Jan 09, 2019 mexico has the highest population of mormons outside the u. In 1909, one of the churchs most respected historians, brigham h. The book of mormon and the bible will grow together, 2 ne. For example, the data on armies and battle casualties indicate quite consistent growth. How could so many people have died at the battle of cumorah. Book of mormonpopulation and demographics fairmormon. Population growth and the book of mormon quantumleap42.
However, latinos are the fastestgrowing group in the church. I have written a little about book of mormon population numbers before, but i dont believe ive ever done it for the jaredites. And then whether that amount of population growth would even be plausible compared to other populations with. Number includes both lehis family and the mulekites who colonized during the same period. So, without knowing what this persons opinion is of the population growth it is impossible to answer your question. How you can join in the largest family history conference in the world. The churchs reported membership as of december 31, 2019 was 16,565,036. In the last 50 years, membership has increased tenfold. The mormon church has said it plans are necessary because urban growth in the area is inevitable. 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.
Thomas ford in his history of illinois wrote that there were by the end. Mormon church set to become worlds largest charisma news. May 01, 2020 my interest in researching the growth of the lds church began in 2002. Mormon growth continues to slow, especially in the us. Apologists may walk back population claims at their convenience, but they simultaneously undermine the validity of the book of mormon itself. Populations in the book of mormon by study and faith. One sees this from the size of actual armies in precolumbian america. In such an analysis, the assertions of population growth in the book of mormon approach the ridiculous. The book of mormon includes specific population numbers which make it possible to evaluate the authenticity. New approaches to the book of mormon brent lee metcalfe, editor. Latterday saint blogs is a portal for mainstream blogs about the church of jesus christ of latter. Calculating potential population purely from elapsed time take the form of the following equation. 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. John kunichs essay on book of mormon population sizes.
I only looked up and started skimming through the other essays or articles on this topic after writing most of this post. Absolute growth is greatest in latin america, but the rate of growth is highest in africa and the former soviet bloc. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of spanishlanguage. Mormon growth is down to about one and a half percent around the world and half that in the united states. Size of nephite and lamanite populations book of mormon research. In reading ether, how could there possibly be so many. 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.
Church statistics also show a 30% membership increase between 1990 and 2008a rate double general us population growth. First of all, the rapid population growth depicted in the book of mormon is highly improbable, if not completely impossible. Explore the connections in this period between religion and print culture. Mexico has the highest population of mormons outside the u. This is merely my own nonspecific commentary meaning im not replying to anyone specifically on book. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america objectives. Indeed, the population figures given in the book of mormon show a rather gradual population growth over the years. 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. Can you comment on the demographics of the book of mormon people. Mormon growth slows to its lowest level since 1937. As latterday saints we are urged to study the book of mormon and apply its teachings to our lives. 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.
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. 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. Populations in the book of mormon latterday saint blogs. When the value of n is small, the growth increases almost exponentially, as in equation 2. New almanac offers look at the world of mormon membership. When describing the lds population, he quotes others. 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. On the other hand, the nephites and lamanites, whose thousandyear history comprises most of the book of mormon ca. Resources to help you immerse yourself in the restoration. The claims made for the nephites in the book of mormon in this regard are summarized by vogel. In 1823, smith said an angel directed him to a buried book written on golden plates containing the religious history of an ancient people. Populations in the book of mormonvisit this post on my site. His best guess was an average annual rate of increase of 1. Mormon church growth, activity rate, and retention life.
The lord covenanted with enos to bring forth the book of mormon to the lamanites, enos 1. Understand the creation and publication of an important american religious text, the. Mormon portion of utah population steadily shrinking. The following is a brief excerpt from our 2014 vital stats report. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints membership. What it means to take upon the name of jesus christ. Better understand the expansive growth of printing in early nineteenthcentury america and how that affected society. Can you comment on the demographics of the book of mormon. Nov 20, 2007 so, without knowing what this persons opinion is of the population growth it is impossible to answer your question. Although the book of mormon is silent on population growth and decline as such, it does provide glimpses of how the numbers were growing. 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.
