The first section of this article dealt with Joseph Smith's background, the events leading up to the printing of the Book of Mormon, the missing 116 pages and the copyright. You can read Part One by clicking on this link:

The Book of Mormon Exposed, Part One

ARCHEOLOGY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON

MICHAEL COE
In 1973, Michael Coe, a respected and well known authority on the archaeology of the New World, made the following statements concerning the Book of Mormon:

" ..... Let me now state uncategorically that as far as I know there is not one professionally trained archaeologist, who is not a Mormon, who sees any scientific justification for believing the foregoing to be true, and I would like to state that there are quite a few Mormon archaeologists who join this group ..... The bare facts of the matter are that nothing, absolutely nothing, has ever shown up in any New World excavation which would suggest to a dispassionate observer that the Book of Mormon, as claimed by Joseph Smith, is a historical document relating to the history of early migrants to our hemisphere." (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1973, pages. 41, 42, 46)

THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
Both the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History and the National Geographic Society have issued strong statements denying that any archeological evidence has ever been discovered, that could confirm the existence of the advanced civilization described in the Book of Mormon. And because of false claims made by the LDS, the Smithsonian Institute has also put out a denial that they have ever used the Book of Mormon as any sort of archeological guide.

RAYMOND T. MATHENY
2 Nephi 5:15 claims that they had iron, steel, brass, gold and silver technology, and in this regard Dr. Raymond T. Matheny, a former Brigham Young University Professor of Anthropology stated:

".... You can't refine ore without leaving a bloom of some kind or impurities that blossom out and float to the top of the ore... and also the flux of limestone or whatever is used to flux the material.... [This] blooms off into silicas and indestructible new rock forms. In other words, when you have a ferroused metallurgical industry, you have these evidences of the detritus that is left over. You also have the fuels, you have the furnaces, you have whatever technologies that were there performing these tasks; they leave solid evidences. And they are indestructible things .... No evidence has been found in the new world for a ferrous metallurgical industry dating to pre-Columbian times. And so this is a king-size kind of problem, it seems to me, for the so-called Book of Mormon archaeology. This evidence is absent." — Ray T. Matheny, Speech at Sunstone Symposium 6, "Book of Mormon Archaeology" August 25, 1984. (Italics inserted by editor.)

THOMAS STUART FERGUSON
Thomas Ferguson was a devout defender of the Mormon faith, and wrote three books on the subject. He also spent twenty-five years of his life attempting to prove the legitimacy of the Book of Mormon. With this aim in mind he started up the New World Archeological Foundation. Besides sinking a lot of his own money into this foundation, he also obtained funding from the LDS church. But in spite of his conviction that it would only be a matter of time before the evidence he was seeking would be uncovered, he ended up with his faith being shipwrecked. The following is an extract of a letter written by him to Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Lawrence, on the 20th February, 1976:

"Herewith is a copy of my recent [1975] paper on Book of Mormon matters..... It was one of several presented in a written symposium on Book of Mormon geography [sic]. (My thesis is that Book of Mormon geography involves a lot more than playing with topography and terrain.) The real implication of the paper is that you can't set Book of Mormon geography down anywhere because it is fictional and will never meet the requirements of the dirt-archeology. I should say — what is in the ground will never conform to what is in the book." (c/f Salt Lake City Messenger, Utah Lighthouse Ministries) (Emphasis inserted by editor.)

Thomas Ferguson had also conducted his own independent investigations into the translation of the Book of Abraham after the missing papyri had been rediscovered. Believing that at long last they had tangible proof of the legitimacy of this book, he was devastated to discover that it was fraudulent. (See The Book of Abraham and its Rejection by Egyptologists and Scholars .) And after a lifetime of devotion to the LDS church, he reached the place where he had to admit that the Book of Abraham was fraudulent, the Book of Mormon was a work of fiction, Mormonism was a spiritual deception and Joseph Smith was a false prophet. On page 140 of their book, "The Changing World of Mormonism," ex-Mormons Jerald and Sandra Tanner mention an unexpected visit they had from Ferguson, on this subject. However, like so many others, for the sake of his Mormon family Ferguson decided to stay in the LDS, although from that day on he never ever again bore his testimony. (Sandra Tanner has very generously provided free access to this particular book of theirs, at this link The Changing World of Mormonism .)

B. H. ROBERTS
Roberts was a prominent Mormon scholar, who was originally one of the most ardent writers and speakers in defence of the Book of Mormon. However, near the end of his life he too stated that his many years of research had led him to the conclusion that the Book of Mormon was a work of fiction created by Joseph Smith:

"..... the evidence I sorrowfully submit, points to Joseph Smith as their creator." (Studies in the Book of Mormon, B. H. Roberts, University of Illinois Press, 1985, page 243)

There have been many more statements similar to those above, made by both scholars and archeologists, who have come to the inevitable conclusion that the Book of Mormon is a work of fiction. There is not a single reputable archeologist who believes that the Book of Mormon contains a history of the early inhabitants of the Americas.

HILL COMORAH
The Book of Mormon recounts two major battles that were fought at this location, where literally millions of soldiers were slain (c/f Mormon chapter 6 and Ether 15:2). The LDS church has consistently confirmed over the years that this location is the current Hill Cumorah. We also have the following statements by well respected Mormons in leadership, who confirm this as the location of Comorah. (There have been many more such statements by others.)

"It is difficult for a reasonable person to believe that such men as Oliver Cowdery, Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, David Whitmer, and many others, could speak frequently of the Spot where the Prophet Joseph Smith obtained the plates as the Hill Cumorah, and not be corrected by the Prophet, if that were not the fact.  That they did speak of this hill in the days of the Prophet in this definite manner is an established record of history .... " (Doctrines of Salvation," Volume 3 (Bookcraft, 1956), pages 232 to 243, Joseph Fielding Smith) (Emphasis inserted by Editor.)

And in "Mormon Doctrine" (Bookcraft, 1966), page 175, the late LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie commented as follows:

"Both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations fought their final great wars of extinction at and near the Hill Cumorah (or Ramah, as the Jaredites termed it), which hill is located between Palmyra and Manchester in the western part of the state of New York ..... Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and many of the early brethren who were familiar with all the circumstances attending the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in this dispensation, have left us pointed testimony as to the identity and location of Cumorah or Ramah." (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 3, pages 232-241.)

In chapter 7 of A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, LDS Apostle LeGrand Richards, also identified Cumorah as being in New York.

Bear in mind that the millions of soldiers who supposedly fought and died at this location, wore armour and carried swords. And because of their numbers, besides remnants of their armour and weapons, there would have a great many human bones located in that area. So if these battles had genuinely taken place at Cumorah, there would have been plenty of archeological evidence to prove it. But nothing has ever been found.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON
In an attempt to whitewash the common consensus reached by all archeologists of repute, that the Book of Mormon is purely a book of fiction, the LDS church has attempted to re-define the area of the Americas that was inhabited by the peoples of the Book of Mormon to a very small and limited one. This would lessen the chances of stumbling across archeological proof. But the Book of Mormon itself invalidates their new theory. Ether 15:2 tells us that nearly two million people, plus their wives and children, which would make the figure a great deal higher, had been killed in battle in recent wars. And Helaman 3:8, tells us, "..... that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, and from the sea west to the sea east." This indicates that the whole of the American continent was inhabited by BOM peoples, which invalidates the limited geography theory put forward by the LDS. And because of the vast area they occupied, it would only be reasonable to expect that traces of their very advanced civilization (including a temple like Solomon's) would have been discovered somewhere by now.

In fact, reputable archeologists insist that it would have been utterly impossible for conclusive evidence of an ancient Book of Mormon civilization not to have been discovered, if its claims were true.

ADMISSION OF NO ARCHEOLOGICAL PROOF
Although there have been books written by Mormons containing photographs of ancient ruins, artifacts, and so on, claiming that they prove that the Book of Mormon is true, this so-called evidence is from a later time period than that of the BOM inhabitants. The same thing applies to slides that LDS missionaries show, purporting to be other archeological evidence in favour of the Book of Mormon. The reality is that no such evidence exists. And the LDS church has put out statements confirming this fact. But in their zeal to prove the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, certain members of the LDS church have let their imaginations run away with them.

