Geography: There can place it on earth. You see maps in the Bible and geography can be placed and documented. You don’t have geography for the Book of Mormon because there is no real-world setting. It cannot be placed.
Peoples & Empires: The peoples and Empires listed in the bible have been well established by archaeology, written records and history but there is no evidence of the peoples and empires listed in the Book of Mormon. There is simply no trace anywhere. Is it possible for the three enormous empires that flourished in the America’s to leave absolutely no trace? Any Archaeologist will say this is not possible.
Cities: Thirty-eight cities mentioned-none have ever been found. No Mormon cities have been located by using the Book of Mormon as a guide. Archaeologists have never successfully used the Book of Mormon as a guide in locating any ancient ruins. Leading archeological researchers not only have repudiated the claims of the Book of Mormon as to the existence of those civilizations, but have amassed much evidence to show the impossibility of the accounts given in the Mormon bible. Many times, Mormons will cite how the Smithsonian Institute backs up their claims. The following is an official statement made by the Smithsonian in 1979: "The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archaeologists see no connection between the archaeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book."
Plants and Animals: We see the wrong types of plants and animals in the Book of Mormon. For example, the Book of Mormon states horses were used in great battles involving chariots, yet horses were never in the America’s at this time. There is no evidence of horses in Central and North America before the Spaniards arrived (hundreds of years after the Book of Mormon).
Metallurgy and Writings: "Steel" and "iron" are mentioned several times in the Book of Mormon. No evidence has been found in the Americas of iron being hardened to make "steel" in ancient times. Even though ancient Andean people smelted some metals, such as copper, they never smelted iron like they did in the Old World .... Metals were used for a variety of tools in the Old World, such as weapons, while in the Americas, metals were used as prestige goods for the wealthy elite. It is said the Nephites were a culture of writings. Now a culture with writings leaves records, yet there is zero evidence of any writings. An empire that last 1,000 years and claims to be a culture of writings that produced thousands of plates and records should easily be found via archaeology, yet nothing has been found.
DNA Evidence: The Mormon church claims that the ancient inhabitants of the Americas (Indians) descended from the Jews. Genetic evidence shows the Indians can be traced exclusively to Asia.
Ancient Manuscripts: To support the bible, there are over 40,000 ancient manuscripts to support it. There is manuscript evidence almost 2,000 years old supporting the New Testament and over 2,000 years old supporting the Old Testament. The Book of Mormon has ZERO ancient manuscripts to back it up, yet it is criticizing the bible as being unreliable when the bible has over 40,000 ancient manuscripts to support it.
Languages: According to the Book of Mormon, the languages spoken by the first people to live in the America’s were Hebrew and Egyptian. If this were true, at least some of the native American languages should contain words which clearly show this origin. English has thousands of words which contain Greek and Latin roots. After two thousand years these roots still show the influences of Greek and Latin. If the Book of Mormon is correct, many Indian words should contain Hebrew and Egyptian roots. Many English words come to us from Spanish, French and Germanic languages. Hebrew and Egyptian words, however, are not found in any of the Indian languages.
Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics: Any linguist other than Mormon linguist will tell you they never heard of Reformed Egyptian. The reason any mainstream linguist doesn’t have anything to say about it is because it is a fictional language. Book of Mormon was supposedly translated from "reformed Egyptian." Nothing on the western hemisphere has ever been found that even remotely resembles Egyptian. Officially "reformed Egyptian" doesn't exist. Think about it: the LDS church says that these ancient people in middle America were Jews who came over from Palestine. The last language that any Jew would write in would be Egyptian. The Hebrew language is one of the purest languages of all time. They surely would have written any of their history in Hebrew as they did in the Old Testament.
Dr. A. H. Sayce of Oxford, England wrote: "It is difficult to deal seriously with Joseph Smith's impudent fraud. His facsimile from the Book of Abraham No. 2 is an ordinary hypocephalus, but the hieroglyphics upon it have been copied so ignorantly that hardly one of them is correct".
