Is there any evidence of the Book of Mormon? Physical or scriptural (Bible)? I need as much as I can. I heard that the Book of Mormon was the most correct book on earth, but isn’t it also true that it was revised? Please help.
Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon text into English from an ancient Semitic text.
I neglected to answer the second part of your question. It is true that some changes have been made to the Book of Mormon text. The original text was written without any punctuation, so that and other grammar corrections had to be made. In other cases, small errors crept into later versions of the Book of Mormon, and corrections were made to restore the original language and meaning.
Some changes were made to render the Book of Mormon less wordy. The original version contained many more phrases like "and it came to pass" and other repetitions than the modern version. The text was simplified somewhat to make it more readable. For many years, anti-Mormons criticized the Book of Mormon because of its original wordiness. Recent studies have shown, however, that the wordiness in the Book of Mormon actually matches common linguistic patterns characteristic of ancient Hebrew, which was a particularly wordy language. This evidence supports Joseph's claim that he translated the text from an ancient Semitic record. What was once the object of derision is now an evidence in favor of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon!
Joseph Smith translated an ancient record engraven on metallic plates. This record is known today as the Book of Mormon.
Yes there is: Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 states -
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, (speaking of Christ's second coming) except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Isaiah 29:4 speaks of something in the later days:
And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. (Where did the metallic plates containing the Book of Mormon record come from?)
Also Isaiah 29:14: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Ezekiel 37:16-17: Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
Judah is the writings in the Bible and Lehi, the starting prophet of the Book of Mormon, is from the line of Joseph through Ephraim and Manassah. More does this not show that the LDS scripture set of Bible, Book of Mormon, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price will all come together, as they are now?
Speaking of a missionary experience concerning this matter, Elder Craig Christenson said this: "He then asked a question that all missionary-minded members are anxious to hear: 'why do we need additional witnesses of Jesus Christ other than the Bible?' rather than responding quickly, we asked him why he thought this might be important. His answer seemed even more inspired than his question. He suggested that since there appeared to be so many variations of the Bible and its teachings, we needed some kind of clarifying voice, something that would help us understand the Bible better. His observation opened the door for us to share our feelings and testimonies regarding both the Bible and the Book of Mormon." (full talk here)
Revelation 14:6 states: "And I saw another Angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." This is refering to the angel Moroni who appeared to and eventualy gave Joseph Smith the metallic plates on whith the account of the Book of Mormon was engraved.
Vicente Silva
2009-02-07 10:37:56
The original Book of Mormon manuscript.
Hi Kendra. The most important evidence for the Book of Mormon comes from the witness of the Holy Ghost. As the ancient prophet Moroni taught:
"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
If you wish to know that the Book of Mormon is a true account, I encourage you to read the book, ponder its contents, and ask God through prayer if the book is true.
The short answers to your questions are: yes, there is evidence - including signed documents as found in the front pages of each Book of Mormon, and references found in the Bible to other books, and yes, it has been revised - the vast majority of those changes being punctuation and reformatting (remember that while Joseph Smith was transcribing the book orally others were writing down what Joseph said, hence there were bound to be errors in the manuscript and in the typeset for printing). That's the short answer. For the full answer to these questions, the best ones come directly from church headquarters. You can find the official answers at http://www.lds.org. On the right hand side click on 'Prepare a Talk'. When the new screen comes up, click on 'Gospel Topics', found on the left hand side. You will then see an alphabet at the top of the screen. Click on 'B' and then 'Book of Mormon', 'Book of Mormon, Authenticity of', or 'Book of Mormon, Changes to'. Here you will find numerous links to general information, articles by church leaders, video clips of church leaders, examples of the types of changes made to the Book of Mormon, and many other items which answer these questions fully. For anyone - LDS and non-lds - sincere in their efforts to understand this great work, I highly recommend taking the time to carefully go through these resources as found on the official church website.
Book of Mormon as the most correct book
Evidences of Authenticity
Some changes were made to render the Book of Mormon less wordy. The original version contained many more phrases like "and it came to pass" and other repetitions than the modern version. The text was simplified somewhat to make it more readable. For many years, anti-Mormons criticized the Book of Mormon because of its original wordiness. Recent studies have shown, however, that the wordiness in the Book of Mormon actually matches common linguistic patterns characteristic of ancient Hebrew, which was a particularly wordy language. This evidence supports Joseph's claim that he translated the text from an ancient Semitic record. What was once the object of derision is now an evidence in favor of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon!
You can read more about the minor changes made to the Book of Mormon text on the FAIR website.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, (speaking of Christ's second coming) except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Isaiah 29:4 speaks of something in the later days:
And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. (Where did the metallic plates containing the Book of Mormon record come from?)
Also Isaiah 29:14: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Ezekiel 37:16-17: Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
Judah is the writings in the Bible and Lehi, the starting prophet of the Book of Mormon, is from the line of Joseph through Ephraim and Manassah. More does this not show that the LDS scripture set of Bible, Book of Mormon, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price will all come together, as they are now?
Speaking of a missionary experience concerning this matter, Elder Craig Christenson said this: "He then asked a question that all missionary-minded members are anxious to hear: 'why do we need additional witnesses of Jesus Christ other than the Bible?' rather than responding quickly, we asked him why he thought this might be important. His answer seemed even more inspired than his question. He suggested that since there appeared to be so many variations of the Bible and its teachings, we needed some kind of clarifying voice, something that would help us understand the Bible better. His observation opened the door for us to share our feelings and testimonies regarding both the Bible and the Book of Mormon." (full talk here)
Revelation 14:6 states: "And I saw another Angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." This is refering to the angel Moroni who appeared to and eventualy gave Joseph Smith the metallic plates on whith the account of the Book of Mormon was engraved.
"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
If you wish to know that the Book of Mormon is a true account, I encourage you to read the book, ponder its contents, and ask God through prayer if the book is true.
Once you have that witness from God, it is certainly interesting and constructive to look at academic and theological evidences for the Book of Mormon. Several Mormon organizations, like the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, are dedicated to researching this and other topics. Jeff Lindsey has also published an interesting page documenting Book of Mormon evidences. I've also created a similar, shorter webpage describing evidences in favor of the Book of Mormon.
You can also find a list of Bible scriptures that support the Book of Mormon online.
Hope this information helps!