The Mormon Church teaches American Indians are descended from a lost tribe of Israel, but modern DNA test results contradict that tenet.
The DNA tests reveal the ancestors of the American natives came from Asia, not the Middle East, thereby casting doubt on many of the historical depictions found in the Book of Mormon, a 175-year-old book of religious facts the church regards as literal and without error, The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
The Book of Mormon is the central doctrine that divides The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from other Christian faiths.
Critics now insist the Mormon Church admit its mistake and apologize to millions of Native Americans it converted. Church leaders, however, dismiss the DNA test results as heresy, noting the prophet Joseph Smith proclaimed the Book of Mormon the "most correct of any book on Earth."
The Mormon leaders say the DNA test results are being twisted to attack the church.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
