How do the Prophets of Mormon Measure Up to the Old Testament Prophets?

 Here is this week’s blog breakdown of the Mormon Hope Podcast. In this episode Dave and I dive into I Nephi 6-10 and give a review from a pastor’s perspective (for the full episode click here https://www.buzzsprout.com/1645945/14341342 ). In this section of “Come Follow Me” 2024, we deal with the question, how do the prophets of Mormon measure up to the Old Testament prophets? 

The Genealogies, or Lack Thereof. I couldn’t help but notice that in the first two verses of I Nephi 6 that the author declines to give us the family genealogy from the brass plates. In fact, he says that we just have to take his word for it that Lehi’s family hails from the line of Joseph. So to rehash, in the first five chapters Nephi and his brothers go to incredible lengths in order to secure these brass plates, even killing Laban, and nobody is going to write it down in the Book of Mormon? (sigh). Here’s a clear chance to prove the historicity of the Book of Mormon and they totally whiffed. 

The Old Testament prophets didn’t shy away from doing this. We are given extensive and detailed genealogies of Seth, Cain, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, etc. In fact, the first nine chapters of the Chronicles are nothing but genealogies. Even in the New Testament we are given two genealogies of Jesus, one from through Joseph (adoption) and one through Mary. 

So why didn’t the prophets of Mormon do this? I think that the answer is pretty simple. If you’re going to tell a lie, especially in writing, the less details that you include the less chance you have of getting caught. To write down a detailed historical genealogy that can be investigated would be social suicide unless the narrative is true. 

Prophecy Problems. Biblical prophecy is so amazing that it can never be replicated. One of the unique things about biblical prophecies is that they almost always have a near and far meaning (the book of Revelation being an exception). For example, In II Samuel 7 we see Nathan prophesying of the Davidic covenant. Through Nathan, the Lord promised David that he would have a son who would also become king. This king would build the temple and his throne would be established forever. In hindsight, we understand that this prophecy was referring to Solomon. Solomon was David’s son and he did build the Temple. However, his throne didn’t last forever, and even that Temple was destroyed by Nebucchadnezzar in 586 B.C. 

When Christ came, however, this descendant of David (through Mary by birth and Joseph by adoption) established an everlasting kingdom and He raised Himself from the dead as a temple unto God (John 2:19-21). This prophecy had a near meaning in Solomon and an ultimate fulfillment in Christ. Only a Sovereign God could make that work.  

This type of prophecy isn’t found in the Book of Mormon. Instead we see a single promise-fulfillment model. Lehi was supposedly prophesying of the coming of Christ and His ministry. Yet this promise had no near meaning at all, and had no bearing on his immediate audience. I want to again reiterate that Joseph Smith wrote these supposed prophecies in the 1800’s, long after these “prophecies” had already been fulfilled. I understand that Smith claims to have written on behalf of these prophets that lived hundreds of years prior to the coming of Christ, but we just have to take his word on that don’t we. 

Moses I know and David I know, but who is Nephi? 

In my opinion, one of the most damning pieces of evidence against the validity of the Book of Mormon is the fact that none of the Mormon prophets are ever referenced in the New Testament, not once. I mean, if it’s truly another testament of Jesus Christ, then why doesn’t Christ ever mention it? If there was one reference to Nephi, Lehi or any of the other Mormon prophets then we would have reason to take the Book of Mormon seriously. 

In contrast, the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament prophets 200 times (full citations). When you figure in the partial citations and the allusions to the Old Testament prophets, there are over 1,000 references of the Old Testament in the New Testament. This averages to around 1 out of every 8 verses in the New Testament. When Christ and the Apostles quoted from the Old Testament scriptures, they weren’t just pointing to fulfilled prophecy, but they were also recognizing the Old Testament scriptures as authoritative. 

Christ gave homage to the entire Old Testament Canon when in Luke 11:51 he referenced the prophet Abel (the first OT prophet) to Zechariah (the last OT prophet). Christ also referenced every genre of the Old Testament in Luke 24:44 when he mentioned the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms. Again, if the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ, then why didn’t He mention ANY of the Mormon prophets? I think this is an Everest that the LDS church can’t climb. 

