The CES letter says: “Another fascinating book published in 1809, The First Book of Napoleon”[23]

The following is a side-by-side comparison of selected phrases the Book of Mormon is known for from the beginning portion of the Book of Mormon with the same order in the beginning portion of The First Book of Napoleon (note: these are not direct paragraphs).[24]

I look at these lines and think…Hmmm. That’s an odd thing to say. Why is he saying the same order, and these are not direct paragraphs?

Let’s take a look. Here is a paragraph given from the First Book of Napoleon:

Condemn not the (writing)…an account…the First Book of Napoleon…upon the face of the earth…it came to pass…the land…their inheritances…their gold and silver and…the commandments of the Lord…the foolish imaginations of their hearts…small in stature…Jerusalem…because of the perverse wickedness of the people.[25]

Here is the paragraph given from the Book of Mormon:

Condemn not the (writing)…an account…the First Book of Nephi…upon the face of the earth…it came to pass…the land…his inheritance and his gold and his silver and…the commandments of the Lord…the foolish imaginations of his heart…large in stature…Jerusalem…because of the wickedness of the people.[26]

Well, the first problem is with the Book of Mormon quote and the word “writing.” This phrase comes from the title page where it says wherefore, condemn not the things of God.

It has nothing to do with writing.

To continue the paragraph you have to go back to the top of the page to pick up the words “an account” then skip down to 1 Nephi 1:11 for the next phrase and then turn BACK to 1 Nephi 1:5 for the next one, and then skip forward to 1 Nephi 2:11 for the next phrase. And on it goes. Cherry picking a few words here and a few words there. It takes 3 chapters plus the Title page to construct this false paragraph.

And what about the paragraph from the First Book of Napoleon. It takes 25 pages to create that paragraph. Those red dots are where the words came from.

No wonder that the author of the CES letter said Quote “these are not direct paragraphs” because even he seemingly felt uncomfortable with it. And he is wrong about the phrase “with the same order.” They are not all in the same order.

Can anyone really believe that Joseph Smith Copied from the First Book of Napoleon to create the Book of Mormon? If it was such an obvious copy, one has to ask why someone felt the need to painstakingly create these two fictitious paragraphs.

The reality is that here again these two books have nothing in common. Where is the great French cavalry charge in the Book of Mormon? And where is the testimony of Christ in the First Book of Napoleon?

The First Book of Napoleon, the Late War, the View of the Hebrews – None of these have anything to do with what is written in the Book of Mormon. So why would they be in the CES Letter with descriptor words such as “Stunning”, “fascinating,” “I was floored” and “how phenomenally unlikely it is that so many common rare phrases and themes could be found between these books”?

I will let you decide.