The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 14:10

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~600–592 BC

1830 Edition

And he saith unto me, Behold, there is, save it be, two churches: the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the Devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God, belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.

Influences

Acts 2:47 (KJV)
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Revelation 17:5 (KJV)
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Changes

And he saithd unto me,: Behold, there is,are save it be, two churches: only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the Ddevil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God, belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.

Simple English

He said to me: 'There are only two churches. One is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil. So whoever does not belong to the church of the Lamb of God belongs to that great church, which is the mother of evil things. She is the prostitute of all the earth.'

Paraphrase

He continued: 'Listen, there are really only two churches: the church of the Lamb of God, and the church of the Devil. If you don’t belong to the Lamb’s church, you belong to that great church—the mother of all corruption. She’s the prostitute of the whole earth.'

Notes

14:1-30

Both Joseph Smith’s father and Nephi’s father are described as having multiple dreams. In her book, Lucy Mack Smith recounts several of her husband’s visions, which were likely shared often within the family. One of these dreams is dated sixteen years before Joseph Smith obtained the plates:

"In 1811, we moved... to the town of Lebanon, New Hampshire. Soon after arriving here, my husband received another very singular vision, which I will relate..."

Readers have noted similarities between this account and the dream of Lehi in the Book of Mormon.

The following outlines parallels between Joseph Smith Sr.’s dream, as recorded in Lucy Smith's Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations, and Lehi’s dream in 1 Nephi 8, along with Nephi’s expanded description of the same vision in 1 Nephi 11-14.

  1. Both Joseph Smith's father and Lehi state they were traveling (1 Nephi 8:8; Smith, p. 58).
  2. Both mention a field (1 Nephi 8:4,9; Smith, p. 58).
  3. Both dreams compare the field to a world (1 Nephi 8:20; Smith, p. 58).
  4. Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Lehi have a guide (1 Nephi 8:5-6; Smith, p. 58).
  5. Both mention a broad road or roads (1 Nephi 12:17; Smith, p. 58).
  6. Both mention a narrow path (1 Nephi 8:20; Smith, p. 58).
  7. Both mention a stream of water (1 Nephi 8:13; Smith, p. 58).
  8. Both mention something extending along the bank of the stream (1 Nephi 8:19; Smith, p. 58).
  9. Both mention a tree (1 Nephi 8:10; Smith, p. 58).
  10. Both mention the beauty of the tree (1 Nephi 11:8; Smith, p. 58).
  11. Both trees bore fruit (1 Nephi 8:10; Smith, p. 58).
  12. Both compared the whiteness of the fruit to snow (1 Nephi 11:8; Smith, p. 58).
  13. Both Joseph Smith Sr. and Lehi ate of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:11; Smith, p. 58).
  14. Both found the fruit to be delicious (1 Nephi 8:11; Smith, p. 58).
  15. Both wanted their families to partake of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:12; Smith, p. 58).
  16. Both families came and partook of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:16; Smith, p. 58).
  17. After eating the fruit both experienced great joy (1 Nephi 8:12; Smith, pp. 58-59).
  18. Both mention a spacious building (1 Nephi 8:26; Smith, p. 59).
  19. Both indicate the building reached high into the air (1 Nephi 8:26; Smith, p. 59).
  20. Both buildings were filled with people (1 Nephi 8:27; Smith, p. 59).
  21. In both buildings the people were finely dressed (1 Nephi 8:27; Smith, p. 59).
  22. In both cases the people in the building pointed the finger of scorn at those partaking of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:33; Smith, p. 59).
  23. Both state they ignored the people in the building (1 Nephi 8:33; Smith, p. 59).
  24. Both state the meaning of the fruit is the pure love of God (1 Nephi 11:21-22; Smith, p. 59).
  25. Both state two members of the family are not present (1 Nephi 8:17; Smith, p. 59).
  26. Both mention the fall of the building (1 Nephi 11:36; Smith, p. 59)
  27. Both imply that pride was connected with the building or its inhabitants (1 Nephi 11:36; Smith, p. 59).

For a full treatment of this subject, including a side-by-side comparison of the above references, see Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, pp. 161–163.

14:10

According to FAIR (Faithful Answers, Informed Responses), the “great and abominable church” described in the Book of Mormon should not be understood as any single historical denomination. Rather, it represents all systems or influences that lead people away from God. FAIR notes that while some early Latter-day Saint leaders offered more specific identifications, such views were later corrected or abandoned and do not reflect official Church doctrine.

However, a review of historical statements from prominent LDS authorities demonstrates that earlier leaders did, at times, explicitly apply these terms to identifiable religious groups. For example, George Q. Cannon described those who organized persecution against the Church—including religious and political opponents—as belonging to the “mother of abominations” and the “whore of all the earth” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 25, p. 128). Orson Pratt, writing in The Seer, went further by teaching that the Roman Catholic Church was founded by the devil and that its authority derived from satanic origins (The Seer, p. 205). This line of interpretation reached a particularly explicit form in the writings of Bruce R. McConkie, who stated in the 1958 first edition of Mormon Doctrine that the Catholic Church was “the great and abominable church” described by Nephi (p. 130).

This explicit identification was removed in later editions. In the 1966 second edition of Mormon Doctrine, McConkie instead defined the “church of the devil” in broad, non-denominational terms as any organization—religious or otherwise—that leads people away from God (pp. 137–138). This shift reflects a clear movement within LDS thought away from earlier, more specific polemical interpretations toward a more generalized and symbolic understanding of the concept.