Mormonism Part 4
Prepared and Presented by Emily Aufenkamp, Youth Group Leader
Continuation of theological differences between Mormon and Protestant church teachings:
My main question for us today as we are starting to wrap up our overview of Mormonism is: Why should we believe the Bible and not the Book of Mormon or the other Mormon books? Both are religious texts. Both were written before any of us were born. This should make us humble and gentle as we talk to Mormons, because both religions require us to have some faith. So then, why is the Bible more reliable?
One thing Matt and others have talked about in these apologetic spotlights is that the Bible has been supported by archaeology (study of history through looking at ancient artifacts, and excavating ancient sites.) For example, archaeologists found and excavated the walls and much of the ancient city of Jericho, as well as other ancient locations described in the Bible. Records about some of the people talked about in the Bible have also been found in archaeological research. We know, for example, that Herod the Great and Pontius Pilate existed. However, the Book of Mormon claims that after He ascended into heaven, Jesus came and visited the Americas. But there is no evidence that the people groups He supposedly visited actually existed by those names. In fact, there is no outstanding evidence that the people and places referred to in the Mormon texts existed at all. The Bible specifically states in Acts 1:11 that Jesus was “taken up…into heaven.” We do not have reason to believe that He then came to another part of the world.
Secondly, the Bible has not been found to contradict any proven and observable scientific discoveries. Now, many people can debate that statement, especially when talking about the theory of evolution, so notice that I say nothing in science that we can PROVE definitively or OBSERVE with our eyes directly contradicts the Bible. However, the Mormon book called “Abraham” (a book, not the Bible character), talks about a planet called Kolob, which it says governs or rules over the sun, moon, and earth. However, we know through modern science that the sun produces its own light through nuclear fusion. And the moon gets its light by reflecting the sun. There is not a planet or star that controls them. Therefore, the all-knowing and all-powerful Creator from the Bible did not write these words about Kolob. This casts serious doubt on these Mormon texts.
Another thing that’s been on my heart as we’ve talked about this is just how strong the Bible is. Now, the Book of Mormon was written by one man, Joseph Smith, at one point in history, 1830. However, the Bible was written by about 40 authors over a span of more than 1,000 years. And yet, all these men managed to be consistent in what they said about God, and mankind, and history. This shows us that the writers of the Bible were inspired by God, not just writing their own thoughts or getting together to try to start a religion. How else would Moses and Paul have been on the same page, despite writing in different millenia?
As I said in the beginning, we should have a lot of humility and gentleness as we talk about these things. Many of us know what it feels like to have someone speak harshly against what we believe, or make us feel stupid for being Christian. That’s why it’s important that we know the facts and stand strong on the Bible, but win people over with the way we present ourselves.
Visual depiction of all the cross-references in the Bible. Shows how consistent the Bible is despite being written by many authors over many generations. Only explanation is that it’s inspired by God!
1. https://time.com/5597069/jericho-history/, and https://www.britannica.com/place/Jericho-West-Bank
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology_and_the_Book_of_Mormon#cite_note-23
Categories: Apologetics Spotlights