According to Mormonism, the Book of Mormon is the most accurate book ever written. Although Latter Day Saints (LDS) claim to read and use the Bible, their Book of Mormon is considered the true revelation of God above and beyond the Bible. It surpasses the Bible because according to Mormonism, the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Mormon Apostle Bruce McConkie made this clear when he stated:
Almost all of the doctrines of the gospel are taught in the Book of Mormon with much greater clarity and perfection than those same doctrines are revealed in the Bible. Anyone who will place in parallel columns the teachings of these two great books on such subjects as the atonement, plan of salvation, gathering of Israel, baptism, gifts of the Spirit, miracles, revelation, faith, charity, (or any of a hundred other subjects), will find conclusive proof of the superiority of Book of Mormon teachings. (Mormon Doctrine, pg 99)
Furthermore, the introduction page found in the front of every Book of Mormon states:
Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by it’s precepts, than by any other book.”
Although there are literally hundreds of serious problems with the Book of Mormon, what we will now address is the connection between folk magic and the men who founded Mormonism, as well as the credibility of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon.
Mormonism got its start in 1823 when founder and “Prophet” Joseph Smith claimed an angel named Moroni visited him. This angel told Smith that he could find gold plates that were buried in New York, and these gold plates would reveal the true gospel including the true story of ancient people of the American continent. The problem with the gold plates was these plates were engraved with Egyptian characters. This meant that Smith had to translate these writings to be able to discover this “revelation” from God. It is the translation of these gold plates that latter became known as the Book of Mormon.
On the introduction page of every Book of Mormon is a list of men that supposedly witnessed the supernatural miracle of Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon. Halfway down the introduction page it states:
In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as “The Testimony of Three Witnesses” and “The Testimony of Eight Witnesses.”
Anyone that has ever watched or been involved in a court proceeding knows the extreme importance of witnesses. A witness can make or break a case, and the credibility of a witness is always taken into high consideration. If a witness has a lack of credibility, his testimony is seen as less trustworthy or possibly not trustworthy at all. This is why when it comes to the Book of Mormon the credibility of these eleven witnesses must be examined. Who were these men? What was their connection to Joseph Smith? And were these eleven witnesses credible?
The introduction page of every Book of Mormon lists these men:
The three witnesses were Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris.
The eight witnesses were Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer Junior, John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith Senior, Hyrum Smith, and Samuel Smith.
The first thing one notices about these witnesses are that many have the same last name. Although 11 witnesses sounds good on the surface, these 11 people were not outsiders that were objective in their statements. All 11 witnesses were either related to each other or were close friends of Joseph Smith. Concerning the eight witnesses, Hiram Page was married to a Whitmer, four people were from the Whitmer family, one was Joseph Smiths father, and two were Joseph Smiths brothers. The other three witnesses were very close friends of the “Prophet” Joseph Smith.
Furthermore, it is interesting when we look at the background of some of these men. Anyone that has ever read the Bible is aware of how God is against any type of witchcraft, folk magic, the occult, sorcery, etc. Although defenders of Mormonism will say that folk magic and the occult never came into play in the translation of the Book of Mormon, the evidence from history clearly suggests otherwise. Not only does the evidence point to the fact that Joseph Smith was involved with magic and divination, the evidence is clear that some of the witnesses to the authenticity of the Book of Mormon also used divination and folk magic.
For example, in his book Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, former LDS historian D. Michael Quinn talks about how folk magic played an important role in the lives of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon. Quinn relates that Hiram Page had a “revelation stone”, John Whitmer had a “seer stone”, and Oliver Cowdery used a divination rod called the “rod of nature”.
Even some of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon state that Joseph Smith used folk magic and the occult when translating the Book of Mormon. The most common item employed was what is called a “Seer Stone”. Book of Mormon witness David Whitmer stated:
I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. (David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO. 1887)
Witness Martin Harris concurred when he said:
By aid of the Seer Stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say “written”. (Words of Martin Harris as quoted by B.H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints 1930)
Keep in mind that these statements are from the very men that supposedly give the Book of Mormon its authenticity. No human has ever seen the gold plates that Joseph Smith used to translate the Book of Mormon, so without the testimony of these eleven witnesses Mormons would have to rely on only the word of Joseph Smith. Mormonism supposedly uses the Bible in their studies, hence they should be aware of how God many times over has told humanity to stay way from any type of occult practices. The use of “Seer Stones” and divination are clearly condemned by God.
But the use of folk magic and divination is only one problem concerning Joseph Smith and the eleven witnesses to the Book of Mormon. History shows that not only were these men involved with occult practices, some of the very witnesses to the Book of Mormon later turned on Joseph Smith and left the Mormon church.
Witness Martin Harris left the Mormon church after accusing Joseph Smith of drinking to much liquor when he was translating the Book of Mormon (History of the Church 2:26). After this, Joseph Smith himself referred to Martin Harris as a wicked man (D&C 3:12-13).
Book of Mormon Witness Oliver Cowdery later accused Joseph Smith of many wrongs including adultery and lying, and Cowdery was thrown out of the Mormon Church in 1838.
Witness David Whitmer later left the Mormon church and went so far as to claim that Joseph Smith was a false Prophet. Whitmer wrote in (An Address to All Believers in Christ, pages 36, 39):
Many of the Latter Day Saints believe that it was impossible for Brother Joseph to have fallen. I will give you some evidence upon this matter which I suppose you will certainly accept, showing that Brother Joseph belonged to the class of men who could fall into error and blindness.
Whitmer goes on to state:
All of you who believe the revelations of Joseph Smith as if they were from the mouth of God. You should have acknowledged belief in the errors of Joseph Smith, and not tried to hide them when there is so much evidence that he did go into error and blindness...as he is the man who introduced many doctrines of error into the Church of Christ; and his errors must be made manifest and the truth brought to light, in order that all Latter Day Saints shall cease to put their trust in this man, believing his doctrines as if they were from the mouth of God.
It certainly seems that the very beginnings of Mormonism raise some serious questions. How does any Mormon know who to believe? Their “Prophet” Joseph Smith said the witnesses to the Book of Mormon would prove its authenticity, yet many of these witnesses were clearly involved in occult practices. Then some of these very witnesses claimed that Smith was involved in occult practices. In addition, some witnesses later turned on Joseph Smith and either left the Mormon Church or was thrown out of the Church. How can one determine which if any of these men were credible?
Mormon missionaries won't tell potential converts about the connection between the founders of Mormonism and occult practices, and Mormon scholars refuse to admit these connections. Yet it is clear that the beginnings of Mormonism were not based on the word of God, but instead were based on fabrications and folk magic. Mormon "Prophet" Joseph Smith claimed that he was visited by an angel named Moroni, hence the beginnings of Mormonism. Because the Book of Mormon has completely different teachings than the Bible and Mormons consider themselves true Christians, one has to wonder why Smith didn't notice what God said about angels almost 2000 years before: