The following is adapted from arguments I made in my recent debate on the Book of Mormon.

In 1986, the Mormon President Ezra Taff Benson said the following.

Just as the arch crumbles if the keystone is removed, so does all the church stand or fall with the truthfulness

of the Book of Mormon.

So here's five reasons to reject the Book of Mormon, which as a result become five reasons to reject the religion of Mormonism.

Number one, the evidence for the Book of Mormon is not impressive.

I'm not Mormon for the same reason Mormons aren't Muslim. Many Muslims say the Quran must be

divinely inspired because an illiterate shepherd like Muhammad could not have

composed something so beautiful and complex. If Mormons reject that argument for Islam, then they should

understand why I reject similar arguments that claim Joseph Smith could not

have dictated the Book of Mormon to ascribe over a 70-day period.

Milman Perry, one of the pioneers in studying oral traditions,

showed that indigenous oral storytellers,

could recite epic poems of over 300,000 words in length in just a few weeks.

So the Book of Mormon being recited in a few months is not impossible by human standards.

Smith recited about 4,000 words per day, describes who wrote at a speed of about 10 words per minute.

That's plenty of time to give a recitation,

and the Book of Mormon is filled with stock phrases like,

Behold or, and it came to pass,

as well as recycled story structures that help an oral presenter

recite it.

Joseph Smith was also a member of a juvenile debate society and school children at the time

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