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The Maxwell Institute is a research institution at Brigham Young University and does not represent the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This service is for questions on research areas of the Maxwell Institute.
  • How is it that the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob ends his account with the French word "adieu"?
  • How can one believe the Book of Mormon to be scripture when the Bible says we shouldn't add to the Bible (Revelation 22:18-19)?
  • Did Joseph Smith utter false prophecies?
  • How could Lehi, a non-Levite, perform sacrifices?
  • How do we explain Bible passages that say that no man has seen God (John 1:18, 1 John 4:12)?
  • Why has no evidence of horses been found in the Americas in Book of Mormon times?
  • Since genealogies were very important in ancient Israel, how is it that Lehi did not know his tribal affiliation until reading the record on the brass plates of Laban (1 Nephi 5:14)?
  • Joseph Smith declared that the Book of Mormon was "the most correct of any book on earth" (History of the Church 4:461). If this were so, why have there been over four thousand changes to the book since it was first published in 1830?
  • Why do Joseph Smith's various accounts of the first vision differ so much?
  • Several Book of Mormon passages (2 Nephi 31:21; Alma 11:44; 3 Nephi 11:27; Mormon 7:7), teach that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are but one God. Doesn't this contradict the Church's teachings that the members of the Godhead are separate beings.
  • Mormons often speak of Joseph Smith as a "martyr" who died for his religious beliefs. But Smith fought off the mob at Carthage with a pistol, killing two of them in the process, which disqualifies him as a martyr. A real martyr willingly lays down his life for Christ.
  • The Book of Mormon purports to be a volume of scripture in addition to the Bible; however, the Bible says that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If all the scripture we need is already given, we have no need for additional scripture such as the Book of Mormon.
  • King Benjamin's death is recorded in Mosiah 6:5, so why does the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon have him living at a later time (see Mosiah 21:28 and Ether 4:1), while subsequent editions changed the name to Mosiah in the later references?
  • How can one justify the change from "white and delightsome" in 2 Nephi 30:6 to "pure and delightsome"?
  • The mention of windows that could be "dashed in pieces" in Ether 2:23 seems to be anachronistic, since glass windows were not invented until the late Middle Ages.
  • In the Book of Mormon, Enos wrote that 179 years had passed away from the time that his grandfather, Lehi, left Jerusalem (Enos 1:25). Later, Enos's son Jarom says 238 years had passed away (Jarom 1:13). Is it reasonable to expect that three generations (Lehi's son Jacob, his son Enos, and his son Jarom) could have lasted so long?
  • The Book of Mormon teaches that little children are without sin (Moroni 8:8-10), but children, like adults, suffer grief, sorrow, and pain, which are all effects of sin. The Bible says that death is the wages of sin (Romans 6:23; cf. Romans 5:12-21; Ephesians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 15:56) and that, "the soul that sinneth it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:21), yet children die. How can we explain this?
  • The first edition of the Book of Mormon refers to Christ as "the Father" (1 Nephi 11:21; 13:40). Later editions change such references to read "the Son of the Father." The words "the Son of" were also added before his title "the everlasting God" in 1 Nephi 11:32.
  • How do Latter-day Saints view the early Christian doctrine of theosis: becoming like God?
  • Why do Mormons believe we are saved by good works, when the Bible says we are saved by the grace of God?
  • Why does Alma 7:10 say that Jesus will be born at Jerusalem when Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:1-7 speak of Christ being born in Bethlehem?
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  • The mention of windows that could be "dashed in pieces" in Ether 2:23 seems to be anachronistic, since glass windows were not invented until the late Middle Ages.

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