Joseph Smith Lied When He Said, “The Book of Mormon Contains the Fullness of the Everlasting Gospel”

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Pearl of Great Price

Joseph Smith History 1:34

“He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants.”

“The Fullness of the Everlasting Gospel”

A full glass of water must have a meniscus on top. You can’t add any more water because it is completely full. It’s that same with the gospel. If a book has the fullness you can’t add any more because it has it all.

In May of 1838, some 18 years after the first vision, Joseph Smith hired James Mulholland as a scribe to write his history, word-for-word, as he dictated it. In Joseph’s journal titled, “The Scriptory Book of Joseph Smith Jr.,” is the account of Joseph Smith obtaining the Book of Mormon Gold Plates. In this account, dictated by Joseph Smith himself, he claimed that the Angel Nephi told him, “There was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants.” (Spelling as the Original) (Dean C. Jessee, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, p. 203)

In the March 15th, 1842, edition of the Times and Seasons, Joseph Smith notified the subscribers that he was now the editor of the publication and was solely responsible for its content (p. 710). A month later he printed this same account of the gold plates directly from his hand-written journal. Joseph Smith was assassinated two years later. During his lifetime, this account of the Angel Nephi telling him where to find a book containing “the fullness of the everlasting gospel,” never was changed. Published in England in 1851, this account of the Angel Nephi was also printed in the first edition Pearl of Great Price, unchanged (p. 41). After Joseph Smith’s death, Brigham Young changed the angel’s name in Joseph’s original account to Moroni in the second edition of the Pearl of Great Price printed in Salt Lake City. Today, on top of most Mormon temples, the angels name is still known as Moroni. No changes have ever been made in this story for the claim, that the Book of Mormon contained the “fullness of the everlasting gospel.”

Perfection of the Book of Mormon

Joseph Smith originally made the claim that the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God: “The interpretation thereof by the gift of God.”

On November 28, 1841, Joseph Smith gave the Twelve Apostles a different message concerning the accuracy of the Book of Mormon. “I spent the day in the council with the Twelve Apostles at the house of President Young, conversing with them upon a variety of subjects.”

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 194; Documentary History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 61)

This statement, well known by most Mormons, is a problem. Rather than stating that the book contains the fullness of the gospel and is therefore correct as Joseph had previously claimed, he now states that it is MOST correct, comparing it with all the other books in the world. The implication is that the other books, including the Bible, have more errors than the Book of Mormon. By this time, Joseph Smith had made most of the changes (over 3000 words) in the Book of Mormon, and in January of 1842 had just proofed the fourth edition. Therefore, Joseph Smith was well aware of the errors that needed to be fixed in the first four editions of the Book of Mormon. The current seventh edition (1981 and newer) agrees with Joseph Smith about errors and changes in the Book of Mormon. At the bottom the page titled, “A Brief Explanation of the Book of Mormon” it states, “About this edition: Some minor errors in the text have been perpetuated in past editions of the Book of Mormon. This edition contains corrections that seem appropriate to bring the material into conformity with prepublication manuscripts and early editions edited by the prophet Joseph Smith.”

The questions must be asked, “Why would God have to fix His revelation? Were His prophets NOT inspired when they wrote scripture?”

“Does God make mistakes?”

“Couldn’t God reveal it right the first time?”

“Why would God allow His prophets to teach false doctrine?”

“Can we legitimately call the Book of Mormon ‘God’s word’ if it originally had errors and still has errors?”

Does it contain the fullness of the Gospel?

What does fullness NOT mean? It doesn’t mean partialness. Full means complete; it means all. It means that the gospel contained in the Book of Mormon is correct, complete and without error. If the Book of Mormon has the fullness of the gospel, it needs nothing to be added to that. This means that if you have the Book of Mormon, you have the complete gospel. This also implies that you don’t need anything else to be added. You don’t need the Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, or the words of the modern-day prophet when he speaks in conference. Fullness means complete, and nothing needs to be added.

Is the Book of Mormon missing the significant parts of the Mormon gospel?

1. The significant Mormon teaching about eternity called the gospel of Eternal Progression, is NOT taught in the Book of Mormon. A summary is that God was once a man; that men can attain Godhood, and there are innumerable Gods in existence. The Book of Mormon actually does NOT contain this core teaching! It teaches against it! (Moroni 8:18, Mormon 9:9)
2. God being married and having sex in Heaven, and the pre-existence of our spirits in heaven before birth is also NOT found anywhere in the Book of Mormon.
3. The three levels of Heaven are also NOT found in the Book of Mormon.
4. The two priesthoods taught by the Mormon Church are also NOT in the Book of Mormon. In reading the Book of Mormon one can NOT find any references to the Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthoods!
5. Baptism for the Dead and Temple work are also NOT part of the Everlasting Gospel as found in the Book of Mormon.
6. The “New and everlasting covenant of Plural marriage” normally known as polygamy that is still currently printed in D&C 132, is NOT found anywhere in the Book of Mormon. Truly, the Book of Mormon teaches against having more than one wife. See the following verses: Jacob 1:15, 2:24, 2:27-28, Mosiah 11:2, Ether 10;5.

Restoration of the Gospel?

As we can see, Joseph Smith did NOT restore the Mormon gospel with the printing of the Book of Mormon because the Book of Mormon does NOT contain the Mormon gospel. It might be more accurate to state that it contains the emptiness of the Mormon gospel. Joseph Smith lied about the restoration of the gospel through the Book of Mormon. If the Book of Mormon does not contain the Mormon gospel, then it can not be the true restoration of that gospel! Anyone who gains a testimony that the Book of Mormon is the fullness of the gospel is incorrect. A true testimony can never deny the facts. A true testimony always agrees with the real facts. Since Joseph Smith’s claim that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel is false, then everyone who also gains a testimony of its truthfulness is equally a liar with Joseph Smith. True Christians don’t sustain or agree with false gospels.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls provided independent secular evidence that the Bible is an historic book, and the gospel message of the Bible did not change in thousands of years. The stories of the Bible really happened. True Christians must believe the unchanged gospel of the Bible. It states that we are all sinners and can only receive salvation as a gift from God. We receive true salvation by believing in the true Jesus and his gospel (Ephesians 2:8-10).