The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (LDS), commonly known as the Mormons, is a religious group
that claims to be the only true restored church of Christianity.In addition, the LDS teaches unbiblical doctrines and also have three
additional religious scriptures besides the Bible: the Pearl of Great Price,
Doctrines and Covenant, and the most well known one of all, the Book of Mormon.It is supposedly, "another testament of Jesus Christ".
Often, a favorite tactic of the LDS,
especially among missionaries, is to give a potential convert the Book of Mormon
(we shall abbreviate it as BoM) and ask them to pray for a "burning
bosom" to confirm that it's true.They
would use the BoM at Mormoni 10:3-5 and James1:5 in the Bible to support the
legitimacy of this act.But is this
the right thing to do, and does the Bible reallyteaches us to pray for "burning bosoms" to confirm truth?
Certainly, no.Looking at James 1:5 again, we find that the passage is actually talking
about wisdom, and the context deals with perseverance, not regarding
confirmation of truth.The LDS considers the "burning bosom" as the
testimony of their church.Personal
and subjective testimony in itself isn't a bad thing; but there must be elements
of objective facts too.In this
little booklet, we are not denying that God can have the power to penetrate
lives and become very personal.We
are concerned with evaluating the objective testimony of the LDS.
Let us look at Jesus' testimony as an
example in John 5:31-37.In this
passage, we find Jesus giving three testimonies, or witnesses, to his claim of being
the Christ:
Verse 34: Testimony of
John the Baptist and the purpose of that is so that some maybelieve
Verse 36: Jesus' very works and ministry
Verse 37and 39: God the Father, through His scriptures, testify of Jesus as savior
Thus, we will examine
the claim of Mormonism objectively too, and welcome any LDS members to examine
the claims of Jesus Christ.
Given the limit of this booklet, we
will evaluate only the first book to appear in the BoM.The Book of 1st Nephi is a critical book, since this is where allegedly
the Mormon story all began in 600 BC.If
it falls under examination, since this is the foundation of the Mormon story,
then everything else in Mormonism falls too.
Often, the writer is accused of being
unloving and unfair.What is the goal of having a booklet like this? The Bible in
Jude1:3 commands that we should "earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered to the saints."From
this verse, we can see that the faith in which people can be saved has ALREADY
been delivered to the saints, and "another testament of Jesus Christ"
must surely be rejected.Sometimes,
LDS members do not realize that the BoM attacks Christianity too.A look at 1Nephi 14 would clearly be an example of this.
We realize that LDS members are sincere people, and we love them and we
will present them the truth in a loving manner.Attention was paid to the sensitivity of LDS members.
In addition, we recommend all
would examine the verses referred to in this book in their proper context.Quotes from the Bible are from the NIV.It is the prayer of this writer that this booklet would lead some to the
true Jesus.
Critique of 1st Nephi
Summary of 1Nephi
In order to critique 1Nephi, we
must understand the story of 1Nephi.It
is a story of how one family, having a dad as a prophet name Lehi, tries to
leave Jerusalem to escape the upcoming wrath of God and enter into a new promise
land.The book is recorded by
Nephi, Lehi's youngest son.Throughout
the book, Nephi records visions received by his dad and himself.They leave everything behind to enter the wilderness, but then Nephi and
his brothers come back to get their property and some brass plates.After a short adventure and convincing the family of Ishmael to come
along also, the party enter into the wilderness.Nephi along with his brother Laman, Lemuel and Sam, married the daughters
of Ishmael.Much hardship took
place.Two brothers, Laman and
Lemuel was especially rebellious and harden hearted.Problems occur often.Finally,
they got near the sea and God instructed Nephi to make a ship.When they took off, Nephi got bounded by his brothers but God was able to
release him.Nephi makes more
prophecy.Eventually, they will
find the promise land (and this is suppose to be the American continent).