James H. Breasted, Ph.D., Egyptologist, Haskell Oriental Museum, University of Chicago wrote: “These three facsimiles of Egyptian documents in the ‘Pearl of Great Price' depict the most common objects in the Mortuary religion of Egypt. Joseph Smith's interpretations of them as part of a unique revelation through Abraham, therefore, very clearly demonstrates that he was totally unacquainted with the significance of these documents and absolutely ignorant of the simplest facts of Egyptian writing and civilization.”
Coins: The Bible and the Book of Mormon describe a coinage system. There have been thousands of coins to support the bible dating back to the 1st century. Nothing has ever been found to support the Book of Mormon. Also, metallic coins were never used in ancient America.
Plagiarism: The Book of Mormon Contains plagiarism from King James Version-25,000 words taken verbatim from the King James Version of the Bible. There are 19 complete chapters copied word-for-word from the Bible. The Book of Mormon was supposedly written 1,200 years before the King James Version was published, so how is this possible?
Warfare: The bible gives numerous accounts of battles involving spears, chariots and places these battles took places and evidence, written records and artifacts have proven these battles to be true. There is zero evidence to support the Book of Mormon.
Temples: Lehi stated he built a temple and constructed it after the manner of King Solomon. Temples in the bible have been found to support the bible and no temple has ever been found to support the Book of Mormon. Jews are not allowed to erect a temple anywhere other than Mount Moriah. The Book of Mormon clearly identifies Lehi as a descendent of Joseph and he appoints his two sons to serve in the Temple they had built. The men who serve in the Holy Temple are all dependents of Aaron. The Book of Mormon claim poses a problem because appointing priest who are not Aaronic Levites was expressly forbidden in the Old Testament and yet the Book of Mormon claims to uphold the Old testament laws.
Historical Figures: In the bible we have evidence to support that ancient historical figures existed like Jesus, Daniel, Moses, Peter, Isaiah, Paul, King David, etc., but there is no evidence that any Mormon prophet ever existed. There is no evidence that Jesus Christ of the bible is the Jesus Christ of the Book of Mormon. I cannot understand how archaeological evidence and textual evidence would point in the historical reality of Christ in Palestine and yet be entirely lost in the Book of Mormon.
The Hill Cumorah: One of the biggest evidences against the Mormon Church is that is does not have a major archaeological dig at the current Hill Cumorah in New York state. Today Archaeologists use some of the most cutting-edge techniques before they even get out their shovels. Remote-sensing methods have allowed scientists to find hidden sites and objects, from Egyptian pyramids to the burial site of Richard III. We have Hi-Tech Mapping using Ground-Penetrating radar, high-resolution magnetometers, and other state-of-the-art remote-sensing equipment can find anything if it is under the dirt!
The Book of Mormon claims that there were STEEL swords, spears, shields, armor, horses etc. in abundance present in this great battle. According to the Book of Mormon, at least 230,000 men died in battle at the Hill Cumorah. Also, this battle was about 1/10 the size of the battle which took place at the same location approximately 1,000 years earlier when, according to Ether 15:2 "nearly two million" of the Jaredites had their last great battle. In theory this site should be a gold mine of easy-to-find archaeological evidence. Don’t you think if the Mormon Church or any Professional Archaeological Organization that was heavily funded with the most modern technology in the world, could find at least one little archaeological find at the Hill Cumorah?
Book of Mormon Changes: Book of Mormon changed at least 3,913 times and many were major changes. The LDS have added words, they have deleted words, they have made textual changes, and they have made thousands of spelling changes. Many Mormons minimize this fact by saying that the changes have been minor. Typographical errors are one thing but they have made weighty changes in doctrine, and they have corrected major errors in consistency and in common sense. Jerald and Sandra Tanner compiled a photo reprint of the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon with all the changes marked. I will cite one of the first doctrinal changes here: on the title page in the 1830 edition it states: ". . . by Joseph Smith, Junior, Author and Proprietor."
