An Examination of Mormon Texts

1
An Examination of Mormon Texts

• Problem Issues to Discuss When Speaking with
  Mormons
• Jude 3-4
• Galatians 16-9

2
Problems with the Book of Mormon

• The Book of Mormon cannot be another testament
  because it simply is not true.
• The Book of Mormon cannot compare with the Bible
  because the Book of Mormon cannot possibly be
  Gods word.
• The whole Mormon religion cannot stand because it
  is based on the false claims of the Book of
  Mormon.
• The Book of Mormon cannot be from God.

3
Problems with the Doctrines and Covenants

• The DC often contradicts itself, other Mormon
  scriptures, and most importantly, the Bible.
• The organization of the Mormon Church does not
  match the organization of the True Church of
  Jesus Christ.
• Smith is a failed and false prophet and should
  not be listened to by anyone.
• The DC cannot be from God.

4
First Thessalonians 521

• Test all things hold fast what is good.

5
The Pearl of Great Price

• It is a collection of writings by Joseph Smith
  where he claims to translate certain texts.
• It is one of the canonized scriptures of the
  Mormon Church.
• It contains excerpts from the Book of Mormon,
  excerpts from the DC, excerpts from the History
  of Joseph Smith, the Book of Moses, the Book of
  Abraham, and the Articles of Faith.

6
The Pearl of Great Price

• The Book of Abraham
• a Translation of some ancient Records, that have
  fallen into our hands from the catacombs of
  Egypt
• Introduction to the Book of Abraham
• The writings of Abraham, when he was in Egypt,
  written by his own hand on papyrus.
• History of the Church, vol.2, pgs. 235-236,
  348-351
• Smith purchased these papyri from Michael H
  Chandler in Kirtland, Ohio in 1835 for 2400.

7
The Pearl of Great Price

• The Book of Abraham
• During the Summer and Winter of 1835, Smith
  claimed to translate these papyri.
• I spent the day translating (Nov. 5, 1835).
• Later published in The Times and Seasons in 1842
  and called it the Book of Abraham.
• It was published with three facsimiles which came
  from the Joseph Smith Papyri.

8
Book of Abraham 112

• And it came to pass that the priests laid
  violence upon me, that they might slay me also as
  they did those virgins upon this altar and that
  you may have knowledge of this altar, I will
  refer you to the representation at the
  commencement of this record.

9
Book of Abraham 3
10
Book of Abraham 4-5
11
The Pearl of Great Price

• After Smiths death, his widow sold them to a
  museum in Chicago.
• These papyri were thought to be lost after the
  Chicago Fire of 1871.
• They were later found in New York City in 1966
  along with the affidavit proving their
  authenticity.
• It is estimated that 1/3 to 4/5 of the original
  papyri were recovered
• (Gee, 2000 Larson 2001).

12
The Pearl of Great Price

• Dr. Robert K Ritner
• Theres certainly no reason to believe that this
  scroll should be expanded much beyond the
  surviving length.
• Ive now read the entire document from beginning
  to end and Ive made out what one can make out of
  the poor copy of the final vignette. The most
  that is missing from this text is simply two
  columns worth of Egyptian hieratic and possibly a
  small vignette. But other than that there would
  be nothing more that would inflate the scroll
  beyond its current size.

13
The Pearl of Great Price

• The biggest problem with the Book of Abraham is
  that it is NOT the Book of Abraham.
• It is something called a Book of Breathing, an
  Egyptian funerary text.
• Every single non-Mormon scholar who has studied
  the Joseph Smith Papyri unanimously agree that
  the Book of Abraham in no way, shape, or form
  comes close to what Smith claimed they said.

14
The Pearl of Great Price

• Dr. Robert K Ritner
• I want to be absolutely clear on this. There is
  simply no justification for the kind of
  interpretations that appear in facsimile no.1 or
  facsimile no.3. They are wrong with regard to
  the hieroglyphs, they are wrong with regard to
  the gender, they are wrong with regard to the
  understanding of what the scene actually
  represents and, where they are used in the body
  of the text, they are wrong there as well.

15
The Pearl of Great Price

• Dr. Robert K Ritner
• In short, there is no historical validity for
  the interpretations in that book the Book of
  Abraham, none whatsoever.

16
The Pearl of Great Price

• The Articles of Faith
• We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in
  His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit.
• Article of Faith 1 (Ephesians 44-6)
• We believe that man will be punished for their
  own sins and not for Adams transgression.
• Article of Faith 2 (Romans 323)
• We believe in being subject to kings,
  presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying
  honoring, and sustaining the law.
• Article of Faith 12 (Romans 131-7)

17
The Pearl of Great Price

• Article of Faith 8
• 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.
• 2000 years of manuscript evidence for the Bible.
• NO manuscript evidence for the Book of Mormon.
• Article of Faith 9
• We believe all God has revealed, all that he
  does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet
  reveal many great and important things pertaining
  to the Kingdom of God.
• Jude 3-4 Ephesians 3

18
The Pearl of Great Price

• Article of Faith 10
• We believe in the literal gathering of Israel
  and the restoration of the Ten Tribes, that Zion
  (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the
  American continent, that Christ will reign
  personally upon the earth, and that the earth
  will be renewed and will receive its paradisiacal
  glory.
• Daniel 9 Revelation 20 Revelation 219-27
  DC116 2 Peter 310-12 Matthew 2531-46

19
The Pearl of Great Price

• The Pearl of Great Price is not and cannot
  possibly be from God as Mormonism claims it to
  be.
• Therefore, it should be disregarded as being the
  truth.

20
The Joseph Smith Translation

• Article of Faith 8
• as far as it is translated correctly.
• DC45
• The Mormon God commanded Smith to properly
  translate the 1611 King James Version of the
  Bible through a revelatory process into the way
  it should have been translated.

21
The Joseph Smith Translation

• Genesis 5024-38, JST
• And that seer will I bless, and they that seek
  to destroy him shall be confounded for this
  promise I give unto you for I will remember you
  from generation to generation and his name shall
  be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name
  of his father and he shall be like unto you for
  the thing which the Lord shall being forth by his
  hand shall bring my people to salvation.
• Vs.33

22
The Joseph Smith Translation

• Mark 1522
• And they brought Him to the place Golgotha,
  which is translated, place of the skull (NKJV).
• And they bring him unto the place called
  Golgotha, which is, (being interpreted) place of
  burial (JST).

23
The Joseph Smith Translation

• Galatians 16-10
• But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach
  any other gospel to you that what we have
  preached to you, let him be accursed.
• Joseph Smith-History 130 ff
• Smith claimed that he was visited by the Mormon
  angel Moroni and, essentially, gave him another
  gospel.

24
The Joseph Smith Translation

• The only canonized portion of the JST is the book
  of Matthew which is a part of the Pearl of Great
  Price.
• Mainstream Mormons still use the corrupted 1611
  KJV.
• No manuscripts were used for this translation.
• Every single non-Mormon scholar who has examined
  Smiths translation unanimously agree that
  there is no textual basis for any of Smiths
  corrections.

25
Conclusion

• The Pearl of Great Price is not and cannot
  possibly be from God.
• The JST is not and cannot possibly be from God.
• Therefore, both of them should be disregarded by
  those seeking the truth.
• In fact, all Mormon texts must be completely
  ignored by anyone seeking the real God, the real
  Jesus, and the real Truth.