While the Mormon Church likes to yammer on how Smith was just an uneducated teenage farm boy from upstate New York, there’s a lot to be said about his wild imagination, and his seemingly insatiable appetite for books.
Over the years I’ve looked at more than a handful of “coincidences” from the Book of Mormon, and thought it’d be helpful to put them in one place for easy reference. So here’s a few of them to start us off, and as time permits I’ll be adding to the list, so check back often. The questions I have are most likely the same as yours!
Could Joseph Smith really have taken a little bit of this and that to produce the Book of Mormon and if so, why did he do such a thing?
The purpose of this isn’t to demean, or belittle the Mormon people; rather it’s provided to promote thought. If these are just coincidences, doesn’t it seem odd there would be so many? We haven’t even listed the Spaulding theory, or Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews, or Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason…the list of what to look at is virtually endless.
We’re praying Mormons will come to know the Jesus of the Bible who brings an unending fountain of life!
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
1 Cor 1:18
6+ Versions of Translating the Golden Plates
Additional Coincidences Darkens BoM Integrity
1817
Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon, p. 25 by Dan Vogel
Dan Vogel’s book on his research about events at the time, and in the area, where Joseph Smith lived.
1818
Palmyra Register, Vol. I. Palmyra, N. Y., Wednesday, January 21, 1818. No. 9
Article discusses the abundance of Indian mounds throughout the Palmyra region.
1825
Celebrations begin for the completion of Erie Canal with a stop in Palmyra.
American Revivals & the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon portrays several settings of the Nephites using vocabulary much like the vocabulary and settings post Revolutionary War era America experienced. Why is that?
Anselm of Canterbury and the Book of Mormon
How did Anselm’s teachings make it into the BoM? We’re thinking that it’s no coincidence!
Apocrypha, Judith beheads Holofernes & Nephi beheads Laban
Surprisingly there are a few stories in the Book of Mormon that mirror stories we read about in the Bible, but this time a story in the Apocrypha sounds so similar to Nephi beheading Laban that it’s hard to believe this one’s a coincidence!
Book of Mormon and James Adair
Adair’s work ‘A History of the American Indians’ was written in 1775 and somehow the distinct phrases he used appears in the BoM. Why is that?
Captain Kidd & Moroni, Camora Islands
One of the main heroes from the Book of Mormon just so happens to bear the same name of an obscure village from the Island of Camora which happens to be the name of a hill where buried treasure plates were placed by the hero Moroni. What are the odds?
Why are place names in the Book of Mormon found on 17th & 18th century maps of the US?
Demonic & Ungodly Names in the Book of Mormon
In a set of other coincidences from the Book of Mormon I came across several names also found in the Bible. This series looks at both books, examines the similarities and the spiritual impact they carry.
Four Sources for Joseph Smith’s Plagiarisms
How could all of these just be ‘coincidental’?
Somehow the same phrases George Washington used in a letter he wrote to the citizens of the Canadian government are the very same phrases found in at least twenty places in the Book of Mormon. Strange…
Lehi & Joseph Smith, Sr.’s Dreams
Why does a dream of Lehi’s mirror that of Joseph Smith Sr?
Malachi, Jesus and the Nephites
Was Joseph Smith’s mistranslation of Malachi’s prophecy just a coincidental mishap or something more sinister?
Masonry, Joseph Smith’s Lodge Membership & Mormon Temple Endowments
In the Book of Mormon we find numerous accounts of the Mormon god condemning secret societies; Helaman 3:23, 2 Nephi 9:9, Ether 8:18-25, Mormon 8:27, 40. Yet in 1842 Smith and several other members of the Church joined the local Masonic Lodge. Shortly afterwards (6 weeks) Smith had a revelation that secret handshakes (signs & tokens) should be included in the temple endowment ceremonies. Could it be the Mormon god is a Mason?
History of the Church 4:550-551; “Tuesday, 15.—I officiated as grand chaplain at the installation of the Nauvoo Lodge of Free Masons, at the Grove near the Temple. Grand Master Jonas, of Columbus, being present, a large number of people assembled on the occasion. The day was exceedingly fine; all things were done in order, and universal satisfaction was manifested. In the evening I received the first degree in Free Masonry in the Nauvoo Lodge, assembled in my general business office.”
History of the Church, 4:552; “Wednesday, March 16.—I was with the Masonic Lodge and rose to the sublime degree.”
History of the Church 5:1-2; “Inauguration of Endowment Ceremonies… And the communications I made to this council were of things spiritual, and to be received only by the I spiritual minded: and there was nothing made known to these men but what will be made known to all the Saints of the last days, so soon as they are prepared to receive, and a proper place is prepared to communicate them, even to the weakest of the Saints; therefore let the Saints be diligent in building the Temple, and all houses which they have been, or shall hereafter be, commanded of God to build; and wait their time with patience in all meekness, faith, perseverance unto the end, knowing assuredly that all these things referred to in this council are always governed by the principle of revelation.”
Is it just another coincidence Masonic phrases and wording for their rituals appear in the BoM, or is it Joe Smith’s ‘inspired’ work isn’t all that inspired?
Plagiarism, or Coincidence? Joseph Smith’s Sketchy First Vision
Why is the narrative of Joe Smith’s 1st vision remarkably similar to other writings published in his area?
Plagiarisms Saturate Smith’s 1st Vision
Why would authors of the Bible, and other works, show up in Smith’s inspired work from God?
The ‘Coincidence’ of Vapors of Darkness & Earthquakes
Why does the BoM relate stories that are exactly like events in Missouri in 1811?
View of the Hebrews & the Book of Mormon
In 1927 the well respected LDS historian BH Roberts wrote a letter to LDS Apostle Richard R. Lyman with a laundry list of concerns he had with the Book of Mormon stating his conviction the prophet had ‘borrowed’ from Ethan Smith’s work, View of the Hebrews. The number of ‘coincidences’ in this one show that it wasn’t a coincidence at all.
i believe like the bible boldly stated that, at the end of time many will come to decieve you, but to them that are strong there will be a witness to help them pass thru such times. mormon or wat ever they claim to call it is from the pit of hell another devils device to mislead people i pray God almighty in his mercy and compassion will have mercy and save the souls of men. amen
If anyone thinks these are just coincidences, perhaps they should put on their thinking caps!