A third problem is not whether or why Joseph copied biblical passages into the Nephite record but how he did it. Even disregarding the later compilation of the Old Testament, which would have made most of these writings unavailable to the Nephites, the Book of Mormon borrows New Testament material as well, none of which could have been on the brass plates. For example, Moroni writes what his father, Mormon, taught people in a synagogue concerning “faith, hope, and charity” (Mormon. 7:1), which tracks Paul’s teachings in his first epistle to the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Charity suffereth long,

and is kind; charity envieth not;

charity vaunteth not itself,

is not puffed up.

Doth not behave itself unseemly,

seeketh not her own,

is not easily provoked,

thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity,

but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things,

believeth all things,

hopeth all things,

endureth all things.

Charity never faileth;

Moroni 7:45-46

And charity suffereth long

and is kind, and envieth not.

and is not puffed up

seekth not her own,

is not easily provoked,

thinketh no evil,

and rejoiceth not in iniquity

but rejoiceth in the truth,

beareth all things,

believeth all things,

hopeth all things

endureth all things.

… for charity never faileth.

Defenders offer three explanations for this anachronism: first, that Mormon and Paul had equal “access to the same sermon by Jesus” in a form that was more pure than either of the second-hand accounts; second, that “the Holy Ghost may have revealed this idea in essentially the same way to both Mormon and Paul”; and third, that the KJV and Book of Mormon might reflect some ancient writing on faith, hope, and charity that predates Jesus. There is no evidence for any of these explanations, and yet the same arguments are used again and again to explain how New Testament language got into the Book of Mormon, not only for the Sermon on the Mount but for other passages as well.