Hello, thorman.
I have read the BoM many times since I received my first copy five years ago and one of the main reasons that I can't accept it as true is that it contradicts the Bible in at least two places that I found. In Alma 7 it is stated that Christ would be born in Jerusalem while both Micha 5:2 says Bethlehem and Matthew 2:1 records it as true.
Here is something you might find interesting:
Like Christians everywhere, we believe that Jesus Christ was born in the small middle-eastern village of Bethlehem. However, the Book of Mormon states:
"And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God." (Alma 7:10)
At first glance, it appears that we have a pretty significant contradiction on our hands. A closer look, however, reveals that this is not the case at all. In his prophecy concerning the coming of a Savior, the ancient American prophet Alma refers to Jerusalem as "the land of our forefathers," and said that Jesus Christ would be born in this land. Considering the fact that Bethlehem is, in fact, a suburb of the city of Jerusalem (roughly 5 miles away from the city itself), his choice of words makes perfect sense. If an individual today lived in a small suburb of Los Angeles, and were asked where he was from, he might very well answer, "I'm from L.A." No one would accuse him of lying or even of stretching the truth a bit.
In recent years, archeological findings have proven especially interesting as they relate to Joseph's translation of the plates. For instance, two non-LDS scholars (I point this out only because it seems this makes a great deal of difference to some people), Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise, discuss an example of the phrase "land of Jerusalem" in the Dead Sea Scrolls in their book, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered. They write that the use of this phrase "greatly enhances the sense of historicity of the whole, since Judah or 'Yehud' (the name of the area on coins from the Persian period) by this time consisted of little more than Jerusalem and its immediate environs" In other words, not only was the city of Jerusalem referred to in this way, but the entire surrounding area. Thus, what was known as "the land of Judah" was also known as "the land of Jerusalem."
Use of that phrase was utterly illogical for Joseph Smith, who published the Book of Mormon over a century before the Dead Sea Scrolls were even discovered. As a matter of fact, I imagine that he might very well questioned the translation when it came to him. After all, even a school child in 1830 would have known better than to say that Jesus was born in Jerusalem. Obviously, Joseph would have been very much aware of the supposed "blunder" he was making in translating the text according to what he knew it actually said.
Once again, what for years was considered yet another "proof" that the Book of Mormon was a fraud now can be added to the ever-growing list of evidences that it is exactly what it purports to be.
The one other place that I found was in Moroni 8:8 which says "little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me" Psalm 51:5 says "I was brought forth in iniquity..." and Romans 3:10"none is righteous".
I think that this "contradition" is more a matter of a difference in interpretation than anything else. I know a great many Christians who do not accept the doctrine of Original Sin. Consider this verse from the Book of Mormon, as I believe it's important to our understanding:
Mosiah 3:19 "For thenatural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off thenatural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."
We believe that, as Adam's descendants, we inherited his "human nature" and that this human nature is to be "an enemy to God." We also believe that "all have sinned" as we are told in Romans, but we interpret this as meaning that once a person has reached a level of maturity, knowledge and understanding that it is possible for him to be able to distinguish between right and wrong, he will inevitably make choices that are counter to God's commandments. In other words, he wil sin. There are no exceptions to this statement. There is no man or woman who has ever lived (aside from Jesus Christ, of course) who has not sinned. There is not one of us who is in a position to be able to save ourselves. Jesus Christ atoned for Adam's sins just as He atoned for the sins of each and every one who will accept Him as their Savior. That's why we don't believe that God would punish a tiny baby for something that Adam did. We believe that we become sinners by sinning -- not by merely being born.
Thank you, by the way, for your kind comments on the "Mormon Bashing" forum. I am looking forward to a continued good relationship with you, and welcome you to RF.