Category: Standard Works
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An Interesting Discovery: A Map of the Travels of Moroni
In the ongoing Mormon Apologist Wars on the location of the Book of Mormon lands, one advocate of the LGT (Limited Geography Theory) is Michael Ash. In February of this year, he published an article entitled, “How Moroni and the plates may have made it to Hill Cumorah.” He postulates that Moroni traveled from Mesoamerica…
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Where are the Gold Plates Now?
By Bill McKeeverAccording 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). Many ask, “Where are…
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Archaeology and the Bible
By Eric Johnson Archaeology, or the scientific study of historic peoples and their cultures, is certainly a fascinating topic. Biblical archaeologists, as they were once called before the 1970s, have been able to locate many sites and artifacts in the Holy Land to help show how the cities and people listed in the Bible were…
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First Nephi and the Son of God
The book of First Nephi (in the Book of Mormon) reflects four significant (and similar) additions that Joseph Smith made to the original text before the publication of the second edition in 1837. The changes are indicated by italics in the following: 1830: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of God Now:…
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The Three Witnesses and Reality
On March 18, 2010 LDS professor Daniel Peterson authored a guest blog for Mormon Times. In “The three witnesses and the reality of the Book of Mormon” Dr. Peterson writes, “Serious critics of the Book of Mormon must neutralize the testimonies of the witnesses to the golden plates. “ Dr. Peterson praises another LDS professor,…
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Ignorant Translators Commit Many Errors
Christian apologist Rob Bowman at the Institute for Religious Research’s Mormons in Transition web site has published a nine-page study of The Book of Hebrews and the Joseph Smith Translation. Mr. Bowman maintains, “My argument here is simple: a comparison of the JST [Joseph Smith Translation] to the KJV [King James Version of the Bible]…
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Bible Verses on Truth and Discernment
Myth as scripture Hougey on authority Tolkien among prophets? True and false prophets Ten lies Feelings Historicity vs.
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Bible Index
”If I were the devil, one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible… I should do all I could to surround it with the spiritual equivalent of pits, thorns, hedges, and man traps to frighten people off.” – J.I. Packer
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“Joseph’s name should be had…”
When Mormon Times, reported on the 2009 BYU Campus Education Week some months ago, it told of a soon-to-be-available collection of online documents titled “19th Century Publications on the Book of Mormon.” When it becomes available, this set of documents will be part of BYU’s digital collections, a really helpful resource of original source documents…
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No “Comedy of Errors”
The game Chinese Whispers (known as Telephone in the US) is a long-time favorite at parties. Someone whispers a phrase or sentence to another, who in turn repeats the words to another, and so on until reaching the last player, who then says the words out loud. The fun of the game is in the…
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Indecent Exposure (Part 4 of 4)
Given that the parchments of the Book of Abraham facsimiles have been recovered, they should be a “signature piece” of Joseph Smith’s credentials, silencing the critics once and for all. The evidence is clear to anyone who wants to look at it. Joseph Smith didn’t know what he was doing when he supposedly translated these…
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Indecent Exposure (Part 3 of 4)
For mature audiences only At the end of part 2 of our series we discussed the Mormon connection/similarity that is implied by Mormon intellectuals between the Mormon god and a pagan Egyptian god in Facsimile No.2, Figure 7. Since Joseph Smith took it upon himself to draw in the missing parts incorrectly, it is up…
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Indecent Exposure (Part 2 of 4)
For mature audiences only In the second part of our series on the facsimiles from The Book of Abraham I would now like to focus our attention on Facsimile No.2. This will be the main focus of our attention from this point on. Let’s look at Facsimile No.2 that comes from the Book of the…
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Indecent Exposure (Part 1 of 4)
I would imagine that my reaction and thoughts were the same as most who are not members of the LDS Church when opening up The Book of Abraham for the first time: fascination and curiosity. Even Mormons might have the same reaction if they were converts to the Church and then discovered The Book of…
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Mormon Church Showcases Statement, “The Church does not stand or fall on the Book of Abraham”
On Tuesday, August 11th (2009) the “Authorized news web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Church News) showcased a lecture given by John Gee, “an associate research professor of Egyptology at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU” (the organization formerly known as FARMS). “While critics of the…
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Regarding an Open Canon
Speaking at the 178th semi-annual General Conference in Salt Lake City (April, 2008), Mormon Apostle Jeffrey Holland gave what he called his defense against those who “erroneously” claim that the LDS Church is not Christian. In this talk Holland discussed what he called the “bold assertion that God continues to speak His word and to reveal His truth. Revelations…
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Buyer Beware
On March 26th, 1830, following a reprint of the text from the title page of the Book of Mormon, this announcement appeared in the Wayne Sentinel: The above work, containing about 600 pages, large Duodecimo, is now for sale, wholesale and retail, at the Palmyra Bookstore, by HOWARD & GRANDIN. The initial printing totaled 5,000…
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Do You Believe in the Bible?
Guest post One would think the title would need little explanation but it does. The 8th article of (LDS) faith states, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.” By belief I mean,…
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Joseph Smith’s Genesis 50 Additions
I’ve recently completed a 2-year study of the Old Testament book of Genesis. What a rich, sacred history God has given us in the opening pages of His Word. Though the book is a mere 50 chapters, it’s so packed with amazing events, prophesies and wisdom I could easily spend many more years in a…
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The Book of Mormon: True or False?
At the request of our Mormon friends here at Mormon Coffee, today’s topic for discussion is, The Book of Mormon: True or False? Before the discussion starts, however, I need to lay down some ground rules. It is understood by all here that Mormons ultimately believe the Book of Mormon is true due to personal…
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