The Book of Mormon

Heart of the Matter: Show 9 – The Book of Mormon in the Bible?

LIVE! From the “Mecca of Mormonism” Salt Lake City, Utah – THIS… is Heart of the Matter… “Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity Face to Face.” Show 9 The Book of Mormon in the Bible? March 1st 2010

And I’m Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion., your host. If you have family or friends who cannot get Heart through television, give them a call and tell them to go to WWW.HOTM.TV and they can watch through streaming video from anywhere in the world!

Hey… “I was a Born-Again Mormon.” The manuscript is available online through a downloadable PDF. Go to www.hotm.tv and you can have the book in your hands within minutes. Alathea Ministries holds two never-denominational Bible studies every week. One at Utah State and one at the University of Utah – both on Sundays. Go to www.calvarycampus.com for more information.

Upcoming Conference in Salt Lake City

On Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13th, Calvary Chapel Salt Lake City is hosting a conference on Mormonism. They are calling it the Capstone Conference, and the biggest names in refuting Mormonism will be there presenting. I think the information presented there will blow your mind. It’s free. It will be very informative. And it is all happening right there at Calvary Chapel Salt Lake City on Friday and Saturday, March 12th and 13th. Go to www. .com for more information.

I had the valued opportunity to be interviewed by John Dehlin of Mormonstories a few weeks ago. The result is a three-part video segment available online and for free at www.mormonstories.org. In these interviews, I am able to comfortably articulate who I am, what I think, why I do what I do, and where my heart is in this ministry. John is a very gracious host but does not avoid hitting some hard topics. Thus far, this work has opened the hearts of many who have really just hated me before. Check it out. www.mormonstories.org

As a result of this interview, a number of criticisms have come up from the Christian side of the fence about what I said. Let me address them here.

Addressing Criticisms

The first criticism was my stance on Bible inerrancy. I stated that I believe the Bible to be infallible (meaning it will not fail in bringing any and all to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ AND the Christian walk). I explained that the ORIGINAL Bible mss were inerrant – or without error – but that we would be incorrect to think that the translations are word perfect – ipisius werba – no. I mean if we took the King James today and translated it today into Swahili we would in all probability have to error. This does not take from the Word as completely trustworthy as the Word remains infallible. Back down a bit, folks. I trust and support the Word fully. It is our guide completely. But to agree that there are a few numbers and dates and names that may be off takes NOTHING from God.

Secondly, I’ve been criticized for saying that a Latter-day Saint can be saved even with their knowledge of the LDS Jesus. Yes, they can. I was. Others have been. The FACTS people know about Jesus are not what saves them; it is their faith in Him and God who saves – the facts about Him will follow. Again, folks, relax.

Then there was my conversation about people knowing Jesus' name in order to be saved. Few people who are being critical remembered that I emphatically stated there was NO OTHER WAY than by Jesus to be saved – NONE – “no other name by which we may be saved” – but what is His name, folks? Is it Jesus? Hey-Zeus? Iesous? Joshua? Jehovah? Yeshua? God? If a person in the Congo looks to the sky, cries out, and says, “UMBA” which might mean God in Condoease – “SAVE ME!” Will God save Him – by all means – in and through Jesus and the shed blood of Jesus alone.

BEAT

Look, there are certain hills to die on in the fight for faith. There are battles from which we must not run. But let’s give it up a little bit on dogmatic ugliness, and preach and teach and share Jesus in love.

And with that, let’s have a prayer. PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER

In our presentation of alphabetical programs dealing with Mormonism and the Bible, we come to The Book of Mormon. Remember, now, this

The Use of Biblical References by the LDS to Prove the Book of Mormon

This year we are taking the Bible and using it to show that Mormon doctrine and teachings are another Gospel. With this in mind, I am not going to discuss the problems with the Book of Mormon itself – its plagiarisms, origins, and anachronisms – these were all covered in Show 18 in 2006 and Shows 12-20 in 2007. Tonight we are going to examine the biblical references the LDS will use in their efforts to prove that the Bible spoke of the Book of Mormon’s existence.

