Book of mormon population growth

As for the book of mormon, if it is a wholesale fraud, then it is a remarkable one. The mormon church traditionally announces a statistical update during its april general conference. Population growth and the book of mormon every so often i come across an argument against the book of mormon that i feel i have to respond to in some way. Mormon population mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. Mormons, living in the same country and culture that baptists do, just. So, without knowing what this persons opinion is of the population growth it is impossible to answer your question. Smith published what he said was a translation of these plates in march 1830 as the book of mormon, named after mormon. How many nephites the book of mormon at the bar of. Nov 15, 2016 the book of mormons own population data is consistent with this figure. The lords words will hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, 2 ne.

As mormons believe in jesus christ, they are considered to be christians. For the last 15 years, an average of 800 people have joined the lds church every day. The book of mormon population growth rate would have to have been more than double that of the roman empire and other peers. How could so many people have died at the battle of. In 1823, smith said an angel directed him to a buried book written on golden plates containing the religious history of an ancient people. A number of studies have been made to provide estimates of what the population of the book of mormon nations may have been, but there is no way of confirming any of the estimates from information given in the book of mormon. But recent studies tell a different storydifferent because whereas lds church records count anyone who has ever been baptized, demographers and pollsters count only those who currently identify themselves as mormon. Mormons trace their origins to the visions that joseph smith reported he had in the early 1820s while living in upstate new york. Book of mormon population statistics meridian magazine. Between 2000 and 2010, lds congregational growth was. New almanac offers look at the world of mormon membership. In 2018, there were 16,118,169 members worldwide with the highest population found in the united states at 6,592,195 members.

Youth invited to join face to face event with president and sister oaks. The book of mormon was written for the intent that we may believe the bible, morm. But one of the top four churches not only shows consistent growth, but growth continues year by year and decade by decade. One sees this from the size of actual armies in precolumbian america. There are currently over 80,000 missionaries in 162 countries 20, and in the year 2000 alone five million copies of the book of mormon were handed out. How could so many people have died at the battle of cumorah. For example, under a low population growth rate kunichs for mula predicts that. And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their rewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1985, p. Wrights essay was interesting and one i liked, a lot of his arguments on a textual depdence on hebrews by joseph smith in the compositon of the melchizedek material in alma is negated by the melchizedek material from the dead sea. John kunichs essay on book of mormon population sizes. A closer examination of growth and retention data demonstrates that lds growth trends have been widely overstated. Unless you expect mormon women to stop having kids dont hold your breath, you can guarantee that active mormon growth rates will continue to grow much faster than the world population. Size of nephite and lamanite populations book of mormon research.

The book of mormon contains many overt references, and some more oblique ones, to other peoples that were part of the demographic mix in book of mormon times a superficial reading of the book of mormon leads some to conclude that the named members of lehis group were the only members of nephitelamanite society. Joseph smith did not refer to passages from the book of mormon in his writings or sermons, nor was it cited very often by early church leaders. The first person to be baptized by the ldschurch was. Population growth and the book of mormon quantumleap42. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america. Population growth in the book of mormon wednesday, october 10, 2012. Aug 22, 2016 according to the pew research center, seven percent of u. I have also worked for the cumorah foundation since 2009 providing research assistance and resource development on lds growth and missionary work. Lamb may have been the very first critic to suggest that the book of mormon has an unrealistic population growth rate.

The book of mormon s own population data is consistent with this figure. Grant hardy1 despite the effort that went into the translation, joseph smith did not make the book the foundation of the church. Mormon portion of utah population steadily shrinking. The churchs reported membership as of december 31, 2019 was 16,565,036. May 25, 2014 population growth and the book of mormon every so often i come across an argument against the book of mormon that i feel i have to respond to in some way. On the other hand, the nephites and lamanites, whose thousandyear history comprises most of the book of mormon ca. For example, robert flanders simply states, the population of illinois trebled during each decade between 18201840 and doubled between 1840 and 1850. Moreover, in the early 1980s it may have been difficult to see the reversal of the mormon growth trend, although it might have been more apparent when stark revisited his prediction in 1998. Six reasons why mormons are beating baptists in church. The following is a brief excerpt from our 2014 vital stats report. I began this blog in late 2007 to provide a forum to discuss lds growth developments and share information. I have written a little about book of mormon population numbers before, but i dont believe ive ever done it for the jaredites. I only looked up and started skimming through the other essays or articles on this topic after writing most of this post. Apologists may walk back population claims at their convenience, but they simultaneously undermine the validity of the book of mormon itself.

