1. Overview: The testimony of the three and eight witnesses to the gold plates is often considered a key component of the Book of Mormon’s credibility. However, the witnesses, by their own admission, seemed to have only seen the angel and plates in a visionary state in their minds (as Joseph Smith suggested to them)…
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1. Background: The LDS Church published an essay, Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo, on October 22, 2014, discussing its polygamist past. The essay admitted the following, which will be discussed in further depth during the remainder of this section: (1) Joseph married girls as young as 14; (2) Joseph married women who were married…
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1. Overview: Like the First Vision story, Joseph Smith waited many years before claiming to have received the priesthood from John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. Although the Church teaches that the priesthood was restored in 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery made no such claim until 1834. Not even members of Joseph’s…
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“Our whole strength rests on the validity of that [First] vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens.” – Gordon B. Hinckley, The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith 1.…
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1. DNA Evidence Disproves BOM Claims: DNA analysis undermines the premise of the Book of Mormon. Specifically, DNA evidence establishes that Native American Indians originate from Asia and not from the Middle East or from Israel as claimed by the Book of Mormon and various prophets. The thousands of DNA samples from every known Native…
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1. Book of Mormon Translated with a Peep Stone: Contrary to general Church teachings, Joseph Smith did not use the gold plates in translating the Book of Mormon. Rather, he used a rock in a hat to translate the plates into the Book of Mormon. The Church acknowledged this fact in its December 2013 essay,…
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1. Background: On April 16, 1843, Robert Wiley began digging a deep shaft in the middle of an Indian mound located just outside of Kinderhook, Illinois. The Quincy Whig newspaper reported that Wiley began the excavation project after dreaming of buried treasure beneath the mound. He initially undertook the excavation process alone before engaging the…
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1. Background Perhaps the most problematic issue undermining the Church is the Book of Abraham. In July of 1835, a traveling showman named Michael Chandler brought an exhibit consisting of four Egyptian mummies and papyri to Kirtland, Ohio, then the home of the Latter-day Saints. The papyri contained Egyptian hieroglyphics, which intrigued Joseph Smith. Joseph…
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A Compilation of the Evidence Against the LDS Church Eric Nelson Click to Download PDF of Entire 13-Essay Series “The man who cannot listen to an argument which opposes his views either has a weak position or is a weak defender of it. No opinion that cannot stand discussion or criticism is worth holding. And…
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On a personal level, my life has been an ongoing search for the Truth. It has been the primary motivational force in my life, along with my love for my family. That search led me into the Church many years ago, and ultimately it led me out. My heart is the same; my desire to…
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