Final Thoughts

We see a pattern beginning to emerge with Lehi. That is, believe the prophet or be damned. Lehi condemns his sons, Lemuel and Laman for not believing him. He also expresses concern for their souls because of their response to his vision. On the other hand, he praises Nephi and Sam for believing his vision. This seems to set a dangerous precedent, which also seems to be the entire foundation of Mormonism. Belief Joseph Smith or else. However, Christ is the only one that has this type of authority. Personally, I’ll go with Him.

For more information on salvation by grace in Christ, be sure to visit; https://gracebaptistlogan.org/how-to-be-saved.html

I Nephi 1:1-5 (A Pastor's Review)

 Greetings from this week’s blog breakdown of “Come Follow Me” 2024. This week Pastor Mallinak and I dive into I Nephi 1:1-5 (here’s a link to the full podcast episode https://www.buzzsprout.com/1645945/14299280) and take a look at the call of Lehi and the seizing of the brass plates. 

Truth or Fiction?

One thing that we don’t want to do in this season of the Mormon Hope Podcast is get stuck in the rut of “the book of Mormon isn’t true and here are the historical reasons why”. However, with that being said, we can’t help but point out a few things that stuck out in the first five chapters of I Nephi. 

First, names were extremely important to the Jews. Names almost always had meaning and in many cases spoke of circumstances at the child’s time of birth. Almost none of the names of these introductory characters have any Jewish origin whatsoever. For example, “Nephi” has Egyptian roots. This leaves us scratching our heads and asking, what Jewish parents would give their child an Egyptian name? 

One more example before moving on, the name “Sam”. Sam is an English name. I know that some will point out that “Sam” is an abbreviation of “Samuel” which obviously is Jewish. But here’s the thing, the Jews would have never abbreviated the name “Samuel” because it would completely stript that name of its meaning. “El” in Hebrew is a reference to God. For example, “Immanuel” means “God with us”. “Samuel” means “God hears”. So if you remove the “El” you’re missing the whole point from a Jewish perspective. Naming one of Nephi’s brothers “Sam” screams of anachronism. It makes it seem as if someone from 1800’s America took something from their culture and attempted to read it back into this historical fiction. As we make our way through the Book of Mormon, we will see these types of anachronisms over and over and over. There are more anachronisms even in these first five chapters, but for brevity’s sake I will move on. 

God Told Nephi To Do What? 

In my opinion, one of the most terrifying precedents in the Book of Mormon is found in I Nephi 4. Laban has stolen the valuables of Nephi and his brothers and refuses to give them the brass plates. Nephi returns to Laban’s house in order to try and take the plates when he finds Laban lying on the floor in a drunken slumber. The Holy Spirit speaks to Nephi and tells him to take Laban’s own sword and slay him with it. 

This is extremely problematic because we don’t see a single instance in the Old or New Testament in which God commands an individual to murder another individual. It is true that God commanded military leaders (such as Joshua) to take out their enemies (like the wicked Canaanites) but these were acts of a just war and not the cold blooded murder of a defenseless person. 

It seems that this is an unholy spirit commanding Nephi to break one of the ten commandments, which is something that God would never do (James 1:13-15). Not only is this blasphemous, but it sets a very dangerous precedent. If God can command Nephi to kill another person, why can’t God do the same thing today, especially in the LDS system in which subjective experience is pushed so hard?

Setting the Stage

One thing that Pastor Mallinak and I really dug into this week in the podcast is the fact that the message is so clear from right out of the gate. That is, listen to and obey the prophet without questioning. Lehi supposedly heard from the Lord with no evidence or proof of anything that he said. Nephi was the darling child because he listened and obeyed. While his brothers were bad because they dared to question him. And if someone wants to be a good Mormon, they must listen to and obey the prophets, whether they are speaking for God or not. And you’d better be so open minded that you will allow your brain to fall into the floor before you dare ask any questions. I mean, the title of this week’s lesson is “I will go and do” for crying out loud. 