Through a public records request, the salt lake tribune obtained the data from 1989 to 2004. Thus, his arguments about population growth are based on a weak reading of the text. Explore the connections in this period between religion and print culture. Exploring beyond the scale of the land itself, the massive construction projects described throughout the text surely would have endured, just as did the structures of so many lesser advanced early. Number of people in the book of mormon lds teachers toolbox. In such an analysis, the assertions of population growth in the book of mormon approach the ridiculous. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds, better known as the mormon church, is on track to become the largest both in the united states and in the world at largeand the secondlargest religious body in the world during the next 100 years so says mark koltkorivera, ph. But the rate of population growth, which in the past only under very exceptional circumstances ever rose to 2 percent a year on rare occasions 3 percent for short. The book of mormon is the sacred text of mormonism. Population growth in the book of mormon the book of mormon population growth rate would have to have been more than double that of the roman empire and other peers. This is merely my own nonspecific commentary meaning im not replying to anyone specifically on book. In 1909, one of the churchs most respected historians, brigham h.

At first glance the modern reader might suppose that rapid population growth in the book of mormon is an anachronisma misplaced modern idea in a supposedly ancient text. Annual lds growth has progressively declined from over 5 percent in the late 1980s to less than 3 percent from 2000 to 2005. May 01, 2020 my interest in researching the growth of the lds church began in 2002. Indeed, the population figures given in the book of mormon show a rather gradual population growth over the years. Resources to help you immerse yourself in the restoration. In the last 50 years, membership has increased tenfold.

Latterday saint growth in the 21st century, after analyzing mormon membership figures, global population, and social trends. Populations in the book of mormon latterday saint blogs. And then whether that amount of population growth would even be plausible compared to other populations with. As one examines the occasions when population size is mentioned throughout the book of mormon, and assumes normal population growth, 230,000 deaths in the final battle at cumorah would make sense. The lds church did their first missionary work in mexico in 1874 right after the book of mormons was translated to spanish by meliton trejo and daniel jones.

In mormon teaching, the lamanites were the ancestors of indigenous. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of spanishlanguage. The book of mormon and the bible will grow together, 2 ne. Number of mormons to peak at 20 million in 2045 mormonism 101. Can you comment on the demographics of the book of mormon people. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america objectives.

Understand the creation and publication of an important american religious text, the. What do we know about the numbers of nephites and lamanites. Nevertheless, ignoring the logistic nature of population growth was a. Better understand the expansive growth of printing in early nineteenthcentury america and how that affected society. Growth of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Can you comment on the demographics of the book of mormon. As latterday saints we are urged to study the book of mormon and apply its teachings to our lives. Book of mormon peoples and precolumbian populations, fairmormon conference, 2003, online at archive book of mormon central, why hasnt lehis dna been found. As is the case with most religions here in the united states, mormon growth is starting to slow.

An essential requirement for any demographic study is to determine what growth rates to use for escalating numbers forward and backward. The state planning office uses the countybycounty numbers to help estimate future population growth. His best guess was an average annual rate of increase of 1. State employees believe the lds church has provided the records since at least the 1960s but could retrieve only the numbers for 15 years and found no. Mormon growth slows to its lowest level since 1937.

An obvious puzzle is how the lamanites could have become so much more numerous than the nephites. Size of nephite and lamanite populations book of mormon. When the value of n is small, the growth increases almost exponentially, as in equation 2. Countries with the largest mormon populations worldatlas.

Absolute growth is greatest in latin america, but the rate of growth is highest in africa and the former soviet bloc. The scientific search for nephite remains mormons in. And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their rewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one. And then whether that amount of population growth would even be plausible compared to other populations with similar environments. The book of mormon includes specific population numbers which make it possible to evaluate the authenticity. Populations in the book of mormon by study and faith.

