FAIR Topical Guide

Guide Home > Scripture and Influential Writings > Book of Mormon > DNA and the Book of Mormon

Additional Topics

The following are additional topic areas related to DNA and the Book of Mormon. If there is a bracket number after the topic, that number indicates how many actual articles there are related to that subject. If the link for the topic is not live, it simply means the topic is a 'planned area' for future growth.

FAIR Resources

These links are either to Web pages hosted on the FAIR Website, or to FAIR Papers. FAIR Papers are short articles about specific topics or questions, written by members of FAIR. These articles can be downloaded and read in PDF format and are intended to be distributed by e-mail or print for the general use of our patrons. (To read FAIR Papers you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader. It can be downloaded free from the Adobe Web site.) Click on a title below to visit a FAIR Web page or to read the latest version of a FAIR Paper.

"Book of Mormon and DNA evidence," FAIR Wiki (City Unknown: FAIR) This FAIR Wiki article explores the claim that DNA evidence proves the Book of Mormon false.

"DNA and the Book of Mormon," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, 2003) Interviews, information, and overviews of the issues surrounding DNA and the Book of Mormon.

Michael R. Ash, Is An Historical Book of Mormon Compatible With DNA Science?. This FAIR Brochure summarizes the flaws in claims that recent DNA evidence shows the Book of Mormon to be non-historical.

Kevin L. Barney, "A Brief Review of Murphy and Southerton's "Galileo Event."," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, February 2003) A review of an article on DNA and the Book of Mormon that appeared in Anthropology News.

Brant A. Gardner, "The Tempest in a Teapot: DNA Studies and the Book of Mormon," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, January 2003) A review of what DNA studies can and, more importantly, cannot tell us about the Book of Mormon.

Cooper Johnson, "DNA and the Book of Mormon," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, March 2002) Some say that DNA research can disprove (or prove) The Book of Mormon. This article examines a presentation on the subject by Dr. Scott R. Woodward at the 2001 FAIR Conference.

Greg Kearney, "DNA and the Book of Mormon," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, October 2003) A very apt cartoon draws attention to the double-edged sword presented by criticisms of the Book of Mormon based on DNA studies.

D. Jeffrey Meldrum, "The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, November 2005) Over the last several years there has been a flurry of articles and reports about how DNA studies have refuted the claimed historicity of the Book of Mormon. In his 2003 FAIR Conference presentation, Meldrum addressed a number of the arguments being raised by anti-Mormon critics related to DNA and the Book of Mormon. Meldrum points out that the internal claims of the Book of Mormon text cannot be refuted using current DNA studies, despite the desire of critics to press such studies into service. The Book of Mormon text deals with the ideas of a covenant people being a blessing to genetically unrelated peoples and cultures, and allows for a genetic impact by the immigrant Israelites that would not be detectable today. Meldrum concludes by asserting, "Ultimately we are impressed by the realization that the fundamental question of the veracity of the claims of the Book of Mormon lies beyond the ken of modern DNA research."

Daniel C. Peterson, "Random Reflections on the Passing Scene," (2003 FAIR Conference presentation.) Dr. Peterson explores many current areas of interest including atheism, DNA studies, and the need for LDS apologetics.

David Stewart, DNA and the Book of Mormon.

David G. Stewart, "DNA and the Book of Mormon," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, 2006 FAIR Conference) David Stewart, a medical doctor, examines the issues surrounding DNA studies used to condemn the Book of Mormon. Presented at the 2006 FAIR Conference.

Scott Woodward, "DNA and the Book of Mormon," (2001 FAIR Conference presentation.)

Other Resources

The resources listed below are related items available on the Web that should be of interest. These links are to information not located on the FAIR Web site.

"The Problematic Role of DNA Testing in Unraveling Human History," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 2000), 66-84

John M. Butler, "A Few Thoughts from a Believing Scientist," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2003), 36-37 Recent claims concerning the supposed absence of DNA evidence in support of the Book of Mormon caused the author to investigate more closely what the record itself has to say on the topic. This short essay indicates why the author is still a believing member of the Church.

