Correspondences With the Ancient World
Credibility of Joseph’s Revelations
Before beginning this chapter, let me add one more nugget of evidence to the mountain of evidence already amassed thus far in this paper for Joseph’s prophetic calling. Through Joseph Smith, God has revealed more scripture than the 10 the most prolific prophetic penmen of the past combined (including Moses, Isaiah, Paul, John etc.) Think about that! Try to pretend to be a prophet and publish even one revelation that millions of noble and intelligent people will deem to be from God for centuries to come! I don’t think it would be very easy to do that.
Authenticity of Scripture (revelations about the past)
Joseph revealed scripture that purports to describe real events among God’s people in the old and new world’s. If those scriptures are true, the more we find out about the ancient civilizations those scriptures describe, the more we should find connections between the two. But if more contradictions are found between the two as more discoveries are made with time, then the credibility of the scriptures Joseph revealed would go down.
Check out this list with links to over 200 evidences for the Book of Mormon!:
Non-Members have also recognized the impressive scholarship by members of the church which provide evidences for The Book of Mormon
For example, Paul Owen and Carl Mosser, graduates of Biola University co-authored authored an important article on Mormonism entitled “Mormon Scholarship, Apologetics, and Evangelical Neglect: Losing the Battle and Not Knowing It?” Where they recognize that in the last few decades a substantial body of legitimate scholars within the church have published a large volume of robust defenses of the church.
The Book of Mormon
Not only have things been confirmed that were unknowable to anyone in 1830,
but many of the confirmations to what was in the Book of Mormon were the exact opposite of what was believed by most of the world in 1830.
Connections to the Old World
Hebraisms
Chiasmus
The Hebrew literary device known as Chiasmus was discovered in 1967. It is a parallel structure where the first and last, second and second to last and so on-elements parallel each other, into the center. Two of the many impressive chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon (which no one knew about in 1830) are found in Mosiah 5:10-12, which has a,b,c,d,e,f -then f,e,d,c,b,a, and Alma 30, which is incredibly impressive with A-Q in parallel form, with a reference to Jesus Christ at the center of the chiasm!
There are numerous other connections with the language and grammar of the Book of Mormon awith the Hebrew language that sound awkward in English.
A few examples:
Not brass plates, but plates of brass, rod of iron, vapor of darkness
Not marry a woman, but take her to wife
Stiffneckedness
(Of Faith and Reasons: 80 Evidences Supporting Joseph Smith)
Nahom and Bountiful
When Lehi's camp traveled in a south-southeast direction from Jerusalem through Arabia, Ishmael died and was buried at a place that was called Nahom (Lehi didn't name it that). From that point on Lehi’s camp went in an eastward direction, relatively shortly thereafter arriving at the seashore at a place rich in vegetation which Lehi's camp called Bountiful. Now, Joseph certainly didn't know names of places in Arabia let alone where they were. Since the production of the Book of Mormon, a little green strip of land on the southeastern shore of Saudi Arabia has been found. And it matches the Book of Mormon in that it is a land rich in honey, iron ore, and has a great place from which to launch a ship. No one in Joseph's day knew Saudi Arabia was anything else besides a barren desert. What's more exciting, is that this green strip of land is just due east of a place recently discovered to be called, guess what? Yes, Nahom! It is now known to be called the tribe and land of Nahom in precise the right time, and for even more evidence, two altars were found in the 1990s bearing the inscription NHM. Just like the Lord is spelled YHWY, vowels are often taken off in Hebrew. The parallels seem too striking to be coincidence.
Book of Mormon names (imagine trying to make up fake ancient hebrew names)
Alma, the name of two Book of Mormon male prophets, has characteristically been a female name in the new world. However, in the later twentieth-century, it was found in letters from Bar Kokhba and clay tablets from Ebla the name Alma, son of (different people), thus confirming it was a male name from around the same time and place as 600 B.C. in the ancient-near east. And both LDS and non-LDS scholars have found the following names from the Book of Mormon (not found in the Bible) to be authentically ancient Hebrew names: Paanchi, Pahorah, Mosiah, Sariah, Lehi, Nephi and others.
Connections to the New World
Complex civilizations in Ancient America
When the Book of Mormon was produced, critics laughed because it described a complex ancient American civilization with a written tradition. In 1830 no one thought such civilizations existed in ancient America. All they saw were the contemporary primitive civilizations of the Native Americans, and they had little to no knowledge of ancient civilizations in America. In subsequent decades however, ruins of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Jaredites and Nephites were found! And they were found to be very sophisticated and complex, with a written tradition as well!
