I cannot possibly address all of them, but rather intend to focus on a few that interest me in particular. For example, critics of mormonism have shown convincing proof that the book of mormon is a synthesis of earlier works written by other men, of the vivid imaginings of joseph smith, and of plagiarisms from the king james bible. The 22 languages in which the book of mormon is now in print make it available to some 40 percent of the worlds population. Population growth during this preagricultural period was. Close readings of the book of mormon indicate a warm climate with no mention of getting cold. A high side estimate of population growth would be 3 % per year. In his speculations on book of mormon populations, vern elefson 1984 briefly discussed population figures contained in the book of mormon, and then reverseengineered them to estimate the growth rate that must have prevailed for those figures to be reached. In the context of todays muchpublicized population. Approximately 114 of those languages are each spoken by more than 1 million people. In this essay i examine one possible problem in current lds interpretations of the book of mormon.
Mormon scholars and apologists respond to the anachronisms in several ways. Critics challenge the viability of the population size and growth of the book of mormon people. Those discussed here are grouped into 3 categories. The problem is that the math just does not add up to make it remotely possible. In addition, the very content of the book of mormon makes it impossible to accept it as divine revelation. If this were applied to the 57 people from lehis company and projected to the. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. While this may seem to be merely a legend or an unexplainable part of history, the book of mormon, believed to be written by ancient american prophets, reports the visitation of jesus christ to the american continent following his resurrection. Joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon was the most correct book. In 2 nephi 5, we have the story that a temple was built in the first 20 years in the new world. Indeed, the population figures given in the book of mormon show a rather gradual population growth over the years. The book of mormon is supposed to be the account of people who came from the middleeast to the americas. Fortunately, there are other people willing to digest it all for me and give me the interesting bits. Book of mormon population statistics meridian magazine.
But the first question to be answered is why modern book of mormon scholarship insists on this interpretation to begin with, when it seems so contrary to the face value of the text itself. Tvedtnessand in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal. How could so many people have died at the battle of cumorah. Basic methodological problems with the anti mormon approach to the geography and archaeology of the book of mormon william j. Was the lehite colony too small to produce the population sizes indicated by the book of mormon. According to the church of jesus christ of latterday saints mormon church, the book of mormon is a divinely inspired revelation that is complimentary to the bible.
In the case of the nephites and mulekites in the book of mormon we have two groups of people moving into apparently sparsely populated, but not entirely empty land, and then 500 years later fighting wars that would require a total population of 600,000 people or more. Lds historical facts, problems, controversies, and contradictions. His best guess was an average annual rate of increase of 1. In its landmark 1907 address to the world, adopted by a unanimous vote of the membership and published at the height of the controversial reed smoot u. Jan 20, 2020 the book of mormon has many problems from historical anachronisms to a total lack of archaeological fact to population impossibilities, etc. Population growth and the book of mormon quantumleap42. Although the book of mormon is silent on population growth and decline as such, it does. However, if the above description of the lineage history in the book of mormon is oversimplified, then these genetic results. For readers unfamiliar with the authors, the tanners are famous or infamous exlds members.
In utah, book of mormon strikes a chord the tony awardwinning musical, the book of mormon, opened in salt lake city last week. Along with cocreator robert lopez, parker and stone have produced a work of comedic genius that exceeds critical hype and hyperbole. I offer the following comments for potential readers. The book of mormon and others june 14, 2017 june 14, 2017 dave lefevre for many years after the book of mormon first appeared in 1830, many read it with the idea that lehi and his group were the only ones on the american continents. Senate confirmation hearings, the church made the connection between being considered a menace to free institutions, as it was then widely viewed, and the things the church verifiably. The book of mormon makes clear that both jaredites and nephites who lived in ancient times on this continent had domestic animals of various kinds. It tells of the jaredites, people from the tower of babel who came to central america but perished because of their own immorality. What do we know about the numbers of nephites and lamanites. The congruencies between the book of mormon account and native american legends are astonishing. The book of mormon is likely a kinship record, which is a history written from the point of view of a social clan.