John M. Butler, "Addressing Questions Surrounding The Book of Mormon and DNA Research," (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2006) Dr. John Butler is a DNA specialist and director of a project developing new DNA technologies for forensic and human identity applications. Dr. Butler examines the supposed DNA problem and how it affects Book of Mormon historicity.

Jeff Lindsay, "Does DNA evidence refute the Book of Mormon," (December 2002) The Book of Mormon has come under heavy fire from critics in light of DNA evidence which is said to utterly refute claims of its historicity. These attacks typically rely on several faulty assumptions about the Book of Mormon and leave out important scientific details about the DNA evidence.

Jeff Lindsay, "Does DNA Evidence Refute the Book of Mormon?," (2003) The Book of Mormon has come under heavy fire from critics in light of DNA evidence that is said to utterly refute the Book of Mormon, for the evidence points to Asiatic origins, not Middle Eastern origins of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. These attacks typically rely on several faulty assumptions about what the Book of Mormon actually states and do not refute a divine origin for the Book of Mormon.

D. Jeffrey Meldrum and Trent D. Stephens, "Who Are the Children of Lehi," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2003), 38-51 The questions "Who are the children of Lehi?" and "How can we reconcile Book of Mormon perspectives with modern DNA data?" are issues of great importance to a number of Latter-day Saints and other people. The authors present this essay in an attempt to facilitate some reconciliation.

Brent Lee Shelton and Jonathan Marks, "Genetic Markers Not a Valid Test of Native Identity," (City Unknown: Council for Reponsible Genetics, 2002) While not directly citing DNA in relation to the Book of Mormon, this article provides an interesting viewpoint that indicates why DNA tests cannot provide conclusive proof of whether a person belongs to a specific ethnic group (such as Lamanites).

John L. Sorenson and Matthew Roper, "Before DNA," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2003), 6-23 This article provides a framework within which the quality and aptness of questions about DNA studies on Native Americans and their implications for Book of Mormon history should be approached. The authors raise a set of issues that anyone should confront when thinking clearly and honestly about the subject.

John L. Sorenson, "The Problematic Role of DNA Testing in Unraveling Human History," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2000) What can and can't DNA studies tell us about the ancestry of human? And how does this relate to what we find in the Book of Mormon?

John A. Tvedtnes, DNA and the Book of Mormon. John Tvedtnes examines the claim made by critics that DNA science desmonstrates the fraudulence of the Book of Mormon.

John A, Tvedtnes, "Interpreting the DNA Data and the Book of Mormon Part I," MeridianMagazine.com (17 July 2005) In this three-part series, LDS scholar, John Tvedtnes, examines the popular anti-Mormon claim that DNA research disproves the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

John A. Tvedtnes, "Interpreting the DNA Data and the Book of Mormon Part II," MeridianMagazine.com (17 July 2005) In this three-part series, LDS scholar, John Tvedtnes, examines the popular anti-Mormon claim that DNA research disproves the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

John A. Tvedtnes, "Interpreting the DNA Data and the Book of Mormon Part III," MeridianMagazine.com (17 July 2005) In this three-part series, LDS scholar, John Tvedtnes, examines the popular anti-Mormon claim that DNA research disproves the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

Michael F. Whiting, "DNA and the Book of Mormon: A Phylogenetic Perspective," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2003), 24-35 Some persons have announced that modern DNA research has conclusively proved that the Book of Mormon is false and that Joseph Smith was a fraud. These claims err scientifically in that they are based on the naive notion that DNA provides infallible evidence for ancestry and descent in sexually reproducing populations and that the results from such analyses are straightforward, objective, and not laden with assumptions. Moreover, proponents of this naive view blindly ignore decades of theory associated with DNA sequence evolution and data analysis and rarely speak to the extremely tentative nature of their conclusions.

Michael F. Whiting, "Does DNA Evidence Refute the Authenticity of the Book of Mormon?," (Provo, Utah: FARMS, January 2003) A 45-minute video presentation concerning DNA and the Book of Mormon. An excellent resource that explains the problems in drawing definitive conclusions about the Book of Mormon based on DNA findings.

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