Coincidences happen, and the fact that two events are similar doesn't prove they are related.  But sometimes you can’t help wondering.  Here are some of the coincidences in Mormonism that I have found to be… well, interesting:

            •   Camora/Moroni & Cumorah/Moroni

                 Captain Kidd, the famous pirate, was rumored to have buried his legendary treasure on the East Coast of the United States, and many “treasure seekers” were digging for it during Joseph Smith's youth.   Capt. Kidd had been hanged in 1701 for crimes committed near a town called Moroni on the island of Camora.  (The spelling of Cumorah in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, incidentally, was Camorah. )

                   It has been suggested that Joseph Smith may have subconsciously associated the word Moroni and the word Camora, both of which were connected with buried treasure, as were the buried gold plates of the Book of Mormon.  Of course that can never be proven ––  but it is an interesting coincidence.

            •  Alma & The Westminster Confession

            In 1729 the Presbyterian Church in America adopted a statement of beliefs called The Westminster Confession.  Many phrases from the Confession are similar to phrases in the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon. For example:

            Westminster: “before the tribunal of Christ”  (Confession 33:1)

            Alma: “before the tribunal of God” (Alma 5:18)

            Westminster:  “our first parents” (Confession 6:1)
            Alma:  “our first parents” (Alma 42:2)

            Westminster: “the souls of the wicked...remain in darkness: (32:1)

            Alma: “the souls of the wicked...yea, in darkness...remain in this state” (40:14)

            Westminster: “their souls...return to God who gave them.” (32:1)

            Alma: “the spirits...are taken home to that God who gave them life.” (Alma 40:11)

            Westminster: “bodies...shall be united again to their souls.” (32:2)

            Alma: “the souls and bodies are re-united.” (Alma 40:20)

           Westminster: “The souls of the righteous.are received into the highest heavens”                    (32:1) 
          Alma: “The spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of                                      happiness.” (Alma 40:12)

           Westminster: “The souls of the wicked are cast into hell...and utter darkness.”                        (Confession 32:1)

           Alma: “The spirits of the wicked...shall be cast out into outer darkness.” (40:13)   

            Other Book of Mormon prophets besides Alma used terms that also occur in the Westminster Confession.  For example, Nephi uses the term carnal security.  That strange term is never found in the Bible, but it is found in chapter 33 of the Confession.  There is no doubt that Joseph Smith had access to a copy of the Confession, since his mother and three of his siblings had joined the Presbyterian church prior to his writing of the Book of Mormon.  Again, it could be argued that the similarities are coincidental, but they do seem rather remarkable.

            • The Dream & Deja Vu

            In the Book of Mormon, Nephi tells of a dream his father Lehi had –– one that is amazingly similar to a dream Joseph Smith’s own father had  –– one that he repeated frequently to the family when Joseph Jr. was growing up, and which he considered to be a “vision.”

            In this dream (in both the Lehi version and the Joseph Smith Sr. version) there is a remarkable tree that produces white fruit “delicious beyond description,” according to Joseph Sr., and “most sweet, above all that I ever had before tasted,” according to Lehi.  The tree was near a river, in both versions, and along the bank of the river, leading to the tree, there was a rope (according to Joseph Sr.) or an iron rod (according to Lehi). 

            Nearby was a “spacious building,” according to Joseph Sr., or a “great and spacious building,” according to Lehi, filled with people who were “very finely dressed,” according to Joseph Sr., or whose “manner of dress was exceeding fine,” according to Lehi.

            As Grant Palmer has pointed out, there are also some remarkable similarities between Joseph Smith’s father and Nephi’s father:  Both had many dreams, which they believed were divinely inspired.  Both had six sons, two with the same names (Sam and Joseph), and the fourth son in each case assumed family leadership from his father.  Both had difficulty procuring metal plates.  Both made a record of their own life and included at the beginning that they were “born of goodly parents.”

            All of these similarities, admittedly, could be coincidental.  But while translating the words of Nephi, Joseph Smith surely must have had a sense of deja vu.

            • Judith & Nephi

            One of Nephi’s exploits is remarkably similar to an incident found in the book of Judith, in the Apocrypha of the Catholic Bible, which Joseph Smith was familiar with.  The story in the Apocrypha goes like this:

            Judith was a devoted servant of God.  She was opposed by Holofernes, who was evil.  She sought help from the Lord.  She went to the city where Holofernes lived, entering the city by night, and found him asleep, drunk with wine.   She unsheathed his sword, then grabbed him by the hair, and then using his own sword, cut off his head.  She then departed, taking some of his possessions.  When she rejoined her people there was great rejoicing, and burnt offerings were offered to the Lord.

            Now, if you go back over the preceding paragraph, and substitute the name Nephi for Judith, and Laban for Holofernes, and “he” for “she,” you have the story of Nephi and Laban.  There are other details, of course, which don’t correspond, but the similarities are sufficient to make one wonder if the similarities might be a result of something other than coincidence.

