Alleged Anachronisms

Critics have attempted from time to time to point out anachronisms or incongruities in the Book of Mormon consisting of statements about events that are out of line, chronologically speaking. One of the alleged anachronisms pointed out by them is the use made by the early Nephites of the word "Bible" hundreds of years before the word was used by Christians of the Fifth Century A. D. to express the idea of united scriptures, the Old and New Testaments. The use of the word "Bible" in the Book of Mormon is confined to one chapter. (2 Nephi 29:3, 4, 6, 10.) An examination of the use of the word in the chapter reveals that the prophet Nephi is quoting words of the Lord relative to the attitude of the Gentiles of our own day to new revelation and to the Bible which has come to them from the Jews. Actually the words quoted by Nephi form a prediction by the Lord himself relative to future events! Notice these words:

And because My words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible. But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, Mine ancient covenant people. (2 Nephi 29:3, 4, etc.)

The use of "Bible" is perfectly consistent in the chapter. Why should it be considered an anachronism? Can't the Almighty see into the future? Apparently the critics don't think so.

The Nephites of the Book of Mormon, long years before the coming of Christ, seem to have used the words "gospel," "church," and "Christians,"—so Joseph Smith translated from the Gold Plates—and these words are also looked upon by certain critics as anachronisms. That is to say, these words came into use only after the advent of our Lord into mortality; hence the Nephites before that time, say the critics, could not have known about them. For some reason, many so-called Christians can't seem to get the idea through their heads that God's people from Adam's day to that of Christ might have had a formal organization equivalent to the "Church" in our Lord's age through which they fellowshipped and proselyted other people into the faith. Why is it so hard to believe, for example, that Abraham belonged to the Church in his day, the Church headed by Melchizedek, the "priest of God Most High," (Gen. 14:18) the one to whom the Father of the Faithful paid his tithing? (Gen. 14:20) And in Genesis 12:5 we suggest the reading "and the souls that they had converted [to the Church] in Haran" for the Hebrew "and the souls that they had made in Haran." But getting directly to our problem, let it be realized that the Book of Mormon teaches it was the pre-existent Christ who was the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and that He was the one who gave the law to Moses and who covenanted with His people Israel. (3 Nephi 15:4-5) This teaching gives substance and meaning to our Lord's words to His disciples on the road to Emmaus:

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27)

And let us not forget these words of Paul to the Corinthians:

Our fathers . . . were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat [food]; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Cor. 10:1-4)

Jesus and Paul seem to teach that Moses and the children of Israel knew about Christ and His Gospel (spiritual food and drink). No matter how one interprets the above passages of scripture, the fact remains that the Book of Mormon is consistent in its teaching. The pre-existent Christ appeared personally to Nephi (1 Nephi 2:16), to Jacob (2 Nephi 2:3-4; 11:3), to Isaiah (2 Nephi 11:2); in fact, all of the prophets had a hope of His glory, believed in Him and worshipped God in His name. (Jacob 4:4-6) The Nephites therefore knew about the gospel long before Christ's coming and knew about His Church. As a matter of fact, the word "gospel" is used about fourteen times in the Book of Mormon in narratives which deal with events prior to the appearance of the resurrected Christ among the Nephites, and the word "church" is used dozens of times in the same general context. Since the Nephites, prior to Christ's coming, knew the gospel and worshiped God in His son's name, why should "gospel" and "church" be considered anachronisms? And since they were followers of Christ, why shouldn't Joseph Smith call them "Christians" when he translated Alma 46:13, 15, 16; 48:10? A translator is bound to use terminology that is in common use in his own day. So the words "gospel," "church," and "Christians" are not real anachronisms at all in the Book of Mormon; they are simply anachronisms in the minds of critics who refuse to accept the Nephite record's premise and teaching that Christianity was in the world before Christ came in the flesh. Why is it so hard to accept its noble and liberal doctrine that God wanted His children in all ages of the world to be exposed to the teachings of His son Jesus Christ and come into His Church?

The words "dissenter," "dissenters," and "dissenting," as used in the Book of Mormon about twenty-two times altogether (Helaman 1:15; Alma 31:8; 47:35, 36; 3 Nephi 3: 11, etc.), are pointed out as anachronisms by some critics. John Hyde, Jr., in his book Mormonism: Its Leaders and Designs (2d Ed., New York, 1857), claims that "dissenters" was not employed until the time of Wycliffe (circa 1380 A.D.) and not generally until 1662. Hence, Hyde must have reasoned, the use of the word by the Nephites long before the advent of Christ, applied by them to apostates from the Church or separatists from one organization or another, stamps the Book of Mormon as an imposture. But such reasoning is completely wrong. What we said above concerning the words "gospel," "church," and "Christians" applies here also. Since the Nephites had the gospel and the Church, they had to apply some term to members who were excommunicated or who separated themselves from the organization. What the term was we don't know, but Joseph Smith as translator had to use some equivalent word in common English usage. Hence his use of "dissenter," "dissenters," and "dissenting" is perfectly justified. These words are not anchronisms as used in the Book of Mormon. The book is again proved consistent in its use of words.

