The most reliable early manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark do not contain Mark 16:9–20, and the style of the Greek language used in these verses differs from the rest of Mark. This suggests that these concluding verses might not have been written by Mark, but rather by scribes who added accounts of the Savior’s appearances after His Resurrection
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
And these signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover;
General Conference talk given by Hartman Rector Jr., ‘Turning the Hearts’, April 1981:1
Note: Bolded are the parts of the talk given in the original address, not appearing in written format on the official LDS church website.
I consider it a great honor and a privilege to greet you this afternoon in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am sure the Lord is much concerned about the families of the earth today.
The family is the basic unit of society, and more importantly it is the basic unit of exaltation. It seems that nothing is more important to the Lord than a family. He has designed the greatest blessings for His children to be received through families, and the temple, of course, is the means of creating these eternal, exalted families.
I believe that families are under a more serious attack today than at any time since the beginning of the world, with the possible exception of the days of Noah. It must have been bad then too. Maybe we today are not quite as bad as they were. Moses recorded in the Book of Genesis: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5.) I don’t believe I have ever known anyone quite that bad, whose “every thought was evil continually.”
The Lord further indicated that all flesh was corrupt in those days, and so he brought forth the flood and destroyed all flesh except Noah and his family. Therefore, we are all descendants of righteous Noah. But the family concept is under very serious attack today all over the world.
In many countries of the world today birth control is practiced. In some countries only one child per family is permitted. This is controlled through birth control, abortion and sterilization. If a second child is born the government takes it to rear. Since the real strength of a nation is in her families, I fear that such restrictions will literally destroy these nations. A documentary for TV was produced recently where it was shown that old people are dying for lack of love and attention. It seem s that children no longer care enough for their aged parents to visit them. Well, why should they anyway. The government takes care of them so why should the children bother with that chore. Today some governments pay full time employees to do nothing but visit their old people. It appears that this is one of the hidden evils which destroy families. Children no longer have to worry about their parents in their old age, so they completely neglect them.
The Lord said from Mt. Sinai, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Ex. 20:12.) There’s precious little honor shown as children not even visit their parents. Of course we’re not lily white in this area here in the United States either. In 1980 was the year of the family here in the US of A. There were White House conferences held on the family in Maryland, Minnesota, and California, with delegates chosen from each state. In most states there was an attempt to get a resolution passed by the state convention, defining the family as any group of people living together. Not the traditional father, mother, children relationship but any group of people living together. And whom do you supposed would sponsor such a resolution. Is those who represent the so-called alternate lifestyle. Birth control is rampant. Sterilization, vasectomies increase annually. The statistics on abortion in the United States are mind boggling. For example, abortions will kill over 2 million babies in the next 12 months. Which amounts to three abortions every 60 seconds. Abortions kill more Americans in one year than all the wars did from Valley Forge to Vietnam. 8 Million American babies have been slaughtered since January the 22nd 1973 when the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Over 3 million dollars of American tax payers money will be used to pay for government funded abortions this year. How frightening.
As I mentioned earlier we seem to have conditions today similar to those Noah faced; and the Lord speaks of smiting the earth with a curse, as happened at the time of the flood, and this will happen if there is not a turning of “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” (Mal. 4:6.)
There are those who feel that this turning of the hearts is strictly Elijah’s job, but in Doctrine and Covenants 98:16 [D&C 98:16] the Lord seems to give us that assignment. He said, “Seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children.”
Elijah came and delivered the keys, but the Lord looks to us to do the work. In a little plainer translation of the Malachi scripture, the Lord said:
“Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
“And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
“If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.” (D&C 2:1–3; see also JS—H 1:38–39.)
We, then, are in the very serious business of attempting to save the earth or to keep it from being “wasted” when the Lord comes. I have often wondered how or why the earth would be wasted if Children’s hearts did not turn to their fathers. Today is very clear for all to see. When the Lord comes if he finds nothing but birth control, abortion, sterilization, homosexuals the earth is wasted. What was the purpose of his creation anyway. The Lord said “we would go down for there is space there, and we will take of these materials and make an earth, whereon theses” meaning all of us “may dwell.” This earth was created so God the Father would have a place to send His children to receive bodies of flesh and bones and prove themselves. If we will no longer permit the Lord to send his children to this earth, then the earth is wasted, and as in the days of the flood He will surely destroy it.
So what must we do? We must follow the living prophet, for herein is our only safety. He says, among other things:
1. Complete four-generation family records and as far beyond as you can go.
2. Write a personal and family history.
3. Perform a reasonable number of temple ordinances by attending the temple as often as is practical.
I personally believe that the writing of personal and family histories will do more to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to children than almost anything we can do. I am sure you will never turn your own children’s hearts more to you than you will by keeping a journal and writing your personal history. They will ultimately love to find out about your successes and your failures and your peculiarities. It will tell them a lot about themselves, too. They will get a great desire to raise a family of their own when they see what a great blessing they were to you.
If children have a happy family experience they will not want to be homosexuals, which I am sure is an acquired addiction just as drugs, alcohol and pornography are. The promoters of homosexuality say they were born that way. But I do not believe this is true. There are no female spirits trapped in male bodies and vice versa. He who made them, made them male and female. Every form of homosexuality is sin said the living prophet Spencer W. Kimball.
Also, I seriously doubt that you will ever turn your own heart more to your own fathers than by writing your family history. You must know a lot about them before you can write it. This will lead you to much in-depth research. I promise you will love them when you become acquainted with them. They were noble people, and they sacrificed much to give you the heritage you have today. They deserve the best you can give them, which of course is membership in the Church and the kingdom of God and the sealing of their loved ones to them.
I am convinced that these records we are commanded to write are absolutely vital, not only to the salvation of our ancestors but also to ours, for are we not to be judged out of the books which John saw were to be opened, as recorded in Revelation 20:12 [Rev. 20:12]?
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
After quoting this verse from Revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 128:7–8 [D&C 128:7–8]:
“You will discover in this quotation that the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was the book of life; but the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works; consequently, the books spoken of must be the books which contained the record of their works, and refer to the records which are kept on the earth. …
“Now, the nature of this ordinance consists in the power of the priesthood, by the revelation of Jesus Christ, wherein it is granted that whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Or, in other words, taking a different view of the translation, whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and whatsoever you do not record on earth shall not be recorded in heaven; for out of the books shall your dead be judged.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.)
Sometimes we feel we just don’t have time to write in our journals. I wonder. President Kimball stood before the World Conference on Records last August and said: “By now, in my own personal history, I have managed to fill seventy-eight large volumes, which are my personal journal. There have been times when I have been so tired at the end of a day that the effort could hardly be managed, but I am so grateful that I have not let slip away from me and my posterity those things which needed to be recorded.” (Ensign, Oct. 1980, p. 72.)
I am convinced that it is not what we have done here upon the earth that will condemn us at the last day; it is what we have not done that will ultimately stand to judge us. Why? Well the bad things we have done we can repent of and because the Lord Jesus Christ paid for these sins they will be blotted out. So they obviously won’t hurt us. The good things we have done we should record in our journals and personal history and the good things surely won’t hurt us. But the things we have not done, how do we repent of them. It’s what we should have done, and didn’t do, that will constitute our judgment.
Is there any wonder the prophet Joseph said, “The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead. Those saints who neglect it in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation.” (Teachings of the Prophet, p. 193.)
To become a savior on Mount Zion, then, goes far beyond the performance of the temple ordinance. It encompasses the personal and family history as well as the four-generation-and-beyond research—plus participation in the extraction program.
Of course, none of this would mean very much if we did not have a holy house in which to perform this work. In this sense, temple building then becomes the most important work of this dispensation. How glorious to live upon the earth at this time and have part in the grand work of rearing the Lord’s house in nations around the world so the saving ordinances of the gospel and the ties that bind eternal families may be made available to all the children of the earth! Surely we are the most blessed people who have ever lived, to which I bear witness in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen.
Gary Bergera wrote to Elder Rector inquiring about the difference between the published version of his talk and the version reported in the Deseret News, Church News, and Salt Lake Tribune. Elder Rector replied in a hand-written note: 2
“Sometimes it is not expedient to make people angry by telling them in too plain terms what their problems are. … Also the church [is] hoping to gain entrance into communist China so didn’t want to make waves,” according to an article in Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought. “I presume a combination of things made the First Presidency decide to eliminate certain portions of my remarks even tho’ they had received and cleared the talk before it was given. It is OK. They know best. However, what was said is still true.”
(Gary J. Bergera, Letter to Hartman Rector, 11 May 1981; undated response handwritten on the bottom of the letter by Hartman Rector.)
Excerpt from the History of the Church, vol. 5 page 372: 1
“I have translated a portion of [the plates] and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth.”