This page discusses more alleged problems in the book of mormon, including clashes with modern bible scholarship. The conclusion states, much as critics and defenders of the book of mormon would like to use dna studies to support their views, the evidence is simply inconclusive. The authenticity of the book of mormon is in question only if this is an accurate interpretation of the historical population dynamics inferred as existing before, during, and after the book of mormon record takes place. According to the book of mormon, jesus christ appeared and preached to the nephites in the americas after his crucifixion. On the other hand, the nephites and lamanites, whose thousandyear history comprises most of the book of mormon ca. The book of mormon is not primarily a history of a people. Lds church members are taught that the book of mormon bom is scripture, as well as a true record of the inhabitants of the americas from about 2200 bc to 420 ad. Leading experts of the early americas disavow the historicity of the book of mormon narrative. The only bible that joseph smith relied on was the king james version. How many languages has the book of mormon been translated into.
The book of mormon is an exceptional, visionary and allround. In such an analysis, the assertions of population growth in the book of mormon approach the ridiculous. As one examines the occasions when population size is mentioned. Given the very small historic or prehistoric average population growth rate of 0. I was curious about this, so i did some fun math to calculate the birth rate in the book of mormon. Each of the anachronisms is a word, phrase, artifact, or other concept that critics, historians, archaeologists, or linguists believe did not exist in the americas during the time period in which the book of mormon claims to have been written. It is the history of a messagethe doctrine of christand those who either embraced or rejected it. The problem of the horse and other domestic animals excerpt from. Population growth in the book of mormon wednesday, october 10, 2012. Problems with the book of mormon a letter to an apostle. The book of mormon not only teaches the trinity but it also teaches that god the father is a spirit, which is in total contradiction to modern day latterday saint doctrine.
The underlying premise of mormonthink is that many of the issues, or at least the details of the issues, covered on mormonthink are unknown to most latterday saints. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents. Lamb may have been the very first critic to suggest that the book of mormon has an unrealistic population growth rate. One of the problems with the book of mormon is that the church teaches a literal interpretation of it as the book is intended to be a true history of the people in it. The biggest problem with the book of mormon religious forums. Besides its obvious plagiarisms, other serious problems plague the book of mormon. All three of these witnesses were later excommunicated by the church due to accusations of lying, stealing, cheating, counterfeiting, defrauding, and persecuting the mormons. Book of mormonpopulation and demographics fairmormon.
Translating the book of mormon is an enormous task requiring literally years of patient, prayerful effort. The book of mormon claims to be a translation of ancient writing on gold plates. Size of nephite and lamanite populations book of mormon. Basic methodological problems with the antimormon approach. Number includes both lehis family and the mulekites who colonized during the same period. As the modern lds church tries to shore up belief in the prophet joseph smith and his special powers of translation, it continues to try to argue for something more than a fictional narrative for the book of mormon. Apr 20, 2017 mormons catch a lot flack for being mormon. Critics of the book of mormon who say that there cannot be the number of people claimed in the book of mormon make the opposite error, often using documents of ehrlich and his fellow doomsayers. The book is divided into smaller books that read as narratives.
Many latterday saints have not had access to sources which communicate how recent research has changed our understanding of the book of mormon as an ancient document. The book of mormons own population data is consistent with this figure. The problem is, some areas may greatly exceed this rate, other areas may be less, and still others may be declining in numbers. Can you comment on the demographics of the book of mormon. Even before this time, meldrum and perego had corresponded personally with each other on multiple occasions, including at least two or three inperson consultations in peregos office at the sorenson molecular genealogy foundation in salt lake city, utah on the question of book of mormon dna studies and the problems with meldrums. Jun 25, 2007 a book of mormon population problem solved royal skousens analysis of textual variants of the book of mormon doesnt sound like the kind of book id want to pick up for some light summer reading. The book of mormon contains many overt references, and some more oblique ones, to other peoples that were part of the demographic mix in book of mormon times. May 25, 2014 while there may be some anti mormon critics who would have no problem using this fact to discount both the book of mormon and the bible, i find it slightly satisfying that for those critics who hold to the bible, and only the bible, the numbers presented in the bible require a larger population growth rate than the rate they claim disproves the. First published in 1830, the book of mormon tells of the transoceanic migrations of two ancient near eastern peoples to the americas. Feb 05, 2017 along with cocreator robert lopez, parker and stone have produced a work of comedic genius that exceeds critical hype and hyperbole. It seems impossible that there could be enough nephites and lamanites in just a few generations after lehis arrival in the new world to enable them to carry on warfare, as described in the book of mormon. In major problems of mormonism jerald and sandra tanner examine historical and theological difficulties faced by the church of latter day saints lds. Many also are unaware of some rather surprising new discoveries supporting the book of mormon which have been brought about by the advanced methods of science. A heartland book of mormon exploration the millennial star.
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