Closing Thoughts and Overall Opinion

It’s no secret that we reject the Book of Mormon as being true. There is zero historical evidence that these events ever happened. There is no proof that the characters ever existed. It’s full of anachronisms. The doctrine of the BOM contradicts Christ and the Apostles at every turn. To be frank, instead of the BOM being another testament of Jesus Christ, we believe it to be a testament of another Jesus Christ. We also think that these opening chapters about getting these supposed brass plates are a big nothing burger. But please hear us when we say that our goal isn’t simply to poke holes in Mormonism. As our intro says, we want people to find freedom in truth because lies enslave people and damn them to hell. The bottom line is that you can trust the God breathed and preserved Scriptures in the Bible. You can trust in the gospel of grace, that the death and resurrection of Christ is enough to wash away your sins and make you right with God. Thanks so much for reading this week’s blog review of Come Follow Me. 

For more information on how to be made a new creature in Christ visit https://gracebaptistlogan.org/how-to-be-saved.html

Is the Book of Mormon Unlike Any Other Book?

Same Reason, New Season 

The Mormon Hope Podcast is pleased to announce a brand new season for 2024! Along with this season comes some new features as well. For starters, each weekly episode will fall in line with the LDS “Come Follow Me” curriculum. Each week Pastor Mallinak and I (Pastor Vaughan) will follow along with the weekly “Come Follow Me” study guide, videos and readings from the Book of Mormon. 

We are doing this for several reasons. First, we want to learn more about the LDS faith, especially considering that we live and pastor in the heart of Mormon country Utah. We also never want to misrepresent the beliefs of others, and following along with their own curriculum will help towards this end. Second, this will give us plenty of weekly podcast material by which to respond from a historical, biblical Christian perspective. So be sure and tune in to the podcast each week! (shameless plug). Our ultimate goal is to bring Latter Day Saints to salvation in the true Christ, through the gospel of grace. 

For any of our LDS readers/listeners, we want you to hear from us that we love you. Our goal isn’t to win an argument or “Mormon Bash”. We are simply on a quest for truth, because the truth is what sets people free. Vetting truth claims is a necessary skill for good thinkers. Our aim is to promote truth clearly and engage error gracefully. We encourage you to investigate our claims and see if we are telling the truth. We welcome friendly questions and dialogue and will be glad to deal with the feedback in the podcast. Just remember that the truth never fears a challenge. In fact, a faith that can’t be challenged is a faith that can’t be trusted. 

Another new feature for this year will be this blog. We are adding “The Mormon Hope” Blog as a weekly compliment to each podcast episode. The blog will be a shorter synopsis of what we cover in the podcast. If you’re like Dave and I, sometimes you would just rather read about it. So help us spread the word, The Mormon Hope podcast/blog 2024, making the internet great again. Anyway, let’s get to the material for week one. 

Introductory Pages of the Book of Mormon (Jan. 1-7) https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-home-and-church-book-of-mormon-2024/01?lang=eng

“Come Follow Me” begins exactly the way that I would expect it to, and that is by attempting to establish the validity and authority of the Book of Mormon, or as Elder Holland said in the opening video, “The Book of Mormon is the word of God.” If you’re going to be teaching from a certain religious text for the next year, the text needs to be proven as trustworthy and true, right? Ironically, this is the same reason that season 1, episode 1 of the Mormon Hope podcast deals with, “can we really trust the Bible?” (the answer of course is, yes). 

Right out of the gate, this first lesson highlights two glaring differences between LDS and Biblical Christians. The first one is textual authority. The second one is the method of determining truth. Let’s break down some key statements from this week’s lesson in order to better understand these two points of contrast. 

What about the Bible? 

The opening words of this introductory lesson read, “Before you even get to 1 Nephi chapter 1, you will notice that the Book of Mormon is no ordinary book. Its introductory pages describe a backstory unlike any other.” The implication is clear. The BOM is special, extra-ordinary, and unlike any other. Joseph Smith himself testified that “the Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion” (History of the Church 4:461). For the Christian, these types of statements give us great pause and cause us to do a double take. The instant question that wells up in our hearts is, “what about the Bible!” 