From the LDS August 1981 Ensign article titled ‘Kinderhook Plates Brought to Joseph Smith Appear to Be a Nineteenth-Century Hoax.’: 2
‘A recent electronic and chemical analysis of a metal plate (one of six original plates) brought in 1843 to the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois, appears to solve a previously unanswered question in Church history, helping to further evidence that the plate is what its producers later said it was—a nineteenth-century attempt to lure Joseph Smith into making a translation of ancient-looking characters that had been etched into the plates.’
Excerpt from Joseph Fielding Smith’s, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:225: 1
SEER STONE NOT USED IN BOOK OF MORMON TRANSLATION.
We have been taught since the days of the Prophet that the Urim and Thummim were returned with the plates to the angel. We have no record of the Prophet having the Urim and Thummim after the organization of the Church. Statements of translations by the Urim and Thummim after that date are evidently errors. The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the Manti Temple when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is now in the possession of the Church.
While the statement has been made by some writers that the Prophet Joseph Smith used a seer stone part of the time in his translating of the record, and information points to the fact that he did have in his possession such a stone, yet there is no authentic statement in the history of the Church which states that the use of such a stone was made in that translation. The information is all hearsay, and personally, I do not believe that this stone was used for this purpose. The reason I give for this conclusion is found in the statement of the Lord to the Brother of Jared as recorded in Ether 3:22-24
These stones, the Urim and Thummim which were given to the Brother of Jared, were preserved for this very purpose of translating the record, both of the Jaredites and the Nephites. Then again the Prophet was impressed by Moroni with the fact that these stones were given for that very purpose. It hardly seems reasonable to suppose that the Prophet would substitute something evidently inferior under these circumstances. It may have been so, but it is so easy for a story of this kind to be circulated due to the fact that the Prophet did possess a seer stone, which he may have used for some other purposes.
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Book of Mormon Translation’: 2
The other instrument, which Joseph Smith discovered in the ground years before he retrieved the gold plates, was a small oval stone, or “seer stone.” As a young man during the 1820s, Joseph Smith, like others in his day, used a seer stone to look for lost objects and buried treasure. As Joseph grew to understand his prophetic calling, he learned that he could use this stone for the higher purpose of translating scripture.
Apparently for convenience, Joseph often translated with the single seer stone rather than the two stones bound together to form the interpreters. These two instruments—the interpreters and the seer stone—were apparently interchangeable and worked in much the same way such that, in the course of time, Joseph Smith and his associates often used the term “Urim and Thummim” to refer to the single stone as well as the interpreters. In ancient times, Israelite priests used the Urim and Thummim to assist in receiving divine communications. Although commentators differ on the nature of the instrument, several ancient sources state that the instrument involved stones that lit up or were divinely illumined. Latter-day Saints later understood the term “Urim and Thummim” to refer exclusively to the interpreters. Joseph Smith and others, however, seem to have understood the term more as a descriptive category of instruments for obtaining divine revelations and less as the name of a specific instrument.
Excerpt from a Mormon Discussions podcast episode with LDS Historian Richard L. Bushman: 1
“I think right now the Book of Mormon is a puzzle for us, even people who believe it hardily in every detail, it’s a puzzle.
To begin with we have the puzzle of translation: translating the book without the plates even in sight and wrapped up in a cloth on the table. So, it’s not something that comes right off the pages, the characters on the plates. So we don’t know how that works.
And then there is the fact that there is phrasing everywhere–long phrases that if you google them you will find them in 19th century writings. The theology of the Book of Mormon is very much 19th century theology, and it reads like a 19th century understanding of the Hebrew Bible as an Old Testament. That is, it has Christ in it the way Protestants saw Christ everywhere in the Old Testament. That’s why we now call it “Hebrew Bible” because the Jews never saw it quite that way. So, these are all problems we have to deal with.”
Excerpt from ‘An Address To All Believers In Christ’, 1887, by David Whitmer: 1
“After the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished, early in the spring of 1830, before April 6th, Joseph gave the stone to Oliver Cowdery and told me as well as the rest that he was through with it, and he did not use the stone any more. He said he was through the work that God had given him the gift to perform, except to preach the gospel. He told us that we would all have to depend on the Holy Ghost hereafter to be guided into truth and obtain the will of the Lord.”
A revelation given to Joseph Smith, March 1829, Book of Commandments 4:2: 2
“…and he has a gift to translate the book, and I have commanded him that he shall pretend to no other gift, for I will grant him no other gift.”
“And you have a gift to translate the plates; and this is the first gift that I bestowed upon you; and I have commanded that you should pretend to no other gift until my purpose is fulfilled in this; for I will grant unto you no other gift until it is finished.”
Excerpt from the article ‘Prophecies in the Bible about Joseph Smith’, published in the Ensign, January 1989: 1
Critics might argue that the Joseph Smith Translation contains references to Joseph Smith because he himself translated it.
From the Joseph Smith Inspired translation of the bible. Italicized words were added to the King James Version of the bible by Joseph Smith: 2
Genesis 50:24–38
24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die, and go unto my fathers; and I go down to my grave with joy. The God of my father Jacob be with you, to deliver you out of affliction in the days of your bondage; for the Lord hath visited me, and I have obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of my loins, the Lord God will raise up a righteous branch out of my loins; and unto thee, whom my father Jacob hath named Israel, a prophet; (not the Messiah who is called Shilo;) and this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt in the days of thy bondage.
25 And it shall come to pass that they shall be scattered again; and a branch shall be broken off, and shall be carried into a far country; nevertheless they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord, when the Messiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the Spirit of power; and shall bring them out of darkness into light; out of hidden darkness, and out of captivity unto freedom.
26 A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.
27 Thus saith the Lord God of my fathers unto me, A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren.
28 And he shall bring them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers; and he shall do whatsoever work I shall command him.
29 And I will make him great in mine eyes, for he shall do my work; and he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; for a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter, and shall be called her son.
30 And again, a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins; and not to the bringing forth of my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days;
31 Wherefore the fruit of thy loins shall write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to a knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
32 And out of weakness shall he be made strong, in that day when my work shall go forth among all my people, which shall restore them, who are of the house of Israel, in the last days.
33 And that seer will I bless, and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise I give unto you; for I will remember you from generation to generation; and his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation.
34 And the Lord sware unto Joseph that he would preserve his seed forever, saying, I will raise up Moses, and a rod shall be in his hand, and he shall gather together my people, and he shall lead them as a flock, and he shall smite the waters of the Red Sea with his rod.
35 And he shall have judgment, and shall write the word of the Lord. And he shall not speak many words, for I will write unto him my law by the finger of mine own hand. And I will make a spokesman for him, and his name shall be called Aaron.
36 And it shall be done unto thee in the last days also, even as I have sworn. Therefore, Joseph said unto his brethren, God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land, unto the land which he sware unto Abraham, and unto Isaac, and to Jacob.
37 And Joseph confirmed many other things unto his brethren, and took an oath of the children of Israel, saying unto them, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
38 So Joseph died when he was an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and they put him in a coffin in Egypt; and he was kept from burial by the children of Israel, that he might be carried up and laid in the sepulchre with his father. And thus they remembered the oath which they sware unto him.
We find another prophecy of Joseph Smith contained in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 3:4–22: 3
4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph.
5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom.
6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.
7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers.
8 And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.
9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel.
10 And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt.
11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.
12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise;
15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.
16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever.
17 And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a spokesman for him.
18 And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it.
19 And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust; for I know their faith.
20 And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words.
21 Because of their faith their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.
22 And now, behold, my son Joseph, after this manner did my father of old prophesy.
Affidavit of Isaac Hale, father-in-law of Joseph Smith, Jr., given at Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania on 20 March 1834: 1
I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr. in November 1825. He was at that time in the employ of a set of men who were called “money-diggers;” and his occupation was that of seeing, or pretending to see by means of a stone placed in a hat, and his hat closed over his face. In this way he pretended to discover minerals and hidden treasure. His appearance at this time, was that of a careless young man—not very well educated, and very saucy nad insolent to his father. Smith, and his father, with several other ‘money-diggers’ boarded at my house while they were employed in digging for a mine that they supposed had been opened and worked by the Spainards, many years since. Young Smith gave the ‘money-diggers’ great encouragement, at first, but when they had arrived in digging, to near the place where he had stated an immense treasure would be found—he said the enchantment was so powerful that he could not see. They then became discouraged, and soon after dispersed. This took place about the 17th of November, 1825; and one of the company gave me his note for $12.68 for his board, which is still unpaid.
