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BOOK OF MORMON - SECTION 2
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18
In 1820 Joseph Smith claimed that he saw God and Jesus Christ. The two were floating above him in the air and looked identical. Joseph alleges that Jesus Christ told him about buried golden plates wherein the history of Ancient Americans was contained. In due time Joseph retrieved the plates and translated them into the "Book Of Mormon". Mormons consider the Book Of Mormon to be the most correct book on earth.
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You've heard it said many times by the LDS church. "The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion." This phrase is the basis for a very dangerous form of pseudo-logic employed by true-believing Mormons.
Here's what every Mormon missionary tries to get every investigator to do and believe:
1. Read the Book of Mormon.
2. Pray to Heavenly Father for a witness that the Book of Mormon is true.
3. If you have any warm or pleasant feelings as you pray, that is the spirit testifying to you that the Book of Mormon is true.
4. If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith MUST be a true prophet of God.
5. If Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God, then the LDS church MUST be God's only true church on the face of the Earth and you need to be baptized so that you can receive Heavenly Father's blessings, especially Eternal Life, which is living forever in the glorious presence of our Heavenly Father.
Most true-believing Mormons really believe this. And missionaries know that if they can get an investigator to just READ the Book of Mormon, that the rest will follow and they will be baptized. They never stop for a moment to think about the flaws or gaps in the logic of those five steps, because to them, a testimony isn't about logic. It's about faith. And for the true-believing Mormon, faith will always trump logic and other pesky details, like evidence. It doesn't matter that DNA evidence shows that indigenous Americans originated from Asia and not Jerusalem. It doesn't matter that the evidence shows that Joseph Smith was a local con-man who crafted the Book of Mormon with his buddies using ideas and writings of others at the time. It doesn't matter that Egyptian language experts have shown that Joseph Smith's "translation" of the Book of Abraham wasn't even close. What matters is that warm or tingly feeling you get when you pray to know that the Book of Mormon is true. Because that means that Joseph Smithwas a prophet and the church is true. That's why Mormonism will always have followers, no matter how obvious the evidence that it is based on fraud becomes.
Whether these Mormon pseudo-logic steps were carefully crafted by someone, or the church arrived at them by accident, the fact remains that the approach is both brilliant and insidious.
If it seems odd to you that a lifetime of religious belief and worship, often extending for generations, would be based on a tingly or warm feeling--a psychosomatic response to the suggestion that The Book of Mormon is true--then congratulations. You are most likely immune to this twisted Mormon version of logic.
But don't underestimate the stubborn determination of those who have received their testimony this way. Not only will many of them never be swayed, but many of them will also reject anyone else who stops drinking the Kool-Aid, including those with whom they have formed relationships or even marriages. Broken friendships and families are just some of the sad byproducts of this Mormon pseudo-logic.
| “Yea, their runty legs did buckle.” 1 Lehi 29:13-56
Over the years, the stories told of the Golden Plates and the Hill Cumorah were always intriguing. The hill was supposedly filled with Nephite records (enough to fill several wagon loads) and of course the sword of Laban was there as well. The following is from Brigham Young as he recounts the experience of Cowdery and Smith:
"Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light, but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in corners and along the walls.
"The first time they went there the SWORD OF LABAN hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: 'This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ." I tell you this is coming not only from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were familiar with it, and who understood it... I take the liberty of referring to those things so they will not be forgotten and lost." (19 Journal of Discourses 38)
Now, if Moroni was the last surviving person of his race, and he was given the charge to finish the Book of Mormon and deposit the plates in a spot which the Lard commanded him, which just happened to be in upstate New York. And if the limited geography theory is correct, then not only did Moroni have to carry the very heavy Golden Plates to upstate New York, but he also had to carry the Liahona, the Sword of Laban and those wagon loads of Nephite records, all without the benefit of wagons or horses or oxen to pull this wagon train of Nephite treasures.
The first book of Lehi tells us of his struggles. Please cross reference with Zelph 3:29-85.
"Yea, I did use my mighty tapir and herd of llama to carry the sacred works of my people. I Moroni, being a man of large stature, not unlike Nephi of old, I nevertheless am unable to fulfill these mighty commands alone. And it came to pass, that many tapir perished under the exceedingly great weight of the sacred works of my people. Yea, their runty legs did buckle under the weight of so mighty a task. Yea verily despite the buckling of runty tapir legs, I know that God shall prepare a way for his commands to be fulfilled. And it came to pass, that I did use the skins of the buckled tapir as sleds to tow the sacred works of my people by the power of the mighty llama of which I possessed great abundance. And it came to pass, that as I endeavored to coax my mighty llama herd to pull the sacred works of my people on the sled skins of the buckled tapir, I did beseech the Lord in prayer. "Oh Lord, maker of the mighty tapir which so valiantly carried my brethren into many battles, yea even unto theirdestruction! Oh great one who sawest fit to buckle the legs of my formerly mighty tapir whose skins are now used as sleds to be towed behind my herd of mighty llama, hear my prayer. Yea, my llama herd will not yield unto the enticing of my words and whip. Bless them from the chaffing of the cords, which bind them to the tapir skin sleds, which carry the sacred works of my people. Yea Lord, I know not what to do. How shall I fulfill the command of taking many heavy sacred works of my people, and deposit them in the enchanted hill which the gentiles will one day confuse as the place of the final battle of my people with the Lamanites?”
