Mormons claim that The Book of Mormon is God's Word, just like the Bible. Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt has said there are "no contradictions, no absurdities, nothing unreasonable" in the Book of Mormon (Articles of Faith, p.505). But does the Book of Mormon contradict the Bible? Are there no absurdities in it? Is there proof that it was written in the 1800's but made to look like ancient documents? Check it out for yourself.

The French word "Adieu" closes the book of Jacob (Jacob 7:27). The Book of Mormon dates Jacob between 544 and 421 BC. The French language didn't even exist until around 700 AD! This proves the book was written after 700 AD.

Jesus Christ was to be born "at Jerusalem" according to Alma 7:10. However, the Bible says He was born at Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Luke 2:4).

Helaman 14:20, 27 says that darkness covered the whole earth for 3 DAYS at Jesus' death. Matt. 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44 says it was 3 HOURS.

According to Alma 46:15, believers are called Christians in 73 BC. However, Acts 11:26 says that they were FIRST called Christians at Antioch (about 42 AD).

Helaman 12:25-25 says, "we read…" and quotes John 5:29. Helaman was supposedly written in 6 BC, according to the date given in the B. of M. The book of John was written nearly 100 years after 6 BC. So how could Helaman quote John and even use the 1611 King James Version to do it? Obviously, someone living after the 1611 King James Version was written wrote Helaman! (Joseph Smith)

According to Ether 6:7, the Jaredites knew about Noah. Since Moses wrote about Noah long after the date Jared supposedly left the Tower of Babel for America, how did they know about Noah?

The Book of Mormon sounds Biblical because some 27,000 words are from the King James Bible. Hundreds of verses are copied verbatim. For example, II Nephi, chapters 12-24 are copied from Isaiah 2-14, III Nephi 24 & 25 are copied from Malachi 3 & 4, and I Nephi 20-21 are copied from Isaiah 48-49 except for a few additions in the Book of Mormon. Even the italicized words from the King James Version are copied! The words in the King James Version were NOT in the original text but were added by the translators to give clarity of thought. The King James Version was completed in 1611 AD and the Book of Mormon published in 1830. This proves that Nephi was written after 1611!

Alma 13:1 says, "And again my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments." Was this time past or future? Obviously Joseph Smith, who fabricated the Book of Mormon, made a mistake here because he was living in the 1800's and got confused on the tenses.

Ether speaks of steel (7:8,9) and breakable windows (2:23) back in Abraham's time. Neither had been invented at that time. Another proof that Joseph Smith was thinking in terms of his day when he wrote the Book of Mormon.

According to I Nephi 2:5-8, the River Laman emptied into the Red Sea. However, there are no rivers in Arabia and no river empties into the Red Sea. Joseph Smith didn't know this when he wrote the Book of Mormon.

The above information is taken from Mormon Claims Answered by Marvin W. Cowan, 1982, pp. 32-38. Marvin Cowan is a former Mormon.