For quite some time now professors from the LDS's own Brigham Young University have been denying the existence of any archeological evidence whatsoever in favour of the Book of Mormon. And in the mid 1970s LDS President Spencer W. Kimball made a statement that was published in The Church News, to the effect that people should stop looking for archeological evidences for the Book of Mormon, as there were none. And the following is a statement issued by LDS Professor Dee Green:

The first myth we need to eliminate is that Book of Mormon archaeology exists. Titles of books full of archaeological half-truths, dilettante on peripheries of American archaeology calling themselves Book of Mormon archaeologists regardless of their education, and a Department of Archaeology at BYU devoted to the production of Book of Mormon archaeologists do not insure that Book of Mormon archaeology really exists... no Book of Mormon location is known ..... (Dialogue, Summer, 1969, pages 74 to 78.)

THE LEHI OR "TREE OF LIFE" STONE
(We need to bear in mind that this so-called vision of Lehi that was recorded by Joseph Smith in the Book of Mormon, is virtually identical to a dream his father had prior to the time when Joseph wrote the Book of Mormon, and which he related to his family. This fact was recorded in a book written by Joseph's mother entitled "Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations," published by Orson Pratt in Liverpool in 1853, chapter 14, pages 58 to 59. When one combines this information with Lucy's other disclosure that it was Joseph's habit to invent vivid, detailed stories about the early inhabitants of the American continent to entertain his family, this becomes too much of a coincidence. This subject is more fully addressed in part one of "The Book of Mormon Exposed," a link for which is provided at the top of this page.)

In 1941 a large stone covered in intricate carvings was unearthed in Mexico. Professor, M. Wells Jakeman of the Department of Archeology at the Brigham Young University maintained that the carvings on this stone portrayed Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life (see 1 Nephi 8:9-15). He even identified figures on the carving as being Lehi, Sariah, Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. However, his theories have been soundly rejected all round. In a letter to Marvin Cowan, George Crossete, of National Geographic Magazine, stated:

The National Geographic Society along with the Smithsonian Institution sponsored archeological work in Mexico where 'Stela 5, Izapa' was found. Information on Stela 5 has not appeared in the National Geographic. No one associated with our expedition connected this stela in any way with the Book of Mormon. (Letter from George Crossette, Chief, Geographical Research, National Geographic Magazine, dated April 27, 1965, to Marvin W. Cowan) (Italics inserted by Editor.)

LDS Professor Dee F. Green quotes Dr. Nibley as saying:

"Science does not arrive at its conclusions by syllogisms, and no people on earth deplore proof demonstration by syllogism more loudly than real archaeologists do. Yet Mr. Jakeman's study is nothing but an elaborate syllogistic stew. The only clear and positive thing about the whole study is the objective the author is determined to reach. With naive exuberance, he repeatedly announces that he has found 'exactly what we would expect to find.' Inevitably there emerges from this dim and jumbled relief exactly what Mr. Jakeman is looking for." (Dr. Nibley's review of Jakeman's publication on Stela 5, as quoted in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1969, page 75)

And in his own personal capacity, Professor Green has also castigated Dr. Jakeman's work:

"The basis of Jakeman's evidence is his own hand-drawn version from a photograph of the stone. He makes unsupported assumptions about the canons of ancient art; he fumbles over elements of the dream which are not included and items on the stone which have no place in the dream; he displays ignorance of his linguistic data and most unfortunately reverses the scholarly method by presenting his data with a rash of 'evidentlys,' 'probablys,' 'appears,' and 'apparentlys' — but offers his conclusions as unarguable facts." (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1969, pages 74-75)

It is a fact that no archeologist of repute sees any connection whatsoever between the abovementioned stele and the Book of Mormon.



GENETIC STUDIES ON AMERICAN INDIANS

One of the claims made in the Book of Mormon, which covers the time span of 600 BC to 400 AD, is that the American Indians were the descendants of Jews who had migrated from Israel. Verse 34 of the official history of Joseph Smith in The Pearl of Great Price says:

"He [the angel Moroni] said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang."

Furthermore, in a letter written in 1842 to John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, Joseph Smith stated the following, concerning the Book of Mormon:

"In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded ,,,,, The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem, about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph. The Jaredites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country." (Italics inserted by editor.)

Then in 1881 Wilford Woodruff (who was to become the LDS's fourth President and Prophet), claimed:

The Lamanites, now a down-trodden people, are a remnant of the house of Israel. The curse of God has followed them as it has done the Jews, though the Jews have not been darkened in their skin as have the Lamanites (Journal of Discourses 22:173).