            • Infant Baptism, ancient and modern

            During the intense religious struggles that took place in Upstate New York in Joseph Smith’s youth, which caused it to become known as the Burned-Over District, the hot topic of the day was baptism, and the controversy about baptism involved two questions: whether infants should be baptized, and whether the proper method was  immersion or sprinkling.  Apparently these same questions were being hotly debated among the Nephites.  The Book of Mormon specifies that baptism must be by immersion  and  Moroni devotes an entire chapter (Chapter 8) to condemnation of those who were advocating infant baptism. 

            Like the 19th Century Baptists, Moroni was vehement in his castigation of everyone who advocated infant baptism.  He wrote:  “He that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell.”

            It could be coincidental, of course, but it does seem strange that the controversy about baptism that was raging in Joseph Smith’s youth was also raging in Book of Mormon times. 

            • Swedenborg Redux

            Most Latter-day Saints are unaware that most of the distinctive doctrines of Mormonism are not found in the Book of Mormon.  They are, however, contained in the teachings of the Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, whose book, A Treatise Concerning Heaven and Hell, had recently been published in English. And the interesting coincidence is that those doctrines became part of Mormonism only after Joseph Smith had become familiar with Swedenborg’s work –– after the Book of Mormon had been published. 

            The Mormon doctrines that appear to have been adapted from Swedenborg include pre-existence, eternal progression, marriage for eternity, the three degrees of glory, continuing revelation, and the existence of millions of other earths populated by humans.  Joseph Smith’s “First Vision” is also similar to the story Swedenborg told of his first vision, in which God appeared to him in the midst of a strong, shining light.  Additional  details of the Swedenborg connection may be found in Chapter 7 of A Friendly Discussion.

            • The Civil War Prophecy

            The best-known prophecy of Joseph Smith was his prophecy that there would be war between the Northern and Southern States, beginning in South Carolina.  This prediction was made 28 years prior to the Civil War, which makes the prophecy appear remarkably prescient.  It appears less so, however, in light of a coincidence in timing.

            The Civil War prophecy was made on December 25, 1832.  Just four weeks earlier, South Carolina had passed an Ordinance of Nullification, stating that  a law passed by Congress did not apply to South Carolina, and on December 10 President Andrew Jackson had issued an order for military action if South Carolina did not back down.  Congress then passed a bill authorizing the President to use the Army and Navy against South Carolina. (Several months later, the state backed down.)

             If it were not for this coincidence in timing, this indeed would have been a remarkable prophecy.   
    

            • Biblical Echoes

            We’ve discussed the similarities in Nephi’s beheading of Laban and the beheading of Holofernes by Judith in the Apocrypha.  There are also a number of stories in the Book of Mormon which resemble stories in the Bible.  For example:

             In the Bible, Salome danced before the king, and caused the decapitation of John the Baptist.  In the Book of Mormon, the daughter of Jared danced before the king, and caused a decapitation.

            In the Bible, Daniel deciphered handwriting on the wall.  In the Book of Mormon Aminadi deciphered handwriting on the wall.

            In the Bible, Paul fell to the earth when Jesus appeared to him and asked, “Why persecutist me?”  In the Book of Mormon Alma fell to the earth when an angel appeared  and asked “Why persecutist thou the church of God?”

            In the Bible, David single-handedly saved his people by killing Goliath with his sling, causing the enemy to flee.  In the Book of Mormon, Alma single-handedly saved his people by killing six enemy soldiers with his sling, after which he caused the rest to flee.

            In the Bible, there are many other events that appear in similar (though not identical) form in the Book of Mormon.  For example, in his book An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins, Grant Palmer lists twenty chronological events in Lehi’s journey to the promised land that match twenty  events that happened to Moses in his journey to the promised land.

            • Masonry and Mormonism

            The LDS Temple ceremonies are sacred to Latter-day Saints, and the ceremonies of Masonry are also secret, so it would not be appropriate to discuss them here.  Suffice it to say that the Church admits many similarities between the rituals of Mormonism and Masonry, and explains that this is because Masonic ceremonies are a corruption of rites connected with King Solomon’s temple (although most historians trace Masonry back to only the 16th Century).  Among the overt similarities are the square and compass, sun stones, moon stones, the all-seeing eye, clasped hand grip, and the beehive, all of which are on Mormon temples.

            The strange coincidence, however, concerns the timing of Mormonism’s adoption of Masonic symbols and rituals.  Joseph Smith was initiated into Masonry on March 15, 1842.  Six weeks later, he introduced the temple endowment ceremony, which admittedly has many similarities to Masonic ritual.  Until that time, the church followed the teaching of the Book of Mormon, which emphatically denounced secret societies.