From a historic Protestant/evangelical Christian perspective, the Book of Mormon conflicts with the Bible on several important doctrines. Latter-day Saints (Mormons), however, generally regard the Book of Mormon as another inspired witness of Jesus Christ and would argue that it does not contradict the Bible.
The key issue is not simply that the Book of Mormon contains different stories. It is that it teaches or supports doctrines that differ from biblical Christianity.
Major areas of conflict
IssueBibleBook of Mormon / LDS teaching God One eternal God; God is not a man who became God (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6; Psalm 90:2)LDS theology teaches that God the Father has a glorified physical body and that humans can ultimately become like God.Trinity / nature of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct yet one God (Matthew 28:19; John 1:1; 2 Corinthians 13:14)LDS theology understands the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as three distinct divine beings rather than one being in the historic Trinitarian sense.God's immutability God does not change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17)LDS teaching includes a conception of God within a progression/exaltation framework.Salvation Salvation is fundamentally by God's grace through faith, not earned by works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:28)LDS teaching combines grace with obedience, ordinances and covenant faithfulness; baptism and other ordinances are important to exaltation.Scripture The Bible presents itself as God's authoritative revelation and warns against adding another gospel (Galatians 1:8-9; Revelation 22:18-19)The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price are accepted as additional scripture.Human destiny Humans remain creatures; worship belongs to God alone (Isaiah 43:10; Revelation 22:8-9)LDS doctrine teaches exaltation, in which faithful humans may become like God. Pre-existence The Bible does not teach that human souls existed as individual spirits before earthly life.LDS doctrine teaches premortal existence of human spirits. Afterlife Resurrection, judgment, eternal life or punishment (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:46)LDS doctrine has a more elaborate system of degrees of glory and exaltation.
One particularly interesting point
The Book of Mormon itself contains statements that sound quite strongly biblical.
For example, 2 Nephi 31:21 says:
"there is one God, and one Shepherd over all the earth."
Mosiah 3:5–10 describes Christ in language broadly compatible with Christian teaching about His incarnation, suffering and resurrection.
So the question isn't simply, "Does the Book of Mormon teach about Jesus?"
It clearly does.
The deeper question is whether Joseph Smith's later LDS theological system is compatible with the Bible.
The biggest biblical problem
If you use the New Testament's warning in Galatians 1:8-9 as the test:
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
The LDS origin story presents the Book of Mormon as having been revealed through the angel Moroni.
Paul's warning therefore becomes particularly significant from an evangelical perspective: even an angel is not authorized to introduce a different gospel.
There is also 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, where Paul warns that Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. That does not by itself prove the Book of Mormon is false, but it means an alleged angelic revelation cannot establish its own authority.
But there is an important distinction
It would be inaccurate to say:
"Everything in the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible."
It doesn't.
The Book of Mormon contains substantial material that is compatible with biblical Christianity, including teachings about:
Jesus Christ
His atoning death
resurrection
repentance
faith
baptism
prayer
moral living
God's judgment
The more substantial conflict is between biblical Christianity as historically understood and the complete LDS theological system.
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