In April, 1971 Spencer W. Kimball, who was at that time an Apostle, but later became the twelfth President and Prophet of the LDS, stated the following at a Lamanite Youth Conference:

"You are of royal blood, the children of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Lehi. With pride I tell those who come to my office that a Lamanite is a descendant of one Lehi who left Jerusalem six hundred years before Christ and with his family crossed the mighty deep and landed in America. And Lehi and his family became the ancestors of all of the Indian and Mestizo tribes in North and South and Central America and in the islands of the sea, for in the middle of their history there were those who left America in ships of their making and went to the islands of the sea." (c/f "Of Royal Blood," Ensign, July 1971)

Mormons need to realize that the above quotes are only a few of the pronouncements made by their former leaders on the connection between the Lamanites and the Jews, including those who held the post of Prophet of the LDS. However, contrary to the claims of the Book of Mormon and the LDS church, extensive genetic tests have revealed that the ancestors of the American Indians were Siberian Asians. There is no trace of Jewish ancestry whatsoever. (Nor are there any traces of the Hebrew language in any of the dialects spoken in the Americas. This would have been an impossible state of affairs, if the BOM had been a true, historical record.)

Although the LDS cannot refute these findings, they maintain that genetic drift would account for the fact that no trace of their Semitic ancestors could be found in their genes. But this excuse is invalidated by the tests conducted on the Lemba tribe, as the time frame of their story is similar to that of the Jewish migrants to the Americas in the Book of Mormon.

Several prestigious science journals have carried articles on this Lemba tribe in Southern Africa, who claim to be one of the lost tribes of Israel that had seemingly disappeared after the Jewish dispersion. Their story is that they had migrated to Yemen round about 7 BC. Somewhere between 300 to 700 years later some of them moved on to Africa, where they split into two groups, one traveling westward to become known as the Ethiopian Jews, and the other southward, to become the Lemba tribe.

Although they didn't retain their own language, the Lemba can still recall much about the language spoken by their ancestors. They have also kept up with many of the Jewish traditions. And in spite of having intermarried with other tribes and their physical appearance being no different to that of their black skinned neighbours, genetic tests clearly reveal their Jewish ancestry.

Analysis of the Y chromosomes in the Lemba revealed that approximately 50% of the content appeared to have been of Semitic origin. Thirty six per cent was of African origin, and the ancestry of the remaining 14% could not be resolved by the methodology used at the time. Dr Himla Soodyall of the South African Medical Research Council's Human Genomic Diversity and Disease Research Unit explains that "a particular Y chromosome combination or haplotype — known as the Cohen Modal Haplotype or CMH — was present in the Lemba at a frequency of about 9%. This haplotype is only found at high frequency in Jewish priests, so this seems to corroborate the Lemba oral history about their origins." The Cohen modal haplotype occurs in the Lemba in a frequency that is similar to what one sees in major Jewish populations. Even more striking is the fact that this Cohen genetic signature is strongly associated with the Buba clan of the Lemba, which had played a leadership role.

As the Jewish ancestry of the American Indians is one of the basic claims of the Book of Mormon and it has been thoroughly disproved, one can only conclude that the book is fraudulent. In any event, it is definitely not a history of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas.



ANIMALS AND CROPS

Scientists and other experts all agree that the animals and crops mentioned in the Book of Mormon did not exist in this part of the world until a much later date, with the exception of Indian corn. On the other hand, animals that have been proved to have existed during that same time period, are not mentioned at all in the Book of Mormon. This is a strong indication that the Book of Mormon was a fabricated story.

"Evidence of the foregoing animals has not appeared in any form — ceramic representations, bones or skeletal remains, mural art, sculptured art or any other form. However... evidence has been found in several forms of the presence in the Book-of-Mormon times of other animals — deer, jaguars, dogs, turkeys etc. The zero score presents a problem that will not go away with the ignoring of it. Non-LDS scholars of first magnitude, some who want to be our friends, think we have real trouble here. That evidence of the ancient existence of these animals is not elusive is found in the fact that proof of their existence in the ancient old-world is abundant. The absence of such evidence...is distressing and significant, in my view." (Mormon Tom Ferguson, Written Symposium on Book-of-Mormon Geography, 1978). (Italics inserted by Editor.)

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