First of all, the rapid population growth depicted in the book of mormon is highly improbable, if not completely impossible. Mexico has the highest population of mormons outside the u. Nephitelamanite populations with the most conservative estimates possible. My question is basically whether or not one could extrapolate some estimation of what lamanite and nephite populations would have been in the book of mormon. My interest in researching the growth of the lds church began in 2002.

Calculating potential population purely from elapsed time take the form of the following equation. Sorenson, an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, salt lake city. Critics challenge the viability of the population size and growth of the book of mormon people. How you can join in the largest family history conference in the world. A collection of informative and visually appealing infographics relating to topics of mormonism. Critics of the book of mormon who say that there cannot be the number of people claimed in the book of mormon make the opposite error, often using documents of ehrlich and his fellow doomsayers. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints membership. Mormon growth is down to about one and a half percent around the world and half that in the united states.

For many years now, these numbers seem to show consistent, even exponential growth, making church leader quentin cook recently proclaim that the church of jesus christ of latterday saints has never been stronger. Yet there are bright spots in terms of international retention and member activity. Book of mormon population sizes, advocates a growth rate of 0. Book of mormonpopulation and demographics fairmormon.

In his speculations on book of mormon populations, vern elefson 1984 briefly discussed population figures contained in the book of mormon, and then reverseengineered them to estimate the growth rate that must have prevailed for those figures to be reached. The book of mormon tells the story of an ancient people who once lived in the americas, including a tribe known as the lamanites. Mormon church set to become worlds largest charisma news. In reading ether, how could there possibly be so many. When describing the lds population, he quotes others. Populations in the book of mormonvisit this post on my site. The mormon church has said it plans are necessary because urban growth in the area is inevitable. Mormon growth continues to slow, especially in the us. That joseph smith and successive generations of mormon presidents and apostles taught that the nephites and lamanites ranged over all or most of south and north. Thomas ford in his history of illinois wrote that there were by the end. Latterday saint blogs is a portal for mainstream blogs about the church of jesus christ of latter. Church statistics also show a 30% membership increase between 1990 and 2008a rate double general us population growth. However, latinos are the fastestgrowing group in the church. If the origin of the book of mormon could be proved to be other than that set forth by joseph smith.

Through its final edition, which was published for 20, the deseret morning news church almanac gave information on historical membership records of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church. The mormons reported a population of ten thousand by late 1842. An additional % live in california while 7% reside in idaho, 5% in nevada and 4% each in oregon and arizona. New approaches to the book of mormon brent lee metcalfe, editor. What it means to take upon the name of jesus christ. Mormon church growth, activity rate, and retention life. The claims made for the nephites in the book of mormon in this regard are summarized by vogel. To be of good standing, all mormons must tithe, or give 10 percent of their gross income to the church.

In fact, roughly onethird of all american mormons 35% live in utah, the state founded by its early leaders. Jan 09, 2019 mexico has the highest population of mormons outside the u. Most surprising stat the church stated the mormon population in utah grew around 10%. The book of mormon includes specific population numbers which make it possible to evaluate the authenticity of book of mormon growth rates against known growth rates for similar cultures.

Although the book of mormon is silent on population growth and decline as such, it does provide glimpses of how the numbers were growing. Though a relative slowing of the growth rate continues, although it slightly increased in 2019, church membership growth continues to outpace the world population growth rate, which is currently around 1. The mormon churchs financial growth has been fueled by sacred taxation tithing. There are four major problems with book of mormon claims regarding the population of the americas. Nov 20, 2007 so, without knowing what this persons opinion is of the population growth it is impossible to answer your question.

The growth of the mormon church is among the fastest of any denomination on the planet. Number includes both lehis family and the mulekites who colonized during the same period. Some arguments are so trivial that they can be dismissed out of hand but there are a few that look damaging on first view but with a little thought and additional information the apparently. The lord covenanted with enos to bring forth the book of mormon to the lamanites, enos 1. For example, the data on armies and battle casualties indicate quite consistent growth. As the value of n gets nearer to the carrying capacity, however, the growth rate slows dramatically as the population approaches but does not exceed the carrying capacity.