Activities include dottodot, mazes, and puzzles as well as fun things to do as a family. The book of mormon has excited very little enthusiasm outside of mormonism, but it is a uniquely american piece of writing that merits wider attention. Another way of explaining the strength of the positive position on the historicity of the book of mormon is to point out that we who are its proponents are content with a standoff on this question. Skip sequence for sefer book mormon in bible code is 360. Overwhelming evidence has accumulated indicating that the story is pure fiction. This may not be an earthshattering observation, but by. It is a book, a holy book, a book of sacred, saving scripture. The videos arguing that dna disproves the book of mormon have been circulating for many years. In this enchanting memoir, brooks, a san diego religion scholar american lazarus, portrays her pious mormon upbringing in southern california as both deeply grounding and later stiflingly sexist and.
Since not even one inscription has been found in the western hemisphere to match anything in the book of mormon, there is no correlation. The book of mormon is the most important book in my life. During the first fifty years of the churchs existence, 18301880, fiction was not popular, though parley p. Dna evidence and the book of mormon conclusive proof. In order to counter any bias in favor of the book of mormon, the authors apply a strongly skeptical prior assumption that the book of mormon has little to do with early indian cultures, precisely as coe claims. The historicity of the book of mormon religious studies.
The book of mormon records the visit of jesus christ to people in the americas following his resurrection. Book of mormon names no fiction writer would choose. We have a great selection of lds fiction from a variety of authors, including gerald lund, brandon mull, and carla kelly. The book of mormon is most definitely a work of fiction written by joseph smith. A history without a shred of fact the book of mormon claims to be the history of two ancient civilizations, which it claims were located in the americas. And then, to his horror, his vision was overcome with color the first time he met one of the new missionaries, the mormon poster boy elder price. Deseret books collection of fiction books has several clean fiction books for the family. Adapted from a speech given at the byu symposium on life, the universe, and everything. The book of mormon as inspired fiction the millennial star. Browse our selection and find a new favorite to curl up with today. The eleven witnesses admitted that they gazed upon and handled the golden plates in the same way that they saw spectacular treasures in caves guarded by angels. Probability calculations using the chisquare test of independence supports that the book of mormon is based on either fiction or spiritual deception through joseph smith. Proof the book of mormon isnt true the book of mormon contradicts the bible and was actually a work of fiction written by joseph smith in the 1800s, who copied much of it from the king james version, trying to make it look like an ancient manuscript. Mormons have long sought to verify scientifically the book of mormon story.
The book of mormon is an account of the former inhabitants of this continent that contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. The possibility of the book of mormon as inspired fiction. Not long ago i did a reprint of a mormon matters post where i asked people if they would regularly study inspired fiction. Joseph smith claimed that the book of mormon is the. Terry tempest williams, neil labute, dustin lance black, and so on. Looking beyond fiction there are several other notable writers with mormon pasts. Book of mormon fanfiction archive with over 336 stories. Joseph smith said in the introduction to the book i told the brethren that the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone to our religion yet, the evidence shows the book of mormon is not revelation from god, but a fictitious story written by joseph smith. Lds fiction books clean, entertaining lds books that. If you want to know what god knows, live the commandments of jesus christ, and read the book of mormon, another witness of jesus christ, and pray to an all wise and righteous god, and find out the truth for yourself. Lds books biography, fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks. Nephi, jacob, enos, book of enos, book of mormon, heavenly father, jesus christ, lds, mormons, church of jesus christ of latterday. Why i dont read mormon fiction the millennial star. It asserts that the first of these great civilizations left the tower of babel and came to the western hemisphere.
