Extra-biblical Texts
Mormons claim to believe the Bible, yet their scriptural canon contains additional material: the
Book of Mormon, the
Doctrine and Covenants, and the
Pearl of Great Price. This in itself is forbidden in the Bible. The earliest warning comes in Deuteronomy.
Deut 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
Centuries later another book was added to the canon of Scripture which gave a similar warning.
Prov 30:5-6
5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Finally, in the last book added to the authentic canon, we find this warning, which should be enough to make any Mormon soil his magic underwear.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Contradictions Between Mormon Texts and the Bible
Bible | Mormon Text |
| There is only one God (Deut 4:35, 39; 6:4; 32:39; 2 Sam 7:22; 22:32; 1 Tim 2:5; Jude 25) | There are other gods (D&C 121:32; 132:18-20, 37) |
| God is a spirit (Jn 4:24; cf. Lk 24:39) | God has a body (D&C 130:22) |
| One God (Elohim) created the world (Gen 1:1, 26) | Plural gods created the world (Abr 4-5) |
| God lives in heaven (Ps 115:3; Eccl 5:2; Is 63:15) | God lives in the heart of the righteous (Alma 34:36) |
| Adam lived in the East (Gen 2:7-15) | Adam lived in America (D&C 107:53; 116; 117:8) |
| Polygamy is forbidden (Mt 19:3-6; 2:24; Eph 5:22-23; Ex 20:17; Deut 17:17; 1 Tim 3:2; 1 Cor 7:2) | Polygamy is allowed (D&C 132:1, 37-39, 61-62) |
| God cannot tempt anyone to sin (Jas 1:13) | God commanded Abraham to lie (Abr 2:22-25) |
| Every sin is forgivable (Acts 13:39; Tit 2:14; 1 Jn 1:9) | Murder is unforgivable (D&C 42:18) |
| God dwells in the heart (Eph 3:17; 1 Cor 3:16) | God does not dwell in the heart (D&C 130:3) |
| Other gods exist (Ex 12:12; Num 33:4; Ps 97:7; 135:5) | Other gods do not exist (Alma 11:27-29, 35, 38-39, 44; 2 Ne 31:21; Morm 7:7; 3 Ne 11:27) |
| Polygamy was allowed in Old Testament times (Ex 21:10; Deut 21:15-17) | Polygamy was not allowed in Old Testament times (Jacob 1:15; 2:24, 3:5; Mosiah 11:2) |
| God can deceive (1 Ki 22:23, 2 Chron 18:22, Jer 4:10, 20:7; Eze 14:9; 2 Thes 2:11) | God cannot deceive (Ether 3:12; 2 Ne 9:34) |
| Slavery is allowed (Ex 21:2, 7, 20-21; 22:3; Lev 22:11; 25:39, 44-46; Eph 6:5; Col 3:22; 1 Tim 6:1; Tit 2:9-10; 1 Pet 2:18) | Slavery is not allowed (D&C 101:79; Mosiah 29:40; Alma 48:11 |
| The poor will always be with us (Mt 26:11) | The poor have not always been with us (4 Nephi 1:3; Moses 7:18) |
| The church began after Jesus' ascension (Acts 2:44-47) | The church began when Alma started baptizing followers around 148 BC (Mosiah 18:17)
|
| The disciples at Antioch were the first to be called Christians (Acts 11:26) | The Nephites were the first to be called Christians (Alma 46:13-16) |
| Christ is the head of the church (Col 1:18; Eph 5:23) | Joseph Smith is the head of the church (D&C 28:2-6) |
| Since 33 AD, God has allowed people of all races into His church (Mt 28:19-20; Gal 3:28; Rev 7:9; cf. Mt 10:5-6; 15:22-24) | Before 1978 AD, blacks were not allowed to participate in temple rituals or be ordained to the priesthood (Abr 1:24-27) |
| God has a body (Gen 3:8; Gen 18:1-33; Gen 32:24-30) | God is a spirit (Alma 18:26-28; 22:9-11) |
| There is no second chance after death (Heb 9:17; Lk 16:19-31) | There is a second chance after death (D&C 76:72-80; 88:99) |
| There are only two alternatives in the afterlife: heaven or hell (Mt 13:24-30; 25:14-46; Lk 16:19-31; Rev 21:1-8) | There are four alternatives in the afterlife: three heavenly kingdoms (terrestrial, telestial, or celestial) or hell (D&C 76:70-112) |
| Few will be saved (Mt 7:13-14; 22:14) | Most will be saved (D&C 76:70-112) |
You won't find contradictions like this in the Bible!
Unfulfilled Prophecy
The Book of Mormon says there would be
three days of darkness at Jesus' crucifixion.
Hel 14:20 But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead.
The Bible says there were
three hours of darkness.
Lk 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
The Book of Mormon says Jesus would be born in
Jerusalem.
Alma 7:10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.
The Bible says He was born in
Bethlehem (in fulfilment of Mic 5:2).
Mt 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
He then had to flee to Egypt to fulfil Hos 11:1, and then He went the extra mile and moved to Nazareth to fulfil a prophecy that isn't even in the Old Testament (Mt 2:23).
The Bible says we must disregard prophets who make false predictions.
Deut 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Of course, even if these Mormon prophets had been accurate, we would still have to disregard them.
Deut 13:1-3
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Spelling Mistakes
There are obvious spelling mistakes in the Book of Mormon where Smith obviously confused homophones when he was copying from the Bible – for example, "sun" and "son."
3 Ne 25:2 But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
He also confused "strait" and "straight" (
3 Ne 14:14; 27:33; cf. Mt 7:14), although these errors were corrected in later editions. Such confusion should not have been possible if, as Smith claimed, he had been translating directly from a language unrelated to English.