After these occurrences, young Smith made several visits at my house, and at length asked my consent to his marrying my daughter Emma. This I refused, and gave him my reasons for so doing; some of which were, that he was a stranger, and followed a business that I could not approve: he then left the place. Not long after this, he returned, and while I was absent from home, carried off my daughter, into the state of New York, where they were married without my approbation or consent. After they had arrived at Palmyra N.Y., Emma wrote to me inquiring whether she could have her property, consisting of clothing, furniture, cows, &c. I replied that her property was safe, and at her disposal. In a short time, they returned, bringing with them Peter Ingersol, and subsequently came to the conclusion that they would move out, and reside upon a place near my residence.
Smith stated to me that he had given up what he called “glass-looking,” and that he expected to work hard for a living, and was willing to do so. He also made arrangements with my son Alva Hale, to go up to Palmyra and move his (Smith’s) furniture &c. to this place. He then returned to Palmyra, and soon after, Alva, agreeable to the arrangement, went up and returned with Smith and his family. Soon after this, I was informed they had brought a wonderful Book of plates down with them. I was shown a box in which it is said they were contained, which had, to all appearances, been used as a glass box of the common sized window-glass. I was allowed to feel the weight of this box, and they gave me to understand that the book of plates was then in the box—into which, however, I was not allowed to look.
I inquired of Joseph Smith Jr., who was to be the first who would be allowed to see the Book of Plates? He said it was a young child. After this, I became dissatisfied, and informed him that if there was any thing in my house of that description, which I could not be allowed to see, he must take it away; if he did not, I was determined to see it. After that, the plates were said to be hid in the woods.
About this time, Martin Harris made his appearance upon the stage; and Smith began to interpret the characters or hieroglyphics which he said were engraven upon the plates, while Harris wrote down the interpretation. It was said, that Harris wrote down one hundred and sixteen pages, and lost them. Soon after this happened, Martin Harris informed me that he must have a greater witness, and said that he had talked with Joseph about it—Joseph informed him that he could not, or durst not show him the plates, but that he (Joseph) would go into the woods where the Book of Plates was, and that after he came back, Harris should follow his track in the snow, and find the Book, and examine it for himself. Harris informed me afterwards, that he followed Smith’s directions, and could not find the plates, and was still dissatisfied.
The next day after this happened, I went to the house where Joseph Smith Jr. lived and where he and Harris were engaged in the translation of the Book. Each of them had a written piece of paper which they were comparing, and some of the words were “my servant seeketh a greater witness, but no greater witness can be given him.” There was also something about “three that were to see the thing—meaning I supposed, the Book of Plates, and that “if the three did not go exactly according to orders, the thing would be taken from them.” I inquired whose words they were, and was informed by Joseph or Emma, (I rather think it was the former) that they were the words of Jesus Christ. I told them then, that I considered the whole of it a delusion, and advised them to abandon it. The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret, was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the Book of Plates were at the same time hid in the woods!
After this, Martin Harris went away and Oliver Cowdrey came and wrote for Smith, while he interpreted as above described. This is the same Oliver Cowdrey whose name may be found in the Book of Mormon: Cowdrey continued as a scribe for Smith until the Book of Mormon was completed as I supposed, and understood.
Joseph Smith Jr. resided near me for some time after this, and I had a good opportunity of becoming acquainted with him, and somewhat acquainted with his associates, and I conscientiously believe from the facts I have detailed, and from many other circumstances, which I do not deem it necessary to relate, that the “Book of Mormon” (so called) is a silly fabrication of of falsehood and wickedness, got up for speculation, and with a design to dupe the credulous and unwary—and in order that its fabricators might live upon the spoils of those who swallowed the deception.
Affirmed to and subscribed before me, March 20th, 1834.
CHARLES DIMON, J[ustice]. [of the] Peace.
In this photo taken April 22, 1980, Mark W. Hofmann, left, and LDS Church leaders N. Eldon Tanner, Spencer W. Kimball, Marion G. Romney, Boyd K. Packer and Gordon B. Hinckley examine the Anthon transcript in Salt Lake City. Back in October 1985, when Hofmann killed two people with homemade pipe bombs in an attempt to divert attention from his double-dealing and dishonesty, the Utah-based church restricted access to its historic archives and promoted only a canonized — some would say narrow — view of the faith’s founding. No more. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has opened its archives, posted thousands of documents online, produced groundbreaking research on its past and published a dozen recent essays on controversial historical developments.
From the October 1980 Ensign, ‘Fraudulent Documents from Forger Mark Hofmann Noted’: 2
As a result of the confession of convicted murderer and forger Mark William Hofmann, numerous historical documents are now known to be forgeries.
The announcements and texts of some of these documents were published in Church periodicals, and the documents have been used in good faith since 1980 in manuals and discussions by leaders, teachers, and members of the Church. The following documents and their fraudulent contents should not be used, even though they may have appeared in previous Church publications:
The Charles Anthon transcript, purportedly reformed Egyptian characters copied by Joseph Smith from the Book of Mormon gold plates in 1828. (See Ensign, Jun. 1980, July 1980, Dec. 1983.)
The Joseph Smith III blessing, falsely represented as a father’s blessing given by the Prophet Joseph Smith on 17 January 1844 to his son, Joseph Smith III, to the effect that this son was his appointed successor. (See Ensign, May 1981.)
The Lucy Mack Smith letter of 23 January 1829, falsely said to have been written by Joseph Smith’s mother. It presents details that purportedly came from the 116 lost manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon, including the idea that Ishmael, whose daughters married the sons of Lehi and Sariah, was the brother of Sariah. (See Ensign, Oct. 1982, Dec. 1983.)
The Martin Harris letter of 13 January 1873 to Walter Conrad, purportedly in the handwriting of Martin Harris’s son, Martin Harris, Jr., and signed by Martin Harris, who would have been eighty-nine years old at the time. This fraudulent text reaffirms the testimony of Martin Harris as one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. (See Ensign, Nov. 1982, Dec. 1983.)
The David Whitmer letter of 2 April 1873 to Walter Conrad, ostensibly written by another of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, fraudulently reaffirming David Whitmer’s testimony. (See Ensign, Dec. 1983.)
Two pages of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, covering Helaman 14:20 to 15:12, as well as parts of Mosiah 2:6–7 and 2:17–18, ostensibly written by Oliver Cowdery as Joseph Smith dictated the translation. (See Ensign, Oct. 1983, Dec. 1983.)
The E. B. Grandin contract of 17 August 1829, falsely purported to be a financial agreement between printer Egbert B. Grandin and Joseph Smith for the first printing of the Book of Mormon. (See Ensign, Dec. 1983.)
A “Joseph Smith, Jr.” signature in a first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon. While the signature is a Mark Hofmann forgery, a Joseph Smith letter on virtue mentioned in the same news article was from another source and is considered authentic. (See Ensign, Sept. 1985.)
The Martin Harris letter (popularly known as the white salamander letter), purportedly written in 1830 by Martin Harris to William W. Phelps. This letter contains a spurious account of problems encountered by Joseph Smith in obtaining the gold plates.
The Josiah Stowell letter, purportedly written by Joseph Smith in 1825. It contains information indicating Joseph Smith was involved in folk magic. Before being labeled a forgery, this letter was believed to contain the earliest surviving handwriting of the Prophet.
Mark Hofmann also claimed to be in the process of purchasing a collection of writings by William E. McLellin, one of the original members of the Council of the Twelve, who later apostatized and lost his membership in the Church, but who never recanted his testimony of the Book of Mormon. (See Ensign, Feb. 1986.) Although documents written by William E. McLellin may exist, Hofmann has confessed that his own professed “collection” does not.
Hofmann was also the source of a widely circulated rumor concerning an early history by Oliver Cowdery purportedly owned by the Church. This nonexistent history falsely credits Joseph Smith’s brother Alvin with a role in obtaining the gold plates. (See the Church’s disclaimer in the Ensign, Dec. 1986; see also Ensign, Aug. 1987.)
An article in the Juvenile Instructor by George Q. Cannon, ‘The Worship of Female Deities’, May 15 1895 : 1
In the days of Jeremiah the prophet the worship of “the queen of heaven,” a feminine deity, was very common. The people of Judah attributed great power to this female deity, so much so that when Jeremiah declared the word of the Lord unto them concerning their idolatrous practices and their departure from the true God, they replied to him, both the men and the women, that they still intended
“To burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then we had plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.” –
It appears from the record of Jeremiah that it was chiefly the women who worshiped this deity. They esteemed it an honor to their sex, and as a vindictation of the rights of their sex, and had such faith in this worship that they believed prosperity had been the result, and that in departing from the worship of this queen of heaven they had wanted all things, and had been consumed by the sword and by the famine. It was in vain that the prophet of the true God pled with them and endeavored to show them that they were deceived, and that by continuing this course they were sure to bring down the anger and the hot displeasure of the true God.
