I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea. Zephaniah 1:3

Trivia: What city will God search with candles?

Interpretation in the The Mormon Scriptures

    2 Nephi

  1. The sin of Sodom (homosexuality?) is evil. 13:9
  2. "Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word?"
    LDS apologists use this verse to justify the plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon. Both were inspired by God, why shouldn't they use the same words? 29:8
  3. Jacob

  4. "If I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things."
    Notice that Jacob condemned polygamy, except when the Lord wants his people "to raise up seed unto" him. The LDS church uses this verse to justify Joseph Smith's polygamy revelation, along with his 50 or so wives. 2:30

  5. "We keep the law of Moses."
    Since the Nephites obeyed all the Old Testament laws, shouldn't modern Mormons?" 4:5
  6. Mosiah

  7. "And even I, myself [me, myself, and I, i.e., Mosiah], have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes."
    (Mosiah was a card-carrying member of the Republican party.) 2:14
  8. Jesus, who wouldn't be born for another 120 years or so, will be both the Son of God and the Father of heaven and earth. 3:8
  9. Although it is not entirely clear, Zeniff seems to be criticized for having "many wives and concubines." 11:2
  10. "And he [Noah] laid a tax of one fifth part of all they possessed."
    Since Noah was a bad guy (who "did not keep the commandments of the Lord") and he taxed the people 20%, I guess God (or Joseph Smith) didn't approve of flat taxes -- or maybe taxes of any kind. 11:3
  11. Doctrine & Covenants

  12. "Behold, thou [Joseph Smith] wast called and chosen to write the Book of Mormon." 24:1

    So Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. God said so himself!

  13. "All things shall be done by common consent in the church." 26:2

    A democratic church. Seems like a good idea. But it's more a matter of interpretation.

Copyright © 1999-2025
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible

Send comments to Steve Wells
at swwells(at)gmail.com