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The 8th Article of Faith states: "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." In the title page of the Book of Mormon, we read, "...if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God." Lastly, we read the words of Moroni shortly after he took over his father's record: "Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him...

Bob Bennett has a challenge for those who reject The Book of Mormon as a fanciful work of fiction...In a new book, Leap of Faith: Confronting the Origins of The Book of Mormon, the lifelong Mormon and grandson of a church prophet, argues that the foundational book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be dismissed so easily. SNIP ...Terryl Givens, a Mormon and a professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond, notes that The Book of Mormon has not undergone much if any scrutiny by scholars outside the faith. "The story of its...

First in a series of four articles Somewhere among the varied coasts of the two American continents was landfall for a small group of ancient Israelite seafarers led by a prophet named Lehi. Whether they stepped upon the sands of an empty or crowded continent is at the heart of the DNA debate over the historical nature of the Book of Mormon. Ugo Perego, an Italian-born researcher in human genetics, tries to look with a scientist's eye at the controversy surrounding DNA and the Book of Mormon. He is a bit impatient with some of the strong conclusions of some...

Spanish Fork » Joseph Smith may have called The Book of Mormon the "most correct of any book on Earth," but that doesn't mean it couldn't use some correcting -- even now, 179 years after it first came off the press. Regarded by a worldwide faith of nearly 14 million members as Holy Writ, the book is not wholly without errors -- typos, omissions, grammatical goofs and altogether wrong words. Mistakes have crept into the text since LDS Church founder Joseph Smith dictated the original manuscript, which he says he translated with God's help from gold plates. Truth is, the...

I came across some interesting Book of Mormon geography theories. Some of which I was familiar with and a few that were new to me. I found them interesting to read through. I’m sure there are more theories out there, but here are a few for you to read through. I’ve included links for more information on each theory on the titles of the theory. Mesoamerica Theory 1: Isthmus of Tehuantepec As you can see in this map, this theory is the one in which people believe the main location for the Book of Mormon is in Central America and...

The biggest problem with the Book of Mormon is that it exists, says Sen. Bob Bennett...The Republican senator from Utah is the author of "Leap of Faith," which was recently released by Deseret Book...Bennett didn't like the way the Book of Mormon was represented in media coverage leading up to the 2002 Winter Olympics... "The tenor of the articles that kind of started me on this was that no one of any intelligence could believe the incredibly outlandish story about angels and gold plates, that any person with the slightest bit of education would reject this out of hand," he...

Wilford C. Wood...was ahead of his time in his love for the past. Long before it even occurred to other people that Mormon history sites would be worth preserving, he was actively, tirelessly and relentlessly pursuing the purchase and preservation of key LDS Church history sites -- places where Mormons believe heaven reached down and touched earth through revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith Jr. SNIP UNCUT SHEETS OF THE 1830 BOOK OF MORMON Some of Wood’s greatest finds were the uncut sheets of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. His quest began, according to Price, in the...

A group of Mormons visited Central Michigan University's campus Thursday afternoon as part of a mission calling. Part of their mission on campus is to explain rumors about the Mormon beliefs, said Elder Josh Price, 21 of Arizona. "We want to dispel misconceptions, like 'Mormons' have a million wives,'" he said. The group walked through campus around noon with a giant Book of Mormon replica, stopping briefly in the Pierce Hall plaza. They were fulfilling part of a mission that has taken them around the United States, and some of them around the world. The replica was made by missionaries...

A rare 1841 copy of the Book of Mormon that likely belonged to Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, is now owned by the LDS Church, the gift of a church member who wishes to remain anonymous... Her name imprinted on the base of the book's spine identifies it as Lucy's book, likely a "presentation copy" from the 1841 edition published in England. Because of superior and less-expensive printing and binding, the edition was made there, commissioned by LDS Church apostles on a mission in that land and acting at the behest of Joseph Smith. It was...

 M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E Lesson 16“Ye Shall Be Called the Children of Christ”Mosiah 4-6By Maurine Jensen ProctorChildren of ChristBefore his death, King Benjamin hoped to help his people make a covenant to become the children of Christ. He said: And now because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of...