There are no predictions so full of threatening recorded in the Bible respecting the fate of women, or wherein women are mentioned so pointedly, as in these predictions of Jeremiah concerning this false worship. Jeremiah said:
“Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her.”
The prophet continues:
“Behold, I (the Lord) will watch over them for evil, and not for good.” The Lord also said that they should be consumed by the sword and by the famine, which prediction was literally fulfilled.
The record concerning this idolatrous worship of a female deity called the queen of heaven, is brought to mind by reading a chapter in a local paper which bears the head “The Woman’s Bible.” lt is written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She aims to give a construction, and perhaps a translation, of the scriptures that will be favorable to woman and to woman’s rights, and to assign her, as she appears to think, her true position in the minds of the people. She quotes from the Bible, and comes to the conclusion from the Biblical account that there was “a simultaneous creation of both sexes, in the image of God,” and that in the “consultation in the Godhead the masculine and feminine elements were equally represented.” She quotes Scott, the commentator, where he says “this consultation of the Gods is the origin of the doctrine of the trinity.” Mrs. Stanton’s conclusion, however, is that “instead of three male personages, as generally represented, a Heavenly Father, Mother, and Son would seem more rational.” She says:
“The first step in the elevation of woman to her true position, as an equal factor in human progress, is the cultivation of the religious sentiment in regard to her dignity and equality, the recognition by the rising generation of an ideal Heavenly Mother, to whom their prayers should be addressed, as well as to a Father.
“If language has any meaning, we have in these texts a plain declaration of the existence of the feminine element in the Godhead, equal in power and glory with the masculine.”
Now, to my mind this is rank idolatry, and is as false as the worship of “the queen of heaven” was by the women of Judah in the days of Jeremiah.
It is most dangerous doctrine to be taught to the rising generation of our people. If adopted as a belief and persisted in, it would undoubtedly lead to as dreadful consequences in these days as it did to those who pursued a similar course in the days of the prophet Jeremiah.
That a woman as intelligent and influential among her sex as Elizabeth Cady Stanton should make such a declaration that “instead of three male personages as generally represented (in the Godhead), a Heavenly Father, Mother and Son would seem more rational,” shows how easy it is for gross errors to creep in and to be accepted as truth.
Such doctrine is flattering to many of the female sex. There is an air of fairness in the idea, especially in these days when there is so much said upon equality of the sexes. There is good reason to believe that the same ideas prevailed among the Israelites at the time they accepted “the queen of heaven” as a goddess to be worshiped.
It has not been uncommon for different nations to worship female deities. Pele, a female deity, was worshiped by the Sandwich Islanders. In ancient days Isis was the principal goddess worshiped by the Egyptians. She was adored as the goddess of fecundity and as the great benefactress of their country, who instructed their ancestors in the art of agriculture. Perhaps this was the deity whom the Israelite exiles worshiped in Egypt, they living at Pathros, in Egypt, at the time when the interview took place between Jeremiah and them, though Aphrodite is said to have been worshiped by the Israelites in the days of their idolatry. The worship of this goddess was attended with lewd orgies.
The Greeks and Romans also indulged in the worship of female deities. Juno, a celebrated deity, was worshiped by both Greeks and Romans. Ceres was the goddess of Corn, Clio of History, Diana of the Chase, Erato of Lovers, Hygeia of Health. Minerva was also a noted name in their mythology. She was supposed to represent Wisdom, War, and the Liberal Arts, as Pallas also did Wisdom, and as Vesta did the domestic hearth. These are a few of the feminine deities who were worshiped at one time and another, and who were supposed to confer great benefits upon their worshipers.
The tendency to attribute God-like powers to members of the female sex is exhibited nowadays in the adoration which is paid to the mother of the Savior, the Virgin Mary. The belief in her influence with her immaculate Son, and the aid which He is supposed to be ready to bestow, calls forth from thousands of worshipers prayers and offerings to her.
This belief has spread through various lands, and is another illustration of the disposition to ascribe the power of God to a Woman. That great care must be exercised among the Latter-day Saints upon this point there can scarcely be a question. The late Sister Eliza R. Snow com posed a hymn which opens with “O my Father, thou that dwellest.” About a year ago a companion hymn to this invocation of Sister Snow’s, entitled “Our Mother in Heaven,” was published in the JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR. In this hymn there is too much of this inclination to deify “our mother in heaven” manifested to make it such a hymn as ought to be sung and to become a house hold hymn among the Latter-day Saints. There is no ground to think that the author had any design to teach any wrong ideas when he wrote this hymn; neither did the publishers. But if the Editor’s attention had been called to this before it appeared in the columns of the Juvenile INSTRUCTOR, he would have suggested some changes. For instance, in the third and fourth verses the poet says:
“’Tis recorded in your journal, How you stood by Father’s side When by powers that are eternal Thou wast sealed his goddess bride: How by love and truth and virtue E’en in time thou didst become, Through your high, exalted station, Mother of the souls of men. When of evil I’ve repented, And my work on earth is done, Kindest Father, loving mother, Pray forgive your erring son.”
This language approaches to worship. Our mother is called a “goddess bride.” But this is not all: she 1s appealed to with the Father to forgive her erring SOI).
Poetical license may warrant the use of language to an extent that might be considered improper in prose; but, as Latter-day Saints, we cannot be too careful concerning the use of language that may lead to wrong impressions, especially regarding the Being whom we worship. In this poetry the mother is placed side by side and on an equality with the Father.
One of the great commandments which the Lord gave to Israel after He led them out of Egypt and from the midst of the idolatrous people of Pharaoh, who had many false gods, was:
“Thou shalt have no other gods be fore me.”
The Lord also told the children of Israel, “I, the Lord, am a jealous God.”
The most terrible woes which came upon Israel during their career in the land of Canaan were the result of de parting from the worship of the true God and bowing down to idols and false gods. The worship of the true God has been revealed to us. He has revealed Himself in our day. Mortal men have beheld the Eternal Father and the Redeemer, Jesus. And we know that they live. We know also that our Father in heaven should be the object of our worship. He will not have any divided worship. We are commanded to worship Him, and Him only.
In the revelation of God the Eternal Father to the Prophet Joseph Smith there was no revelation of the feminine element as part of the Godhead, and no idea was conveyed that any such element “was equal in power and glory with the masculine.”
Therefore, we are warranted in pronouncing all tendencies to glorify the feminine element and to exalt it as part of the Godhead as wrong and untrue, not only because of the revelation of the Lord in our day, but because it has no warrant in scripture, and any attempt to put such a construction on the word of God is false and erroneous.
22 For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unto his disciples who should tarry, yea, and also to all his disciples, in the hearing of the multitude: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;
23 And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned;
24 And these signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover;
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Excerpt from a BYU’s New Testament Commentary article by Julie M. Smith, ‘The Ending of Mark’s Gospel‘: 3
Virtually all scholars believe that Mark 16:9–20 was not originally part of the Gospel for the following reasons:
Some ancient manuscripts lack it and some of those that include it have a note that the text is disputed.
It is difficult to imagine why a copyist would omit it; it is much easier to imagine a copyist adding it.
Several early Christian writers appear to know copies of the Gospel of Mark that do not include Mark 16:9-20.
Most scholars find the style and theology of Mark 16:9–20 to differ substantially from the rest of the Gospel.
Matthew and Luke follow Mark pretty closely until they get to Mark 16:8, and then they go in very different directions, which suggests that they had copies of Mark that ended at Mark 16:8.
The transition between 16:8 and 16:9 is awkward: the subject shifts and the women in 16:1–8 are forgotten. Mary Magdalene is introduced to the audience as if they were unfamiliar with her despite the fact that she was mentioned just a few verses ago. (These problems not only suggest that Mark 16:9–20 was not original to Mark, but also that it wasn’t written afresh to end the text but rather was an already-extant writing added to fill a gap.
There are over a dozen words included in Mark 16:9–20 that are not found elsewhere in Mark.
The presence of multiple different endings strongly suggests that Mark 16:9–20 was not present originally. It implies that more than one person (or group) found Mark 16:8 to be inadequate and decided to add to the ending.
Excerpt form the Joseph Smith translation of Facsimile No. 2 from the Book of Abraham: 1
“Fig. 7. Represents God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood; as, also, the sign of the Holy Ghost unto Abraham, in the form of a dove.”