Peoples & Empires: The peoples and Empires listed in the bible have been well established by archaeology, written records and history but there is no evidence of the peoples and empires listed in the Book of Mormon. There is simply no trace anywhere. Is it possible for the three enormous empires that flourished in the America’s to leave absolutely no trace? Any Archaeologist will say this is not possible.
Cities: Thirty-eight cities mentioned-none have ever been found. No Mormon cities have been located by using the Book of Mormon as a guide. Archaeologists have never successfully used the Book of Mormon as a guide in locating any ancient ruins. Leading archeological researchers not only have repudiated the claims of the Book of Mormon as to the existence of those civilizations, but have amassed much evidence to show the impossibility of the accounts given in the Mormon bible. Many times, Mormons will cite how the Smithsonian Institute backs up their claims. The following is an official statement made by the Smithsonian in 1979: "The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archaeologists see no connection between the archaeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book."
Plants and Animals: We see the wrong types of plants and animals in the Book of Mormon. For example, the Book of Mormon states horses were used in great battles involving chariots, yet horses were never in the America’s at this time. There is no evidence of horses in Central and North America before the Spaniards arrived (hundreds of years after the Book of Mormon).
Metallurgy and Writings: "Steel" and "iron" are mentioned several times in the Book of Mormon. No evidence has been found in the Americas of iron being hardened to make "steel" in ancient times. Even though ancient Andean people smelted some metals, such as copper, they never smelted iron like they did in the Old World .... Metals were used for a variety of tools in the Old World, such as weapons, while in the Americas, metals were used as prestige goods for the wealthy elite. It is said the Nephites were a culture of writings. Now a culture with writings leaves records, yet there is zero evidence of any writings. An empire that last 1,000 years and claims to be a culture of writings that produced thousands of plates and records should easily be found via archaeology, yet nothing has been found.
DNA Evidence: The Mormon church claims that the ancient inhabitants of the Americas (Indians) descended from the Jews. Genetic evidence shows the Indians can be traced exclusively to Asia.
Ancient Manuscripts: To support the bible, there are over 40,000 ancient manuscripts to support it. There is manuscript evidence almost 2,000 years old supporting the New Testament and over 2,000 years old supporting the Old Testament. The Book of Mormon has ZERO ancient manuscripts to back it up, yet it is criticizing the bible as being unreliable when the bible has over 40,000 ancient manuscripts to support it.
Languages: According to the Book of Mormon, the languages spoken by the first people to live in the America’s were Hebrew and Egyptian. If this were true, at least some of the native American languages should contain words which clearly show this origin. English has thousands of words which contain Greek and Latin roots. After two thousand years these roots still show the influences of Greek and Latin. If the Book of Mormon is correct, many Indian words should contain Hebrew and Egyptian roots. Many English words come to us from Spanish, French and Germanic languages. Hebrew and Egyptian words, however, are not found in any of the Indian languages.
Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics: Any linguist other than Mormon linguist will tell you they never heard of Reformed Egyptian. The reason any mainstream linguist doesn’t have anything to say about it is because it is a fictional language. Book of Mormon was supposedly translated from "reformed Egyptian." Nothing on the western hemisphere has ever been found that even remotely resembles Egyptian. Officially "reformed Egyptian" doesn't exist. Think about it: the LDS church says that these ancient people in middle America were Jews who came over from Palestine. The last language that any Jew would write in would be Egyptian. The Hebrew language is one of the purest languages of all time. They surely would have written any of their history in Hebrew as they did in the Old Testament.
Dr. A. H. Sayce of Oxford, England wrote: "It is difficult to deal seriously with Joseph Smith's impudent fraud. His facsimile from the Book of Abraham No. 2 is an ordinary hypocephalus, but the hieroglyphics upon it have been copied so ignorantly that hardly one of them is correct".
