Untrained people will sometimes make long citations in their writing because they do not want to put the extra work into thinking for themselves. Interestingly enough, the Book of Mormon asks you to compare certain chapters to books in the Bible when the BoM plagiarizes the Bible. Many long passages of Isaiah can be seen in the BoM, but that is not all. There are several passages in the BoM that are clearly taken from the Bible.
Not only this, but Joseph Smith even started his own translation of the Bible, which is literally a translation disaster. Take for instance John 1:1 in the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) which was translated from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible: “In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.”
The actual translation of the Greek is “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (My translation).[1]
There is no question then, that Joseph Smith was deeply and intimately familiar with the Bible, and with the teachings of the Bible, which ultimately should make us wonder why he changed everything even though he knew it so well. If Joseph Smith knew the Bible as well as it seems, then why is Mormon Doctrine so drastically and completely different than what the Bible teaches?
Because Joseph Smith was an Elite Atheist.
I find it interesting that when
Jesus quoted the Old Testament in the New Testament, that He frequently said, “It
is written….” But in the Book of Mormon, the sources are never cited. In fact,
this phrase is not even found in the book of Mormon. Also, Jesus always quoted from the Old
Testament, and never from the Book of Mormon, even though the BoM supposedly
came before the time of Jesus.
In the end, the plagiarism found in the Book of Mormon should testify to the knowledge that Joseph Smith had. He was so well versed in the Bible, yet there are such obvious contradictions between the Bible and the BoM, that one must make a logical conclusion that both cannot be true. There really is no other option.
Consider a claim found in the BoM in 2 Nephi 25:23,
“For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”
On the other hand, in the Bible, we can clearly see from where Joseph Smith plagiarized this claim. Ephesians 2:8-9 claims,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Joseph Smith could not include the rest of verses 8-9 because they were directly opposed to his agenda. These two teachings are in direct opposition, and as mentioned above, one must conclude that only one of the two claims can be true, if even that. This is the Law of Non-Contradiction. It states that two opposing claims cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time. In other words, the blade of grass cannot be both 12 inches high and 6 inches high at the same time and in the same sense. Likewise, a woman cannot both be pregnant and not pregnant at the same time and in the same sense. Only one of these claims about a specific woman can be true.
It is likewise true for the two different claims that we find in the Bible vs the Book of Mormon. This is where the Law of Excluded Middle comes in. This Law states that every truth claim is either true OR false. When, for instance, I say that this specific woman is pregnant, I am making a truth claim, and it is either true or false. Taken together, the two viewpoints at hand, it is either true that we are “saved by grace after all we can do,” or it is not. Similarly, with the Bible’s claims, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works…” is either true, or it is not.
Now, both of these at hand oppose one another. They are saying the exact opposite of one another. One is saying that we are saved after all we can do, and the other is saying that nothing we do can help save us. “It is a gift.” What part of a gift can we earn? If we earn any part of it, then it is not a gift!
How could knowledge and manipulation of the Bible benefit Joseph Smith?
All of this in mind, we can now come to the conclusion that Joseph Smith, even though he was very well versed in the Bible and even in theology in some respects, changed the doctrines and truth claims because he was after something that benefitted himself. J. Warner Wallace teaches in Cold Case Christianity that there are only three basic things that motivate criminals to act in criminal manner. Basically, it boils down to Money, Sex, and Power.[2] How does Joseph Smith measure up against this? He received $50 from Martin Harris according to the History of Joseph Smith which equates in 2020 to $1,666.14. But that was just the beginning. In section 119:3-6, Doctrine and Covenants reads,
“And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people. And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord. Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you. And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you” (Emphasis mine).
In other words, you are an outcast if you don’t tithe. Seeing what the Mormon “Church” is today, I think one can see that money was definitely a motivator in the beginning, and still is.
As far as sex is concerned, about six years ago from the time of this writing, the Latter-day Saints came out with the news that Joseph Smith was indeed polygamous. The New York Times published an article where the headline reads, “It’s Official: Mormon Founder Had Up to 40 Wives.”
After discovering this news myself, I quickly wrote about it and it exploded the internet. It seems that so many people were let down because of this news, and many left Mormonism or seriously distanced themselves from it.
It appears almost absurd to further explain the clear point that Joseph Smith was all about both money and sex, but what about power?
Part One cites the account of Joseph Smith’s death, which should now again be taken into consideration:
An attempt was made to break open the door but Joe Smith being armed with a six barrelled pistol furnished by his friends fired several times as the door was bursted open and wounded three of the assailants At the same time several shots were fired into the room by some of which John Taylor received four wounds and Hiram Smith [Joseph’s brother] was instantly killed. Joe Smith now attempted to escape by jumping out of the second story window, but the fall so stunned him that he was unable to rise and being placed in a sitting posture by the conspirators below they despatched him with four balls shot through his body (History of Illinois from its commencement as a state in 1818 TO 1847 Thomas Ford, Chicago: SC GRIGGS & CO 1854, 354).
Joseph Smith was given a gun in order to shoot back. It seems that the word martyr does not fit the description of Joseph Smith. Aside from that, it seems that through his death, Joseph Smith sought power. Why would a “saint” protect his life (to the point of killing others) against martyrdom in any manner, let alone by shooting back? Because power would give him more women and money, perhaps?
In any event, Joseph Smith manipulated and mangled the Bible, because he saw how it could grab a hold of people’s hearts. He knew that people already had presuppositions about the Word of God, so he used it and changed it in a manner that benefitted him. Joseph Smith’s plagiarism of the biblical text was necessary because his own words would not have any authority himself. This he most assuredly came to understand through trial and error. So what does he do, but claim that an authority outside of himself (much like Islam) is what revealed all of this material to him.
The Mormon Cupcake
arbitrary ingredients, and rat poison. The sprinkles on the top are the only thing safe to eat, because these are bought separately, from another source (For instance, I have never heard of anyone making their own sprinkles). The cupcake looks appetizing especially to children, and is consumed with delight.
Like the cupcake, Mormonism is a poisonous gospel (which really is no gospel at all) and it is sprinkled with biblical truths in order to attract people to it. Those who are ignorant on what the Bible says see the similarities and think that it must be safe because it is common knowledge that the Bible is safe. Not only safe but good.
I think that we can safely conclude that Joseph Smith was not only an atheist, which his knowledge of what the Bible says and his clear manipulation of it proves this, but he was also a baker. He has been baking poisonous cupcakes that are run through the printing press of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for decades. Don’t eat the poison.
For More, See my book on Mormonism: 
https://www.amazon.com/Mormonism-Refuting-Fundamental-Apologetics-Latter-Day/dp/1662885377/
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