Last Week

• We took a brief, honest and sincere look at Mormon scriptures and compared it to the Bible: God, Jesus, Salvation

• Today we look their scriptures from a historical vantage point.

Joseph Smith: History of the Church, 4:461

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon

 was the most correct of any book on earth, and

the keystone of our religion, and a man

would get nearer to God by abiding by its

precepts, than by any other book.”

Is Joseph Smith a Prophet?

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the

world.

1 John 4:1

The Book of

Abraham

Is It Inspired?

1835: Joseph Smith(History of the Church, vol. 2, p. 236).

“…I commenced the translation of some of

the characters or hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that one of the rolls contained the

writings of Abraham, another the writings of Joseph of Egypt, etc...."

Joseph Smith’s Translation• 1799: Rosetta Stone discovered –

allowed Egyptologists to decipher hieroglyphics.

• 1835-42: Joseph begins/completes translation of “Book of Abraham”

• 1858: Rosetta stone deciphered.• 1860: Egyptologists conclude that

“Book of Abraham” is really funeral documents.

• Today: Catalyst theory: Joseph Smith used this papyrus to inspire him to write the Book of Abraham.

Historicity of the Books

Historicity of the Bible

• Names• Places • Events

Pilate Stone (found 1961)Cp. Lk. 3:1

 Line One:  TIBERIEUM,, Line Two:  (PON) TIUS Line Three:  (PRAEF)

ECTUS IUDA (EAE)

Historicity of the Bible

• Names• Places • Events

NebuchadnezzarJer. 39:3

“Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.”

Historicity of the Bible

• Names• Places • Events

Josephus: one of many

external manuscriptsabout Jesus

Historicity of the Bible

• Names• Places • Events

Jerusalem

Historicity of the Bible

• Names• Places • Events

“Most if not all places described in the Bible not only existed then but also exist today - and continue to play a part in religion

and politics.”

Places & Cities of the Bible: Profiles of Places & Cities in the Bible

Historicity of the Bible

• Names• Places • Events

Cyrus Cylinder

Jews given permission to return to Jerusalem.

Historicity of the Book of Mormon

• Names• Places

No substantiated archaeological

evidence exists for Mormon, Moroni or

the ruins of the peoples known as the Jaredites, Nephites, or

Laminites.

Historicity of the Book of Mormon

• Names• Places

“Of the numerous proposed external Book of Mormon geographies, none has been positively

and unambiguously confirmed by archaeology.”

Book of Mormon Geography (John E. Clark)

1993: Mormon Church On Geography

• Names• Places

The Church emphasizes the doctrinal and historical value of the Book of Mormon, not its geography. While some Latter-day Saints have looked for possible locations and

explanations because the New York Hill Cumorah does not readily fit the

Book of Mormon description of Cumorah, there are no conclusive connections between the Book of Mormon text and any specific site.

Is it Historically Accurate?

• A small sampling - including the Book of Abraham, people and places - find no conclusive support to verify the veracity of Mormon scriptures.

• While faith does not rest in man’s historical findings, such findings are natural and in abundance in the Bible, yet completely silent in the Book of Mormon.