Does the Book of Mormon Contradict the Bible?
Sings of Jesus' death prophesied in the Book of Mormon.
3 Nephi 8 Starting with verse 5 says, "And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in
the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never
had been known in all the land... 19 all these great and terrible things were done in about the
space of three hours-and then behold, there was darkness upon the face of the land..."
As we can see, the Book of Mormon claims that their was a great three
hour earth quake, then darkness that covered the face of the earth for three days. Now lets look
at the biblical account of Jesus' death on the cross. Follow the links if you wish to read the
King James version of the selected verses in context with the rest of the chapter.
Matt. 27 starting with verse 45; From the sixth hour to the ninth hour darkness came over all the land... 50
And when Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the
curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split...
57 As evening approached... 62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests
and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive,
that deceiver said, 'after three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be
made secure until the third day... 66 so they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on
the stone and posting the guard.
At this point we can make some comparisons between the two texts.
They both have an earthquake, and a period of darkness around the time of Jesus' death. However,
the timing is reversed. The Bible says the darkness came before the earthquake. The Book of
Mormon says it was the other way around. Also the length of each "sign" differs. The Book of
Mormon says it was a three day period of darkness, the Bible says it was only 3 hours. We know
the period of darkness didn't cover the "face of the earth for three days" because the next day
they sealed the tomb. How could anyone do these things surrounded by darkness described in the
Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon says the earthquake lasted three hours. The Bible doesn't
say how long the earthquake lasted, but because it didn't mention an abnormal length of time, we
can assume it wasn't much longer than an average earthquake.
It is now clear that there is a definite contradiction between the
Bible, and the Book of Mormon. Many Latter day saint friends of mine will say the Book of Mormon
says "darkness will cover this land for three days". And yes it does say that, but it also says
it will cover the face of the Earth. Unless Jerusalem is somewhere on the back of the head of
the Earth, this is false testimony. The fact remains that the face of the earth is the sur-face
of the earth, and that includes Jerusalem.
So far, historically speaking, we only have one eyewitnesses word
against another's. But we have two more eye witnesses; Mark and Luke also witnessed the death of
Jesus and wrote about it. What do they have to say?
Mark 15:33, and
Luke 23:44
both speak of a three hour period of darkness each specifying from the 6th hour to the 9th hour.
Four eye witnesses, and one is contradictory to what the other says. It makes me wonder if the
fourth eye witness is an eye witness at all.
Finally, some would say that to a Hebrew, "the whole earth" is only as
far as one can walk, and not the entire earth as we know it today. This is fine, but it does not
change my previous conclusion. It was not a Hebrew that said the face of the whole earth, but an
angel from the Lord as it says in verse 9, and again in verse 28. This is not the words of a Hebrew,
but of an angel. Surly an angel would know the difference between as far as one can walk, and the
true size of the Earth.
Helaman 14 starting with verse 20 "But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign,
a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened
and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no
light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the
space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead... 26 And behold,
thus hath the angel spoken unto me; for he said unto me that there should be thunderings and
lightnings for the space of many hours. 27 And he said unto me that while the thunder and the
lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these things should be, and that darkness should
cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days. "
© 1998 Jerry Meyer