Unfortunately this is where the record ends. We may never know just how he did it. Regardless, Moroni was a man unlike any other. Yea verily and amen.
| More bizarre but true Mormon History - starting 183 years ago yesterday...
September 22, 1823 - "The Angel" Moroni tells Smith to return to the Hill Cumorah in a Year with his oldest brother, Alvin
"Both early Mormon and non-Mormon sources agree that on 22 September 1823 Moroni required Smith to bring his oldest brother Alvin to the hill the following year in order to obtain the gold plates."
One of Smith's devout followers, Joseph Knight, recorded Smith's relating that the following dialog occurred on the hill in 1823:
"Joseph says, 'when can I have it?' The answer was the 22nt Day of September next if you Bring the right person with you. Joseph says, 'who is the right Person?' The answer was 'your oldest Brother.' But before September [1824] Came his oldest Brother Died. Then he was Disapointed and did not [k]now what to do." (Jessee 1976a, 31; also Hartley 1986, 20)
The Smiths' Palmyra neighbor Willard Chase reported:
"He then enquired when he could have them, and was answered thus: come one year from this day, and bring with you your oldest brother, and you shall have them. This spirit, he said was the spirit of the prophet who wrote this book, and who was sent to Joseph Smith, to make known these things to him. Before the expiration of the year, [Smith's] oldest brother died." (1833, 241-42, emphasis in original)
Smith family neigbor Fayette Lapham remembered that Joseph Smith's father told him in 1830 that "Joseph asked when he could have them; and the answer was, 'Come in one year from this time, and bring your oldest brother with you; then you may have them.' During that year, it so happened that his oldest brother died."
November 19, 1823 - Alvin dies suddenly
"The intensity of the Smith family's despair over Alvin's death less than two months after Joseph's visit the the Hill Cumorah is understandable. Alvin's last words to his brother Joseph were to "do everything that lies in your power to obtain the Record. Be faithful in receiving instruction, and in keeping every commandment that is given to you. Your brother Alvin must leave you." (L. M. Smith 1853, 88)
"Alvin's final charge underscored the dilemma Joseph now faced: he had been commanded to meet the angelic treasure-guardian at the hill the following 22 September 1824 and to bring Alvin with him."
"By some accounts, Smith had been violently jolted three times and severely chastised for disobeying instructions during his first visit, and Mormon convert Joseph Knight wrote that now Smith "did not [k]now what to do" (Jessee 1976a, 31). One can only imagine the turmoil Smith would have experienced during the ten months between the death of his eldest brother on 19 November 1823 and his next solitary visit to the hill." - Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, p.135-136
September 22, 1824 - "God's Messenger" Moroni asks Joseph where his brother Alvin is
"Joseph hoped to obtain the plates on 22 September 1824 even though he did not bring Alvin. The day was a stinging disappointment. According to Smith's 1832 autobiography, the messenger told him "to come again in one year from that time [1823]. I did so [in 1824], but did not obtain them."
"His friend Joseph Knight wrote, "But when the 22nt Day of September Came he went to the place and the personage appeard [sic] and told him he Could not have it now" (Jessee 1976a, 31). Lorenzo Saunders remembered that Smith told him, "At the end of the time he went to the place to get the plates the angel asked where his Brother was. I told him he was dead." Fayette Lapham recalled the story as "Joseph repaired to the place again, and was told by the man who still guarded the treasure, that, inasmuch as he could not bring his oldest brother, he could not have the treasure yet" (L. Saunders 1884a, 10; Lapham 1870, 2:386).
"As Smith left the hill in disappointment on 22 September 1824, apparently the message he had received was: without your dead brother Alvin, you cannot have the gold lates."
"When Smith returned a year later, the spirit asked about his brother. Learning he was dead, the spirit "commanded him to come again, in just one year, and bring a man with him." - Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, p.136
September 29, 1824 - Joseph Smith Sr. denies in local newspaper to dissecting Alvin's body
Wayne Sentinel 2 (29 Sept. 1824): Page 3, prints an advertisement placed by Joseph Sr. dated "Sept. 25th, 1824," denying "reports [that] have been industriously put in circulation, that my son, Alvin, had been removed from the place of his internment and dissected."
Smith chastised town gossips for disturbing the peace of mind of a still-grieving parent, and then made two comments that allude to his son Joseph as target of such gossip:
"[these rumors] deeply wound the feelings of relations [and] have been stimulated more by desire to injure the reputation of certain persons than a philanthropy for the peace and welfare of myself and friends." - Wayne Sentinel, 29 Sept.-3 Nov. 1824; Kirkham 1951, 1:147; Rich 1970, 256
Not exactly faith-promoting. No wonder you don't hear this part of the story in Sunday School. This is not a testimony killer, but it sure is a bizarre story to explain away.
Why did the angel Moroni require Alvin to get the gold plates?
