If the Book of Mormon is truly a record of ancient Israelites, why is there no indication that the peoples described therein practiced the Law of Moses?

Anonymous, 7/5/2009

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AllAboutMormons.com Webmaster from La Jolla, California:




In fact, the Book of Mormon clearly states that the people of Nephi, the principle people described in the book, did practice the Law of Moses before the coming of Christ. Here are a few examples:
  1. The Nephites built temples, as required by the Law of Moses. See 2 Nephi 5:16 and Mosiah 2:1, for example.
  2. In several verses, the prophet Nephi criticizes the Lamanites (another people described in the Book of Mormon) because they abandoned the dietary requirements of the Law of Moses. See 2 Nephi 5:24, Enos 1:20, and Jarom 1:6, for example.
  3. Moses 1-6 describes the Feast of the Tabernacle, an ancient Jewish festival that was part of the Law of Moses. Some of the details of this feast cannot be found in the Bible and were only discovered by scholars years after Joseph Smith. If Joseph had invented the Book of Mormon, how did he know these details?
  4. The Book of Mormon prophet Abinadi recites the Ten Commandments (Mosias 13).
  5. Sacrifices and burnt offerings are also mentioned in several Book of Mormon verses, in harmony with the Law of Moses. See Alma 34:10, 3 Nephi 9:19, 1 Nephi 5:9, 1 Nephi 7:22, and Mosiah 2:3. The Book of Mormon mentions that Lehi offered a sacrifice after leaving Jerusalem and travelling in the wilderness for three days (1 Nephi 2:6-7). Some, citing Deuteronomy 12, have criticized the Book of Mormon, claiming that a good Hebrew would never offer sacrifices outside of Jerusalem. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered long after Joseph Smith's death, have clarified this ancient practice. According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, if Jews were sufficiently distant from Jerusalem, they could offer sacrifices on their own, independent of the temple at Jerusalem. What was the minimum distance from Jerusalem required? Exactly the distance Lehi had traveled when he first offered sacrifices: the "distance of a three days' journey." How could Joseph Smith have possibly guessed that?
Besides the examples mentioned above, the Book of Mormon explicitly states in several verses that the Nephites practiced the Law of Moses. See, for example, Alma 25:15, Mosiah 13:27-29, Alma 30:3, and Alma 25:16.

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Richard from Orem:


Another answer has already talked about the Book of Mormon and the nephite nation keeping the law of Moses... This is the prophet Jacob's account of a part of their ministry and belief

Taken from the Book of Mormon (a part of) Jacob 4:

4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us.

5 Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the Law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his only begotten son.

6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

8 Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.

9 For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, o then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.

11 Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his only begotten son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.
Pamela Dean from Clarenville:



In 2 Nephi 5: 10, Nephi specifically states that his people "Did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the Law of Moses." I would suggest that this is the definitive statement that they did indeed practice the Law of Moses. This, in addition to the numerous examples offered by others of specific instances of the keeping of the law, I think is a good indication that this is indeed a record of one branch of the ancient Israelites.
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