How Do You Defend the Book of Mormon?
A computer programmer and self-identified apologist explores a principled, seven-step approach to defending the faith with meekness, fear, and intellectual honesty.
1 Peter 3:15–16
“Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.”
Should We Defend?
Peter’s counsel is our scriptural basis: yes, we should be prepared to give an answer. But the manner matters — “with meekness and fear.” Defense of the faith is not a debate. It is a loving witness of what we believe and why, offered in support of the Church’s doctrine, not as an independent authority.
What the Book of Mormon Claims About Itself
Before defending the Book of Mormon, we must understand what it actually claims:
Primary Claims
- Another testimony of Jesus Christ
- Written to persuade people toward God
- Translation of an ancient religious record from approximately 600 BC
- Account of a family led by God to the Americas
- Contains Isaiah passages from a textual source different from the KJV
- Contains the fulness of the preparatory gospel
Equally important: the Book of Mormon does NOT claim to be a complete history of all American peoples, and does NOT claim to provide exact geographical coordinates. We should not defend claims the text itself does not make.
A Seven-Step Defense Framework
Seven Steps
- 1. Fully understand the claim and question being raised
- 2. Check if the Book of Mormon itself directly answers it
- 3. Seek answers in related scripture
- 4. Avoid logical fallacies — don’t make claims you can’t support
- 5. Build a “wall of truth” to address misrepresentations
- 6. Explain the basis of your personal belief
- 7. Listen seriously to responses — genuine dialogue, not just debate
Example: The Isaiah Plagiarism Question
One of the most common objections is that the Book of Mormon plagiarizes Isaiah from the King James Bible. But the text itself explains this: the Isaiah passages come from the Brass Plates brought from Jerusalem circa 600 BC — a different textual source than the Masoretic text underlying the KJV.
Carol F. Ellertson’s 2001 thesis identified 26 cases where the Book of Mormon’s Isaiah passages align with the original Hebrew meaning while the KJV translation does not. This is consistent with an independent ancient source — not with plagiarism from the KJV.
Corroborative Evidence for an Ancient Translation
Lines of Evidence
- Reformed Egyptian — a historically documented practice of writing Hebrew in Egyptian script
- Hebraic poetry — Hebraic poetic forms such as chiasmus are present in 1 Nephi and throughout the text
- Stylometric analysis — computational analysis shows multiple distinct authors, consistent with the text’s own claims about its authorship
An Important Limitation
Belief ultimately depends on personal choice and spiritual witness, not on empirical proof. Evidence can inform and open doors — it cannot compel faith. When additional information is brought to a question, what seemed like a contradiction may resolve into truth. As one teacher illustrated: blue and yellow don’t appear to go together — until you see that they make green. More information can reconcile apparent contradictions.
We defend the faith with meekness — accepting that we cannot force belief regardless of how strong the evidence. Our obligation is to present truth faithfully, answer questions honestly, and then respect the agency of every person to choose.