The bible is more than a book, it’s a library of 66 books. These books were breathed out by God through over 40 authors over a period of about 1,500 years and yet its unity is unsurpassed. It reads as if there is one author, because the one author is God. The bible’s historical accuracy is unparalleled as an ancient source. It contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies concerning Christ, Israel, the rise and fall of nations and leaders, world events, etc.1. The bible is overwhelmingly supported by the archaeological record 2. There are more ancient manuscripts for the Bible than any other work of antiquity and it’s not even close. We have over 5,700 ancient manuscripts in the original languages for the New Testament alone! Homer comes in second with around 643 manuscripts 3. Again we ask, what about the Bible? Unfortunately, the Bible was never mentioned in this lesson, as it’s all about the Book of Mormon. 

The only time that the Bible was mentioned was in two specific statements in two of the videos. The first statement was that “the book of Mormon confirms the truth of the Bible” and that “the Book of Mormon completes the Bible.” I would just respectfully point out that the Bible confirms the truth of the Bible, and the Bible completes the Bible. This is why God closed the very last chapter of Revelation by giving a warning not to add to or take away from the word of that book of prophecy. 

https://www.newtestamentchristians.com/bible-study-resources/351-old-testament-prophecies-fulfilled-in-jesus-christ/

https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/does-archaeology-support-the-bible/

https://www.icr.org/bible-manuscripts

One of These Things Is Not Like The Other

I have just made several truth claims about the Bible with a few quick resources to support these claims. Now I am going to make some truth claims about the Book of Mormon. I want to remind my LDS friends that I am not throwing stones, I am simply making truth claims. Remember that all good thinkers vet truth claims. If what I’m about to say isn’t true, disregard it. But if what I am about to say is true, then why ignore it? Ok, here it goes. 

Let’s contrast the Book of Mormon using the same criteria that we just mentioned about the Bible and see how it stacks up. First, we don’t have a single manuscript for the BOM, not one. The plates that the BOM was supposedly translated from are conveniently MIA. This means that instead of having ancient copies of what the prophets actually wrote, we have the supposed translation of one teenaged boy concerning what the prophets wrote, with absolutely no way to vet his work. This lack of manuscript evidence makes it impossible to even prove the existence of the prophets of the BOM.

Concerning prophecy, the Book of Mormon doesn’t contain any fulfilled prophecy. I understand that the BOM contains prophecies that would have been true if the alleged prophets had actually written them at the time in which they supposedly lived. Here is the problem, when the Biblical prophets like Isaiah wrote a prophecy concerning Christ (the virgin birth for example, Isaiah 7:14), we have Isaiah’s actual words from around 750 years prior to the coming of Christ. However, with Joseph Smith writing on behalf of the alleged prophets of the BOM thousands of years after their death, every prophetic event that Smith wrote about was past tense from the 1830’s when he wrote it. This means that if Smith made the whole thing up, then he simply spoke of historical events as if they were future from the time of the prophet that he was supposedly translating for? Do you see the difference? Again, one of these things is not like the other. 

When it comes to the historical and archaeological record for the BOM, just pay attention to this statement put out by the Smithsonian Institute in 1996;  

The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archaeologists see no direct connection between the archaeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book.

The physical type of the American Indian is basically Mongoloid, being most closely related to that of the peoples of eastern, central, and northeastern Asia. Archaeological evidence indicates that the ancestors of the present Indians came into the New World — probably over a land bridge known to have existed in the Bering Strait region during the last Ice Age — in a continuing series of small migrations beginning from about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Present evidence indicates that the first people to reach this continent from the East were the Norsemen who briefly visited the northeastern part of North America around A.D. 1000 and then settled in Greenland. There is nothing to show that they reached Mexico or Central America.

One of the main lines of evidence supporting the scientific finding that contacts with Old World civilizations, if indeed they occurred at all, were of very little significance for the development of American Indian civilizations, is the fact that none of the principal Old World domesticated food plants or animals (except the dog) occurred in the New World in pre-Columbian times. American Indians had no wheat, barley, oats, millet, rice, cattle, pigs, chickens, horses, donkeys, camels before 1492. (Camels and horses were in the Americas, along with the bison, mammoth, and mastodon, but all these animals became extinct around 10,000 B.C. at the time the early big game (sic) hunters spread across the Americas.)