Why didn't the Angel Moroni know Alvin was dead?
| Immediately after publishing the Book of Mormon in 1830, Joseph claimed to receive a revelation that Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery were to go to Toronto, Canada to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon. They failed to do so, (partly because the revelation sent them to the wrong town) and upon their return, accused Joseph Smith of falsely prophesying.
“Joseph looked into the hat in which he placed the stone, and received a revelation that some of the brethren should go to Toronto, Canada, and that they would sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon. Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery went to Toronto on this mission, but they failed entirely to sell the copyright, returning without any money.
"Joseph was at my father's house when they returned. I was there also, and am an eye witness to these facts. Jacob Whitmer and John Whitmer were also present when Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery returned from Canada. Well, we were all in great trouble; and we asked Joseph how it was that he had received a revelation from the Lord for some brethren to go to Toronto and sell the copyright, and the brethren had utterly failed in their undertaking. Joseph did not know how it was, so he inquired of the Lord about it, and behold the following revelation came through the stone: "Some revelations are of God: some revelations are of men: and some revelations are of the devil." So we see that the revelation to go to Toronto and sell the copyright was not of God, but was of the devil or of the heart of man.”
- David Witmer, AN ADDRESS TO ALL BELIEVERS IN CHRIST, 1887, http://www.irr.org/mit/address4.html
Oliver Cowdery related his own account of Joseph Smith's "revelation" to sell the Book of Mormon copyright:
"that some among you will remember which sent Bro. Page and me, so unwisely, to Toronto, with a prediction from the Lord by "Urim and Thummim," that we would there find a man anxious to buy the "First Elder's copyright." I well remember we did not find him, and had to return surprised and disappointed. But so great was my faith, that in going to Toronto, nothing but calmness pervaded my soul, every doubt was banished, and I as much expected that Bro. Page and I would fulfill the revelation as that we should live. And you may believe, without asking me to relate the particulars that it would be no easy task to describe our desolation and grief. Bro. Page and I did not think that god would have deceived us through "Urim and Thummin [sic], " exactly as came the Book of Mormon.
- Oliver Cowdery, Defense, p. 229
So why did Joseph Smith try selling the Book of Mormon copyright?
"Joseph Capron wrote that Smith hoped his volume would "relieve the family from all pecuniary embarrassment." There is evidence from Mormon sources to confirm Capron's recollections. Smith himself admitted in his unpublished history that "he sought the plates to obtain riches."
"Hyrum Smith wrote to his grandfather, Asael, that he believed that service to the Lord would bring the family their long-awaited prosperity."
"In October 1829, Joseph wrote excitedly to Oliver Cowdery that Josiah Stowell had a chance to obtain five or six hundred dollars and that he was going to buy copies of the Book of Mormon. Lucy Mack Smith said that when it was finally published in March 1830 the family had to sell copies of the book to buy food."
"The economic situation of the Smith families was so desperate at this time that Joseph tried to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon. Hiram Page wrote with bitterness years later that the prophet heard he could sell the copyright of any useful book in Canada and that he then received a revelation that "this would be a good opportunity to get a handsome sum.""
"Page explained that once expenses were met the profits were to be "for the exclusive benefit of the Smith family and was to be at the disposal of Joseph." Page indicated that they hoped to get $8,000 for the copyright and that they traveled to Canada covertly to prevent Martin Harris from sharing in the dividend. Smith evidently believed that Harris was well enough off while his own family was destitute. When Page, Cowdery, and Knight arrived at Kingston, Ontario, they found no buyer."
"Martin Harris apparently learned of what was done, and Joseph guaranteed him in writing that he would share in any profits made from the subsequent sales of the book. In the spring of 1830 Harris walked the streets of Palmyra, trying to sell as many copies of the new scripture as he could. Shortly after Joseph Smith and Jesse Knight saw him in the road with books in his hand, he told them "the books will not sell for nobody wants them."
- Marvin S. Hill, Quest for Refuge, p.20-21
So when selling the Book of Mormon didn't make them money as they had hoped, Smith and company organized a church.
| In ancient days, a people came from across the sea and settled in a distant, uncivilized land. In this wilderness, the people struggled to establish themselves; there was much plotting, intrigue, and no little bloodshed. In time, though, the people gained dominion over the land and its savage inhabitants. The people prospered, building great cities, roads, and public works. Learning and trade flourished under their leadership. After several centuries, however, the land and the people faltered as internal political and military turmoil strained and eventually weakened the people and their institutions. The savage peoples around them seized the opportunity and attacked relentlessly. The civilized people were driven back, and bit by bit, they lost their lands and their freedoms.
Much of this history has been lost, but it is said that in the darkest hour, a mighty leader came forth to marshal his people and protect them. In a battle at a famous hill, he and his people stood alone against the combined forces of his foes. Sadly, this great leader could not prevent the inevitable, and the barbaric tide swept the once mighty people away. This last great leader is rumored to have taken the greatest treasure of his people, a testament to the living Christ, and secreted it away so that it might come forth in the latter days. Some people even say that this great leader himself will rise again to call the people to their duties.
