Not a Single Mormon Church Doctrine is Found in The Holy Book of Mormon
- Apostles more than the original twelve in Jerusalem (Book of Mormon uses “disciples”)
- Child baptism
- Communion to children
- High Priests after Jesus
- “Only true church” premise
- Plurality of Gods
- Polygamy tied to Exaltation
- Priesthood after Jesus
- Temple ritual—entirely
- Tithing after Jesus
- You can become a God and populate a yonder world with souls birthed by yourself, a multitude of wives
- Word of Wisdom
LDS Professor Richard L. Bushman:
Despite the effort that went into the translation, Joseph Smith did not make the book the foundation of the church. (Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, 1984, p. 142)
Book of Mormon Scholar J.N. Washburn:
The book under consideration bears no necessary relation to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They could exist quite independently of each other. The book is not the product of the Church, for it was in existence before the Church was. (The Contents, Structure and Authorship of the Book of Mormon, 1954, p. 10)
LDS Professor Kenneth Godfrey:
Mormonism would not have endured had its leaders relied solely on the Book of Mormon. (“David Whitmer and the Shaping of Latter-day Saint History” by Kenneth Godfrey in The Disciple as Witness: Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, FARMS, 2000)