1Nephi 10:18 states concerning
Christ, "For he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; and the way is
prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they
repent and come unto him." So from this BoM verse,
we see that the way to come to him is the same forever, and never changing.In the Bible, Hebrew 13:8 states the same thing.Now, using the principle of progressive revelation, the second revelation
is suppose to agree in it's teachings with that of the first revelation.Progressive revelation means additional information revealed and not
contradicting information. So, if the BoM (second revelation) contradict the
Bible (first revelation), it's the BoM that is in trouble! Remember this
principle as you are reading this booklet.We will use this principle to refute 1Nephi and the BoM.
If some don't believe that the
Bible according to Mormonism is a divine revelation, one just needs to look at
the footnotes in the BoM.Bible
verses appear everywhere! One such footnotes is for 1Nephi 8:9-10.In these 1Nephi verses, it describes a place that is footnoted supposedly
to be the same place as the Bible's description in Matt. 13:38, Gen. 2:9 &
Rev. 2:7.It's interesting to note
that, in the vain attempt of the LDS to make Mormonism appear
"Christian", errors appear.The
applied verse of Matt. 13:38 isactually
describing a different place than Gen. 2:9 or Rev. 2:7! Matt. 13:38 has the
world as it's location, while the two other verses describes the garden of
paradise.Though such mistake
doesn't put LDS in total jeopardy, it does raise concern about possible verse
abuse of the Bible...
But then the problem with the
place described in 1Nephi as some kind of garden of paradise does not just end
there.Picking up the vision in
1Nephi 15:27, Nephi said, "the water which my father saw was
filthiness...” Since there are footnotes trying to establish this river as
being in the garden of paradise as that of the Bible's, we would expect it to
have the same and not opposite description of the same place.How could the water in 1Nephi be filthy then, when in the Bible at Rev.
22:1 it describes the river as clear?!
Continuing with the issue of
1Nephi's "garden of paradise", it's realized that the fruits on the
tree are the fruit of eternal life (cf. Gen.3:22;Rev. 2:7 in the Bible and intro
to 1Nephi Chapter 8 in the BoM). Only those who were saved were allowed to eat
this fruit.Yet, in 1Nephi, unsaved
people ate the fruit of life, and were no longer saved, but fell away!Christianity teaches once saved, always saved, but not
1Nephi.Because there's a
difference between the two revelations, Mormonism is the one in trouble due to
the principle of progressive revelation.
Concerning the Lamb's seed,
1Nephi13:36 states, "in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb,
and my rock and my salvation."The
Bible also states that if anyone preaches another gospel, it isn't really any
gospel at all (cf. Gal.1:6-7).Does
the BoM have the right gospel?Their
gospel is a gospel of works AND grace (cf. 2Nephi 25:23)The Biblical gospel is one of grace alone (cf. Eph 2:8-9).The LDS gospel is thus, a false gospel.It fails to recognize grace alone for man's redemption from sin.Works come as a fruit of grace (cf. Eph. 2:10), not a co-factor with
grace.We must thus come to God's
grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.
It happens often that an attack
upon the Bible is made around this point."The
Bible is accurate only as it is translated correctly" the LDS would charge.Since the Bible is used to undermine the BoM, an attack on the Bible
seems tempting.It seems
theoretical that in attacking the Bibleas
inaccurate from the original manuscripts, the BoM is spared.But we must realized that the Bible has one of the most reliable and
accurate ancient manuscripts in history, which gave us many manuscripts in the
original language for us to translate.Many
scholars in this field, whether Christians or not, would agree that the Bible is
translated correctly.There is
original language Bible text to check verses that might not make much sense in
English.But the real issue here is
actually whether the Bible is considered inspired in the views of the LDS and
the BoM.Since there are Bible
verses in the footnotes of the BoM concerning truths in terms of God, doctrines
and history, this legitimizes the Bibleenough
as authoritative.Thus a Biblical
refutation of 1Nephi is indeed, very powerful in critiquing the BoM.
