A careful, Bible-based examination of the claims of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Book of Mormon.
Begin Reading ↓Joseph Smith (1805 – 1844) founded the Latter-day Saint movement and claimed to be a prophet of God who received divine revelations, translated the Book of Mormon from golden plates, and restored the true church of Jesus Christ to the earth.
Before claiming prophetic authority, however, Smith was known in his community as a treasure seeker, or "glass-looker," who charged money to use a "seer stone" to locate buried treasure. In 1826 he was brought before a court in Bainbridge, New York, on the charge of being a "disorderly person" on account of these activities. Court testimony records Smith himself acknowledging that he had a stone he looked at to find hidden things underground.
Smith's theology did not remain consistent over time. His earliest writings, including the Book of Mormon (1830), reflected a broadly monotheistic and trinitarian view of God. Yet by 1844, Smith was publicly teaching that God the Father had once been a mortal man and that faithful men could themselves become gods. In his King Follett Discourse he declared:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! ... you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves."
This dramatic shift in doctrine is one of the most significant issues confronting Latter-day Saint truth claims, as it contradicts not only the Bible but Smith's own earlier writings.
"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19)Joseph Smith famously declared the Book of Mormon to be "the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion." The LDS Church regards it as a divinely inspired companion to the Bible, translated by the "gift and power of God."
Yet even the Book of Mormon's own title page contains a disclaimer: "And now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men." The book's narrative characters themselves repeatedly acknowledged the possibility of errors in their record (1 Nephi 19:6; Mormon 8:12, 16–17; Mormon 9:31; Ether 12:23–25).
Throughout its publishing history, the Book of Mormon has undergone thousands of textual changes from one edition to the next. While many of these are grammatical or typographical corrections, some involve changes in meaning. Scholarly "critical text" analysis has documented these changes extensively.
More significant than textual changes, however, are the doctrinal problems the book introduces. As we will examine below, the Book of Mormon contains teachings that directly contradict the King James Bible, and in some cases, the Book of Mormon even contradicts what the LDS Church itself teaches today.
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20)The Bible instructs believers to test all things by comparing them with the established word of God (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:16–17). When we examine the Book of Mormon by this standard, we find numerous and serious contradictions. Perhaps most striking is the way the Book of Mormon contradicts the very doctrines the LDS Church teaches today.
The LDS Church teaches that God the Father was once a mortal man who progressed to godhood. Lorenzo Snow summarized this in his famous couplet: "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be." Joseph Smith taught the same in his 1844 King Follett Discourse. Yet the Book of Mormon itself teaches the exact opposite:
"For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity." (Moroni 8:18) "For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?" (Mormon 9:9)If God is "unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity," He could never have been a mere man who later became God. The Book of Mormon agrees with the Bible on this point, while modern LDS doctrine contradicts both.
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Psalm 90:2)LDS theology teaches that there are innumerable gods throughout the universe. Joseph Smith declared, "you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves ... the same as all Gods have done before you." Yet the Book of Mormon teaches that there is one God:
"And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen." (Testimony of the Three Witnesses) "And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end." (2 Nephi 31:21)The Bible is equally clear:
"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me." (Isaiah 45:5)The Book of Mormon teaches that the Fall of Adam and Eve was a necessary and noble act so that mankind could exist and experience joy (2 Nephi 2:22–25). This implies their disobedience was not truly sinful. The Bible clearly teaches otherwise:
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12)Adam's disobedience was sin, not a noble "transgression." The consequences of sin and death entered the world through his rebellion against a clear command of God.
The Book of Mormon states: "We know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23). Traditional LDS interpretation has held that human effort and good works are required conditions of salvation alongside grace. The Bible teaches the opposite:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8–9)Salvation is entirely a gift of God's grace, received through faith alone. Good works are the fruit of salvation, never the root of it (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 3:5).
