Dan Vogel (Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet [Signature Books, 2004]) and other critics have argued that Joseph Smith cribbed from the New Testament’s Twelve Apostles for the Nephite Twelve Disciples. In 3 Nephi 19:4, we read:
And it came to pass that on the morrow, when the multitude was gathered together, behold, Nephi and his brother whom he had raised from the dead, whose name was Timothy, and also his son, whose name was Jonas, and also Mathoni, and Mathonihah, his brother, and Kumen, and Kumenonhi, and Jeremiah, and Shemnon, and Jonas, and Zedekiah, and Isaiah-- now these were the names of the disciples whom Jesus had chosen-- and it came to pass that they went forth and stood in the midst of the multitude.
The Nephite twelve included two pairs of brothers, as did the Old World Twelve Apostles (i.e., Peter/Andrew and James/John). That such is not necessarily evidence of Joseph Smith merely paralleling the New Testament, and that such is easily explained as being a coincidence (as well as critics engaging in parallelomania), is seen by the original Twelve Apostles in this dispensation, which also included two pairs of brothers (i.e., Parley and Orson Pratt; Luke and Lyman Johnson).
Another related criticism is that the names “Timothy” and “Jonas” are anachronistic. To see a refutation of this, see:
