The official title: The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, speaks volumes. Does the Bible reference The Book of Mormon? Mormons, or Latter Day Saints (LDS), as they prefer to be called), proudly proclaim that it does. The main scripture they use to support this claim is Ezekiel 37:15-19, which reads:

“The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘Judah and those Israelites loyal to him.’ Take another stick and write on it, ‘Joseph (Ephraim’s wood) and all the House of Israel loyal to him.’ ‘Join one to the other to make a single piece of wood, a single stick in your hand. And when the members of your nation say, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean?’ say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: I am taking the stick of Joseph (now in Ephraim’s hand) and those tribes of Israel loyal to him and shall join them to the stick of Judah. I shall make one stick out of the two, a single stick in my hand'” (NJB).

The following is what the LDS Church says these verses mean:

“The ‘sticks’ being referred to are the are companions to each other making one. The stick of Judah is obviously the Bible, since the Jews are through the tribe of Judah. The stick of Joseph referred to is the Book of Mormon. Lehi, the first prophet of Book of Mormon, was a descendant of the tribe of Joseph. Today the Bible and Book of Mormon are companion books in the hands and before the eyes of people today.”

Their claim that the ‘the stick of Judah is the Bible and the stick of Joseph is the Book of Mormon,’ is simply preposterous. The Bible says nothing of the sort. The ‘sticks’ have no reference to books whatsoever, much less the Book of Mormon! Ephraim represents the northern ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, and Judah represents the southern 2-tribe kingdom and the Levites.  The scriptures make clear that their joining together represents their reunification, after the return from exile. “I will take the Israelites from among the nations to which they have gone and gather them from from all around to bring them back to their land. I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one king for them all. They shall never again be two nations, never again be two nations, never again be divided into into two kingdoms” (Ezekiel 37:21,22 NAB).  The context emphasizes the unity that will be achieved under the New Covenant with Jesus as king, “My servant David [Jesus] will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd [Jesus]. They will obey  my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees” (Ezekiel 37:24 NLT).

In fact, The Book of Mormon teaches that only fools say the Bible alone is sufficient and that other scripture is not needed. “Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible” (2 Nephi 29:6).  However, the Bible says that it is complete: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17 HCSB).

Another scripture the LDS use to support their claim that the Bible refers to the Book of Mormon is Genesis 11:9, which reads:

“That is why it was called Babel, since there Yahweh confused the language of the whole world, and from there Yahweh scattered them all over the world” (NJB).

Notice the Mormon explanation even candidly admits the verse says nothing about the Book of Mormon:

“Okay, so this doesn’t explicitly mention anything about the Book of Mormon-but there is a connection. The Book of Ether, one of the records in the Book of Mormon is the record of a group of people that migrated to the Americas when they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth by The Lord after the Tower of Babel incident.”

There’s just one “little” problem with the “Book of Ether” — there is no independent evidence, no verification, of any of the events, people, places, etc., in this book, outside of the Book of Mormon. On the other hand, most of the peoples named as being scattered in Genesis 10 have been historically and archaeologically documented in Asia, Africa, and Europe– which is in stark contrast to the “people that migrated to the Americas” of the book of Ether.

Another scripture the LDS  church likes to use in support of the Book of Mormon is Psalm 85:11, which says: “Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven” (NIV).  The Mormons think the KJV is the only Bible translation to use, and it reads: “Truth has sprung out of the earth” (Psalm 85:11 KJV).
Notice how they convert a restoration prophecy into a prophecy about “golden plates”:

“This verse is the psalmist’s reference to the gold plates being buried in a hillside by the prophet, Moroni, in approximately 400 AD. In 1823, Moroni led Joseph Smith to where the plates were hidden. In 1827, Joseph was finally allowed to remove the plates. He translated them by the power of God into what is now known as the Book of Mormon – named after the prophet, Mormon. Truth literally and poetically sprung up from the earth.”

Putting it mildly, the Mormons obviously read far more into this verse than what is there. Psalm 85:11 is another restoration prophecy of God’s future blessing. It has nothing to do with ‘buried gold plates being removed from the ground’ in New York State, USA.

Another Biblical prophecy the LDS use to support the Book of Mormon being “God’s Word” is Isaiah 29:4, 11-14: “Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper…. All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, ‘We can’t read it because it is sealed.’ When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, ‘We don’t know how to read.’ And so the Lord says, ‘These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.’ Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear” (NIV). The prophecy is not about the Book of Mormon, but about God informing his people that he will humble them. But notice what the LDS church claims these verses predict instead:

“Verse 4 speaks of the destruction of Christ’s believer’s in the Americas, and their records on the gold plates being buried. Their words came up with a whisper out of the dust. Verses 11-14 are very prophetic and directly linked with LDS history. Joseph Smith copied some characters engraved on the plates on to a piece of paper. He gave them to Martin Harris to bring to a language expert in New York for verification. The expert identified the writing as Reform Egyptian, but quickly recanted after Martin explained where the writings came from. The expert’s exact response was ‘I cannot read a sealed book’. This is almost word for word with verse 11. There is an obvious connection in verse 12. Joseph Smith only had a 6th grade education. He was not a ‘learned man’. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, Joseph was able to translate the writings into English. Since then God has produced a ‘marvelous work and a wonder’ among this people – restoring and spreading the priesthood and true gospel of Jesus Christ across the Earth.”

