Thursday, February 16

The DNA Evidence against the Book of Mormon - LA Times Article

Bedrock of a Faith Is Jolted: DNA tests contradict Mormon scripture. The church says the studies are being twisted to attack its beliefs.


If you've ever wondered exactly what kind of information was in the Book of Mormon, this article gives a very brief summary of the work. Also, it talks about the lineage of the "authors" of the Book of Mormon and how now there is irrefutable scientific evidence proving that the Book of Mormon could not be a historical book.

Exerpts from the article:
    From the time he was a child in Peru, the Mormon Church instilled in Jose A. Loayza the conviction that he and millions of other Native Americans were descended from a lost tribe of Israel that reached the New World more than 2,000 years ago.

    "We were taught all the blessings of that Hebrew lineage belonged to us and that we were special people," said Loayza, now a Salt Lake City attorney. "It not only made me feel special, but it gave me a sense of transcendental identity, an identity with God."

    A few years ago, Loayza said, his faith was shaken and his identity stripped away by DNA evidence showing that the ancestors of American natives came from Asia, not the Middle East.

    ... For Mormons, the lack of discernible Hebrew blood in Native Americans is no minor collision between faith and science. It burrows into the historical foundations of the Book of Mormon, a 175-year-old transcription that the church regards as literal and without error."


EDIT:

And the LDS press release refuting this can be found on the LDS Comments on the News web site. Here's a small bit from the article, with emphasis added:
    The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is exactly what it claims to be — a record of God’s dealings with peoples of ancient America and a second witness of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The strongest witness of the Book of Mormon is to be obtained by living the Christ-centered principles contained in its pages and by praying about its truthfulness.

3 Comments:

At 1:13 PM, Blogger Sean said...

From what I understand this is just the latest in a string of evidence that completely undermines the Book of Mormon. And yet, Mormons continue to turn a blind eye to everything that shows Joseph Smith was nothing more than a con-man.

 
At 10:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just came across your blog (via Amy Welborn's)....

I'm a cradle Catholic. I was away from the church and into agnosticism / New Age / neopaganism for much of my 20's, then (thank the Lord) returned to the church. So I will be saying a prayer for you in your RCIA exploration!

One thing that I have found frequently among Mormons I have met is this: they are very proud of their church. I don't mean this in a negative way! I was thinking about this when I read the LA Times article, which quoted two different people who had been very proud of their alleged Lamanite lineage, but who are now upset and disillusioned.

Here is my opinion: I think it is good for Catholics (and Protestants) to witness to our Mormon brothers and sisters about our beliefs. But this has to be done out of love, and with sensitivity, and never in a "My Church is Better Than Your Church" way. After all, even if I'm a member of the Catholic Church, it's not my church -- it's Jesus' church! Or, to put it another way, humbling myself is a virtue, but humiliating someone else is a sin.

Sorry for the diatribe, but from time to time I have met Christians who have said some very negative things about Mormons and their church, and in case you have run into this I wanted to make it clear that not everyone feels this way! I certainly believe that the Catholic Church is the church founded by God, and this truth should be spoken.... but if we can't speak the truth in love, it's best to be silent.

 
At 2:22 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"as someone who became involved in the LDS church in his teens and then realized that the Catholic faith of my family was the True Church."

I'm glad you saw through the first hoax.

Now it's time to see through the...

Nevermind.

I love irony.

 

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