Can One go to Heaven Obeying the Book of Mormon?

Spalding’s work was not the only text that was copied.  There are also over forty plagiarisms that Smith lifted directly from the King James Version of the Bible.  These are not just similar passages of content, but are verbatim.  They are blatant duplicated passages, yet taken out of their original context.  Consider that the translators of KJV were not inspired, nor did any of them claim to be such.  Smith on the other hand was adamant that he was inspired when he translated the Book of Mormon from “reformed Egyptian” contained in the “gold plates” to English.

The Book of Mormon allegedly covers a historical period from 600 B.C. to A.D. 421.  It quotes directly from the KJV that was translated in A.D. 1611.  Only one of two conclusions can be made from this.  Either the KJV translators copied from the Book of Mormon or the Book of Mormon copied from the KJV translators.  Since the Book of Mormon would come into existence 200 years after the KJV was translated, the first theory can be eliminated.  Mormon apologists claim that God gave the same revelation in the Book of Mormon as He did in Palestine.  Smith held his position of being an inspired translator, and that God was using him to translate directly from “reformed Egyptian” to English.  But why would God help him translate it into King James English?  That was not the language in Palestine.  It was also not the language in the 1830’s in America.

Newsroom, a website for LDS resources, lists itself as the official resource for news media, opinion leaders, and the public.  The website states, “It [Book of Mormon] has been described as the “keystone” of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  From the beginning, Church members have accepted it as scripture.  This does not mean the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible as scripture for members of the Church.” (www.mormonnewsroom.org) Perhaps it does not replace it because it attempts to duplicate it.  How peculiar it is that the Bible does not contain one passage verifying any historical evidence in the Book of Mormon, yet the Book of Mormon is full of Bible content.  The reason is that if the Bible is true, then there is no room for Mormon doctrine or history.