In the actual fulfillment, Israel and Judah in ancient Palestine were humbled hundreds of years prior to Christ, and there is much archaeological evidence in support of this. But the Mormons (LDS) stretch these verses far beyond any realism by claiming fulfillment in New York State, USA, during a much later time, the early 1800’s.

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16 KJV) The “other sheep” are Gentiles (non-Jews). This is an insight into Jesus’ worldwide mission, dying for the sins of the world. (Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 1:8; John 3:16) Notice, however, who the Mormons restrict the application of the “other sheep” to:

“After His Resurrection, Christ visited his followers in the Americas and taught them His Gospel as He had in the Middle East. (So much for the Book of Mormon being a different gospel than the Bible) The record of this visit is found in the book of 3rd Nephi, in the Book of Mormon.”

Of course, outside of the LDS, the Mormons own writings, there are no records, in fact, no evidence whatsoever, of any such visit by Jesus to the Americas. Notice what the LDS themselves admit:

“Unless you’re one of those Da Vinci Code types, you know that Jesus didn’t teach anyone outside the Middle East during His Mortal Ministry.”

So, not during Jesus’ so-called “Mortal Ministry,” that is, his time on earth in the flesh in the area of Israel, but the LDS claim Jesus appeared to people in the Americas after he ascended to heaven (Acts 1:11). It is almost unbelievable that millions of people would fall for such obvious fiction, but this type of thing is exactly what 2 Corinthians 11:4 says: “You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.” (NLT)

“This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” (2 Corinthians 13:1 KJV) Under the Mosaic Law, if a person did not confess to a crime, it took a minimum of two witnesses to convict him. Paul is giving his third warning about coming to Corinth to correct serious sins. But the Mormons have their own spin on this verse, by claiming that the Bible is ‘one witness,’ and ‘the Book of Mormon’ is ‘a second witness.’ Notice what they assert:

“Paul is teaching that God doesn’t proclaim truth through one witness, He uses 2 or 3. The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The Purpose of the Book is to ‘convince the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is The Christ.’ The Bible is the first witness and the Book of Mormon bears a second witness that all the promises, prophecies, and miracles in the Bible are true. It even supports the things that archaeology could never prove. “

The “two witnesses” that are mentioned in 2 Corinthians 13:1 do not refer to The Book of Mormon at all. The Bible, of course, already has more than enough support for “all [its] promises, prophecies and miracles,” and doesn’t need any supplements. “The faith that was once for all handed down to the holy ones” (Jude 3 NAB), took place in the first century. Especially not needed are faked books like the Book of Mormon, which are full of errors, contradictions, inaccuracies, etc.

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”  (Revelation 14:6,7 KJV)

The LDS claim:

“This passage prophesied of Moroni, the angel carrying the Book of Mormon which contained the everlasting gospel. It was brought forth in this day to prepare the world for the Second Coming of The Lord, and God’s judgment.”

Where does Revelation 14:6,7 say anything about an angel carrying a book? – It doesn’t. Also, the Bible doesn’t give the name of the angel – Mormons do!

The Book of Mormon itself has passages that admit the book is written by mere humans, and therefore not inspired by God, Notice:

“Yea, I make a record in the ‘language of my father, which consists of learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians. And I know that the record which I make is true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my own knowledge'” (1 Nephi 1:2,3).

“And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the record of this people being kept non the other plates of Nephi, wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge . . . ” (Jacob 7:26).

In both of the above quotes, the supposed writer admits that he wrote according to his own “knowledge”. Compare these admitted human-sourced writings in the Book of Mormon to what is said in the Bible:

“The spirit of Yahweh speaks through me, his word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2 NJB). Bible writers, unlike the Book of Mormon writer(s), were guided by “the spirit of Yahweh.” “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20,21 NLT).

Jude 3 speaks of “the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.” (NLT) It was “delivered” prior to about 100 CE (CSB). God did not wait another 1,700 years to “deliver” the rest of it,  the so-called “second half.”

Christians are bluntly warned at Galatians 1:8: “Let God’s curse fall on anyone… who preaches a different kind of Good News.” (NLT) Yet, this is exactly what the LDS church does with their claim that the Bible is ‘the first witness,’ and the Book of Mormon is  the ‘second witness.” The Mormons claim the  Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrines and Covenants, are”sacred,” or “holy,” books, and preach “a different kind of Good News”.