1Nephi 4:16 states, "And I
also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass."The BoM gives the impression that the law mentioned in this verse is the
law of the Bible since the footnote linked the law to Joshua 1:8, which referred
to the Book of the Law (the Torah).Other
verses from 1Nephi also mentioned the Law as engraved in brass (1Nephi 4:24,
5:10-11,etc).But here's another
problem in 1Nephi with the Bible; turning to the Bible in 2Cor. 3:7, it states
concerning the Law, or "the ministry that brought death", as being
"engraved in letters on stone"!(italics are the author)Hence, another difficulty with the BoM.
1Nephi 5:18 prophesied (cf.
1Nephi 5:17) "that these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations,
kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed."However, this prophecy would never be fulfilled since these plates no
longer exist!The Bible mentions
that presumptuous predictions that failed to be fulfilled come from man, not
God!Thus, 1Nephi is a product of
man's imagination.Of course, some
would say that 1Nephi 5:17 refers to the BoM going out to all the nations today.But there's still one more prophetic problem in 1Nephi.
If we look at 1Nephi 5:19, Lehi
(cf. 5:16-17) prophesied and "said that these plates of brass should never
perish" and "neither should they be dimmed any more by time."The brass plates no longer exist though!We find Lehi prophecy unfulfilled.The
Bible says that "if what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does
not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken.That prophet has spoken presumptuously.Do not be afraid of him." (Deut. 18:22)Since Lehi was a false prophet, we must reject him, and since he was the
prophet that begins everything in 1Nephi, we must also reject 1Nephi and
consequently, the BoM too.
Not only does the LDS teachings
have a problem with the Bible, but it's own BoM as well!LDS missionaries sometimes teach that there is no hell.Strangely, in 1Nephi 12:16 an angel interpreted a vision of
the depths of a river as "the depths of hell".Hell here, isn't a symbolism since it was an interpretation
of a symbolic vision.In addition,
1Nephi described hell as "hath no end" (1Nephi 14:3) and awful
(15:35).
1Nephi 20:1 mentions "the
water of baptism".It's
interesting to note that baptism didn't exist between 588 through 570 BC, when
this verse was written in!Supposedly,
1Nephi 20 is the BoM version of Isaiah 48.There is not mention of water baptism in it whatsoever.
1Nephi 16:10 describes "a
round ball of curious workmanship" which is footnoted as being the same
object referred to in 1Nephi16:16 and another part of the BoM, Alma 37:38.Alma 37:38 mentions that this ball is called Liahona, or
interpreted as compass.In
addition, 1Nephi 18:12 and 18:21 mentioned about this compass.But compass weren't in existence yet!Compass was invented in the 1000 AD.Yet, these events in 1Nephi took place over 1, 500 years
before!For some reason unknown to
the author, the BoM footnoted a verse in the Bible to support this Liahona
object at Exodus 13:21.Exodus
13:21 states, "By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to
guide them on their way and by night in a pillar offer to give them light, so
that they could travel by day or night."Nowhere is there a description of anything similar to a "two
spindles" inside a ball, or namely, a compass!Another thing that usually raises up with LDS defenders is the fact that
the King James Version has the word "compass".In context, this doesn't present us any problems since the word
"compass" is used to describe a turning around direction.Note: In Acts 28:13, the "fetched a compass"
translated from the greek means to turn around, not to fetch a round metal ball
object.This author had the
opportunity to look up this verse in a Greek interlinear translation to confirm
this.
If we turn to 1Nephi16:18, we
find Nephi in a situation in which he has to kill a man name
Laban, who had stolen his
family's property.1Nephi 4:9
records Nephi stating, "And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from
the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship
thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most
precious steel."Steel is also
mentioned in 1Nephi 16:18.These
passages all took place between 600-592 B.C, as the BoM state.But steel as we know it ("exceedingly fine" workmanship),
wasn't invented until the mid-1800s!Is
the BoM then, a product of modern myth?