The savage tribes that replaced the civilized people upon the face of the land did not care for or understand the great works that they had left behind. After a century or two, there was little evidence to suggest that the civilized nation had ever existed. The buildings and monuments tumbled down; the language was lost, as too were the learning and the trade. Some religious teachers claimed that this fall was the act of God on a people who had turned from him. It is true, that after missionaries returned to the barbarous land and converted its heathen folk, that they changed. They became a united people, and although often still prone to savage civil wars, they eventually filled the world with their beliefs and government.
The history I describe here is not the BOM, of course. It is a very abridged history of the Roman Empire in Britain. There are numerous parallels between the story of the BOM and the history of Rome in England. I find it instructive to look at these similarities, but even more so to look at the divergences. Rome and the Roman culture were in England for nearly 500 years. It was well entrenched and successful, but it was not the native culture, having been imposed from outside. And less than 100 years or so after it collapsed, a very different culture had taken its place. Successive invasions from Europe over the later centuries nearly erased every evidence that the Romans had ever been in England. But the evidence is still there.
Archeology continues to find the most amazing Roman ruins buried about the English countryside and under English cities. DNA tests show the genetic contribution that the Romans and their legions brought to Britain. In short, despite the interval of millennia, and the complete disappearance of Roman life in Britain, a comprehensive picture of Roman England has emerged. While proof for King Arthur and the Holy Grail may never be found, there is no questioning that the Roman culture and way of life flourished in Britain.
The Book of Mormon makes similar historical claims. A great civilization founded far from its homeland that eventually collapses and is lost in the dust of history. But where we find substantial corroborating evidence for the history of Rome in England, there is nothing to support the story of a Middle Eastern culture being established anywhere in the Americas. So when a TBM says to you that the BOM days were a long time ago and that finding evidence from so long ago is hard, tell the TBM about real history and the evidence that is available in support of it.
| About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."
"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."
"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years."
"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the
following sequence:
- from bondage to spiritual faith;
- from spiritual faith to great courage;
- from courage to liberty;
- from liberty to abundance;
- from abundance to complacency;
- from complacency to apathy;
- from apathy to dependence;
- From dependence back into bondage"
In her 1805 History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution, Mercy Otis Warren sounded the same alarm. Her fear was that the rising generation, quickly growing rich, would forget God and the struggle for freedom. Her history was more a sermon than an objective analysis.
It is no surprise to see the same warning to the fictional Nephites in 1830. They are simply a vehicle in a moral melodrama designed to illustrate principles already illuminated by colonial writers.
http://www.postmormon.org/tories.htm
| From the Book of Mormon:
4:13 Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief. 4:14 And now, when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that: Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise. 4:15 Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law. 4:16 And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass. 4:17 And again, I knew that the Lord had delivered Laban into my hands for this cause--that I might obtain the records according to his commandments. 4:18 Therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword. 4:19 And after I had smitten off his head with his own sword, I took the garments of Laban andput them upon mine own body; yea, even every whit; and I did gird on his armor about my loins.
1 Nephi 4:13 through 4:19. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_ne/4
| Many individuals in the Mormon Church find the witnesses to the Book of Mormon very compelling evidence. In fact, many who are puzzled by other inconsistencies and problems with the production of the book of Mormon rely on the fact that the witnesses gave their testimony of the book. For them, the statement of the witnesses “proves” the book’s authenticity. Indeed, the church believes that this testimony is of such importance that it has been added to the introduction to the book.
Here, that though is expressed succinctly by Elder Dallin Oaks:
“Reject [the testimony of the three witnesses] one may, but how does one explain three men of good character uniting and persisting in the published testimony to the end of their lives in the face of great ridicule and other personal disadvantage? Like the Book of Mormon itself, there is no better explanation than is given in the testimony itself, the solemn statement of good and honest men who told what they saw.” (Oaks 1999)
The issue of character and reliability of the witnesses is outside the scope of this paper. I am more concerned with Oaks conclusion that “there is no better explanation than is given in the testimony itself”. There are, in fact, better explanations as I will demonstrate.
Testimony proves to be a strong influencing force on human belief. Traditions and culture are transmitted orally and we have a strong compunction to believe what we are told by authorities, especially if they are from our in-group. Humans in general have a strong tendency to believe anecdotal evidence and we also tend to believe that persons are unlikely to lie or cheat. Thus there is a normal human compulsion to believe such statements as the witnesses delivered as strong evidence.
Since Joseph Smith left no physical artifact of Book of Mormon, we are left in a state of doubt as to the origin of the book. The witness’s statements provide the strongest evidence that the plates were not just a product of Joseph’s creative mind. Here we have 3 individuals on one instance and 8 on another who produced written affidavits testifying to the reality of the plates. If you believe the honest of the individuals, as Oaks implies, what other possible explanation is there?
But is this compelling evidence to anyone other than someone who already believes? Let us look at a very similar case, James Jesse Strang was a Church member who claimed that an angelic visitor had given Strang himself the mantel of authority upon Joseph Smith’s death. Strang claimed that an angel appeared to him and granted him the Urim and Thummim. This tool showed him where another set of plates were buried which he retrieved and translated similar to Joseph Smith.
