1. What They Say Happened To The Bible: 1 Neph. 13:26-29, 34
"And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away. And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God. And after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest-because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God-because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them....And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: Behold, saith the Lamb of God, after I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel-and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of thy father-wherefore, after I have visited him in judgment, and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles, and after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, which is the mother of harlots, saith the Lamb-I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them, in mine own power, much of my gospel which shall be plain and precious, saith the Lamb."
(Later Day Saints believe the Catholic Church deleted valuable passages of truth from the Bible and the Book of Mormon is necessary to restore these lost truths.)
2. Answer To This Claim:
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"In the first quarter of the fourth century, however, a change in the attitude of paganism toward Christianity was marked...With these innovations came many changes in the ordinances of the so-called church-the rites of baptism were perverted; the sacrament was altered."
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"The Latter-day Saints maintain that there were 1260 years of apostasy. (Daniel McGregor, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, pp. 35, 36, 43, 45, 53, 54) Authority was restored in 1829 (Talmage, Articles of Faith, 204): some say 1830. This means that they believe there was a true church on earth up until 571 or 570 A.D. when the long process of apostasy resulted in the total destruction of the church on earth."
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A. The Apostate Church Did Not Exist Until 5th or 6th Century: Mormon literature places the bulk of the apostasy in the early part of the 4th century. Articles of Faith, pp. 200-201, 492,
Their view of the dark ages demands that the apostate church took over in the 6th century. Latter Day Saints?, By James D. Bales, p. 61,
But we have copies of the New Testament that date from the 2nd or 3rd century. Since what we have is confirmed by manuscripts that predate the apostate church, it must not be a corruption of that church.
B. The Book Of Mormon Restores Nothing: On the front cover it says "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." If its purpose is to revise the first testament, it should be called "A Revision..." or "An Update...." Besides, A testament requires the death of a testator (Heb. 9:15-17). When did Jesus die to validate this other testament? Furthermore, in the introduction of the Book of Mormon, it says the Bible contains the fulness of the gospel. If so, then why do we need the Book of Mormon?
C. God Promised To Preserve: Isa. 40:8 (God promised that his word would stand forever. Therefore, it survived the ravages of the dark ages.)
3. The Bible Prophesied The Book Of Mormon:
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"Ezekiel saw in vision the coming together of the stick of Judah, and the stick of Joseph, signifying the Bible and the Book of Mormon...The Nephites were then of the tribes of Joseph; and their record or 'stick' is as truly represented by the Book of Mormon as is the 'stick' of Judah by the Bible.")
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"Of the fulfilment of these and associated prophecies, a latter-day apostle has written: 'These predictions of Isaiah could not refer to Ariel, or Jerusalem, because their speech has not been out of he ground, or low out of the dust; but it refers to the remnant of Joseph who were destroyed in America upwards of fourteen hundred years ago. The Book of Mormon describes their downfall, and truly it was great and terrible...'", p. 278
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"Isaiah's striking prediction that the nation thus brought down would 'speak out of the ground,' with speech 'low out of the dust' was literally fulfilled in the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon...")
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A. Ezek. 37:15-28 (In Articles of Faith by James Talmage, p 276 it says,
B. Isa. 29:2-14 (In Articles of Faith by James Talmage, p 277 it says,
4. Answer To This Claim:
A. Joining Of People, Not Books: Ezek. 37:19, 21-22 (He speaks of the uniting of two peoples, not two books.) The Book of Mormon is said to come from Nephi. Nephi was not of Ephraim (Joseph's son), he was of Manasseh (Alma 10:3). Therefore, he is of the wrong family to fulfill their interpretation of Ezek. 37. This passage refers to the uniting of divided Israel under the spiritual reign of Christ. See vs. 24 with Ezek. 34:23 and Jn. 10:11-16. Also vs. 27 with 2 Cor. 6:16. (Jesus is the one shepherd under which Israel would unite. The New Covenant era is the time in which these could be God's people.)
B. Jerusalem, Not America: Isa. 29:1-2 (Ariel is the city of Jerusalem!) Isa. 29:13/Mt. 15:1, 8-9 (Jesus applied this prophesy to the people of Jerusalem, not America!) Isa. 29:14/Mt. 11:25 (Again, Jesus applied Isaiah's words to the events in Jerusalem of his day, not America.)