The LDS Church has changed a single word in its introduction to the Book of Mormon, a change observers say has serious implications for commonly held LDS beliefs about the ancestry of American Indians. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe founder Joseph Smith unearthed a set of gold plates from a hill in upperstate New York in 1827 and translated the ancient text into English. The account, known as The Book of Mormon, tells the story of two Israelite civilizations living in the New World. One derived from a single family who fled from Jerusalem...

Romney 'unlikely' choice of evangelicals Posted on Jun 21, 2007 | by Rachel Waligorski KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)--The "overarching and primary concern" why evangelicals likely will not vote for a Mormon for president is the Mormon claim to be the only true Christian church, a Southern Baptist seminary president said during the International Society of Christian Apologetics' annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo. If Mormons were to call themselves "a new religious movement," that would be one thing, said R. Philip Roberts, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which hosted the June 1-2 meeting. "But I have a very difficult...

Lies Mormons tell about the three witnesses: Every book of Mormon makes these statements in the inside cover of title page: The Testimony Of Three Witnesses: BE IT KNOWN unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also...

(AP) SALT LAKE CITY -- Mitt Romney said Saturday that criticism of his Mormon religion by rival GOP presidential campaigns is happening too frequently. “Clearly, any derogatory comments about anyone’s faith—those comments are troubling. The fact they keep on coming up is even more troubling,” Romney said during a fundraising trip in the home state of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Mormon church is one of the fastest-growing religions and claims about 12.5 million members worldwide. But many evangelical Christians in crucial primary states such as Iowa and South Carolina consider the faith a cult. Romney’s...

It Is False If It Contradicts The Bible It is a well-known fact that Truth does not contradict Truth. That the Bible is Truth, is a fact to which our Mormon friends agree-up to a point. If all of the writings held to be inspired by Mormons are consistent with the Bible, this a point in their favor. On the other hand, if it can be shown that the writings of Mormonism contradict the Bible, this will lead irresistibly to the conclusion that their religious system is false. Let us notice a few instances of how the Mormon writings compare...

The free Bible download contains all the text of the King James Version, as well as a new book entitled God's New Law, which describes a prophecy from the year 2000 that forgives homosexuality and fornication. This new book is meant to inaugurate the rebirth of mankind and the acceptance of gay marriage in God's kingdom. San Diego, CA (PRWEB) February 14, 2007 -- This is a new version of the Holy Bible that includes the New Testament, along with a new book entitled God's New Law, which was introduced in the year 2000. This book contains testimony of prophecy...

Woman testifies Jeffs pressured her into marrying at 14. A young woman who said she was ordered to marry her cousin at age 14 by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs testified in court Tuesday that she repeatedly begged Jeffs to let her out of the union. Jeffs refused, she said, telling her the marriage was God's will. During a felony preliminary hearing for Jeffs under tight security in Washington County, Utah, District Court, the woman, now 20, gave her first public account of her arranged marriage to a first cousin. "I told him (Jeffs) I just wanted two years before I...

The Lost City of Cahokia Ancient Tribes of the Mississippi Brought to Life By Emmett Berg The city of Cahokia, in modern-day Illinois, had a population of twenty thousand at its pinnacle in the 1300s. With pyramids, mounds, and several large ceremonial areas, Cahokia was the hub of a way of life for millions of Native Americans before the society's decline and devastation by foreign diseases. Representatives from eleven tribes are working alongside archaeologists and anthropologists to assist the Art Institute of Chicago in developing an exhibition that explores artistic and cultural themes of a major branch of pre-Columbian civilization--the...

Was The Book of Mormon given to Joseph Smith by an angel or created from a work of fiction? Who was Solomon Spalding and did he have a connection with Joseph Smith? This book critically examines key historical documents, personal testimonies, and records of 19th-century Mormon history concluding that The Book of Mormon is an "adaptation of an obscure historical novel" written by Revolutionary War veteran Solomon Spalding during the War of 1812. In twelve chapters, the authors lay out the evidence for the assertion that Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, and Joseph Smith Jr. adapted and embellished the Spalding manuscript...

PHOENIX - Retired bookstore owner Helen Schlie can see a higher purpose in selling her 1830 first-edition Book of Mormon one page at a time. Schlie said she believes it will be more of a “missionary tool” since the framed pages — priced at $2,500 to $4,500 apiece — can be handed down from generation to generation. (snip) It was first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after he said an angel named Moroni guided him to gold tablets documenting the teachings and lives of ancient tribes.