Still another apparent anachronism is pointed out by the critics in Helaman 12: 15 where it says, "for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun." They assert that Nicolaus Copernicus, great Polish astronomer, physician, and churchman, (1473-1543) was the author of the heliocentric view of the motions of the heavenly bodies, in which it was postulated that the sun was the center around which the planets revolve. How could the Nephites know, therefore, that it was "the earth that moveth and not the sun" hundreds of years before the days of Copernicus and the men who supported his hypothesis, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton? We do not want to detract an iota from the great contribution of Copernicus to astronomy, but it should be pointed out that he was perfectly aware of the fact that Greek thinkers centuries before Christ had suggested that the sun and not the earth was the center of the universe. For example, Heracleides, a younger contemporary of Aristotle, had made the discovery that the earth turned on its axis and that Mercury and Venus revolved round the sun. Following this lead, Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310-230 B.C.) did some thinking which led him to conclude that the sun's mass was about three hundred times that of the earth. It was probably for that reason he reached the conclusion that the geocentric theory was impossible; and he subsequently propounded the view that the earth and all the planets revolved about the sun in circles, while the sun and fixed stars were stationary, the latter being an enormous distance away. Tarn and Griffith conclude:

In the realm of thought the suggestion, though he could not prove it, should have been epoch-making.

And the Greeks in turn were heavily dependent upon the Babylonians before them for their knowledge of astronomy. Indeed, the Babylonians were famous for their empirical studies of the heavenly bodies. It is possible that some heliocentric thinking may have been "in the air" at the time that the Nephites left Jerusalem about 600 B.C., but we are not dependent upon the history of science to refute the view that Helaman 12:15 is an anachronism. The faith of the Mormon people, like that of the ancient Hebrew worthies of the Old Testament, is based upon actual revelation from God. And in our modern scripture, The Book of Abraham, the Father of the Faithful tells us this interesting fact:

But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day.... (Abr. 1:31. Italics ours.)

By means of the Urim and Thummim, given him by the Lord, Abraham was able to learn fundamental facts about the heavenly bodies on his own account. (See Abr. 3:1-14 and especially facsimiles from the original document, cuts No. 2 and No. 3 with accompanying explanations.) According to this record, Abraham even reasoned upon the principles of astronomy at the court of Pharaoh. And Josephus agrees that Abraham taught in Egypt. (Antiq., I, 8, 2) Thus the true knowledge of the motions of the heavenly bodies was revealed early to the Hebrew people and came into their records. A very full history from the creation (including the five books of Moses) and the Hebrew people came into the hands of the Nephites in the form of the Brass Plates. (See 1 Nephi 5:10-22.) This record was much more complete than the Old Testament record which we have up to about the year 600 B.C. (See implications of 1 Nephi 13:23.) There can be little doubt, therefore, that the Nephites were in possession of the fundamental facts concerning the movements of the planets as revealed by the Lord to their patriarchal ancestors. Besides, they had their own prophets to whom the Lord could have revealed the essential facts about the heavenly bodies.

It will be of interest at this point to examine the context in which Mormon brought up our problem by explaining that "it is the earth that moveth and not the sun." Evidently Mormon's words were inspired by the account on the Brass Plates of Joshua's commanding the sun to stand still, the Nephite equivalent of our Joshua 10:12-14. Here are his words:

Yea, and if He say unto the earth—Move it is moved Yea, if he say unto the earth—Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours—it is done; and thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun. (Helaman 12:13-15)

An examination of this passage would seem to reveal either that the miracle brought about by Joshua was explained in the Brass Plate account—which it isn't in our Bible or that Mormon was inspired before or at the time he wrote his commentary to give the true explanation of the miracle. Now that we have raised the matter of Mormon's explanation, our critics are sure to attack it on the grounds that it violates the laws of physics! At any rate, the presumption is that Helaman 12:15 is not an anachronism. The passage is perfectly consistent with the revelations given to our Church.

Another alleged anachronism pointed out by John Hyde, Jr., is that Jesus had to die in order for His disciples to obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost (John 14:26; cf. 20:22), whereas the Nephites had it hundreds of years before Christ. What we have already explained above about the Nephites having the gospel and the Church is also a sufficient answer to this problem. Having the gospel and the Church, it would be expected, of course, that the Nephites had the Holy Ghost to administer unto them. The book is perfectly consistent on this point. But if this isn't a sufficient answer, let it be noticed that in the days of Moses, hundreds of years before the time of the Nephites, this event happened:

And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him [Moses], and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. But there remained two of the men in the camp, . . . and the spirit rested upon them; . . . and they prophesied in the camp. (Num. 11:25- 26. Italics ours. Cf. also verses 27-29.)

Now, if the "spirit" mentioned in this passage isn't the Holy Ghost, what is it? And in Revelation 19:10 we are told that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Why, of all things, should our Lord confer the blessings of the Holy Ghost upon His saints after the resurrection and withhold it from the faithful in the ages before that event? The Mormon people have always looked upon God as impartial. If He shows any favoritism, it is to the righteous. (1 Nephi 17:35)