Hello, I’m Danny and I was a Latter-day Saint for 60 years.
As a Latter-day Saint, I took my scripture studies seriously. Particularly, the Book of Mormon which I believed to be the keystone of my religion. If the Book of Mormon was from God, then Joseph Smith was truly a prophet.
One day, I was reading in 3 Nephi 23:1 where Jesus states, “Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.”
Typically, when I read those Isaiah chapters - found in 2 Nephi – probably like most Latter-day Saints, I got quickly bored and skipped through them. But here, in 3 Nephi, Jesus is commanding me and everyone else to diligently search the words of Isaiah, for they are “great.”
So, as a faithful Latter-day Saint I wanted to keep that - somewhat obscure commandment.
I need to mention here - in the headings of those Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon, it tells the reader to “compare” with the Isaiah chapters in the Bible. So, I diligently went to my LDS Edition of the King James Bible to compare those Bible chapters of Isaiah with what was written in the Book of Mormon.
And to my surprise, I saw something I had never noticed before. Quite frankly, I was shocked!
Okay! I need to give a little background here, so bear with me for a second.
When the translators of the King James Bible in 1611 AD were translating from the ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic manuscripts, they found those languages didn’t flow well in the English language. So, they decided to insert their own words, here and there, to complete some sentences that were a bit choppy in, order to make the text more readable. None of those insertions affected the meaning or doctrine of those passages. It simply made the old Elizabethan English easier to read.
And, to certify that there was no confusion as to which words or phrases were inserted into the English translation, they italicized those insertions. Therefore, the reader can easily identify as you read the King James Bible, what was added by the translators in 1611. Make sense?
Here is just one simple example - In the King James Bible it reads, Isaiah 2:7 “Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:” The words “is there any” was inserted twice here in one verse by the translators in 1611.
Now compare that with the same Book of Mormon Isaiah verse in 2 Nephi 12:7, and you will find the SAME EXACT wording as in the King James, BUT the phrase “is there any” used twice, is NOT italicized. When I read that, I thought “something’s not right, here!” How on earth did those inserted words from my LDS Edition of the King James Bible get into my Book of Mormon, and especially the Brass Plates before 600 BC?
I went on to find 251 more examples just like that one.
After following the challenge to “search those things diligently,” I determined the only explanation for my discoveries were that the author of the Book of Mormon had to have plagiarized or copied the Isaiah texts directly from the King James Version of the Bible into the Book of Mormon - including the italicized words added by 17th century translators. There is no other explanation!
The Book of Mormon statement “great are the words of Isaiah” were great in proving to me - that the Book of Mormon had to be written in the 19th century, by an author named, Joseph Smith Jr. who had access to the King James Bible.
Something to consider.
Please share this with friends and loved ones. God Bless!