Contradictions in the Book of Mormon with the Bible
Bible: In the King James version of the bible, Isaiah 4:5 uses the word "defence" where it should use "canopy". It was incorrectly translated by King James scholars from the word "chuppah".
Book of Mormon: II Nephi 14:5 plagiarizes this verse and makes the same mistake, saying "defence" instead of "canopy".
Joseph Smith claims that the Book of Mormon is the most perfect book on Earth, except the New International Version of the Bible, right?
Bible: Isaiah 2:9 "And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not."
Book of Mormon: II Nephi 12:9 "And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not."
In the actual context of the Bible, the men were bowing down to idols and not God(Isaiah 2:8), that is why they aren't forgiven. Joseph Smith must have been confused by that line, so he changed it. In the Book of Mormon then, it says not to forgive those who refuse to worship idols.
Bible (KJV): Matthew 6:9-13 "...Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Book of Mormon: III Nephi 13:9-13 "...Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Even though Joseph Smith missed a few phrases in the Lord's Prayer, what he included is actually more revealing. The final sentence, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen," was not actually in the original Greek texts of Matthew and never spoken by Jesus, but was errantly added to the King James Version, originating from Catholic liturgical prayers from the first century (found in the Didache). This errant addition, of course, applies to the King James Version of the Bible, but should not be found in the Book of Mormon, which Smith claimed was derived from the mythical golden plates and written by completely different authors. This is just another example demonstrating that Smith plagiarized from the King James Version of the Bible in producing the Book of Mormon.
I Nephi 13:26 "...that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious..."
Bible: Isaiah 14:19 "But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain..."
Book of Mormon: II Nephi 24:19 "But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and the remnant of those that are slain..."
Raiment is clothing, so the clothing of the slain. Remnant on the other hand would in this case refer to the flesh and bones of the slain, their remains. Joseph Smith must of just read it wrong, or maybe just didn't know what it meant.
Bible: Isaiah 8:4 "For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria."
Book of Mormon: II Nephi 18:4 "For behold, the child shall not have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, before the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria."
Not only does Joseph Smith change the wording of this verse, but he turns it into complete nonsense.
Bible: Isaiah 3:6-7 "When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand: In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people."
Book of Mormon: II Nephi 13:6-7 "When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, and shall say: Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let not this ruin come under thy hand- In that day shall he swear, saying: I will not be a healer; for in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; make me not a ruler of the people."
So in the Bible, the man asks his brother to be the ruler and take responsiblity for the ruin. However, in the Book of Mormon, the man asks his brother to be the ruler, but NOT to take responsiblity. Does that make sense?
Bible: Isaiah 9:1 "...and afterward did more grievously afflict her by way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations."
Book of Mormon: II Nephi 19:1 "...and afterwards did more grievously afflict by the way of the Red Sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations."
When Joseph Smith named the sea, he made a serious geographical error because the sea that Isaiah was talking about was actually the Sea of Galilee. It is beyond Jordan and in Galilee while the Red Sea is below Jordan and obviously not in Galilee.
Bible: II Kings 25:7 "And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah..." - Jeremiah 39:6 "Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah."
Book of Mormon: Heleman 8:21 "...Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Mulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem?..."
There is no mention of a son of Zedekiah named Mulek in the Bible, and it says that his sons were slain. But the Book of Mormon contradicts and says that his son, Mulek, lived.
Bible: Micah 5:2 "But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
Matthew 2:1 "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea..."
Isaiah 7:14 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Book of Mormon: Alma 7:10 "And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem, which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin..."
First, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not Jerusalem. Second, in none of the Bible's predictions is a name given, why then is Mary's name given in the Book of Mormon? Maybe it's because Joseph Smith knew that Mary would be the mother of Jesus.
Bible: Revelation 3:3 "...I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."
Though this is referring to Jesus' second coming, this is consistent with all other prophecies of the Bible. In contrast...
Book of Mormon: I Nephi 10:4 "Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews-even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world."
I also like how Nephi felt it necessary to define "Messiah" for us.
Other direct plagiarism by the Book or Mormon from the King James Version of the Bible.
II Nephi 12-24 = Isaiah 2-14
Mosiah 14 = Isaiah 53
III Nephi 12:3-48;13;14 = Matthew 5-7
It is arguable to have word for word verses and chapters from the Old Testament since Mormons claim that the "lost tribe" brought copies with them to the Americas , but this should not be the case with Matthew in the new testament. It is two different people telling the same story word for word; that is obvious plagiarism, especially with the error surrounding the Lord's Prayer, discussed above.
Contradictions with nature, geography, science, and history
I Nephi 2 Lehi takes his family and travels from Jerusalem to a valley of a river emptying into the Red Sea.
But it says it took them only three days to make the trip which was over 150 miles, if you start from an area as far as 25 miles south of Jerusalem and travel directly south to the Gulf of Aqaba, which is connected to the Red Sea, and is the closest body of water to Jerusalem (connected to the Red Sea). If you travel from Jerusalem to the actual Red Sea, its closer to 250 miles. At 150 miles, or 50 miles per day, traveling at 3 miles per hour (a fast walk), they would have to travel for over 16 hours per day in the hot desert sun.
II Nephi 5:16 "And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon..."
Pyramids and temples were not built in America until after 300 A.D. The Mormons claim that Nephi lived in 600 B.C., 900 years earlier.
I Nephi 11:13 "...and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white."
I Nephi 12:23 "And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people..."
I Nephi 13:15 "...and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain."
According to the Book of Mormon then, the Jews were white and turned dark and loathsome after they dwindled in unbelief. Does this make sense to anyone?
I Nephi 18:25, II Nephi 12:7, Enos 1:21, Alma 18:9-12, III Nephi 3:22, and Ether 9:19 all refer to horses and/or cattle.
Horses and cattle were not living in America until the Europeans brought them over in the 1500s.
Introduction "The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C....the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier...Jaredites...all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians."
Most expert scientists agree that the American Indians came across the Bering Strait 15000 years ago, while some believe it to be 35000 years ago. There is also evidence that there were Indians inhabiting the southern tip of South America as early as 6000 B.C. Furthermore, the weapons used by the Indians were made of wood and stone. The general religion of the American Indians was polytheistic and they worshiped the moon god, the sun god, the sea god, etc.
Writing by the American Indians was restricted to pictographs(Aztec) and carvings on deer hide, stone, or bark(Mayan). There is no evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphics in ancient America.