Mormonism Exposed (Hancock)/Chapter 19

Mormon inspiration, like the inspiration of Mahometanism labors much to gratify the curiosity of man, yet it leaves us to wonder and inquire about many things that it speaks of, and that without any assurance of our curiosity being gratified. One can but wonder why the angel should have taken those old spectacles to heaven. It may be that the Lord wanted to examine them in order to see what the deficiency was; or it may be that he felt ashamed for any one to see them.—The reader will please excuse this. The whole thing is so ridiculously absurd that it is not worthy of serious consideration.

We now turn our attention to the use of proper names, and in examining them we will have a demonstration of the falsity of the Book of Mormon. Proper names, the names of men, cities, towns, countries, and rivers are not translatable. They are only transferable, and the same sound, as near as possible is given in each language. As an illustration take such as Egypt, Palestine, Babylon, Ninevah, Damascus, etc., or the names of men, such as Adam, Enoch, Noah, Job, Daniel, etc. The Mayas, as we have seen, were among the most ancient inhabitants of Central America, and the most enlightened of any of its ancient inhabitants, being the only people there that had a written language. That language has survived the vicissitudes of time, and remains the same today; in the main, that it was 2,000 or 2,500 years ago.

Dr. Agustus La Plongeon, in Vestiges of the Mayas, page 25, says: "The language of the ancient Mayas, strange as it may appear, has survived the vicissitudes of time, wars, political and religious convulsions. It has, of course, somewhat degenerated by the mingling of so many races in such a limited space as the peninsula of Yucatan is; but it is yet the vernacular

​of the people. The Spainards themselves, who strived so hard to wipe out all vestiges of the ancient customs of the aborigines were unable to destroy it; nay, they were obliged to learn it; and now many of their descendants have forgotten the mother tongue of their sires and speak Maya only. In some localities in Central America it is still spoken in its pristine purity, as, for example, by the Chaacmules."

Short, page 478, says: "What is most satisfactory to us is the probability that the language is spoken today by the mass of the native population of Yucatan as it was anciently, for, says Senor Pimentel, 'The Indians have preserved this idiom with such tenacity that to this day they will speak no other.' Senor Oroyco j Berra furnishes us evidences that little change has taken place in the language since the earliest times, in the statement that all the geographical names of the peninsula are Maya, which is considered proof in his judgment that the Mayas were the first occupants of the country."

Reader, think of the fact now before us. The Mayas were the first inhabitants of Central American. They are there now, speaking the same language that they spake anciently, and their history reaches back into the remotest antiquity. Their alphabet we can give, and we challenge the entire Mormon fraternity to show the remotest resemblance between that alphabet and the characters that the Book of Mormon says were used by the ancient inhabitants of that country. (We regret our inability to give our readers the Maya alphabet in these articles. We are, however, being urged, not simply by brethren but by representative men in the denominations to put our matter in permanent form. This will likely be done, and should it be done our diagrams will all be given in the book; and unhesitatingly do we say, it will give a thorough demonstration that the Book of Mormon is one of the basest frauds that was ever concocted by designing men.)

One can take the Bible and go into Bible lands, there they find the names of men, countries, cities and rivers, just as given ​in that book, from the remotest antiquity down to the close of the New Testament record; thus demonstrating the authenticity of that book. But alas, how different it is with the Book of Mormon! Take that book and go into Central America, where it claims to have originated, and we fail to find a name that it gives. Not one of them was ever known there. The names are there now that were there 2,000 years ago.

The Bible tells us that the Jews, with whom it claims to have originated, were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those names are there now. Towns and places they talked of, where they lived, and wells they dug can be shown, and wherever we find their descendants those names are revered. Scores of centuries could not obliterate them.

The Book of Mormon tells us that Lehi, Nephi, and Laman were the progenitors of the aborigines of North and South America. Why can we not go to the parts where they lived, and where it is claimed that their descendants flourished most, where they reached their highest civilization, and find their names revered—find the places they talked about—find some monument that marks their enterprise? Gentle reader, those names are not there, and never were there! Why is this? Echo answers why? Such men never lived! The Book of Mormon is a book of fiction—a falsehood of the deepest dye.

We now give in parallel columns the names of lands, cities and countries of ancient America as given in the Book of Mormon, and the actual names that were here, as ascertained by the research of antiquarians. The left hand column will give the actual names, and the right hand column will give the names according to the Book of Mormon.

We now give a list of the names of men arranged as above:

This list gives the actual names that were here, with a corresponding number of Mormon names. That the reader, however, may see a full list of Mormon names, as given by the Book of Mormon, we give the full list. Lemuel, Limhi, Luram, Mathoni, Mathonihi, Melek, Mormon, Maroni, Moriah, Nehor, Nephi, Noah, Omni, Paanchi, Pachus, Pacumeni, Pahoran, Sam, Samuel, Seantum, Seezaran, Shem, Shemnon, Shiblon, Timothy, Tubaloth, Zarahema, Zeezrom, Zedekiah, Zemnariah, Zenephi, Zewiff, Zenos.

We again challenge the entire Mormon fraternity to a comparison of these names. There is not a name in the entire Mormon list that bears the remotest resemblance to any of the ancient names of Central America!! Why is this? The Book of Mormon says that the Nephites faithfully keep a record of their lineage, and as a consequence, a record of their proper names, and a record of their wars, their religious and political enterprises. Why then, we ask, is it that antiquarians fail to find any trace of these records?—fail to find a name that even resembles a Mormon name? Names of ancient men can be ​given, and their idolatrous worship, their cannibalistic customs—the nature of their civilization can be gathered from their stone and stucco carvings, and their picture writings. Not only can antiquarians give the proper names that were in ancient Central America, the nature of the civilization there, but also the characters used in the only written language that was ever there, but nothing can be found there that has any resemblance to anything that the Book of Mormon gives!!! In view of these facts but one conclusion can be reached—the Book of Mormon is a fraud—as fearful a falsehood as ever came from the regions of his Satanic Majesty's dominions!