“Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to fault finding.”

 Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, May 3^rd

Mosiah 8:11; “And again, they have brought swords, the hilts thereof have perished, and the blades thereof were cankered with rust…”

Alma 24:16; “And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved…”

2 Peter 1:16; “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

Foregoing the whole lack of common sense problem we see in Alma, our subject for today is the issue of rust. Who knew this could be a topic when discussing the Book of Mormon??? Good grief…

It seems Joseph Smith just thought up things to fill space on an empty piece of paper. Today’s topic reveals the BoM can’t be from the Lord because of the contradictions in how different metals, and elements of the earth reacts, and/or performs under various conditions.

By the time 121 BC rolled around at the time of Mosiah, the Nephites hadn’t learned how to reach the melting point of iron (1536° C, or 2796° F) and were unable to produce iron from its ores. This means the problem with rusting is a nonissue because it couldn’t have happened.

Besides all that, burying iron in soil will expose it to oxygen and water, causing rust to form in different areas. This in turn will accelerate the rusting process, contrary to what Alma claimed.

As  you meet with your Mormon friends, or relatives, simply ask them about your findings and see what they think of this. Remind them this isn’t a witch-hunt, but you’re just curious about what you’ve found in the BoM. This gives them something to think about and not feel like they’re being attacked.

Oswald Chambers’ words serve as a good reminder for us as to be humble while thanking God He has opened our eyes! Also be sure to let the Mormon know you’re not questioning the credibility of him/her. The teachings of the Church are the focus, not the individual.