James H. Breasted, Ph.D., Egyptologist, Haskell Oriental Museum, University of Chicago wrote: “These three facsimiles of Egyptian documents in the ‘Pearl of Great Price' depict the most common objects in the Mortuary religion of Egypt. Joseph Smith's interpretations of them as part of a unique revelation through Abraham, therefore, very clearly demonstrates that he was totally unacquainted with the significance of these documents and absolutely ignorant of the simplest facts of Egyptian writing and civilization.”
Coins: The Bible and the Book of Mormon describe a coinage system. There have been thousands of coins to support the bible dating back to the 1st century. Nothing has ever been found to support the Book of Mormon. Also, metallic coins were never used in ancient America.
Plagiarism: The Book of Mormon Contains plagiarism from King James Version-25,000 words taken verbatim from the King James Version of the Bible. There are 19 complete chapters copied word-for-word from the Bible. The Book of Mormon was supposedly written 1,200 years before the King James Version was published, so how is this possible?
Warfare: The bible gives numerous accounts of battles involving spears, chariots and places these battles took places and evidence, written records and artifacts have proven these battles to be true. There is zero evidence to support the Book of Mormon.
Temples: Lehi stated he built a temple and constructed it after the manner of King Solomon. Temples in the bible have been found to support the bible and no temple has ever been found to support the Book of Mormon. Jews are not allowed to erect a temple anywhere other than Mount Moriah. The Book of Mormon clearly identifies Lehi as a descendent of Joseph and he appoints his two sons to serve in the Temple they had built. The men who serve in the Holy Temple are all dependents of Aaron. The Book of Mormon claim poses a problem because appointing priest who are not Aaronic Levites was expressly forbidden in the Old Testament and yet the Book of Mormon claims to uphold the Old testament laws.
Historical Figures: In the bible we have evidence to support that ancient historical figures existed like Jesus, Daniel, Moses, Peter, Isaiah, Paul, King David, etc., but there is no evidence that any Mormon prophet ever existed. There is no evidence that Jesus Christ of the bible is the Jesus Christ of the Book of Mormon. I cannot understand how archaeological evidence and textual evidence would point in the historical reality of Christ in Palestine and yet be entirely lost in the Book of Mormon.
The Hill Cumorah: One of the biggest evidences against the Mormon Church is that is does not have a major archaeological dig at the current Hill Cumorah in New York state. Today Archaeologists use some of the most cutting-edge techniques before they even get out their shovels. Remote-sensing methods have allowed scientists to find hidden sites and objects, from Egyptian pyramids to the burial site of Richard III. We have Hi-Tech Mapping using Ground-Penetrating radar, high-resolution magnetometers, and other state-of-the-art remote-sensing equipment can find anything if it is under the dirt!
The Book of Mormon claims that there were STEEL swords, spears, shields, armor, horses etc. in abundance present in this great battle. According to the Book of Mormon, at least 230,000 men died in battle at the Hill Cumorah. Also, this battle was about 1/10 the size of the battle which took place at the same location approximately 1,000 years earlier when, according to Ether 15:2 "nearly two million" of the Jaredites had their last great battle. In theory this site should be a gold mine of easy-to-find archaeological evidence. Don’t you think if the Mormon Church or any Professional Archaeological Organization that was heavily funded with the most modern technology in the world, could find at least one little archaeological find at the Hill Cumorah?
Book of Mormon Changes: Book of Mormon changed at least 3,913 times and many were major changes. The LDS have added words, they have deleted words, they have made textual changes, and they have made thousands of spelling changes. Many Mormons minimize this fact by saying that the changes have been minor. Typographical errors are one thing but they have made weighty changes in doctrine, and they have corrected major errors in consistency and in common sense. Jerald and Sandra Tanner compiled a photo reprint of the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon with all the changes marked. I will cite one of the first doctrinal changes here: on the title page in the 1830 edition it states: ". . . by Joseph Smith, Junior, Author and Proprietor."