This is important because if the Bible really does support the coming forth of the Book of Mormon then we ought to all RUN – I mean RUN into the arms of Mormonism – and join up. But why haven’t the majority of Christian pastors, scholars, commentators, linguists, and historians discovered these verses in the Bible which the LDS say prove the Book of Mormon true? Because the scholars KNOW what these proof-texts the LDS use from the Bible actually mean. And you will too, if you listen tonight.

Specifically, we are going to look at four Bible references the LDS use to prove that the Bible foretold of the Book of Mormon.

Biblical Passages Under Examination

Isaiah 29:1-4
Isaiah 29:11-12
Ezekiel 37:16-17
2nd Corinthians 13:1-2

So, get your Bibles out, mark these verses, take some notes on what these passages are really all about.

Before we get into the verses themselves, however, I want to throw out a challenge – and I am going to use our studio audience to help me here. I bet that you could give me some wild made-up religious belief and by next week I can present at least one (if not more) Bible passages that will appear to support it. So let’s open tonight’s program up with this challenge. So is there anyone in the studio audience who would like to supply me with some wild, made up religious belief? (and hey, this has NOT been rehearsed). Okay, next week I will come on the air and support this fiction with the Word of God – I hope.

Alright, let’s go to the first Bible passage the LDS say speaks of the Book of Mormon:

Analysis of Isaiah 29:1-4

Apostle (APOSTLE) Russell M. Nelson wrote in November of 2007: “How do scriptures of the Restoration clarify the Bible? Many examples exist. I will cite a few, beginning with the Old Testament. Isaiah wrote:”

(Then APOSTLE Nelson quotes Isaiah 29:1-4.)

Of these passages APOSTLE Nelson states: “Could any words be more descriptive of the Book of Mormon, coming, as it did, ‘out of the ground’ to whisper ‘out of the dust’ to people of our day?”

And all I have to say is, “You have Got to be kidding me, Apostle Nelson!”

Let’s take this text Nelson uses and examine it soundly. First and foremost, we cannot forget that the Old Testament was written to and for the Children of Israel. It is their history, their covenant with God, and it applies to them – NOT MORMONS, dang it.

Just look at Isaiah 29 with clear eyes: “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Who or what is Ariel? It is the City where who dwelt? David! And what City is this that it speak? Jerusalem – the City of David. The city of Peace. Did David ever dwell on the American continent? Did David ever dwell in, say, Missouri? No. Isaiah here called Jerusalem “Ariel” which in all probability means, “hearth of God” and it was only in Ariel where God’s hearth existed – the altar where sacrifices were offered – and this is also the place where Isaiah is saying the judgment of God would soon fall. And fall it did.

What Isaiah was saying here is Jerusalem, though presently offering sacrifices, would soon become like an altar where sacrifices were burned upon. He was telling them the city itself was going to be razed! This prophecy was fulfilled when God used Sennacherib, ruler of the Assyrians in 701 BC to attack Jerusalem (or Ariel) with such bloodshed and fire that it seemed like it was itself an altar.

In verse 2 and 3, God warns them through Isaiah that though they offer sacrifices:

2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

As a result of this devastating attack AUTHORED by God, Jerusalem would be figuratively “brought down to the ground.”

Misinterpretation of Isaiah's Prophecies

So effectively that it would be as though they were buried.

This context brings us to verse four which is so popular with the LDS and their misapplication:

4 And thou (meaning Jerusalem) 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.”

Bible scholar Albert Barnes says of this passage:

“The sense here is that Jerusalem, which was accustomed to priding itself on its strength, would be greatly humbled and subdued. It’s loud and lofty tone would be changed. It would use the suppressed language of fear and alarm as if it spoke from the dust, (sounding like the voice) of those who “pretended to converse with the dead – hence the phrase “as of one that hath a familiar spirit.”

Nowhere in scripture is the term familiar spirit good – it always refers to evil sorceries.

The LDS take that term and try and say that the Book of Mormon, which came out of the ground near Joseph Smith’s house, speaks as though it came from the dust of the earth, and that it would have a “familiar spirit” to the Bible. This is utter non-sense!

Context of Isaiah's Writings

Now, what is really important to understanding these passages that Apostle Nelson so embarrassingly assigned as proving the Book of Mormon is to look in the proceeding chapter, chapter 28 of Isaiah, verse 15. Here it gives us the reason and context of Isaiah 29:1-4. You see, the Nation of Israel made some sort of pact with darkness and they believed that this pact would protect them from what Isaiah 29 describes.