On September 15, 1845 Strang led four witnesses to a hill:
“The witnesses, in signed statements, said that Strang led them to an oak tree about a foot in diameter and that Strang asked them to look for any sign the sod had been disturbed. The witnesses reported none. The four men dug up the tree, while Strang kept his distance. After digging through the topsoil and subsoil, the men worked with a pickax and shovel to dig through the clay. Suddenly the shovel clunked against something—a stone about a foot square and three inches thick. Below the stone was a case of slightly baked clay embedded in the hard clay soil. Inside were three plates of brass, small enough to fit in a hand.
“On one of the six sides of the three plates was a landscape view, apparently of the prairie and the range of hills where the men had dug. On another was a drawing of a man wearing a cap (or a crown?) with a scepter in his hand; he was surrounded by symbols that had direct parallels to the Mormon Church hierarchy. The witnesses add the other four sides are very closely covered with what appears to be alphabetic characters but in a language of which we have no knowledge’” (Van Nord 1988, p.24)
Strang displayed the plates to his followers and went on to translate them. According to Strang the plates were written in a lost Levitical language and were the record of Rajah Manchou of Vorito. These were translated as the Book of the Law of the Lord. Later seven more witnesses attested to the truthfulness of the record. Their signed statement reads:
“Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, to whom this Book of the Law of the Lord shall come, that James J. Strang has the plates of the ancient Book of the Law of the Lord given to Moses, from which he translated this law, and has shown them to us. We examined them with our eyes, and handled them with our hands. The engravings are beautiful antique workmanship, bearing a striking resemblance to the ancient oriental languages; and those from which the laws in this book were translated are eighteen in number, about seven inches and three-eights wide, by nine inches long, occasionally embellished with beautiful pictures.
“And we testify unto you all that the everlasting kingdom of God is established, in which this law shall be kept, till it brings in rest and everlasting righteousness to all the faithful.” (Strang 1856)
Like Joseph, Strang produced 11 witnesses—totaling 12 for each book when counting each prophet respectively. But not only did Strang match Smith’s story, he one upped him on several fronts. Where Joseph only displayed his plates well after his acquisition, Strang brought witnesses with him. And Strang could not have possibly pre-planted the plates because, according to his witnesses, the plates were recovered from underneath a mature tree. Strang also went on to display the plates to several members of his congregation. Like Smith’s witnesses, there is no public record of any of them recanting their witness and the character of the witnesses has not been impugned.
One is left to question: if the statement from the witnesses is sufficient evidence to establish the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, would not a higher degree of similar evidence be sufficient to establish the truthfulness of the Book of the Law of the Lord? The answer that any Mormon would give is no. Even if the witness’s character is good and there is no particular motivation to distort the truth, such statements are not compelling evidence to convince the unconvinced.
In actuality, these sorts of statements and testimonies are really quite common. You can find individuals who will swear by their visions of the Virgin Mary, UFO sightings, meeting reincarnated relatives, and seeing ghosts, fairies and leprechauns. There is a whole body of evidence to suggest how these metaphysical experiences can be produced by normal psychological events. However, we need not go into that for our purposes here. It is sufficient to demonstrate that this sort of evidence can be used to validate many things that you don’t believe in, whatever your belief system. It is therefore not good evidence.
We must then dismiss the witness evidence of the Book of Mormon and try to establish its validity through other means. It does not fair very well by those tests either.
- Oaks, Dallin H. 1999, ‘The Witness Martin Harris’, Ensign, May 1999, p. 35
- Strang, James J. 1856, The Book of the Law of the Lord, Self-published
- Van Noord, Roger 1988, King of Beaver Island: The Life and Assassination of James Jesse Strang, University of Illinois Press Chicago
| The LDS Church seeks to establish the following premises:
(1) The Book of Mormon is complex.
(2) The complexity in The Book of Mormon could not have been created by an uneducated and barely literate farm boy.
From the above premises, the Church concludes that Smith must have received supernatural help to create The Book of Mormon.
As a Mormon missionary, I was taught to use this line of argument and did so successfully.
Those who believe the Book of Mormon is not the result of a supernatural process may argue against premise (1) or (2), the conclusion, or some combination of the three.
I believe it is a mistake to argue against premise 1. The Book of Mormon is complex. It contains the following features, which, to me, illustrate its complexity:
- Recursive, nested stories within stories
- Use of characters who are editors and abridgers of accounts purportedly written by other characters
- Dozens of interwoven stories
- A fairly elaborate dream sequence and interpretation
- Several 19th century-style sermons (King Benjamin’s address)
- Interweaving of 19thy century religious and sociopolitical views
- Massive plagiarism, with phrases and text and storylines adopted from many sources, including especially the literature of the American revolutionary war, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Apocrypha, and more.
- Some structural features, such as chiasmus, indicating familiarity with 18th century poetry patterns.
- A storyline that weaves into the storyline of the Bible.
- An internally consistent geography that seems to map to Palestine, but uses New England place names
LDS Church leaders and apologists are well aware of this complexity, and they use it to defend the Book of Mormon. Said LDS apostle Dalin Oaks:
"Those who rely exclusively on scholarship reject revelation and fulfill Nephi's prophecy that in the last days men "shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance" (2 Ne. 28:4). The practitioners of that approach typically focus on a limited number of issues, like geography or 'horses' or angelic delivery or nineteenth century language patterns. They ignore or gloss over the incredible complexity of the Book of Mormon record.
