church disavows “that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else…” This unequivocal truth, that no race or ethnicity is superior to another, is something that Spain (1542), Quakers (1600s), Pennsylvania…
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Rejecting the Book of Mormon
Early Mormon apostle Orson Pratt sometimes found himself in trouble with leaders of the LDS Church because of things he had written. Mr. Pratt was a prolific writer, and freely expounded on Mormon doctrine, as he understood it. The First Presidency of the Mormon Church issued a Proclamation in 1865 wherein the Latter-day Saints were…
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The Late War and the Book of Mormon
A 19th century book, The History of the Late War Between the United States and Great Britain, has been mentioned before now as a possible source for the Book of Mormon, most notably by Rick Grunder in his 2008 work, Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source. But the suggestion that Joseph Smith may have used this…
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Ezekiel 37:15-19: Books or Sticks?
By Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson
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Martin Harris: A Sincere Book of Mormon Witness
Mormon defender Daniel Peterson recently published an article about Book of Mormon witness Martin Harris. Appearing in the LDS-owned Deseret News, Dr. Peterson’s article, “Defending the Faith: Martin Harris: ‘Native honesty’ and life-long testimony,” is summarized: “A recently republished document written by a man who disliked Mormonism but knew Martin Harris testifies yet again to…
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Should you pray about the Book of Mormon?
If you’ve ever spoken to a Mormon missionary, there is no doubt that you have been challenged to read the Book of Mormon and pray about its message. A verse in the Book of Mormon, along with a verse from the biblical book of James, is used to support this view. For those Christians who…
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Problems with the Gold Plates in the Book of Mormon
Just what exactly were the gold plates made from. In this article that first appeared in Christian Research Journal, volume 34, number 02 (2011), Bill McKeever considers the possibilites and shows why it is impossible that Joseph Smith was given plates made of real gold.
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Urim and Thummim (Defined)
Urim and Thummim. Described by Joseph Smith as “two stones in silver bows…fastened to a breastplate” (Joseph Smith-History 1:35).He said, “With the records was found a curious instrument, which the ancients called ‘Urim and Thummim,’ which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rim of a bow fastened to a breast plate. Through the…
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Nephites (Defined)
Nephites. The followers of Nephi, a righteous son of Lehi. The Nephites are said to have been exterminated by the Lamanites at the battle at the Hill Cumorah. Supposedly Joseph Smith had a great knowledge of these people, even though he had nothing to study. His mother reported, “During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally…
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Moroni (Defined)
Moroni. The son of Mormon who supposedly buried the Gold Plates containing the record of the Nephite people. In 1823 Moroni is said to have appeared to Joseph Smith and revealed to him the location of the buried plates.
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Mormon (Defined)
Mormon. Claimed by Latter-day Saints to be an ancient Nephite prophet who abridged and compiled the records of his people known today as The Book of Mormon. In addition, the term “Mormon” was a derogatory term given to followers of Joseph Smith. Today it is a non-offensive nickname commonly used to describe either The Church of…
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Lamanites (Defined)
Lamanites. The followers of Laman, who is mentioned in the Book of Mormon as the eldest and wicked son of Lehi. First Nephi 12:23 states that after the Lamanites “dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.” The Lamanites annihilated the light-skinned Nephites at the…
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Gold Plates (Defined)
Gold Plates. An historical record of American peoples written on plates of gold. In A.D. 421, Moroni, a Nephite warrior and son of Mormon, buried the plates in the Hill Cumorah. In 1823, as a resurrected being, Moroni revealed the whereabouts of the plates to Joseph Smith who was permitted to retrieve them in 1827.…
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Cumorah (Defined)
Cumorah. Traditionally the hill in upstate New York located south of the town of Palmyra. Moroni buried the golden plates in this hill and appeared to Joseph Smith fourteen centuries later to reveal their whereabouts. Mormon scholars today are divided on the actual location of the Hill Cumorah. Many believe the hill was located in Central…
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Book of Mormon (Defined)
Book of Mormon. One of Mormonism’s standard works. It contains the story of a group of Jews led by a man named Lehi who left Israel and sailed to the American continent around 600 B.C. with, among others, his sons Nephi and Laman. The book records the wars and ultimate demise of their followers known…
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