Chapter III: Consistency of Style and Matter in the Book of Mormon

=13. The Consistency of the Book of Mormon= sustains belief in its Divine origin. The parts bear evidence of having been written at different times, and under widely varying conditions. The style of the component books is in harmony with the times and circumstances of their production. The portions which were transcribed from the plates bearing Mormon's abridgment contain numerous interpolations as comments and explanations of the transcriber; but in the first six books, which, as already explained, are the verbatim record of the smaller plates of Nephi, no such interpolations occur. The book maintains strict consistency throughout all its parts; no contradictions, no disagreements have been pointed out.

=14. A Marked Diversity of Style= characterizes the several parts.[806] From what has been said regarding the classes of plates which constitute the original records of the Book of Mormon, it is evident that the volume contains the compiled writings of a long line of inspired scribes extending through a thousand years, this time-range being exclusive of the earlier years of Jaredite history. Unity of style is not to be expected under such conditions; and, indeed, did such occur, it would be fatal to the claims made for the volume.

[806] See Note 1.