Seven Contradictions Between the Book

of Mormon and the Bible

Copyright © 1996 Institute for Religious Research

There are many serious objections to the claim of Joseph Smith and the LDS church that

the Book of Mormon is divinely inspired Latter-day scripture supplemental to the Bible.*

However, none are more significant than the numerous contradictions between Book of

Mormon teaching and the Bible. This list is illustrative only, not exhaustive.

(1) The Book of Mormon teaches that little children are not capable of sin because they

do not have a sinful nature (Moroni 8:8). In contrast, the Bible in Psalm 51:5 clearly

teaches that we have a sinful nature from birth: "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from

the time my mother conceived me" (NIV). (This does not mean that those who die in

infancy are lost.**)

(2) The Book of Mormon teaches that the disobedience of Adam and Eve in eating the

forbidden fruit was necessary so that they could have children and bring joy to mankind

(2 Nephi 2:23-25). In contrast, the Bible specifically declares that Adam's transgression

was a sinful act of rebellion that unleashed the power of sin and death in God's perfect

world (Romans 5:12; 8:20-21). There is no Biblical support for the view that Adam and

Eve could only fulfil the command to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28) by

disobeying God's command regarding the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17). The Book of

Mormon teaching that these divine commands are contradictory, and that God expected

Adam and Eve to figure out that in reality He wanted them to break the latter command

("of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it") in order to keep

the former ("be fruitful and multiply"), has no basis in logic or the Biblical text, and

attributes equivocation to God.

(3) The Book of Mormon teaches that black skin is a sign of God's curse, so that white-

skinned people are considered morally and spiritually superior to black-skinned people (2

Nephi 5:21). In contrast, the Bible teaches that God "made of one blood all nations of

men" (Acts 17:26, KJV), that in Christ distinctions of ethnicity, gender and social class

are erased (Galatians 3:28), and that God condemns favouritism (James 2:1).

(4) The Book of Mormon teaches that, "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can

do" (2 Nephi 25:23; see also Moroni 10:32). In contrast, the Bible teaches that apart from

Christ we are dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1,5) and unable to do anything to merit

forgiveness and eternal life. Salvation is wholly of grace (Ephesians2:8-9; Romans 11:6;

Titus 3:5-6), not by grace plus works. Good works are a result, not the basis, of a right

relationship with God (Ephesians 2:10).

(5) According to the Book of Mormon, about 600 years before Christ, a Nephite prophet

predicted that "many plain and precious parts" (1 Nephi 13:26-28) would be removed

from the Bible. In contrast, from the Bible it is clear that during His earthly ministry,

Jesus himself constantly quoted from the Old Testament Scriptures, and showed full

confidence in their completeness and accurate transmission as they had survived down to

His time. Jesus declared that "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not

pass away" (Mark 13:31; see also Matthew 5:18), and promised His disciples who were

to pen the New Testament that the Holy Ghost "shall teach you all things, and bring all

things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26); Jesus

further promised the apostles that they would "bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should

remain" (John 15:16). These promises clearly imply that the fruit of the apostles — the

New Testament Scriptures and the Christian church — would endure.

(6) According to a Book of Mormon prophecy (Helaman 14:27), at the time of Christ's

crucifixion "darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three

days." In contrast, the New Testament gospel accounts declare repeatedly that there was

darkness for only three hours while Jesus was on the cross (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33;

Luke 23:44).

(7) The Book of Mormon teaches that there were many high priests serving at the same

time (Mosiah 11:11; Alma 13:9-10; 46:6,38; Helaman 3:25) among the Book of Mormon

people who are described as Jewish immigrants from ancient Israel who "kept the law of

Moses" (e.g., 2 Nephi 25:10; Jacob 4:5; Jarom 1:5). In contrast, it is clear from the Bible

that only one individual at a time occupied the office of high priest under the Old

Testament dispensation (see, for example Leviticus 21:10; Matthew 26:3; Hebrews 8:6-

7). (The mention in Luke 3:2 of "Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests" is not a real

exception — in Christ's time Israel was under the domination of the Romans, who

intervened to change the high priest at will. See John 18:13, which describes Annas as

"father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.")

CONCLUSION: The contradictions between the Book of Mormon and the Bible

constitute a most serious obstacle to accepting the Book of Mormon as Latter-day

scripture supplemental to the Bible. The Bible came first, not the Book of Mormon. And

whereas the Bible is organically linked to the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ by

extensive surviving manuscript evidence going back as far as A.D. 125-30, the Book of

Mormon is wholly lacking in any such evidences of ancient origin. Is it not reasonable,

therefore, to make the Bible the standard for judging the Book of Mormon, and not the

other way around? If we accept the Bible as our "measuring stick" for spiritual truth, the

Book of Mormon must be rejected.

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