Our side will settle for a draw, but those who deny the historicity of the Book of Mormon cannot settle for a draw. They must try to disprove its historicity--or they seem to feel a necessity to do this--and in this they are unsuccessful because even the secular evidence, viewed in its entirety, is too complex for that."
Provo, Utah, 29 October 1993 , "The Historicity of the Book of Mormon." Talk for FARMS.
People who claim that the Book of Mormon is simple – perhaps to justify their belief that Smith made it up – play into the hands of Oaks. Oaks can win this argument, and he knows that he can. Moreover, as he himself said, all he really needs is a draw.
The Book of Mormon defense team is also confident in their ability to defend premise 2 - that an uneducated farm boy could not have created the complexity of The Book of Mormon. Again, they have good reason to be confident. Prior to 1830, Smith was not well read. Nor was he studious. He was a busy boy, busy chasing buried treasures and skirts. Yes, he was intelligent, creative, charismatic, and capable of spinning a yarn. But where is the evidence that he had the educational background or scholarly temperament to write the Book of Mormon?
The most difficult challenge for the BoM defense team is when their opponent accepts premises 1 and 2, but rejects their conclusion: YES, The Book of Mormon is complex. YES, it is improbable Smith produced it. But NO, Smith did not receive supernatural help to make it. He certainly received help, but his “angels” were no more supernatural than David Copperfield’s assistants.
The Book of Mormon defense team constructs a straw man: they argue that the only plausible alternative to Smith receiving supernatural help is that he wrote the book on his own - an alternative they feel comfortable with because they can attack it on the strengths of premises 1 and 2. So when premises 1 and 2 are accepted but the conclusion is rejected, the Book of Mormon defense team is left without its favorite straw man. They are obliged to confront a vast body of evidence indicating that Smith had help.
Especially difficult is the evidence for the defense team is the Spalding-Rigdon Theory. It is difficult because it is a purely naturalistic explanation of the origins of the Book of Mormon that:
- acounts for the complexity of the Book of Mormon as the work of multiple authors requiring a merger of texts and a final editing job performed under time pressure; and
- makes Smith's education level irrelevant because he was not responsible for the content of the book.
The complexity of the Book of Mormon is a clue to its convoluted origins, just as the complexity of our bodies is a clue to our own convoluted evolution.
| In 1 Nephi 8 we read:
And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness he spake unto us, saying: Behold, I have dreamed a dream; And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field. And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy. And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen. And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.
Here is where Joseph Smith's father comes in with his dream, described by his wife Lucy Mack Smith, a couple of years before the BoM was announced. It's found in Lucy's memoir/book
"Joseph Smith the Prophet and his Progenitors," Chapter 14
http://www.centerplace.org/history/mi...
Boy, after I connected the dots I thought she should titled it "Joseph Smith, the False Prophet, and his Tall Tales"
Here is Joseph Smith Senior's dream or vision: (Reread the verses above again before proceeding to read Smith Senior's dream)
....I saw a very pleasant valley, in which stood a tree such as I had never seen before. It was exceedingly handsome, insomuch that I looked upon it with wonder and admiration. Its beautiful branches spread themselves somewhat like an umbrella, and it bore a kind of fruit, in shape much like a chestnut bur, and as white as snow, or, if possible whiter. I gazed upon the same with considerable interest, and as I was doing so the burs or shells commenced opening and shedding their particles, or the fruit which they contained, which was of dazzling whiteness. I drew near and began to eat of it, and I found it delicious beyond description. As I was eating, I said in my heart, 'I can not eat this alone, I must bring my wife and children, that they may partake with me.' Accordingly, I went and brought my family, which consisted of a wife and seven children, and we all commenced eating, and praising God for this blessing. We were exceedingly happy, insomuch that our joy could not easily be expressed.
If you read more of Smith's visions (He had 3) you'll also see more of Nephi 8
Also read about his First Vision where he finds a "Treasure Box" and Lucy's description of her son's other great talent:
"During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode, their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them".
LDS GA B. H. Roberts, mentioned this and other accounts in his last book where he admitted that the BoM could very well have been produced by the Smith's vs divine origions.
http://www.signaturebooks.com/studies...
He also refers to Ethan Smith's book "View of the Hebrews" (about Indians really being Israelites ---read excerpts in Robert's book)
It is noteworthy that Oliver Cowdery's father was a member of Ethan Smith's concregation prior to the BoM being published. Both, Oliver's father and Smith Senior were friends.
All I can say is: "Flee Babylon!"
Mercy!!!!
| As noted elsewhere (Credits to John Larsen), the Introduction to the Book of Mormon the second paragraph reads:
“The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of the two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.”
This was included in the first printing runs of the Doubleday Edition.
In the latest printing of the Doubleday Edition of the Book of Mormon, the last sentence was changed to read:
“After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.”
The interesting thing is this change is not published anywhere. Additionally, the new Doubleday Edition still lists itself as a first edition. I am no publisher, but my understanding was when you made changes, you listed it as a second, third, etc. edition. The second edition also indicates that it is still first printing, which would be impossible since the change was made.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the mounting DNA evidence (of which they vehemently reject)?
