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Does it Matter if the Book of Mormon Events
Really Happened?
From FAIR, the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research
The important question here
is not whether or not scientific evidence can prove or disprove
the Book of Mormon. The real question becomes: Does it really matter?
Other Christian religions seem to make
room for members who see, for example, the creation story of Adam
and Eve as a profound metaphor, in a way of explaining the ultimate
truth of the creation without requiring any definite belief in the
literalness of the story as it comes down to us in Genesis. Can’t
the faithful LDS view the Book of Mormon as other Christians view
the Bible — inspirational stories and myths, which may not
be literally true?
The answer to that question is no.
There is a fundamental difference between
the Bible and Book of Mormon. The Bible is a religious library that
comes from many different sources, many different places and times.
So you might disagree with a literal understanding of the portrayal
of the creation from Genesis, but you might accept other events
as reported in the Bible, such as the Assyrian conquest or the Babylonian
captivity. In the case of the Book of Mormon, it all funnels through
Joseph Smith. So if it is simply Joseph’s creation, then none
of it is historical.
Some people have tried to make the
case that historicity doesn’t matter at all, analogizing for
instance to the parables of Jesus. Of course, the parables were
put forward as parables, not as actual history, so that analogy
breaks down pretty quickly.
The Lord and His Messengers
Confirm Historicity
The Lord went to extreme lengths to
show the Book of Mormon was indeed historical. In his first written
account of Moroni’s visit, Joseph said as clearly as he possibly
could that the angel of the Lord told him the location of plates
upon which were engravings of “servants of the living God
in ancient days and deposited by the commandments of God and kept
by the power thereof and that I should go and get them.”
This is the foundation of the Restoration,
important enough that the Lord called eleven witnesses of the plates,
with “historicity” being a key element of their testimonies.
Considering the fact that three of the standard works proclaim the
Book of Mormon to be historical, this can hardly be considered a
side issue. Some would argue that denying the historicity of the
Book of Mormon is denying a fundamental doctrine of the Church.
Latter-day Saints may disagree in the
details. Some may well believe that certain narratives are present
to serve a rhetorical purpose and were not intended to portray a
literal and completely accurate historical presentation. And usually,
differences in opinion at this level have little impact (if any
at all) on a person’s membership and ability to function at
any level within the Church.
If someone comes to the conclusion
that the Book of Mormon is not historical at all, is there a place
for him in the Church? Probably. We cast a very broad net. That
person cannot go around teaching his heterodox views on the subject,
but if he is willing to keep them to himself, he can be a contributing
active member of the Church, simply bracketing the historicity issue.
These articles have been put together as a collaborative effort
by several writers. The topics for Meridian have been chosen and
edited by Carolyn Wright. You can find these articles on the FAIR
Wiki, a collaborative FAIR Website located at http://en.fairmormon.org.
If you would like to comment on these articles, or request
additional topics, you can contact Carolyn here: http://www.fairlds.org/contact.php. Just
check the box for the Meridian Article Editor.
The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR) was formed in late 1997 by a group of LDS defenders of the faith who frequented the America Online Mormonism message boards. In defending the Church against detractors there, this small group realized that they had no way of sharing their information with each other, much less the rest of the Church. As a result of this, FAIR was born. Incorporated as a non-profit organization in November 1997, the fledgling organization put up its first Web site in March 1998.
FAIR is staffed completely by students of the scriptures, ancient languages, early Christian history, early LDS history, and LDS doctrine and apologetics. Most all of the staff here at FAIR have been involved in online services and Internet-based LDS apologetics for many years. Many of the members are authors of currently-available apologetic publications.
FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of LDS doctrine, belief and practice. The FAIR Website is www.fairlds.org.
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