Deja Vu?



Jesus' Sermon in the Land Bountiful



Jesus' Sermon on the Mount



One thing that really struck me about The Book of Mormon was the implausibility that on plates hidden in the hills of upstate New York could be written, verbatim, many of the same verses found in the King James Version of the Bible (even if the original script on the plates was written in reformed Egyptian). How likely does that seem? The same ideas written the same way, oceans away from where the original words were written. I suppose the authors of The Book of Mormon could have copied the verses from other writers at the time and then the plates been transferred to the new world. But what about when Jesus gives his sermon on the mount in America, did Jesus really just repeat the same exact thing he said the first time he gave his sermon? This instance may have made more sense in our modern world where the sermon may have been televised or if Jesus had flown to America on a speaking tour. It seems unlikely, although not impossible, to me that the same things would be told to different people and written verbatim thousands of miles away from where it was originally written. 

While I was reading The Book of Mormon, it seemed like a condensed version of the important events and passages of the King James Version of the Bible mashed together with the story of a family line that was previously unheard of in the Bible. The fact that The Book of Mormon directly addresses controversies and problems of 19th century Americans may have made the book seem more legitimate at the time it was written because it was so relevant to the people it was written for, but today it is the source of it's flaws. While Joseph Smith may have been trying to clear up the controversies of the 19th century American, he may have actually been writing himself into a hole, that is, if you believe the Bible to be accurate. Translating plates that almost no one has seen except Joseph Smith himself from a language that no one else in the world has heard of or knows looks suspicious to say the least.

Despite the suspicious nature of its conception, Mormonism serves its purpose, bringing pride to Americans and solving controversies that stood between different church denominations, giving clear cut instructions on debated topics. While I can understand how this religion could make sense to 19th century Americans, I also see it as a dated religion that is not necessarily applicable to people outside that century.