Interesting links:
3,913 changes to the BOM from UTLM: http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm
IRR.ORG: Changes to LDS scriptures: http://www.irr.org/mit/changingscrips.html
Another - Book of Mormon Editions (1830-1981): http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/bo...
One of the best quotes I have seen from IRR is this:
"Today the Mormon Church gives potential converts a copy of a corrected and grammatically sanitized Book of Mormon but still points to Joseph Smith’s lack of education as evidence for its divine origin. What is implied is that Joseph could not have produced such a book without divine aid. What they do not say is that Joseph’s poor grammar, so evident in the first edition, is now masked by thousands of changes and corrections made by later LDS leaders. As a result, today we do not have the Book of Mormon as it came from the hand of Joseph Smith, but rather a heavily edited version as it has come through the hands of LDS church leaders."
That says it completely. If you go back and look at the original BOM, and you have read the current BOM as much as I have, you will find the original BOM completely foreign.
| | | Another Church Publication Stating That The Book Of Mormon Is About "God's Dealings With Some Of The Ancient Inhabitants Of The Americas"
Article Archived: Nov 10, 2007, at 01:34 PM
Stored Under Topic: BOOK OF MORMON - SECTION 2
Outside Link To Article: RIGHT CLICK - COPY LINK LOCATION
Original Author Of Article: CdnXMo |  | |
I've pulled together scraps of useful info. from various posts during the past few days. Note: emphasis in bold in the following quotes is mine.
Referring to the gold plates that Joseph Smith claimed to have received from the angel Moroni, on p. 38 of the LDS Church’s latest edition of its publication, “Preach My Gospel”, it states:
"These gold plates contained the writings of prophets giving an account of God's dealings with some of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas."
The 1981 edition of The Book of Mormon (which is still online) contains the ‘truth’ as you, I, and millions of other people with experience in the LDS Church were taught:
“The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel.” (ref. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/intro...).
Odd that in all those years of Sunday School, Primary, Priesthood, Seminary, and Institute, and all those classes in the Missionary Training Centre and mission district and zone meetings, we were never told that The Book of Mormon was only about “some of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas”, wouldn’t you say?
Verse 34 of the official history of Joseph Smith in The Pearl of Great Price says:
“He [the angel Moroni] said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang.” (ref. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1/3...).
The source repeatedly mentioned in The Book of Mormon is ancient Israel, not northeast Asia, which is where scientists have determined through genetic testing that the ancestors of American Indians originated (predominantly) 12,000+ years ago (ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigeno...).
Some of you may remember that in a Feb. 16/06 press release, the LDS Church stated:
“Nothing in the Book of Mormon precludes migration into the Americas by peoples of Asiatic origin.” (use the Search function on http://www.lds.org to get the link to the release).
However, Joseph Smith would not have agreed. In the Wentworth Letter, written by Smith in 1842 to John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, Smith indicated:
“In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the Tower of Babel, at the confusion of languages to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian Era. We are informed by these records that America in ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first were called Jaredites, and came directly from the Tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem, about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph. The Jaredites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country.” (ref. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Wen...).
Odd that Joseph Smith did not mention that the gold plates were a record of God’s dealings with “some of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas”, or that Lamanite-like (i.e., dark-skinned) people already existed in the Americas when Lehi and his family arrived “about six hundred years before Christ.”
In the Oct./97 General Conference, Pres. Gordon Hinckley told Latter-day Saints:
“We were recently with the Navajo Nation at Window Rock in Arizona. It was the first time that a President of the Church had met with and spoken to them in their capital. It was difficult to hold back the tears as we mingled with these sons and daughters of Father Lehi.” (see the Nov./97 Ensign, which is online).
Despite Hinckley’s belief that the Navajo people (currently about 300,000) descended from a small group of fair-skinned people who came from ancient Jerusalem about 2,600 years ago, genetically, culturally, linguistically, and in terms of their mythology Navajo Indians are linked to Athabascan Indians, whose ancestors came from Mongolia and Tibet (ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern...).
The process of changing a foundational aspect of the LDS religion is underway, as people familiar with Mormonism and Native American DNA research 'prophesied' years ago. Future materials produced by the LDS Church regarding The Book of Mormon will undoubtedly reflect the new ‘truth’.
To conclude, here’s what President Ezra T. Benson said in General Conference in October 1986 (published in the Nov./86 Ensign) regarding The Book of Mormon:
“…the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. This was the Prophet Joseph Smith’s statement. He testified that “the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion” (Introduction to the Book of Mormon). A keystone is the central stone in an arch. It holds all the other stones in place, and if removed, the arch crumbles.”
| The most significant part of this story to me isn't so much about the change itself--It's about the dynamics that got the church to admit that the change had even occurred. In case you missed it, here's the sequence of events-- at least as I saw it unfold:
- John Larsen posts the news of the change on PostMormon.org
- The post draws a lot of attention and discussion on this BB and spreads to others
- John Larsen contacts Peggy Fletcher Stack of the Salt Lake Tribune
- The Salt Lake Tribune runs an article on the change as suggested by John Larsen
- Church owned KSL Television immediately runs a story about the change as though this whole story was the church's idea and that they were making this public announcement through their media arm KSL. In reality, it was a fast-acting response to douse the fire started by John Larsen!