The Book of Mormon identifies Jesus as both "the Father and the Son" in multiple places (Mosiah 15:1–5; Mormon 9:12; Ether 3:14). This confuses the clear biblical distinction between the Father and the Son, who are presented throughout the Bible as two distinct persons of the Godhead:
"Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love." (2 John 1:3)The Book of Mormon claims the Nephites faithfully observed the Law of Moses (2 Nephi 5:10; 25:24). Yet the Nephites descended from the tribe of Manasseh, not Levi. Under the Mosaic Law, only men of the tribe of Levi could serve as priests (Numbers 3:9–12; Hebrews 7:5). The Book of Mormon ignores this fatal problem entirely.
The Bible consistently acknowledges only one temple for Israelite worship (Deuteronomy 12:2–14; 1 Kings 8:44, 48). The Book of Mormon, however, describes multiple temples in various locations (Alma 16:13; 23:2; Helaman 3:9, 14), contradicting the clear biblical pattern.
The LDS Church presents Joseph Smith as a persecuted prophet who suffered unjustly at the hands of his enemies. While persecution of religious people is not uncommon in history, the full legal record tells a more complex story. Smith was involved in approximately twenty-one documented criminal cases across New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois between 1826 and 1844.
Smith was brought to court for glass-looking, the practice of charging money to use a seer stone to find buried treasure. Court testimony, including Smith's own admissions, described his use of a stone to look for hidden things underground.
After publishing the Book of Mormon, Smith was again charged under New York's statute for "pretending to tell fortunes, or where lost or stolen items may be found." He was acquitted after two trials.
Smith was charged with assaulting his brother-in-law Calvin Stoddard, knocking him down and striking him repeatedly. A separate incident involved Smith assaulting a visiting minister. In 1837, he was charged with conspiracy to murder Grandison Newell, with witnesses testifying that Smith said Newell "should be put out of the way" and that "it was the will of God." The murder charge was ultimately dismissed.
Smith led an armed group of over a hundred men to surround the home of Justice of the Peace Adam Black. After the 1838 Mormon War, Smith was charged with treason against Missouri, jailed in Liberty Jail, and later escaped custody while being transferred to another county.
Smith and Porter Rockwell were charged in connection with the attempted assassination of former Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs. Smith went into hiding for months before surrendering. The case was ultimately dismissed.
Smith was charged with assaulting county tax assessor Walter Bagby, grabbing him by the throat and striking him. He was found guilty and fined. In a separate incident, Smith was charged with beating a Warsaw resident with a cane.
A grand jury indicted Smith for adultery and fornication with Maria Lawrence, related to his secret practice of polygamy. A separate indictment was issued for perjury.
As mayor, Smith ordered the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor newspaper and its press after it published criticisms of his leadership and the practice of plural marriage. He was charged with inciting a riot. After declaring martial law and mobilizing a militia of approximately 5,000 men, he was additionally charged with treason against Illinois. Unable to post bail on the treason charge, Smith was held in Carthage Jail, where he was killed by a mob on June 27, 1844.
The Bible provides a clear standard for evaluating anyone who claims to be a prophet of God:
"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" (Matthew 7:16) "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)The Bible teaches a beautiful and simple message of salvation that stands in contrast to the complex system of ordinances, temple rituals, and works-based progression taught by the LDS Church.
Every human being is a sinner by nature and by choice (Romans 3:23). The wages of sin is death, both physical and spiritual (Romans 6:23). No amount of human effort, religious ritual, or personal righteousness can bridge the gap between sinful man and a holy God (Isaiah 64:6; Titus 3:5).
God, in His love and mercy, sent His Son Jesus Christ to live a perfect, sinless life and to die on the cross as the complete and sufficient payment for sin (1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ was buried and rose again the third day, conquering sin and death forever (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
Salvation is a free gift, received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8–9) "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." (Titus 3:5) "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36)You do not need temple ordinances, priesthood authority, or a modern-day prophet to be saved. You need only to trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and receive Him by faith.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)