An Exercise in Logic

How was the Book of Mormon was translated?

A. The process of reading directly from the plates and having Oliver Cowdery or other scribes write it down while divided by a sheet.
B. Joseph put a seer stone in the bottom of a hat and darkened the space with his face, then read off words as they appeared in English, without the use or presence of the plates.
(See a Pro-Mormon site on this topic here)
C. Joseph used the Urim and Thummim found deposited with the plates to translate the reformed Egyptian text written on them.

How was the Bible compiled and translated?

A. Divine Inspiration, infallible words of God written by prophets of old.

B. Stories gathered from ancient texts written in Greek, and re-translated to English.

C. Of all the writings and letters transcribed, only 66 books were allowed to be grouped together and called a Bible, through the decision of a council of priests and leaders of various sects throughout Europe.


When Joseph Smith was compiling the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), clarifying and correcting the text as a prophet, was this done through the power of God?

A. Yes, although he had to pray to find out if his interpretations were correct each time he wrote a verse.
B. No, it was just Joseph's opinion of how they should have been translated.
C. Yes, Joseph received direct inspiration from God to go through the Bible and make the changes necessary in the text, because it had been corrupted over time.

After having answered these questions, I have a few for any Mormons out there, including the bishop of the ward I used to attend. (I will be bringing these to him when I meet with him in a couple of weeks)

In the Book of Mormon (BOM) please turn to 3 Nephi 13:25-27. Here is a direct quote:

“(halfway down verse 25) Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”

The same EXACT passage is in the Bible, in the book of Matthew 6:25-27:

“25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”

Now, at this point I would usually be stopped, and someone would patiently explain to me that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are identical because Jesus said the same thing to the people of the Americas. Fine, whatever. The point here is that they are identical in each book.

Now, I wish to look in the LDS issued KJV Bible to the JST in the back of the book on page 802.

For Matthew 6:25-27 it says:

“25. And, again, I say unto you, go ye into the world, and care not for the world: for the world will hate you, and will persecute you, and will turn you out of their synagogues. 26. Nevertheless, ye shall go forth from house to house, teaching the people; and I will go before you. 27. And your heavenly Father will provide for you whatsoever things ye need for food, what ye shall eat; and for raiment, what ye shall wear or put on.”

The point is:

Joseph Smith corrected the Bible.

In doing so he corrected the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon is the most correct book and was translated a mere decade before the JST.

It was not corrupted over time.


This, to me, says that Joseph Smith relied heavily on the Bible when writing and composing the Book of Mormon. In doing so, he copied entire chapters and passages to make his writing flow scripturally, and make sure that his work mirrored just enough of the Bible to be acceptable and believable. The problem is, he must have forgot this plagarism when he set about to correct those very passages in the Bible that he copied down in the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon has the same scriptural errors that the Bible has, and it was only written 10 years before the JST.

Where was God in that process, and why didn’t he correct Joseph the first time, when he was “translating” the plates?

Why didn’t God take that opportunity to make the necessary changes to the Bible?

If the Bible is incorrect, and needed changes, why does the Book of Mormon get to stand as the most correct book on Earth if it contains THE SAME MISTAKES?


Enter OCCAM'S RAZOR: the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.

Joseph Smith had no special powers of discernment. He “pretended” a divine calling, and he rattled off the Book of Mormon, hour after hour to his wife Emma, and other scribes, while the “plates” (if there ever really were plates) were hidden safe in the woods somewhere. He didn’t need to have the plates in front of him to dictate the book, and he didn’t even need the “Urim and Thummim” (if those things ever really existed) after the first 116 pages were lost, after that he used his personal peep stone to do the work.

I know that Joseph Smith faked it. He made the whole thing up. I have a firm testimony, backed up by FACTS, not 'warm-fuzzies'. I am also not required to feel good about this in order for it to be true. It sucks that it's true. There is nothing I would like more than to be able to rejoin and gain the acceptance of my family again, but in order to do that I have to set aside facts and logic, and just use faith and obedience. I can't undo the past, and I shouldn't have to set aside my intellect in order to conform to the "true order of things". I won't lie and pretend that I believe when I don't.

I am not going to simply accept that he was a prophet, and that all the other men in that office were prophets and that the man in that office now is a prophet. Gordon Hinckley doesn’t even sustain HIMSELF as a prophet, seer or revelator. He has said over and over, “ I don’t know” “I’m not very knowledgeable about doctrine” “ I don’t know that we teach it” “I just get a feeling about things, I don’t talk directly to God”, etc. What good is a prophet if he has no better access to God than the average man?

Why should I believe in prophets or the ‘one and only true church’ if they can’t give me a better reason than, ‘because I said so’? I am not afraid of their opinion, or of their condemnation. Let them go on thinking that I'm going to hell just because I won't conform to their lifestyles, their creeds, and their man-made doctrines. It's just their opinion, not backed up by facts.

It's not a matter of 'restrictions' and 'rules'. I just don't believe Joseph Smith had any special authority, or saw God and Jesus.

I don't believe he found (or was "led to") golden plates, and if any existed at all, I believe he created them in the four years he said he had to wait before obtaining them. I believe he fashioned them himself, and kept them wrapped or concealed so his fraud would not be discovered. I don't believe he used them AT ALL to write the Book of Mormon. The facts don't add up.

I don't believe that an angel appeared to him at any time. I don't believe the physical plates (if there were any) dissolved into nothing, and were taken back by an angel, yet evidence of the Bible (like the Dead Sea Scrolls) was allowed to remain on the earth for future discovery.

I don't believe that God directed Joseph to attempt to re-work the Bible, or that God directed any part of the Doctrine and Covenants, through inspiration or any other method.

I don't believe anything about the original church was restored in present times, because that would require the knowledge of many writings NOT included in the Bible, of which Joseph makes no mention or attempt to acquire.

I do not believe in any restoration of priesthood authority, because they were Jewish in nature, and would not be required in a Christian environment.

I don't believe in the requirements of temple rituals to learn 'secret combinations' (signs, tokens and symbols) that are supposedly necessary in order to be admitted to Heaven. It is Anti-Christian to require such secret signs and hand signals, and I can't belong to an organization that pretends one thing to the world, and then secretly teaches the opposite to its members, while requiring absolute secrecy about the teachings.

It's not about being Christian either, it's about being a wolf in sheep's clothing. Pretending to be a Christian church, and then focusing on Joseph Smith, prophets, doctrines and teachings not found in the Bible, and 'continuing revelation' is deceitful. Drawing folks into it with the promise of bringing families together and uniting them in the Celestial Kingdom, and then forcing those that fail to conform to wait outside the temple doors for their 'righteous' TBM family members to complete their marriage ceremonies IS the ultimate in destruction of the family unity. Making promises and then blaming the member when it can't be fulfilled (pray more, be more humble, be more patient, you aren't tithing enough, etc) is a root cause of depression and suicide within this organization. It's not Christian at all when you think about it. IF you think about it.

It's a fraud and a scam, and designed to take your money and time away in exchange for promises of rewards in the next life. They have NO power, unless you let them take it from you. And if you are content with letting big religious organizations dictate EVERY phase of your life, from the kinds of underwear you wear, to the amount of money you must donate to maintain your membership, then Mormonism is perfect for you.