Listen!

Isaiah 28:14 ¶ Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15 Because ye have said, We have made a “covenant with deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God., and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.”

The Consequence of the Covenant with Darkness

From these verses we have a clear understanding of what Isaiah was saying in chapter 29 and why. The Children of Israel had made a “covenant with death and with hell” and thought that “the overflowing scourge would not effect them.” Isaiah 29:1-4 tells us otherwise.

God let the overflowing scourge fall upon them so furiously in 701 BC at the hands of the Assyrians that they were decimated to the earth, and their once proud voice was made like that of one from the dust, or how the voice of a “familiar spirit” would sound speaking out from the grave. This passage HAS NOTHING, AT ALL, to do with The Book of Mormon . . . even though a man who calls himself an “Apostle” says it does. He is misleading at best, lying at worst.

Okay, then in the same chapter of Isaiah, we come to another passage the LDS use to say that the Book of Mormon is mentioned in the Bible.

“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. 3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. 4 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.”

It’s in Isaiah 29:11-12, which reads:

“And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.”

So here is how the LDS use this passage.

When Martin Harris was helping Joseph with the transcribing of the Book of Mormon, Harris took some handwritten characters from the golden plates (which Joseph Smith had supplied him) and he went to one Charles Anthon, a professor at Columbia University. Though Professor Anthon denies Harris’s retelling of what happened.

Analysis of LDS Biblical Interpretations

There are several problems with the LDS use of these verses in Isaiah to support the history of the coming forth of the BOM. Read the first line of the passage. What does it say? “And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed . . .” What Isaiah was saying is that the visions to Israel were not discernable to them any longer – that these visions had “become unto them as the words of a book that is sealed,” meaning, the visions were not going to be understood because they were as a sealed book!

Isaiah was not in any way speaking of the exchange between Martin Harris and Professor Anthon at Colombia University! Did you hear what I just said and sense the absolute comedy of the claim? Isaiah was not in any way speaking of a conversation between Martin Harris and Professor Anthon at Colombia University! I mean, come on! And yet another LDS APOSTLE – LeGrand Richards said of these passages: “Professor Anthon did not realize that he was literally fulfilling prophecy of Isaiah!” My Lord, how twisted can the twisting be!?

Harris's Testimony

Then, just sit down and examine the story Harris told about his meeting with Professor Anthon and then re-read the passages in question. According to Harris, Professor Anthon said the TRANSLATION of the BOOK was correct but the Isaiah passage states that the learned could NOT translate the vision. Next, the Isaiah passage has the visions going first to the learned and then to the unlearned — of which neither could comprehend it. But in LDS history, a BOOK first went to the unlearned (Joseph Smith) and then to the learned (Professor Anthon) only to have the unlearned translate it – which the Isaiah passage never suggests occurs!

I mean, all the Isaiah account tells us is visions will be presented to the learned and they will say, “I can’t read a sealed book.” It says nothing about a translation coming forth. Re-read these passages and THINK, damn it, THINK!

The "Stick of Joseph" Interpretation

Okay, next we come to one of the all-time favorite biblical passages the LDS use to support the Book of Mormon – the great “Stick of Joseph” twist taken from chapter 37 of Ezekiel. In October 1982, Apostle Boyd K. Packer said in an LDS conference: “The stick or record of Judah – the Old Testament and the New Testament – and the stick or record of Ephraim – the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ – are now woven together in such a way that as you pour over one you are drawn to the other; as you learn from one you are enlightened by the other. They are indeed one in our hands. Ezekiel’s prophecy now stands fulfilled.”

Ezekiel 37:15-17

For a man who calls himself an apostle to make such a claim is as ridiculous as my claiming a yellow moon proves it is made of Cheddar Cheese. I’m not kidding! So from what passage in Ezekiel does APOSTLE Boyd Packer support this claim. Ezekiel 37:15-17. It reads:

15 "The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 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:
17 and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand."

