Thesis 9: The Book of Mormon Logic Train

One of the key trains of logic in the Mormon church goes as follows:

Joseph Smith was a poorly-educated farmboy.

Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon.

Therefore, Joseph Smith could not have written the book himself. Instead, it was translated using a magical rock and ancient divination spectacles from a book of gold that he found in the ground near his house, written by prophets of an ancient civilization of Jews who traveled on boats to the Americas and then got cursed with darker skin to become the Native Americans.

Therefore, the church is true.

Logically.

Many members rest their entire testimony of the church on the above-listed logic. But they don’t think about the many holes that obviously exist.

Sure, Joseph Smith didn’t have a college education, but why is that proof that the Mormon church is correct? Has anyone else without a college education ever written a book? Well, yes. There are hundreds of thousands of authors in history that fit that criteria. Many even from Joseph Smith’s time without a college education wrote far more impressive works of literature.

It’s also important to remember the culture that Joseph Smith grew up in. He may not have had an extensive formal education, but that does not mean he didn’t read. Joseph Smith by his own admittance was very well-read, especially in the Bible and other religious books of the day. He grew up in a frenzied atmosphere of Protestant exploration and innovation. It’s no surprise that the Book of Mormon often reads like the Bible, and sometimes pulls pages of direct quotes from the Bible.

Perhaps the most overlooked point is that during the time of Joseph Smith, the idea of ancient Jews coming to the Americas was not even that novel of an idea. Dozens of books, such as View of the Hebrews, Jews in America, The Hope of Israel, and An Attempt to Shew that America Must be Known to the Ancients, are written by men similar to Joseph Smith and they tell the story of Jews in the new world. In other words, Joseph Smith was one of many authors who wrote a book about Jews in the new world. For whatever reason, this fact is lost on nearly every Mormon, and it is never ever taught when they learn about the history of the church. Joseph Smith had access to these other books (http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/bomindianorigins.htm) since they were written before the Book of Mormon was published. It’s not that hard of a stretch to see that a Bible-reading boy who had a deep interest in religion wouldn’t also be able to write a book similar to the many others that he had read.

When you actually sit down and objectively read the Book of Mormon, it isn’t even that inspiring. The phrase “and it came to pass” is used over and over again, names and plot lines are on constant repeat, and most of the teachings are pulled directly from the Christian sermons of the day.

And all of this is not even taking into account the obvious proofs that the Book of Mormon is not a historical record. There is little to no correlation between locations described in the Book of Mormon and archeological sites and population centers. The Book of Mormon is full of things that didn’t exist in the new world until hundreds of years later, like iron, brass, steel, wheat, elephants, horses, cattle, chariots, etc. There is no proven connection between the languages and DNA of the Middle East and the American natives. And most Mormons fail to realize that the current version and the 1830 version of the Book of Mormon have significant edits that have been made over the years by the leadership of the church.

Whether they choose not to look, or choose not to see, Mormons will continue to tell themselves the story of an ignorant young Joseph Smith miraculously translating a masterpiece book of scripture. But when you look even the tiniest bit closer and take into account what Joseph Smith was exposed to throughout his life, it’s not even a stretch to think that he could have written the Book of Mormon himself. More likely, early associates like Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris even assisted in the writing.

But wait just a second! Didn’t you say that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from golden plates? Well, no worries, let’s just take a look at the original gold book and see it for ourselves. The angels took it back into heaven? Ah shucks. What about the divination spectacles, the Urim and Thumim? They took those back too? Darn. What about the magical rock? Oh, we have that in Salt Lake City? Great! Looks like a rock…