The Book of Mormon claims to be an ancient record of civilizations in the Americas, spanning from roughly 2200 B.C. to 421 A.D. Sounds fascinating, right? The problem is, when we examine its claims under the historical microscope, things start to unravel quickly.

One of the biggest red flags? Anachronisms—things that appear in a historical setting where they don’t belong. Imagine reading a story about the Roman Empire where Julius Caesar checks his email. That’s an anachronism!

The Book of Mormon is full of these things. From animals that didn’t exist in the Americas at the alleged time period to cities and battles that have left no trace and even full sections lifted straight from the New Testament before they supposedly appeared in the New Testament, there are just too many issues to ignore.

Let’s examine three major problem areas: animals, geography, and borrowed New Testament passages.

Animal Anachronisms: Where Did These Creatures Come From?

If you were reading a book about medieval Europe that mentioned people riding motorcycles into battle, that would be a good indication that you were reading a work of fiction. Well, the Book of Mormon does something similar with its descriptions of animals that simply weren’t in the Americas at the time.

• Horses – The Nephites supposedly had horses to ride and use in battle (Alma 18:9, 3 Nephi 3:22). The only issue? Horses didn’t exist in the Americas during this period. The Spanish brought them over in the 16th century—long after the Book of Mormon timeline ended.
• Cattle, Sheep, and Goats – The Book of Mormon mentions these animals as if they were part of daily life (Enos 1:21, Ether 9:18, 1 Nephi 18:25). But here’s the kicker: the species known to ancient Israelites—like domesticated sheep and cows—weren’t found in pre-Columbian America. The closest animals, like bison and mountain goats, were never tamed.
• Elephants – The Jaredite civilization (which supposedly existed around 2000 B.C.) is said to have used elephants (Ether 9:19). But there’s a problem—mammoths and mastodons had been extinct in North America for thousands of years before that.
• Chariots – Alma 18:9–10 describes horses pulling chariots, but no evidence of wheeled transportation has ever been found in pre-Columbian America. There were no domesticated animals to pull chariots, and the terrain wasn’t exactly chariot-friendly either.

If these animals were as common as the Book of Mormon suggests, we’d expect to find some evidence—bones, artwork, tools. But instead? Nothing.

Geographical Anachronisms: Cities That Should Exist But Don’t

The Book of Mormon describes sprawling civilizations with massive cities, highways, and large-scale wars. However, archaeologists have found no evidence of these places.

• The Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla are central to the Book of Mormon narrative. Yet, there’s no solid archaeological evidence that they ever existed. Some LDS scholars try to place them in Mesoamerica, but the descriptions don’t match real-world geography.
• The Hill Cumorah – The Book of Mormon’s final battles supposedly took place here, involving hundreds of thousands of warriors (Ether 15:11, Mormon 6:6). If such a battle occurred, we’d expect to find weapons, armor, and mass graves. But the hill identified as Cumorah in New York has turned up… Nothing.
• The “Narrow Neck of Land” – The Book of Mormon frequently refers to a land bridge between two major territories (Alma 63:5, Ether 10:20). Some claim this refers to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Still, distances and descriptions don’t line up.

Despite extensive searching, no definitive archaeological evidence has ever confirmed a single Book of Mormon city. Meanwhile, we’ve discovered countless ruins from other ancient civilizations worldwide—so why the silence when it comes to Nephite and Lamanite societies?

Borrowed New Testament Texts:

One of the most baffling problems with the Book of Mormon is that it quotes or paraphrases the New Testament—sometimes word-for-word—even though its events supposedly took place centuries before it was written. We’ve already covered how KJV translation errors made their way into the text, but here are even more examples of problematic borrowing.

Jesus’ Teachings Show Up Early—Too Early

• Sermon on the Mount (3 Nephi 12–14 / Matthew 5–7) – The Book of Mormon includes an almost identical version of Jesus’ famous sermon, even though many elements are specific to first-century Jewish culture. For example, it mentions “publicans” (3 Nephi 13:46), a term for Roman tax collectors. How would Nephites—who supposedly never had contact with Rome—know about publicans?
• The Lord’s Prayer (3 Nephi 13:9–13 / Matthew 6:9–13, Luke 11:2–4) – The wording of this prayer in the Book of Mormon matches the KJV’s phrasing almost exactly. But this prayer reflects Jewish customs and an agrarian economy tied to Roman rule—again, irrelevant to pre-Columbian America.

Pauline Theology Before Paul

• “By grace ye are saved” (2 Nephi 25:23 / Ephesians 2:8) – Paul’s teachings on grace were revolutionary in the early Christian church, emerging from debates about Jewish law. Yet, the Book of Mormon has people discussing this doctrine centuries before Jesus even arrived (and also completely butchers it).
• Moroni’s Charity Discourse (Moroni 7:45–47 / 1 Corinthians 13:4–8) – Moroni’s famous passage on charity is nearly identical to Paul’s in 1 Corinthians: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind” (Moroni 7:45, cf. 1 Corinthians 13:4). Either Moroni had a sneak peek at Paul’s writings, or something isn’t adding up.

Concepts That Shouldn’t Exist Yet

• The Name “Christian” (Alma 46:15 / Acts 11:26)—The Book of Mormon claims that Nephites called themselves “Christians” long before Christ was born. However, the term wasn’t used until Acts 11:26, long after Jesus’ ministry.
• The Good Shepherd Metaphor (Alma 5:38–60 / John 10:11–16) – Jesus introduced this metaphor in the first century, drawing on Jewish shepherding practices. So why is Alma using the same analogy hundreds of years earlier in a culture that wouldn’t have the same traditions?

The sheer number of New Testament parallels raises an unavoidable question: How could Nephite writers, supposedly living in ancient America, have quoted texts that wouldn’t exist for centuries? The most straightforward answer? They didn’t. The Book of Mormon was written in the 19th century, drawing heavily from the KJV Bible.

What Does This All Mean?

When we put everything together—the out-of-place animals, the missing geography, and the New Testament quotes appearing centuries too soon—the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the Book of Mormon is not an ancient record. Instead, it reads like a historical fiction novel written in the 19th century by someone loosely familiar with the Bible, writing about an imaginary civilization that exists only in their minds.

If the Book of Mormon were an inspired ancient document, we’d expect it to withstand scrutiny. Instead, we see a pattern of errors and inconsistencies that suggest a 19th-century origin.

For those who take the time to examine these issues critically, the conclusion becomes hard to avoid: The Book of Mormon isn’t what it claims to be. And that realization opens the door to deeper questions about truth, faith, and where we place our trust.