Taking these passages, LDS missionaries will sit down with unsuspecting investigators and say something like this: “Mr. and Mrs. Investigator, ancient prophets would take leather or papyrus and lay it flat, and attach long sticks to the end of them. Then they would write scriptures upon them and use the sticks to roll them up into a scroll. So what these passages are saying is that God told Ezekiel to take ‘one stick’ (or scroll of papyrus) and write upon it for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions – this stick would represent the Bible, Mr. Investigator . . .” (and the missionary holds up the Bible in one hand).

And then the Lord tells Ezekiel to “take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions . . .” and this stick or scroll is the Book of Mormon,” (and the missionary holds up a Book of Mormon in their hand).

Understanding Ezekiel 37:15-17

And then the Lord tells Ezekiel to join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And then the missionary takes the Bible and the BOM and puts them together in his or her one hand. To the unsuspecting investigator, this story seems reasonable, and they buy into the presentation.

But what IS Ezekiel 37:15-17 really talking about? ALL A PERSON HAS TO DO IS TO KEEP READING PAST WHERE THE MISSIONARIES HAVE TOLD THEM TO READ! It’s this scary thing called, CONTEXT. In so doing, we learn clearly what scripture says the two sticks were. So let’s continue to re-read the passages Apostle Boyd Packer used to justify the BOM and then let's continue to read beyond verse seventeen in order to understand its true context.

Okay, first of all, God was having Ezekiel create an object lesson using some props. God had many of His prophets frequently use props as symbols to ancient Israel. According to Bible expositor Charles H. Dyer here is the setting of these verses: “After Solomon died, the nation of Israel split asunder, in 931 BC. The Southern Kingdom was known as Judah because Judah was its larger tribe and because the country was ruled by a king of that tribe (1st Kings 12:22). The Northern Kingdom was called Israel, or sometimes Ephraim (as in Hosea 5:3, 5, 11-14) because Ephraim was the strongest and most influential tribe and/or because the first king of Israel, Jeraboam I, was an Ephramite (1st Kings 11:26).” These kingdoms were separately taken into captivity with Israel being taken by Assyria in 722 BC and Judah into the Babylonian exile in 605, 597, and 586 BC.

The True Context of Ezekiel's Two Sticks

These passages clearly depict one nation (represented by a stick for Judah the Southern Kingdom) and the other nation (represented by a stick for Ephraim the Northern Kingdom) to be taken into the prophet Ezekiel’s hands then joined together. How can I say this? Let’s read the passages again:

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 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:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

Finally, in reference to the sticks, the missionaries description is pure fiction. If Ezekiel was talking about actual scrolls that were written upon, he would have used the perfectly good Hebrew word for scroll – SAIPHER. Instead, he used a completely different word for wood, tree, branch, or stick – “Ets.” The Lord told Ezekiel.

The Misinterpretation of Biblical Passages

To actually write on two sticks the names Judah and Joseph to represent the Northern and Southern nations, and to then bring them into one hand to illustrate their coming back together.

The Book of Mormon has NOTHING to do with this.

Finally, the LDS missionaries will often use 2nd Corinthians 13:1-2 to show the need for their BOM).

Understanding 2nd Corinthians 13:1

In 2nd Corinthians 13:1 Paul references Jewish law located in Deuteronomy 17:6, which says:

“In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”

LDS Missionaries will pull this passage out and say:

“See, Mr. Investigator, the Bible alone is not enough. It needs another witness. And that, boys and girls, is the Book of Mormon.”

First of all, the Bible has dozens and dozens of witnesses as it is a compilation of inspired writings from many men. Secondly, Paul is warning the people of Corinth that if they continue in sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace., they would be officially confronted using the laws of Jewish legislation, and by the mouth of two or three witnesses they would be found guilty. Again, NOTHING to do with the Book of Mormon.

Folks, the way the LDS Apostles say the Bible supports the Book of Mormon is akin to Mark David Chapman believing The Catcher in the Rye told him to shoot Regan – the words are there but they say NOTHING of the sort. Read and think for yourselves.

And with that, let’s open up the phone lines:

(801) 973-8820 (801) 973-TV20

Participation Encouragement

First time callers. LDS callers if at all possible. PLEASE turn your televisions down!

Remember the Cap Stone Conference Friday March 12 and Saturday March 13th at Calvary Chapel SLC. Go to www. For more information.

See you next week here on HOTM!