Church sources discussing issues with anachronisms in the Book of Mormon

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Church sources discussing issues with Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon

The fact: the Book of Mormon contains anachronisms or things that cannot be found within the frame of time that it is claimed to fit
Where it can be found: The Ensign, Book of Mormon Reference Companion, and The Blueprint of Christ's Church

The Ensign

• December 1983 "B.H. Roberts after Fifty Years" off-site

After talking with Elder James E. Talmage and later with Elder Richard R. Lyman, he gathered, under assignment, three sets of material: (1) problems of language and anachronisms; (2) attempts to explain the Book of Mormon in terms of Joseph Smith’s environment or his imaginative mind, or both; and (3) comparison of certain passages in a manuscript by Ethan Smith entitled View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon. Out of this study grew a lengthy manuscript in three basic parts: a 140-page section entitled “Book of Mormon Difficulties”; a 285-page section entitled “A Book of Mormon Study”; and an 18-page document simply called “A Parallel.”

• June 2007 "The Quest for Spiritual Knowledge" off-site

At school the following Monday, I spoke with a good friend, not a member of the Church. He said he had a list of 50 anachronisms in the Book of Mormon that demonstrated the book was a nineteenth-century invention. An anachronism refers to something that is chronologically out of place, a bit like saying Julius Caesar drove his SUV into Rome. Well, I told my friend that he was too late, for I had received a witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon. But I said to him, “Give me your list, and I will keep it.” I did keep that list, and over the years, as more research was done by various academics, one item after another dropped off the list. A few years ago when I was speaking to a group at Cornell University, I mentioned my list and noted that, after these many years, only one item remained. After my presentation a distinguished professor said to me, “You can remove your last item, for our studies indicate that it is not an anachronism.”

Book of Mormon Reference Companion

Dennis Largey (ed.) “Book of Mormon Reference Companion” (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003)

This book, published through Church owned Deseret Book, has an entry dedicated to anachronisms and discusses all different animals, plants, and other materials in the Book of Mormon in detail.

The Blueprint of Christ's Church

2015

Alleged Ticking Clocks For many years critics argued that a ticking clock was to be found in the Book of Mormon because of its references to the use of cement by the ancient inhabitants of America. The following scripture is an example: "The people who went forth became exceedingly expert in the working of cement; therefore they did build houses of cement, in the which they did dwell" (Hel 3:7). Archaeologists were "certain" that cement was not invented until years after the recorded history of the Book of Mormon in the Americas. One critic alleged: There is zero archaeological evidence that any kind of cement existed in the Americas prior to modern times." [. . .]

Another ticking clock was asserted soon after the Book of Mormon came forth from te printers. The existence of gold plates was hailed as ridiculous. Surely Joseph Smith knew the ancient civilizations recorded their histories on papyrus or parchments, not metal plates. All the evidence supported the critics; their argument seemed so convincing, so incontrovertible, so ironclad. Then time and truth began to work their magic. Discoveries of ancient metal plates began to unfold, and the critics' myth was shattered.

Elder Tad R. Callister wrote the book and goes on to mention "and it came to pass" and "Alma" as a name that wasn't understood as male originally but then was found to be male years later.

Notes