Olmecs and Mayans
The Olmec civilization existed from approximately 1700 bce and terminated about 400 bce, while the Jaredite civilization existed roughly from 2000 bc to 400 bce. The Mayans began building cities about 400 bce and started to phase out around 200 ce, while the Nephite cities started springing up probably around 500 bce, and the destruction of their civilization started to occur around 300 ce.
The Olmec civilization has also been discovered to have existed north of the Mayan's. And remarkably, the Jaredite civilization in the Book of Mormon was north of the Nephite civilization.
In Mormon’s Codex, John Sorenson has found over 400 correspondences between the Book of Mormon, and what we have only recently discovered about the culture of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations.
Wordprint Analysis
A major university has compared the literary styles of Joseph Smith and his contemporaries to the authors of the Book of Mormon, Nephi, Mormon and Moroni and has found no significant parallels. It has also been demonstrated that Nephi, Mormon and Moroni have a large body of different literary styles and phrases that are unique to them, suggesting the book is what it purports to be.
No one evidence is very compelling by itself, but the combinations of evidences that the Book of Mormon has correct details about ancient civilizations that no one knew about in 1830 is very compelling.
Prophecies Fulfilled
Prophecies (revelations about the future)
Another way to recognize a true prophet is if they prophesy about things that actually later come to pass. If we look at the Bible, we realize that prophets receive different gifts for different purposes, and not all of them prophesy. But Joseph did prophesy, and if many of his prophecies have already come true, it would bolster his credibility as a prophet of God.
Prophecies about the destiny of the church
The Book of Mormon
In talking about latter-day America, The Book of Mormon says the latter-day church would be few in number, and have members in every nation. This is being fulfilled before our very eyes.
Moroni
Moroni, who delivered the Book of Mormon to Joseph Smith, prophesied about Joseph Smith, and Joseph recorded it. Moroni said, “Your name shall be had for good and evil among all nations.” It’s remarkable that the church has spread to all nations and there are indeed strong opinions about Joseph Smith on both sides of the issue.
Joseph Smith In 1830 when the church was organized, Joseph Smith said, “You know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it…This Church will fill North and South America- it will fill the world.” It’s happening before our very eyes.
The Word of Wisdom
In February, 1833, the Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation that said in part: “In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation” (D&C 89:4).
The fact that many millions of dollars are spent annually in deceptive advertising to induce people to use harmful substances, even to counteract scientific and government findings against them, amply fulfills this portion of the revelation.
In the 1930s, the public was becoming increasingly worried about the health consequences of cigarettes. So cigarette companies began to use medical research and physicians to show the public that cigarettes were not harmful. instead of the American public finding out in the 1930s, it wasn’t until 1964 that the first surgeon general findings were made public.
Heavenly Father, through His prophets, is always steps ahead of the world.
Stephen Douglas
“Judge, you will aspire to the presidency of the United States; and if you ever turn your hand against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel the weight of the hand of the Almighty upon you; and you will live to see and know that I have testified the truth to you”
Douglas ran for president, spoke out against the Church, and lost to Lincoln 180 to 12 electoral votes, one of the biggest upsets in history. And less than a year later, at age forty-eight he died a broken hearted man
Willard Richards
Joseph told Willard, a large man: “one day you will be in the midst of a shower of bullets, friends on your left and right will fall, but there will not be a hole in your garment. It happened 1 year later at Carthage jail where Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred. And Willard was not struck once by a bullet.
Evidence for the Book of Mormon
Joseph once said to a colleague, “If you live into the next century, you will see evidence for the
Book of Mormon come forth in droves.”
The beginning of this section gives an indication as to how well this prophecy
has been fulfilled.
Joseph Predicted his death
The last item written by Joseph Smith in his journal is an entry from Saturday, June 22, 1844, now recorded in History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 546: “I told Stephen Markham that if I and Hyrum were ever taken again we should be massacred, or I was not a prophet of God.”
Shortly thereafter he and Hyrum were placed in Carthage Jail and then murdered by a mob. Others who were with them survived the attack, but Joseph and his brother were killed, as predicted.
Critics try to point to prophecies by Joseph that didn’t pan out. It is a complex subject, and there are diverse opinions about it, but there are dozens of prophecies that did see fulfillment, which I think should be impressive enough.
What are the odds that a false prophet would be able to make dozens of predictions about both the past and the future, that would later prove to be right on?
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