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BIBLE PROPHECY and the LAST DAYS the Book of Mormon

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BIBLE PROPHECY and the LAST DAYS the Book of Mormon P. M. WILLIAMS BIBLE PROPHECY AND THE LAST DAYS [10/01/14] THE RISE OF THE CULTS – PART 17 MORMONISM – PART 3 HISTORY The Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ As already mentioned in part 1 of the teaching on the LDS church; there are four standard works of the LDS church; the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. The eighth article of the LDS statement of fundamental beliefs says: “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.” - Articles of Faith – Article 8 One will notice, the belief that the Bible is the word of God is qualified and checked by the additional words ‚as far as it is translated correctly‛. When it comes to the Book of Mormon however it is believed to be the word of God without qualification!! In short, this means that the Book of Mormon is over and above the Bible!! Where the two are in conflict, the Mormon will take the revelation of the Book of Mormon over and against the revelation revealed in the Bible. When one reads the front cover of the Book of Mormon, one will notice underneath this title, the words…Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Immediately, alarm bells sound in my mind. We have in our Bible, the Old and New Testaments. The word testament in its biblical usage simply means covenant, namely a covenant between God and man. There was the Old Covenant ratified at Mount Sinai and the New Covenant ratified at Mount Calvary. How then biblically can there be another covenant of Jesus Christ other than the one that was given already? However, the Mormon understands the word ‘Testament’ in its modern usage; namely a proof or evidence that something is; a testimony attesting to truth. As far as we are concerned, there is no further proof or evidence needed, no other testimony required of Jesus Christ than that which has already been revealed and given to us in the 66 books of the Bible!! In the introduction page to the Book of Mormon it states: “The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C. and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians. The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after His resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come. After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the Hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, then a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.” - Introduction to the Book of Mormon (2006) According to the book of Mormon, Lehi was an Israelite prophet who lived with his family in Jerusalem around 600 B.C. during the reign of King Zedekiah. Just after 600 B.C Lehi led his family out of Jerusalem through the Arabian dessert and across to the Americas to escape the pending destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Lehi had a number of sons three of which were named Nephi, Laman (Lehi’s firstborn) and Lemuel. Shortly after arriving in the Americas, Lehi died and entrusted the leadership of the colony to Nephi. Laman and his brother Lemuel rebelled against the leadership of their younger brother Nephi and the colony was split in two. These two groups became known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. For their rebellion, God cut off Laman and Lemuel from His presence and caused their skins to become black! 19And behold, the words of the Lord had been fulfilled unto my brethren, which he spake concerning them, that I should be their ruler and their teacher. Wherefore, I had been their ruler and their teacher, according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time they sought to take away my life. 20Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence. 21And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. - 2 Nephi 5:19-21, The Book of Mormon The lighter white skinned Nephites were considered righteous, whereas the darker skinned Lamanites were considered wicked. Following the supposed appearing of Jesus Christ to the Nephites shortly after His resurrection in which He preached the gospel to them; the Nephite people became a wicked race. In a great battle that supposed took place between the Nephites and the Lamanites on the Hill Cumorah in Palmyra, New York around the year 385 A.D; the Nephite people were destroyed. The military general of the Nephite army was a man by the name of Mormon. Mormon himself was a prophet who was directed to abridge the history of his Nephite ancestors written and preserved by supposed Nephite prophets. This abridgment along with additional words of his own, were supposedly engraved by Mormon onto gold plates which were then passed down to his son Moroni, the last surviving Nephite who completed the historical Nephite record. Moroni then buried the golden plates in a stone box in the Hill Cumorah. Incidentally, it was this same Moroni who 1400 years later, appeared to Joseph Smith and told him the secret location of these golden plates; Smith then supposedly translated them from ‚reformed Egyptian‛ into English thus producing ‘The Book of Mormon’. The Book of Mormon bears the name of the so-called Prophet Mormon mentioned above. Indeed two of the books in the Book of Mormon bear his name; another book bears the name of his son Moroni. The Book of Mormon is just under one and half times larger than the New Testament; it comprises of 15 books which the LDS church says were written by Nephite prophets. The LDS church believe that whilst the Bible documents the events of God’s chosen people Israel in the eastern hemisphere; the Book of Mormon documents the lives of the Israelites inhabiting the western hemisphere, namely the ancient Americas. Interestingly much of what the LDS church believe doctrinally is not to be found in the Book of Mormon but in the other writings of Joseph Smith; Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price. Yet Smith said of the Book of Mormon: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than any other book.” - Introduction page to the Book of Mormon We will then investigate this statement in the light of modern science, history and the truth of the Holy Bible; what we will find is shocking, prepare yourselves… The Book of Mormon in the Light of Modern Science The title page of the Book of Mormon informs us that the Book of Mormon was written to the Lamanites who are identified as the remnant of the house of Israel: “Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of israel; and also to Jew and Gentile” - Title Page to the Book of Mormon In the introduction to the Book of Mormon it identifies these Lamanites as the principal ancestors of the American Indians: “After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians” - Introduction page to the Book of Mormon (1981) However, in the latest edition of the Book of Mormon (2006) this has been changed to read: “After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.” - Introduction page to the Book of Mormon (2006) Did you notice any difference? One word has been changed!! The word ‘principal’ has been changed to the word ‘among’. Why so? Joseph Smith himself agreed with the 1981 introduction when he wrote in a letter “They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph…The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country." - Joseph Smith, The Wentworth Letter – cited from www.lds.org Former LDS church President Spencer W.
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