- The story is now being discussed on internet chat sites around the globe!
Remember--the change to the BoM did not just happen this week. Why then did the church suddenly decide to "announce" it through KSL yesterday?
This is the real story to me. That the spark created by one person on this board turned so quickly into a wildfire and forced the church to respond with their water cannons to put out the flames.
This has been one of the most fascinating sequences of events that I have witnessed since becoming disaffected and visiting this board. It's a case study in the power of the internet and the ability of one person to use it to affect change in the world.
| In 1980 when Church came out with new set of scriptures all the Church members were told to buy them and stop using their old ones. THIS IS TRUE. I was there. My dad put his old ones away. I went through the library last night and got it out. Lets see what's different.
Copyrighted by Pres. David O. Mackay 1962. Copyright should still be in effect right?
Whole page called "Brief Analysis of BoM." Gives a brief description of 3 types of plates. Talks about Plates of Laban. Talks about 15 divisions of plates. Talks about how parts of plates were put together by Moroni. Concludes with brief description of history of Nephi and how record was sealed by Lord and hide by Moroni. Very scholarly and impressive.
Next 3 pages called "Origin of BoM." It is a copy "word for word" from Church records. Explains Moroni visit to JS. "He said there was a book deposited , written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent and from whence they sprang." He goes on and uses the words "ancient inhabitants." At the end of the three pages it says complete record in PoGP page 50-54 and Church History Vol 1 chapters 1 to 6.
Next page is Testimony of 3 witnesses
Followed by BoM as we knew it then.
So LDS tells the truth? How many want to bet these old versions of BoM do not make it into new Church library in SLC?
It's clear to me this change this week was more than a "small change." They must think TBM are stupid, and that makes me mad as hell. My dad's old BoM was clearly a book put together for study and clearly put together with references so people could find out for themselves what the the truth was. Now the Church is saying to me, "Your dad clearly did not know what he was studying or telling you as a kid." This is a slap in the face to me and my mum and dad. The Church should have the balls to say upfront "all those people who learned over the last 180 years or so were taught incorrect things.Their beliefs were faulty. Their scriptures they used were flawed and we are sorry."
Anyone else out there think the same way I do?
Now I know why Church told my dad to get rid of his scriptures.This has been in the works for years. They have know for years the BoM was flawed.
I guess angels lie too! God plates = some new metal I never heard of. Ancient inhabitants = small group of people. Former inhabitants = only part of the people here. Clearly Moroni was not the brightest angel of the group.
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My interest in language in general and foreign languages in particular began when I was a child. When I was in high school I took every foreign language the school offered (Latin and Spanish), and when I began college I continued that study, with the intention of becoming a language teacher. I continued with Spanish, and also learned French and German, graduating with a major in German and minors in Spanish and English. My master of arts degree was in German, after which I began to teach (Latin, German and English). During that time I also studied Russian. I then had the opportunity to work toward a doctorate in historical and comparative linguistics, and spent four years in graduate school, learning Anglo-Saxon, Old Icelandic, Gothic, Sanskrit, classical Greek, Old and Middle High German, as well as extensively studying comparative and historical linguistic methodology. In the years since I have also studied Mandarin Chinese, Esperanto and Hebrew, and acquired a reading knowledge of Dutch and Italian. During my teaching career of thirty-five years I used comparative linguistic techniques in the classroom. I have found that my knowledge and experience with the phenomena of language give me a somewhat unusual perspective on Mormonism.
This article gathers together my own observations as well as comments of others. Some of these problems are well-known, but some of them I have never seen discussed before. So far as I am aware, nowhere else has Mormonism been critiqued solely from a linguistic point of view, gathering together all of the linguistic problems in one place.
Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism, was also fascinated with language from the very beginning of his career. He was raised in a culture which believed in folk magic and the powers of language and mystical words. (See D. Michael Quinn's Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (2d ed.) and John L. Brooke'sThe Refiner's Fire). His very first major venture into religious matters was a purported translation of golden plates delivered to him (he said) by an angel and written in a hitherto unknown language ("reformed Egyptian"), which he claimed to be able to translate through the power of God. When he later organized a church, he included among the titles and powers of the head of his church that of "translator":
"[The president of the church is]...to be a seer, a revelator, a translator, and a prophet, having all the gifts of God which he bestows upon the head of the church." [emphasis added]. (Doctrine and Covenants [D&C] 107:92, see also D&C 21:1)
As Joseph Smith gained confidence during his career as the head of a growing church, he continued to be fascinated with languages, and he continued to translate. Even though he claimed that he possessed (as head of the church) the divine power to translate other languages (implicitly without actually studying them ), he spent considerable effort to study other languages in the ordinary, non-divine way. He hired tutors in Hebrew, and studied modern languages such as German. He occasionally showed off his supposed knowledge of foreign languages, as in his "Appeal to the Freemen of the State of Vermont," where he demonstrated his linguistic ability by writing in seventeen different languages (quoted in Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, p. 292).
In addition to the Book of Mormon, he made several other "translations":
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