What Familiar Spirit Are Mormons Following?

What Familiar Spirit Are Mormons Following?

Does It Sound Familiar?
Mormons Claim that when we read the book of Mormon, we will recognize similar words, phrases and themes from the Bible. That really shouldn’t surprise us; over a dozen chapters from the Bible were lifted word for word from the King James Bible and inserted into the Book of Mormon. But Mormons still maintain that the familiarity one might feel while reading the Bible serves as verification that the Mormon scripture is from God. Mormons often refer to this recognizable similarity and say that the Book of Mormon has a “familiar spirit”.

Mormons will point to the Book of Isaiah in order to demonstrate this. They believe that Isaiah was referring to the Nephites (from the Book of Mormon) when he penned these words:

Isaiah 29:4
And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

Does This Predict the Discovery of the Plates?
Mormons read these words and find great comfort by interpreting them to predict the discovery of the Golden Plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. They believe that this verse predicts the discovery of the plates and the fact that they will sound and feel like Biblical scripture:

Mormon Apostle LeGrand Richards and "A Marvelous Work and Wonder"

“Now, obviously, the only way a dead people could speak ‘out of the ground’ or ‘low out of the dust’ would be by the written word, and this the people did through the book of Mormon. Truly it has a familiar spirit, for it contains the words of the prophets of the God of Israel” (LeGrand Richards, Marvelous Work and a Wonder, 1979 edition, pp. 67-68)

Is the 'Spirit' God-Given?
So, clearly, Mormons believe that this familiar spirit is God-given and positive affirmation that the Book of Mormon is truly scripture from God. But is that actually true? The Bible never speaks positively of “familiar spirits” and God never uses “familiar spirits” to confirm His presence or authenticate His Word. In fact, the Bible tells us that “familiar spirits” are spirit persons who are familiar or intimate with humans and speak to them through a witch or a spirit medium! In every case the person who has the “familiar spirit” is condemned by God. Let’s take a look at the evidence:

Deuteronomy 18:9-12
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Leviticus 20:27
A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.

1Chronicles 10:13
So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it…

2Chronicles 33:6
And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Isaiah 19:3
And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Let’s Take a Closer Look
As the evidence clearly indicates, every time the expression “familiar spirit” is used by God, it refers specifically to the presence of evil, derived through witchcraft or mysticism that does not come from God. Let’s take another look at the passage that Mormons use to support and validate the Mormon scriptures, but this time let’s look at it in its complete context (something Mormons often fail to do):

Isaiah 29:4
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

Clearly, the prophecy of Isaiah here does not refer to the future discovery of the plates used by Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Mormon. This passage describes the besieging of Jerusalem by the Assyrian army (which was cut off there by an angel). Jerusalem is called Ariel here, and God is using Isaiah to predict the future of the city and its people. And the prediction does not look good! But to misinterpret this passage to say that it predicts the discovery of the plates is irresponsible and misleading.

But is There Still a Spirit At Work?
In some ways, LeGrand Richards may be right when he says that the Book of Mormon truly “has a familiar spirit”. God may simply be using Mr. Richards to warn his chosen people about the true nature and source of the Book of Mormon. Mr. Richards may have been an unknowing tool of God when he warned us that a “familiar spirit” was at work in the Book of Mormon. The Bible tells us that it is a spirit that shares a common source with acts of “abomination”, “divination” and “enchantment”. The Bible tells us that the book of Mormon comes from a spirit that shares a common source with “enchanters”, “charmers”, “witches”, “wizards”, and “necromancers”. It comes from a spiritual source that is “against the word of the LORD”. It is also a spiritual source that produces “much evil in the sight of the LORD”. There is a spirit at work in the Book of Mormon, but is it the Spirit of God? Is it misleading the chosen people of God? Doesn't God tell us that anyone who follows a spirit like this “shalt be brought down”?