Another reason why we should
reject the BoM is because of another contradicting problem with the first
revelation (the Bible).In Alma
7:10 it states, "And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem, which
is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen
vessel..." Whereas the BoM teaches that Jesus was born at Jerusalem, the
Bible teaches that Jesus is born at Bethlehem.Matthew 2:4-5 states,"When he had called together all the people's
chiefpriests and teachers of the
law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.'In Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, 'for this is what the prophet has
written'.
Conclusion
After a critique of the first
book appearing in the Book of Mormon, the book of 1Nephi, we have to reject it
upon these grounds:
It contradicts the Bible, and since
the Bible is the first revelation, 1Nephi is the one in trouble due to principle of progressive revelation.
Two prophecy unfulfilled made by a major prophet in 1Nephi.
It does not represent the true
teachings and doctrines of the Bible nor the LDS itself!
The mentioning of things that didn't
exist until far beyond it's time.
What then, shall we do now?We must reject the Book of 1st Nephi.And since 1st Nephi lay the foundation for the rest of the Book of
Mormon, the Book of Mormon must be rejected also.Thus, the LDS system must be abandoned altogether.Repent, and come to the true Jesus Christ as revealed in His Holy Word,
the Holy Bible.Hold onto His Word
as the standard of truth.Confess your sins to Him, and you shall be saved...He is
waiting for you.
"Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest in
your souls."-Matthew 11:29
COMPASS TOWARD TRUTH
(A personal heart to heart
message from the writer)
It might sound very hard to believe,
but I tried so hard to write this as inoffensive to the individuals as much as
possible.It's my prayer that those who read this would know my heart
and more importantly, the truth.I
didn't write this booklet just to wreck havoc and cause pain.No.I wrote this, believe it
or not, out of love that those who are in the LDS would have the opportunity to
come to the truth and be saved!
When I started reading and critiquing
1Nephi, I saw a theme repeated throughout it- there was much message of
repentance, and coming to God.Hopefully,
through this booklet, God would use this somewhat as a "compass" to
lead many to repentance and to a saving knowledge of God.So, as I write this from my heart to yours, I want to introduce you to
someone you might have heard of before: Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Because of the fact that men are
sinners, we are without any hope of true life whatsoever.The evils of man and it's grotesque sins can be seen in the last century
alone-the world wars, terrorism, genocides, rising crimes, etc.Our transgression separated us from the righteous God who created
us-hence, in our sins, we have become orphans.His righteousness presented a situation that He would not be able to
tolerate sin forever-for ultimately, there would be justice and judgment on us.But God, in His love, and His great wisdom had a plan to save us.Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead, came down two thousand
years ago, and died on the cross for us.He
died on the cross, so that the ultimate punishment would fall on Him, rather
than on us.His death paved a way
to come to the true God, with the barriers of sins removed.
Serving as a compass towards truth, I
would want to point to what Jesus said the night before He died, "I am way
and the truth and the life.No one
comes to the Father except through me." (John14:6)As a compass towards truth, I testify, and the Father through His Word
propheticallytestify along with
Jesus Christ own death and resurrection as a testimony that Jesus Christ is the
WAY to God and salvation, and He is the TRUTH that sets us free and be accepted,
and the LIFE to live for, for all eternally!
I recognize that the actual decision
in coming to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior would be
difficult.That is why I'm giving
mye-mail(crazycyf@hotmail.com), my
AIM screen name(Pulpitpastor) and my website (angelfire.com/rock2/team) to help
any way I can, be it questions, emotional support, prayers or the desire to
accept Him, but don't know how.
May God bless all of you.If you could, xerox this booklet and distribute it on, and do so with
gentleness and respect.That would
be greatly appreciated.If
possible, e-mail me to let me know about it.
"For God so love the world
that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have everlasting life."-John3:16
