View source for Question: Were the Three Nephites of the Book of Mormon based upon three of the "lying prophets among the savages" in Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War''?

{{FairMormon}}
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==Question: Were the Three Nephites of the Book of Mormon based upon three of the "lying prophets among the savages" in Gilbert Hunt's ''The Late War''?==
===Critics' comparison: three "Indian prophets" are compared to the "three disciples of Jesus who should tarry <ref name="latewarcomparison">Chris Johnson, Duane Johnson, "A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain," http://wordtreefoundation.github.io/thelatewar/</ref>===
[[File:Johnson comparison late war bom three prophets.jpg|frame|700px|center|Chris Johnson, Duane Johnson, ""A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain," <nowiki>http://wordtreefoundation.github.io/thelatewar/</nowiki>]]

===3 Nephi 28:4 talks of "the three disciples of Jesus" while ''The Late War'' talks of "three of the Indian prophets" who were among the "lying prophets among the savages"===
{{s|3|Nephi|28|4}}: 
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4 And when he had spoken unto them, he turned himself unto <span style="color:blue">the three</span>, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father?
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{{s|4|Nephi|1|37}}:
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37 Therefore the true believers in Christ, and the true worshipers of Christ, (among whom were <span style="color:blue">the three disciples of Jesus</span> who should tarry) were called Nephites, and Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites.
</blockquote>

''The Late War'' 35 (p. 128) {{link|url=https://archive.org/stream/latewarbetweenun00inhunt#page/128/mode/2up}}
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19 And he marched with his army through the wilderness more than an hundred miles, to a town built upon a place called by the savages the Holy-Ground, where <span style="color:red">three of the Indian prophets</span> dwelt.

20 Now <span style="color:red">there were lying prophets among the savages, even as there were in the days of old, among the children of Israel; and they prophesied according to their own wishes</span>;

21 And those of shallow understanding believed them, and were led into a snare, whereby their whole tribe was night being destroyed.
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===It seems unlikely that Joseph Smith would base the idea of three righteous disciples on the story of three "lying prophets among the savages"===

One critic of the Church points to the presence of "Three Indian Prophets" and "False Indian prophets" as evidence of similarity between the Book of Mormon and ''The Late War''.<ref>Jeremy Runnells, "Letter to a CES Director" (October 2014 revision).</ref>

It seems unlikely that Joseph Smith would base three righteous disciples of Jesus Christ, who would remain on earth until Christ's return in a manner similar to the Apostle John, on three "lying prophets among the savages" who "prophesied according to their own wishes."
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{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]

[[es:Pregunta: Fueron los tres nefitas del Libro de Mormón basa en tres de los "profetas mentirosos entre los salvajes" en el libro de Gilbert Hunt ''La Última Guerra''?]]
[[pt:Pergunta: Foram os três nefitas do Livro de Mórmon com base em três dos "profetas que encontram-se entre os selvagens" em ''A Última Guerra'' por Gilbert Hunt?]]