As a result of so much positive study of the Book of Mormon, many people in the LDS faith are somewhat shielded from criticism of the book. This is probably as much the case as people outside of the LDS faith are shielded from positive study of the book. The quirks of mormonism and the Book of Mormon are apparently easy to mock in the form of everything from internet memes to Broadway musicals.
The problem with the Book of Mormon is more than what those that would mock the church say. Many members of the church will glaze over the flaws as if they do not exist. They are in many cases painfully obvious.
Consider the teaching of the Book of Mormon prophet Amulek:
"And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.
For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made." (Alma 34:8-9)
This is extremely repetative. How many times must we hear about this expedient atonement in the same breath? Perhaps Amulek did not understand pronouns...
Consider the words of the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi:
"The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (2 Nephi 12:1-3)
This does not even pretend to be original. The passage is just recycling the words of Isaiah.
The last prophet of the Book of Mormon, Moroni, was openly worried about these flaws:
"And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;
And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.
Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words." (Ether 12:23-25)
Moroni was right to worry. The Book of Mormon is filled with mediocre language, run-on sentences, large quotations from Biblical passages, and similar content flaws. Why would anyone want such a flawed book to be considered the "keystone" of their religion? Why wouldn't a church try to hide this book in a place it would never be read? Why publish these blantant mistakes?
The answers to these questions are critical to understanding the truth about the Mormon faith.
The truth is that these mistakes are not important. Certainly not more important than the flaws in the Bible. Does it matter to Christians that the geneaolgies of Joseph do not match in Matthew 1 and Luke 3? Should the book of Micah be stricken from the canon because he recycles the same passages of Isaiah that Nephi used? (Micah 4:1-2) Was Moses less of a prophet because he complained about being slow of speech? (Exodus 4:10-16)
The truths of the Bible and the Book of Mormon are greater than confusing obscure passages. The truth is that Jesus Christ guided his chosen people (both in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon) and promised them land, posterity, power, and wisdom if they would keep his law. The tragedy is that they did not. The Jews were taken captive to Babylon and ultimately scattered. The Nephites and Jaredites were swallowed up in terrible wars and ultimately annihilated. The truth in these books was the same. Prophets saw a day when the truth would return... when the promises and prophecies of old would be realized... when every nation, tongue, and kindred would learn of the saving power of the Christ...
These books, while freely available, did not come easily. Many people gave their lives so that the Bible could be translated into common languages. Prophets sacrificed much to bring the word of God to the people. In the Book of Mormon, armies fell defending freedom, and family. Many died to secure the blessings that come from living the law of the Lord in a precious land of promise.
The Book of Mormon, similarly involved great sacrifices by the people whose story it contains and also those that helped bring us the story. Joseph Smith was mocked, beaten, robbed, driven from his home, wrongly imprisoned, and eventually murdered for his role in bringing this book and the truth in it to light.
The real problem with the Book of Mormon is that it is glazed over, softened, abbreviated, marginalized, and underappreciated by those to whom it has been given.
It may not be as entertaining as Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, the Hunger Games, or a myriad of other popular titles... but it is far more important. The claims associated with this book are bold. Mormons assert that Joseph Smith saw an angel that told him where to find them. He translated them into english by the power of God himself.
I cannot over-emphasize the importance of reading the Book of Mormon. I do not mean search for mistakes of the imperfect men who wrote and translated it... I mean searching for the big picture.
If it is the word of God, a message from heaven to us here and now, then what is he saying? Does Jesus truly have the power that his apostles said he had? Is he truly the son of God?
If God truly has caused this book to come forth... if God truly does have a message for humanity... if the Book of Mormon is true... it changes everything.