If the origin of the book of mormon could be proved to be other than that set forth by joseph smith. In mormon teaching, the lamanites were the ancestors of indigenous. Annual lds growth has progressively declined from over 5 percent in the late 1980s to less than 3 percent from 2000 to 2005. 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. 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. There are four major problems with book of mormon claims regarding the population of the americas. Number of mormons to peak at 20 million in 2045 mormonism 101. A collection of informative and visually appealing infographics relating to topics of mormonism. 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.
To be of good standing, all mormons must tithe, or give 10 percent of their gross income to the church. Latterday saint growth in the 21st century, after analyzing mormon membership figures, global population, and social trends. The first person to be baptized by the ldschurch was. Between 2000 and 2010, lds congregational growth was. In fact, roughly onethird of all american mormons 35% live in utah, the state founded by its early leaders. 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. Countries with the largest mormon populations worldatlas. 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. Mormons, living in the same country and culture that baptists do, just. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america. The book of mormon is the sacred text of mormonism. I began this blog in late 2007 to provide a forum to discuss lds growth developments and share information. The lords words will hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, 2 ne.
Nephitelamanite populations with the most conservative estimates possible. The book of mormon s own population data is consistent with this figure. But one of the top four churches not only shows consistent growth, but growth continues year by year and decade by decade. Size of nephite and lamanite populations book of mormon.
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. Youth invited to join face to face event with president and sister oaks. 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 peoples and precolumbian populations, fairmormon conference, 2003, online at archive book of mormon central, why hasnt lehis dna been found. 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. My interest in researching the growth of the lds church began in 2002. 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. Growth of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. For example, under a low population growth rate kunichs for mula predicts that. The growth of the mormon church is among the fastest of any denomination on the planet. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1985, p. 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.
The scientific search for nephite remains mormons in. As for the book of mormon, if it is a wholesale fraud, then it is a remarkable one. How many nephites the book of mormon at the bar of. The state planning office uses the countybycounty numbers to help estimate future population growth. 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. The mormons reported a population of ten thousand by late 1842.
The book of mormon tells the story of an ancient people who once lived in the americas, including a tribe known as the lamanites. 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. The book of mormon population growth rate would have to have been more than double that of the roman empire and other peers. What do we know about the numbers of nephites and lamanites. Aug 22, 2016 according to the pew research center, seven percent of u. Number of people in the book of mormon lds teachers toolbox. Most surprising stat the church stated the mormon population in utah grew around 10%. As is the case with most religions here in the united states, mormon growth is starting to slow. Nov 15, 2016 the book of mormons own population data is consistent with this figure. Lamb may have been the very first critic to suggest that the book of mormon has an unrealistic population growth rate. In 2018, there were 16,118,169 members worldwide with the highest population found in the united states at 6,592,195 members. Population growth in the book of mormon wednesday, october 10, 2012. I have also worked for the cumorah foundation since 2009 providing research assistance and resource development on lds growth and missionary work.
The mormon churchs financial growth has been fueled by sacred taxation tithing. The book of mormon was written for the intent that we may believe the bible, morm. An additional % live in california while 7% reside in idaho, 5% in nevada and 4% each in oregon and arizona. And then whether that amount of population growth would even be plausible compared to other populations with similar environments. 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. Sorenson, an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, salt lake city. 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. Yet there are bright spots in terms of international retention and member activity. Six reasons why mormons are beating baptists in church.
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. 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. Mormon population mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. As mormons believe in jesus christ, they are considered to be christians. Thus, his arguments about population growth are based on a weak reading of the text. For example, robert flanders simply states, the population of illinois trebled during each decade between 18201840 and doubled between 1840 and 1850. An obvious puzzle is how the lamanites could have become so much more numerous than the nephites.
How could so many people have died at the battle of. For the last 15 years, an average of 800 people have joined the lds church every day. 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. Book of mormon population sizes, advocates a growth rate of 0. 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. 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. Critics challenge the viability of the population size and growth of the book of mormon people. Nevertheless, ignoring the logistic nature of population growth was a.
Through a public records request, the salt lake tribune obtained the data from 1989 to 2004. The mormon church traditionally announces a statistical update during its april general conference. An essential requirement for any demographic study is to determine what growth rates to use for escalating numbers forward and backward. Book of mormon population statistics meridian magazine. Grant hardy1 despite the effort that went into the translation, joseph smith did not make the book the foundation of the church. 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. A closer examination of growth and retention data demonstrates that lds growth trends have been widely overstated. 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.