Excerpt from BYU Egyptologist Michael D. Rhodes, A Translation and Commentary of the Joseph Smith Hypocephalus (1977): 2
7. A seated ithyphallic god with a hawk’s tail, holding aloft the divine flail. Several gods of similar appearance are found on the Metternich Stela mentioned above. Before him is what appears to be a bird of some sort, presenting him with an Udjat-eye. In most other hypocephali it is a snake or an ape that is presenting the eye, but often this snake seems to have a hawk’s head. This snake is thought to be Nehebka, a snake god and one of the assessors in the 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead.88 Nehebka was con- sidered to be a provider of nourishment, and as such was often shown pre- senting a pair of jars or the Udjat-eye, the symbol of good gifts.89 As for the bird found in Facsimile 2, this symbolize the Ba (which is often represented as a bird by the Egyptians) presenting the Udjat-eye to the seated god.
The seated god is clearly a form of Min, the god of the regenerative, procreative forces of nature, perhaps combined with Horus as the hawk’s tail would seem to indicate.
Excerpt from the BYU Journal of Undergraduate Research, A Recently Recovered Source: Rethinking Joseph Smith’s Bible Translation (March 16, 2017): 1
“Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible has attracted significant attention in recent decades, drawing the interest of a wide variety of academics and those who affirm its nearly canonical status in the LDS scriptural canon. More recently, in conducting new research into the origins of Smith’s Bible translation, we uncovered evidence that Smith and his associates used a readily available Bible commentary while compiling a new Bible translation, or more properly a revision of the King James Bible. The commentary, Adam Clarke’s famous Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, was a mainstay for Methodist theologians and biblical scholars alike, and was one of the most widely available commentaries in the mid-1820s and 1830s in America. Direct borrowing from this source has not previously been connected to Smith’s translation efforts, and the fundamental question of what Smith meant by the term “translation” with respect to his efforts to rework the biblical text can now be reconsidered in light of this new evidence. What is noteworthy in detailing the usage of this source is that Adam Clarke’s textual emendations come through Smith’s translation as inspired changes to the text. Moreover, the question of what Smith meant by the term translation should be broadened to include what now appears to have been an academic interest to update the text of the Bible. This new evidence effectively forces a reconsideration of Smith’s translation projects, particularly his Bible project, and how he used academic sources while simultaneously melding his own prophetic inspiration into the resulting text. In presenting the evidence for Smith’s usage of Clarke, our paper also addressed the larger question of what it means for Smith to have used an academic/theological Bible commentary in the process of producing a text that he subsequently defined as a translation. In doing so, we first presented the evidence for Smith’s reliance upon Adam Clarke to establish the nature of Smith’s usage of Clarke. Following that discussion, we engaged the question of how Smith approached the question of the quality of the King James Bible (hereafter KJV) translation that he was using in 1830 and what the term translation meant to both Smith and his close associates. Finally, we offered a suggestion as to how Smith came to use Clarke, as well as assessing the overall question of what these findings suggest regarding Smith as a translator and his various translation projects.
Our research has revealed that the number of direct parallels between Smith’s translation and Adam Clarke’s biblical commentary are simply too numerous and explicit to posit happenstance or coincidental overlap. The parallels between the two texts number into the hundreds, a number that is well beyond the limits of this paper to discuss. A few of them, however, demonstrate Smith’s open reliance upon Clarke and establish that he was inclined to lean on Clarke’s commentary for matters of history, textual questions, clarification of wording, and theological nuance. In presenting the evidence, we have attempted to both establish that Smith drew upon Clarke, likely at the urging of Rigdon, and we present here a broad categorization of the types of changes that Smith made when he used Clarke as a source.
For the sake of this report we will include only one or two examples of Smith’s obvious borrowing of Clarke. Among the more compelling examples are two that witness the omission of entire biblical verses or the rearrangement of parts of biblical verses. In Colossians 2:20–22, Smith rearranges the KJV order so that a portion of verse 22 (“which are after the doctrines and commandments of men”) is appended directly to the end of verse 20, a verse which ends with a comma in the KJV. This change appears to directly reflect Adam Clarke’s statement regarding it, “After the commandments and doctrines of men? These words should follow the 20th verse, of which they form a part; and it appears from them that the apostle is here speaking of the tradition of the elders.” The change does little to smooth out the flow of the English translation, and does nothing to change the meaning, but it can be no mere coincidence that the two sources relocate a portion of the verse in precisely the same way by adding a part of one verse to another verse earlier in the same passage.
While the data presented herein accounts for a significant advance in our understanding about the origins of Smith’s Bible translation, it is still unclear how Smith determined which verses were to be changed and which verses were to be spared. The next step in the discussion would need to be a consideration of whether there is a unified purpose in the choice of verses that were changed. Our overall impression is that Smith was inclined to follow Clarke especially in instances where he drew upon manuscript evidence or language expertise.”
Information about Adam Clarke:
Adam Clarke (1760 or 1762-1832) was a British Methodist theologian and Biblical scholar. He is primarily remembered for writing this commentary on the Bible. It took him 40 years to complete this work. Clarke adhered theologically to the Methodist founder John Wesley. Clarke’s commentary is largely written from an orthodox Methodist perspective.
KJV Colossians 2:20-22:
20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Adam Clarke’s biblical commentary Colossians 2:20-22: 2
Colossians 2:20
If ye be dead with Christ – See the notes on Rom 6:3, Rom 6:5 (note).
From the rudiments of the world – Ye have renounced all hope of salvation from the observance of Jewish rites and ceremonies, which were only rudiments, first elements, or the alphabet, out of which the whole science of Christianity was composed. We have often seen that the world and this world signify the Jewish dispensation, or the rites, ceremonies, and services performed under it.
Why, as though living in the world – Why, as if ye were still under the same dispensation from which you have been already freed, are ye subject to its ordinances, performing them as if expecting salvation from this performance?
Colossians 2:21
Touch not; taste not; handle not – These are forms of expression very frequent among the Jews. In Maccoth, fol. xxi. 1: “If they say to a Nazarite, Don’t drink, don’t drink; and he, notwithstanding, drinks; he is guilty. If they say, Don’t shave, don’t shave; and he shaves, notwithstanding; he is guilty. If they say, Don’t put on these clothes, don’t put on these clothes; and he, notwithstanding, puts on heterogeneous garments; he is guilty.” See more in Schoettgen.
Colossians 2:22
Which all are to perish with the using – These are not matters of eternal moment; the different kinds of meats were made for the body, and go with it into corruption: in like manner, all the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion now perish, having accomplished the end of their institution; namely, to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
After the commandments and doctrines of men?– These words should follow the 20th verse, of which they form a part; and it appears from them that the apostle is here speaking of the traditions of the elders, and the load of cumbrous ceremonies which they added to the significant rites prescribed by Moses.
20 Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 Which are after the doctrines and commandments of men, who teach you to touch not, taste not, handle not–all those things which are to perish with the using,
22 Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting the body as to the satisfying the flesh–not in any honor to God.
Excerpt from a 2000 BYU paper by Joseph Fielding McConkie (Professor of Ancient Scripture, BYU) and Craig J. Ostler (Assistant Professor of Church History and Doctrine, BYU) titled ‘The Process of Translating the Book of Mormon’: 1
“Spanning a period of twenty years (1869-1888), some seventy recorded testimonies about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon claim David Whitmer as their source. Though there are a number of inconsistencies in these accounts, David Whitmer was repeatedly reported to have said that after the loss of the 116 pages, the Lord took both the plates and the Urim and Thummim from the Prophet, never to be returned. In their stead, David Whitmer maintained, the Prophet used an oval-shaped, chocolate-colored seer stone slightly larger than an egg. Thus, everything we have in the Book of Mormon, according to Mr. Whitmer, was translated by placing the chocolate-colored stone in a hat into which Joseph would bury his head so as to close out the light. While doing so he could see “an oblong piece of parchment, on which the hieroglyphics would appear,” and below the ancient writing, the translation would be given in English. Joseph would then read this to Oliver Cowdery, who in turn would write it. If he did so correctly, the characters and the interpretation would disappear and be replaced by other characters with their interpretation
Such an explanation is, in our judgment, simply fiction created for the purpose of demeaning Joseph Smith and to undermine the validity of the revelations he received after translating the Book of Mormon.”
Excerpt from Joseph the Seer, Ensign (October 2015): 2
“The stone Joseph Smith used in the Book of Mormon translation effort was often referred to as a chocolate-colored stone with an oval shape. This stone passed from Joseph Smith to Oliver Cowdery and then to the Church through Brigham Young and others.”
Excerpt from Studies of the Book of Mormon by B. H. Roberts, pg. 240: 1
“Did Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews furnish structural material for Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon? It has been pointed out in these pages that there are many things in the former book that might well have suggested many major things in the other. Not a few things merely, one or two, or half dozen, but many; and it is this fact of many things of similarity and the cumulative force of them that makes them so serious a menace to Joseph Smith’s story of the Book of Mormon’s origin.”