Iron, steel, glass, and silk were not used in the New World before 1492 (except for occasional use of unsmelted meteoric iron). Native copper was used (sic) in various locations in pre-Columbian times, but true metallurgy was limited to southern Mexico and the Andean region, where its occurrence in late prehistoric times involved gold, silver, copper, and their alloys, but not iron.

There is a possibility that the spread of cultural traits across the Pacific to Mesoamerica and the northwestern coast of South America began several hundred years before the Christian era. However, any such inter-hemispheric contacts appear to have been the results of accidental voyages originating in eastern and southern Asia. It is by means certain that even such contacts occurred; certainly there were no contacts with the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, or other peoples of Western Asia and the Near East.

No reputable Egyptologist or other specialist on Old World archaeology, and no expert on New World prehistory, has discovered or confirmed any relationship between archaeological remains in Mexico and archaeological remains in Egypt.

Reports of findings of ancient Egyptian, Hebrew, and other Old World writings in the New World in pre-Columbian contexts have frequently appeared in newspapers, magazines, and sensational books. None of these claims has stood up to examination by reputable scholars. No inscriptions using Old World forms of writing have been shown to have occurred in any part of the Americas before 1492 except for a few Norse rune stones which have been found in Greenland.

There are copies of the Book of Mormon in the library of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

A while back I had the privilege of sitting in the lovely home of a very well respected Mormon business owner in town. He had graciously invited me over after one of our church members had left a gospel tract on his door. He is a sixth generation Mormon. His ancestors had come over with the pioneers. He had even served as a bishop for several years before retiring. We had a friendly conversation, but I asked him point blank if the lack of evidence for the ancient American civilizations mentioned in the BOM bothered him. By lack of evidence, I mean not a single arrowhead, piece of pottery, manuscript, drawing in a cave, NOTHING. His response to me was, “if God wants to keep those things hidden so that it requires me to have more faith than so be it.” But this is blind faith. Good thinking requires a person to ask why God didn’t do the same thing and hide the evidence for the ancient Israelites, Hittites, Canaanites, etc. We have ample archaeological evidence for all of those biblical peoples and many more. 

Truth or Confirmation?

I wanted to look at one more thing before we wrap up this week’s blog (it’s already longer than I expected, which I should have expected). The lesson goes on to say; “The Holy Ghost can testify to you that the Book of Mormon is true, even though you haven’t seen the gold plates as the Three Witnesses and Eight Witnesses did. As you read their words, think about how their testimonies strengthen yours.” In this statement, the authors are encouraging people to forsake objective truth for the sake of subjective truth. This being translated, even though we don’t have any proof, God can give you a subjective feeling that the BOM is true. Moroni 10:4 says, “I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true.” But is this really the way to determine truth? 

Think for a moment about being called to be a juror for an upcoming murder trial. As you sit in the jury box listening to the evidence, the prosecutor shows that DNA, video, and possession of the murder weapon all point to the defendant as the murderer. And all the defense has to say in response is that his client is innocent and all you have to do to know that he is innocent is to pray for confirmation in your heart. You would never be persuaded by this kind of “evidence”, nor would it ever hold up in a court of law. This also forces a good thinker to ask, what happens when people come to different conclusions when asking God’s confirmation about the same question or issue? There is no way to vet that. Truth is the confirmation. Confirmation isn’t the truth. 

I find it interesting that lesson 1 doesn’t encourage anyone to pray and ask God to reveal to them if the Bible is true or not. I’m not asking anyone to do that either. I’m asking you to study it for yourself and see if it’s true and if it squares with what you are being taught in the LDS church. God gave us His Word as a document that we can vet and verify. We can trust the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God. 

This lesson paints a perfect contrast going forward as we will constantly be vetting the truth claims made by the LDS church and contrasting it with the claims of Scripture (Genesis-Revelation). We look forward to you joining us weekly.