David Capp

Something I started noticing over time were differences between the Book of Mormon and the Bible that honestly made me stop and think The Bible teaches God is unchanging (Malachi 3:6) but the Book of Mormon describes God as once being like man and progressing. The Bible says salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9) but the Book of Mormon says “after all we can do” which is saying works are part of it too. The Bible teaches there is one God (Isaiah 43:10) while LDS teachings include multiple gods and the idea that people can become gods. The Bible says Jesus’ sacrifice was once and for all (Hebrews 10:10) but LDS doctrine adds ordinances and requirements. And the Bible doesn’t really support ongoing new scripture the same way LDS teachings do Another thing that stood out to me is how much the Book of Mormon overlaps with the Bible. There are hundreds of verses that are really similar or even word for word from the King James Bible especially Isaiah and even parts like the Sermon on the Mount. Some estimates say around 20 to 30 percent of it uses biblical language or parallels. What made me pause is that it uses the same wording and even some of the same translation quirks from the King James Bible which was written in the 1600s And then there are the historical things I never really heard about growing up. The Book of Mormon talks about animals like horses and cattle in ancient America but there’s no solid evidence they were there at that time. It also mentions steel chariots and large civilizations but archaeology hasn’t really backed that up. DNA shows Native American ancestry tracing back to East Asia not the Middle East like the Book of Mormon suggests. And “Reformed Egyptian” isn’t something we have any record of existing Something else I started noticing is that there are even contradictions within the Book of Mormon itself and that honestly made me pause. Like in Jacob 2 it speaks strongly against polygamy but then leaves room for it if God commands it. It also says God invites everyone equally but then describes certain groups being cursed with dark skin. And there are moments where things just don’t fully line up whether it’s doctrine timelines or just details in the story. The Book of Mormon we have today isn’t exactly the same as the 1830 version. It has been updated multiple times like 1837 1840 1879 1920 and later with thousands of changes. There also isn’t just one clear account of how it was translated. Sometimes it’s described using the Urim and Thummim other times a seer stone in a hat and some say a mix of both. Different witnesses even describe it differently For me it wasn’t just one thing it was a pattern and I couldn’t ignore it. Learning all of this made me step back and really question it.