From the Wikipedia article, ‘Studies of the Book of Mormon’: 2
“Studies of the Book of Mormon is a collection of essays written at the beginning of the 20th century (though not published until 1985) by B. H. Roberts (1857–1933), a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which examine the validity of the Book of Mormon as a translation of an ancient American source.
In the early 1920s, Roberts was asked by the First Presidency of the LDS Church to develop an apologetic to explain difficulties in the Book of Mormon, such as the lack of Hebrew or Egyptian vestiges in the languages of the Native American peoples and such historical anachronisms in the Book of Mormon as mentions of horses, oxen, wheat, and steel swords in ancient America
Roberts also compared the Book of Mormon with Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews (1823), published five years before the Book of Mormon. Smith, a Vermont clergyman, drew on, what were at the time, commonplace ideas about the relationship of the Hebrews and the American Indians. Not only did Smith’s work go through many early editions, but Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith’s scribe and one of the Three Witnesses to the golden plates, grew up in the Vermont town where Ethan Smith pastored the church and where Cowdery’s mother and half-sisters were members. According to religion writer Richard Ostling, “it is probably safe to assume that Joseph Smith was familiar” with Ethan Smith’s book.”
“All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the “elect” have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so “slow,” so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle—keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate. If he, according to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and mysteriously-engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out-of-the-way locality, the work of translating was equally a miracle, for the same reason.”
“The book seems to be merely a prosy detail of imaginary history, with the Old Testament for a model; followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament. The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old-fashioned sound and structure of our King James’s translation of the Scriptures; and the result is a mongrel—half modern glibness, and half ancient simplicity and gravity. The latter is awkward and constrained; the former natural, but grotesque by the contrast. Whenever he found his speech growing too modern—which was about every sentence or two—he ladled in a few such Scriptural phrases as “exceeding sore,” “and it came to pass,” etc., and made things satisfactory again. “And it came to pass” was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet.”
“And when I am far on the road to conviction, and eight men, be they grammatical or otherwise, come forward and tell me that they have seen the plates too; and not only seen those plates but “hefted” them, I am convinced. I could not feel more satisfied and at rest if the entire Whitmer family had testified.”
From ‘A Facsimile from the Book of Abraham No. 3’ explained by Joseph Smith Jr.: 1
Explanation
Fig. 1. Abraham sitting upon Pharaoh’s throne, by the politeness of the king, with a crown upon his head, representing the Priesthood, as emblematical of the grand Presidency in Heaven; with the scepter of justice and judgment in his hand.
Fig. 2. King Pharaoh, whose name is given in the characters above his head.
Fig. 3. Signifies Abraham in Egypt as given also in Figure 10 of Facsimile No. 1.
Fig. 4. Prince of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, as written above the hand.
Fig. 5. Shulem, one of the king’s principal waiters, as represented by the characters above his hand.
Fig. 6. Olimlah, a slave belonging to the prince.
Abraham is reasoning upon the principles of Astronomy, in the king’s court.
Fig. 1. Label for Osiris (text to the right of figure 1 of Facsimile No. 3): Recitation by Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, Lord of Abydos(?), the great god forever and ever(?)
Fig. 2. “Label for Isis (text to the right of figure 2 of Facsimile No. 3): Isis the great, the god’s mother.”
Fig. 3. “Altar, with the offering of the deceased, surrounded with lotus flowers, signifying the offering of the defunct.”
Fig. 4. “Label for Maat (text to the left of figure 4 of Facsimile No. 3): Maat, mistress of the gods.”
Fig. 5. “Label for Hor the deceased (text in front of figure 5 of Facsimile No. 3): The Osiris Hor, justified forever.”
Fig. 6. “Label for Anubis (text in front of figure 6 of Facsimile No. 3): Recitation by Anubis, who makes protection(?), foremost of the embalming booth…”
“Invocation (text at bottom line below the illustration): O gods of the necropolis, gods of the caverns, gods of the south, north, west, and east grant salvation to the Osiris Hor, the justified, born by Taikhibit.”
Excerpt from ‘Book of Mormon Translation’, LDS Gospel Topic Essay: 1
“Nevertheless, the scribes and others who observed the translation left numerous accounts that give insight into the process. Some accounts indicate that Joseph studied the characters on the plates. Most of the accounts speak of Joseph’s use of the Urim and Thummim (either the interpreters or the seer stone), and many accounts refer to his use of a single stone. According to these accounts, Joseph placed either the interpreters or the seer stone in a hat, pressed his face into the hat to block out extraneous light, and read aloud the English words that appeared on the instrument.”
Excerpt from ‘The Improvement Era’, September 1902, Prophet Joseph F. Smith: 2
“One individual can not place an affliction upon another in the way that these soothsayers would have the people believe. It is a trick of satan to deceive men and women, and to draw them away from the Church and from the influence of the Spirit of God, and the power of his holy priesthood, that they may be destroyed. These peep-stone men and women are inspired by the devil, and are the real witches, if any such there be. Witchcraft, and all kindred evils, are solely the creations of the superstitious imaginations of men and women who are steeped in ignorance, and derive their power over people from the devil, and those who submit to this influence are deceived by him. Unless they repent, they will be destroyed. There is absolutely no possibility for a person who enjoys the Holy Spirit of God to even believe that such influences can have any effect upon him. The enjoyment of the Holy Spirit is absolute proof against all influences of evil; you never can obtain that Spirit by seeking diviners, and men and women who “peep and mutter.”
Footnote 31, ‘Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham’, LDS Gospel Topic Essay: 1
“31. John Whitmer, History, 1831–ca. 1837, 76, in Karen Lynn Davidson, Richard L. Jensen, and David J. Whittaker, eds., Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Historical Writings, 1831–1847, vol. 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2012), 86. “I have set by his side and penned down the translation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphicks as he claimed to receive it by direct inspiration of Heaven,” wrote Warren Parrish, Joseph Smith’s scribe. (Warren Parrish, Feb. 5, 1838, Letter to the editor, Painesville Republican, Feb. 15, 1838, [3].)”
Full ‘Letter to the editor, Painesville Republican, Feb. 15, 1838’, Warren Parrish: 2
“KIRTLAND, Feb. 5, 1838.
To the EDITOR of the PAINESVILLE REPUBLICAN:
SIR: — I have taken the liberty to send you a synopsis of some of the leading features of the characters of Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sydney Rigdon, who are styled leaders of the Mormon Church, and if you are disposed, and think it would be of service to the public, you are at liberty to publish it. I have for several years past been a member of the Church of Latter day Saints, commonly called Mormon, belonging to the quorum of seventy High Priests, and an intimate acquaintance of Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sydney Rigdon, the modern Prophets, and have had an opportunity of ascertaining to as great an extent, perhaps the real characters of these men, as any other individual.
I have been Smith’s private Secretary, called to fill this high and responsible station by revelation which I wrote myself as it dropped from the lips of the Prophet, and although contrary to my natural inclinations, I submitted to it, fearing to disobey or treat lightly the commands of the Almighty. I have kept his Journal, and, like Baram [sic, Baruch?], the ancient scribe, have had the honor of writing the History of one of the Prophets. — I have attended him in the private Councils, in the secret chambers and in public exhibition. — I have performed a pilgrimage with him, (not to Mecca,) but to Missouri, a distance of 1000 miles, for the redemption of Zion, in company with about two hundred others, called the camp of Israel. When we arrived in Clay County adjoining Jackson County, Mo., in which Zion was located by revelation, and from which our brethren had been driven, we were informed through the Prophet that God had revealed to us that we need not cross over and fight as we had expected, but that God had accepted our sacrifice as he did that of Abraham, ours being equal to his when he offered up his Son. Therefore, we were sealed up unto eternal life in the name of Jesus Christ, as a reward for our suffering and obedience.
I have set by his side and penned down the translation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphicks as he claimed to receive it by direct inspiration of Heaven. I have listened to him with feelings of no ordinary kind, when he declared that the audible voice of God, instructed him to establish a Banking-Anti Banking institution, which like Aaron’s rod should swallow up all other Banks (the Bank of Monroe excepted,) and grow and flourish and spread from the rivers to the ends of the earth, and survive when all others should be laid in ruins.
I have been astonished to hear him declare that we had 60,000 Dollars in specie in our vaults, and $600,000 at our command, when we had not to exceed $6,000 and could not command any more; also that we had but about ten thousand Dollars of our bills in circulation, when he, as Cashier of the institution, knew that there was at least $150,000. Knowing their extreme poverty when they commenced this speculation, I have been not a little surprised to hear them assert that they were worth from three to four hundred thousand Dollars Cash, and in less than ninety days after, became insolvent without any change in their business affairs. But such has been the audacity of these boasting blasphemers, that they have assumed the authority to curse, or to bless, to damn, or to save, not only this Church but this entire generation, and that they hold their destinies in this world and that which is to come. And such has been their influence over this Church in this place, that they have filched the monies from their pockets and obtained their earthly substance for the purpose of establishing a Bank and various wild speculations, in order that they might aggrandize themselves and families, until they have reduced their followers to wretchedness and want.