Pratt wrote a fictional dialogue between joseph smith and the devil. Book of mormon is the first in a series of scripture stories coloring books. Fourth, modern science has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the book of mormon is a work of fiction. The opponents of the historicity of the book of mormon must prove that the people whose religious life it records did not live anywhere in the americas. The book of mormon is a collection of the writings of their prophets and record keepers. If there is data supporting the texts, we can calculate whether the book of mormon should be considered to be based on fact or simply a good fiction story. Unlike the bible, there is absolutely no archaeological evidence of any kind to back up the book of mormon. I remember it as one of the earliest things i read, starting with emma mar petersons childrens adaptation. For more than a month there has been a push by some mormon authors to get people to read more mormon fiction. Last wednesday, rod meldrum visited nauvoo and gave a presentation on dna and the book of mormon. This book contains 32 fun coloring and activity pages designed to introduce primaryage children to the book of mormon scripture. The most sacred scripture of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints is the book of mormon, which reads like rather bizarre but poor fiction trying its best to be taken as revealed truth. A rendition of the book of enos in the book of mormon, dramatized and rewritten for fun, and not to change the meaning of the story. Although weve heard the saying, truth is stranger than fiction, mormonism seriously challenges this idea.
It is the sacred text for the 15 millionstrong church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Book of mormon prophesied by a bible code by sterling. What 2 engineers discovered after using statistical. Byu scholarsarchive citation england, eugene 1994 orson scott card. They have sent books to family and friends, discussed to varied degrees what is available, and generally advertised the movement. While many who no longer believe in the historical book of mormon do not think that the book is robust enough to be compelling without its literal claims, those who see the book as inspired fiction find enough value within the book of mormon outside of its historical claims to still see the fingerprints of the divine.
Its the calling card for thousands of missionaries, and part of the inspiration for a tony awardwinning broadway musical. Book of mormon, we find that it is nothing but an evil fiction. His attempt was to make the case that dna studies do indeed prove the validity, accuracy, and historicity of the book of mormon. And in fact he was a fan fiction writer too, because the book of mormon is nothing if not bible fan fiction. Some critics maintain that the book of mormon is fiction and that joseph invented the names in the same way many authors of fiction do. According to smiths account and the books narrative, the book of mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown characte. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. Its history is commonly divided into four sections as first organized by eugene england. Lehi, nephi, helaman, shiblon, moronihah, amalickiah.
Books on the book of mormon 19892011 by an authorized editor of byu scholarsarchive. It would be interesting to study this topic in more depth. Once the author has presented all he has to say about the early years of the mormon church, the founding of salt lake city, the era of polygamy, and the unavailability of meaningful financial data on the mormon church structure, his book takes an always controversial turn. If you look at the book of mormon as his lord of the rings, the rest of his theology is. The book of mormon relates the history of the inhabitants of the american continent between the time of the tower of babel spoken of in the old testament and 400 ad. The book of mormon is, in steinbergs view, a work of fan fiction, a way to imbue a new world with some of the sanctity of the holy land. The book of mormon gets the literary treatment religion. Some of these lds novels feature gospel themes, while others do now. A very plausible lost and missing novel by solomon spalding manuscript found, separate and distinct from the oberlin manuscript has not been ruled out by mormon apologists. The submissive babysitters complete 5 book bundle training the mormon nanny bundle 1 by jamie beach kindle.
It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Mormon fiction is fiction by or about members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, also called mormons or latterday saints. But in the choir of voices, there was one particularly interesting response that i think is worthy of sharing. With the emergence of the novel and short stories as popular reading material, orson f. These groups were led by prophets who recorded their religious and secular histories on metal plates. Is the book of mormon an authentic ancient history of ancient american peoples, or a work of 19th century religious fiction. According to the book of mormon, bountiful was one of the first areas settled by the nephites, ancient people who supposedly sailed from israel to the americas around 600 b. At one point they claimed that the smithsonian institution used the book of mormon as a guide to almost all of the major archeological discoveries in the western hemisphere. Our familyfriendly fiction books are for any book lover. Book of mormon anachronisms things outofplace for the date range of the book of mormon. T he book of mormon is a wholly american scripture. The book of mormon bom was first published in palmyra, new york, in 1830, its title page giving the name joseph smith, jun. What has been called the mormon lit blitz has in some corners gone full steam. Many successful fiction writers who choose and invent names for their characters claim name selection is an extremely important and difficult process.