For the year past their lives have been one continued scene of lying, deception, and fraud, and that too, in the name of God. But this I can account for in my own mind, having a knowledge of their private characters and sentiments, I believe them to be confirmed Infidels, who have not the fear of God before their eyes, notwithstanding their high pretensions to holiness, and frequent correspondence with the Angels of Heaven, and the revelations of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost.
What avails the claims of such men to holiness of heart, when their examples do violence to the system of morality, to say nothing about religion? What more favorable idea, can one entertain who has heard them say that man has no more agency than a wheelbarrow, and consequently is not accountable, and in the final end of all things no such principle will exist as sin.
This language, independent of many abominations that might be named, such as the Prophet’s fighting four pitched battles at fisticuff, within four years, one with his own natural brother, one with his brother-in-law, one with Ezra Thair, and one with a Baptist priest, speaks volumes.
Their management in this place has reduced society to a complete wreck. The recent outrage committed here, viz. the burning of the Printing establishment, I have no doubt was nothing more, nor less than carrying into effect Smith and Rigdon’s last revelation that they had before they took their leave of this place between two days — in fact the lying, fighting, stealing, running away, &c., that has carried on among us are only reducing their theory to practice, and in some instances they have not only taught the theory, but have set the example themselves.
And I am fully convinced that their precepts and examples, both in public and in private, are calculated to corrupt the morals of their votaries and cast a shade over their characters, which like the twilight of evening will soon settle into the gloom of midnight darkness; and had it not been arrested in its mad career, would have transmitted to succeeding generations, a system of hereditary tyranny, and spiritual despotism, unparalleled in the annals of the christian Church, the Church of Rome not excepted. But they have fled in the night; “they love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil; the wicked flee when no man pursuth.” — the printing establishment, book bindery, &c., was formerly the property of Smith and Rigdon; it had been sold the day previous to its being set on fire, by virtue of two executions obtained against them of one thousand dollars each, for issuing banking paper contrary to law.
The establishment had fallen into the hands of those who have of late remonstrated against the wickedness of the above-named individuals; and had it not been sacrificed upon the altar of reckless fanaticism, it would no doubt at this time have been speaking the truth, as an atonement for an ill-spent life; a well grounded conviction of this fact was evidently one reason why Smith and Rigdon obtained a revelation to abscond; and that the press must not at all hazards be suffered to be put in requisition against them; also that God would destroy this place by fire, for its wickedness against his Prophets, and that his servants are swift messengers of destruction, by whose hands he avenges himself upon his enemies; this accounts for the outrage.
This is but a preface to the catalogue of their iniquities that might be enumerated. But the most astonishing thing after all is, that men of common sense and common abilities, should be so completely blinded as to dispense entirely with the evidence of their senses, and tamely submit to be led by such men, and to contenance such glaring inconsistencies; and at the same time to be made to believe, that they had God for their author, and the happiness and well being of mankind for their end and aim. But the magic charm is broken at last; superstition and bigotry have begun to lose their influence and unclench their iron grasp from this devoted people who have “been led like lambs to the slaughter, and as a sheep is dumb before her shearers,” so have we not dared to open our mouths.
However justice seems to be in pursuit of the workers of iniquity; and sooner or later will overtake them: they will reap a just and sure retribution for their folly. This then is the conclusion of the whole matter; they lie by revelation, swindle by revelation, cheat and defraud by revelation, run away by revelation, and if they do not mend their ways, I fear that they will at last be damned by revelation.
Image: Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecture.
In Mark Twain’s book titled Roughing It (1872), he gives a review of the Book of Mormon:
All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the “elect” have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read it. I brought away a copy from Salt Lake. The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so “slow,” so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle—keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate. If he, according to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and mysteriously-engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out-of-the-way locality, the work of translating was equally a miracle, for the same reason. The book seems to be merely a prosy detail of imaginary history, with the Old Testament for a model; followed by a tedious plagiarism of the New Testament. The author labored to give his words and phrases the quaint, old-fashioned sound and structure of our King James’s translation of the Scriptures; and the result is a mongrel—half modern glibness, and half ancient simplicity and gravity. The latter is awkward and constrained; the former natural, but grotesque by the contrast. Whenever he found his speech growing too modern—which was about every sentence or two—he ladled in a few such Scriptural phrases as “exceeding sore,” “and it came to pass,” etc., and made things satisfactory again. “And it came to pass” was his pet. If he had left that out, his Bible would have been only a pamphlet. The title-page reads as follows:
THE BOOK OF MORMON: AN ACCOUNT WRITTEN BY THE HAND OF MORMON, UPON PLATES TAKEN FROM THE PLATES OF NEPHI.
Wherefore it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites; written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the House of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile; written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation. Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed; to come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof; sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by the way of Gentile; the interpretation thereof by the gift of God. An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also; which is a record of the people of Jared; who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to Heaven.
“Hid up” is good. And so is “wherefore”—though why “wherefore”? Any other word would have answered as well—though—in truth it would not have sounded so Scriptural. Next comes:
THE TESTIMONY OF THREE WITNESSES.
Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto whom this work shall come, that we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken; and we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for His voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true; and it is marvellous in our eyes; nevertheless the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with Him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.
OLIVER COWDERY, DAVID WHITMER, MARTIN HARRIS.
Some people have to have a world of evidence before they can come anywhere in the neighborhood of believing anything; but for me, when a man tells me that he has “seen the engravings which are upon the plates,” and not only that, but an angel was there at the time, and saw him see them, and probably took his receipt for it, I am very far on the road to conviction, no matter whether I ever heard of that man before or not, and even if I do not know the name of the angel, or his nationality either. Next is this:
AND ALSO THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES. Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto whom this work shall come, that Joseph Smith, Jr., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated, we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen; and we lie not, God bearing witness of it. CHRISTIAN WHITMER, JACOB WHITMER, PETER WHITMER, JR., JOHN WHITMER, HIRAM PAGE, JOSEPH SMITH, SR., HYRUM SMITH, SAMUEL H. SMITH.
And when I am far on the road to conviction, and eight men, be they grammatical or otherwise, come forward and tell me that they have seen the plates too; and not only seen those plates but “hefted” them, I am convinced. I could not feel more satisfied and at rest if the entire Whitmer family had testified. The Mormon Bible consists of fifteen “books”—being the books of Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni, Mosiah, Zeniff, Alma, Helaman, Ether, Moroni, two “books” of Mormon, and three of Nephi.
In the first book of Nephi is a plagiarism of the Old Testament, which gives an account of the exodus from Jerusalem of the “children of Lehi”; and it goes on to tell of their wanderings in the wilderness, during eight years, and their supernatural protection by one of their number, a party by the name of Nephi. They finally reached the land of “Bountiful,” and camped by the sea. After they had remained there “for the space of many days”—which is more Scriptural than definite—Nephi was commanded from on high to build a ship wherein to “carry the people across the waters.” He travestied Noah’s ark—but he obeyed orders in the matter of the plan. He finished the ship in a single day, while his brethren stood by and made fun of it—and of him, too—“saying, our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship.” They did not wait for the timbers to dry, but the whole tribe or nation sailed the next day. Then a bit of genuine nature cropped out, and is revealed by outspoken Nephi with Scriptural frankness—they all got on a spree! They, “and also their wives, began to make themselves merry, insomuch that they began to dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness; yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.” Nephi tried to stop these scandalous proceedings; but they tied him neck and heels, and went on with their lark. But observe how Nephi the prophet circumvented them by the aid of the invisible powers:
And it came to pass that after they had bound me, insomuch that I could not move, the compass, which had been prepared of the Lord, did cease to work; wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest, and we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days; and they began to be frightened exceedingly, lest they should be drowned in the sea; nevertheless they did not loose me. And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceeding sore. And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea.
Then they untied him.
And it came to pass after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass, and it did work whither I desired it. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed, the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm.
Equipped with their compass, these ancients appear to have had the advantage of Noah. Their voyage was toward a “promised land”—the only name they give it. They reached it in safety. Polygamy is a recent feature in the Mormon religion, and was added by Brigham Young after Joseph Smith’s death. Before that, it was regarded as an “abomination.” This verse from the Mormon Bible occurs in Chapter II. of the book of Jacob:
For behold, thus saith the Lord, this people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the Scriptures; for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son. Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord; wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. Wherefore, I the Lord God, will no suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.
However, the project failed—or at least the modern Mormon end of it—for Brigham “suffers” it. This verse is from the same chapter:
Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate, because of their filthiness and the cursings which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our fathers, that they should have, save it were one wife; and concubines they should have none.
The following verse (from Chapter IX. of the Book of Nephi) appears to contain information not familiar to everybody:
And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ascended into heaven, the multitude did disperse, and every man did take his wife and his children, and did return to his own home. 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 Kumenenhi, and Jeremiah, and Shemnon, and Jonas, and Zedekiah, and Isaiah; now these were the names of the disciples whom Jesus had chosen.
In order that the reader may observe how much more grandeur and picturesqueness (as seen by these Mormon twelve) accompanied on of the tenderest episodes in the life of our Saviour than other eyes seem to have been aware of, I quote the following from the same “book”—Nephi:
And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise. And they arose from the earth, and He said unto them, Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, My joy is full. And when He had said these words, He wept, and the multitude bear record of it, and He took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. And when He had done this He wept again, and He spake unto the multitude, and saith unto them, Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold, they cast their eyes toward heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were, in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them, and the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true, for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.
And what else would they be likely to consist of? The Book of Ether is an incomprehensible medley of if “history,” much of it relating to battles and sieges among peoples whom the reader has possibly never heard of; and who inhabited a country which is not set down in the geography. These was a King with the remarkable name of Coriantumr,^^ and he warred with Shared, and Lib, and Shiz, and others, in the “plains of Heshlon”; and the “valley of Gilgal”; and the “wilderness of Akish”; and the “land of Moran”; and the “plains of Agosh”; and “Ogath,” and “Ramah,” and the “land of Corihor,” and the “hill Comnor,” by “the waters of Ripliancum,” etc., etc., etc. “And it came to pass,” after a deal of fighting, that Coriantumr, upon making calculation of his losses, found that “there had been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children”—say 5,000,000 or 6,000,000 in all—“and he began to sorrow in his heart.” Unquestionably it was time. So he wrote to Shiz, asking a cessation of hostilities, and offering to give up his kingdom to save his people. Shiz declined, except upon condition that Coriantumr would come and let him cut his head off first—a thing which Coriantumr would not do. Then there was more fighting for a season; then four years were devoted to gathering the forces for a final struggle—after which ensued a battle, which, I take it, is the most remarkable set forth in history,—except, perhaps, that of the Kilkenny cats, which it resembles in some respects. This is the account of the gathering and the battle:
7. And it came to pass that they did gather together all the people, upon all the face of the land, who had not been slain, save it was Ether. And it came to pass that Ether did behold all the doings of the people; and he beheld that the people who were for Coriantumr, were gathered together to the army of Coriantumr; and the people who were for Shiz, were gathered together to the army of Shiz; wherefore they were for the space of four years gathering together the people, that they might get all who were upon the face of the land, and that they might receive all the strength which it was possible that they could receive. And it came to pass that when they were all gathered together, every one to the army which he would, with their wives and their children; both men, women, and children being armed with weapons of war, having shields, and breast-plates, and head-plates, and being clothed after the manner of war, they did march forth one against another, to battle; and they fought all that day, and conquered not. And it came to pass that when it was night they were weary, and retired to their camps; and after they had retired to their camps, they took up a howling and a lamentation for the loss of the slain of their people; and so great were their cries, their howlings and lamentations, that it did rend the air exceedingly. And it came to pass that on the morrow they did go again to battle, and great and terrible was that day; nevertheless they conquered not, and when the night came again, they did rend the air with their cries, and their howlings, and their mournings, for the loss of the slain of their people.
8. And it came to pass that Coriantumr wrote again an epistle unto Shiz, desiring that he would not come again to battle, but that he would take the kingdom, and spare the lives of the people. But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people, for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle. And it came to pass that they fought all that day, and when the night came they slept upon their swords; and on the morrow they fought even until the night came; and when the night came they were drunken with anger, even as a man who is drunken with wine; and they slept again upon their swords; and on the morrow they fought again; and when the night came they had all fallen by the sword save it were fifty and two of the people of Coriantumr, and sixty and nine of the people of Shiz. And it came to pass that they slept upon their swords that night, and on the morrow they fought again, and they contended in their mights with their swords, and with their shields, all that day; and when the night came there were thirty and two of the people of Shiz, and twenty and seven of the people of Coriantumr.
9. And it came to pass that they ate and slept, and prepared for death on the morrow. And they were large and mighty men, as to the strength of men. And it came to pass that they fought for the space of three hours, and they fainted with the loss of blood. And it came to pass that when the men of Coriantumr had received sufficient strength, that they could walk, they were about to flee for their lives, but behold, Shiz arose, and also his men, and he swore in his wrath that he would slay Coriantumr, or he would perish by the sword: wherefore he did pursue them, and on the morrow he did overtake them; and they fought again with the sword. And it came to pass that when they had all fallen by the sword, save it were Coriantumr and Shiz, behold Shiz had fainted with loss of blood. And it came to pass that when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he smote off the head of Shiz. And it came to pass that after he had smote off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised upon his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died. And it came to pass that Coriantumr fell to the earth, and became as if he had no life. And the Lord spake unto Ether, and said unto him, go forth. And he went forth, and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled; and he finished his record; and the hundredth part I have not written.
It seems a pity he did not finish, for after all his dreary former chapters of commonplace, he stopped just as he was in danger of becoming interesting. The Mormon Bible is rather stupid and tiresome to read, but there is nothing vicious in its teachings. Its code of morals is unobjectionable- -it is “smouched” [Milton] from the New Testament and no credit given.
In a 2015 LDS church production, titled The Days of Harmony, the editors were instructed to ‘paint out the hat’ from the scenes depicting the translation. The video, currently showing in temple visitor centers and LDS historical sites, entirely omits the white hat from the depiction. Curious, because as David Whitmer recalls: (An Address to All Believers in Christ, pg. 12 – David Whitmer)
“I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine.
Joseph Smith used a seer stone placed in a white hat as the primary method for the translation. Something the church seems hesitant to depict in its art and media.
Image: Richard Lyman Bushman (born June 20, 1931) is an American historian and Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University. He was the Howard W. Hunter Visiting Professor in Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University from 2008 to 2011. He also serves as one of three general editors of the Joseph Smith Papers.
Richard Lyman Bushman, New Perspectives on Joseph Smith and Translation – Utah State University March 16th, 2017: History and Context—Richard Bushman
From a modern scholarly perspective, Moses along with a later translation of the Book of Abraham, looks less like a translation of the Bible, than a major variant of a second major translation project in the 19th century, the recovery and analysis is pseudepigrapha.
These scripture like texts, now numbering in the hundreds, were taken seriously during the first centuries of the Christian era when they jostled for inclusion in the Christian and Jewish canons. They were wanted to be scriptures. They didn’t quite make the grade, but still hung around in various forms. These are writings that had a biblical ring and echoed biblical themes, but for reasons both theological and political, did not make it into the canon. The Bible as we know it. They were called pseudepigrapha because they oftened pretended to be authored by a biblical figure and spoke in that prophets voice. Though the actual author, of the writing, was unknown. They had names like the Apocryphal Set. The Inquiry of Abraham. The Testament of Job. The Apocryphal of Ezekiel.
Joseph Smith’s books of Moses and Abraham and the writings of Enoch and the Book of Moses bear a resemblance to this large corpus of scriptures in that they came in the form of writings in another persons name. Joseph was producing pseudepigrapha at the very time when scholars were taking these writings seriously again. Interested Pseudepigrapha had faded out in the 3rd and 4th centuries of the Christian era after the canon settled in. And revived in the renaissance as part of the return to antiquity for wisdom and science. Over the course of the 19th century, translation and study of pseudepigrapha became a major scholarly endeavor.
Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as “pseudepigraph” or “pseudepigraphs”) are falsely-attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. Pseudepigraphy covers the false ascription of names of authors to works, even to authentic works that make no such claim within their text. Thus a widely accepted but incorrect attribution of authorship may make a completely authentic text pseudepigraphical. Assessing the actual writer of a text locates questions of pseudepigraphical attribution within the discipline of literary criticism.
Richard Lyman Bushman, New Perspectives on Joseph Smith and Translation – Utah State University March 16th, 2017 (video) History and Context—Richard Bushman
A single example out of hundreds between The Late War (published 1816) and The Book of Mormon (Published 1830).
The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain, by Gilbert J. Hunt – 34:10
But it came to pass, in the same year, that the people of Columbia were revenged of the evil:
The Book of Mormon – Alma 50:30
And it came to pass that in the same year that the people of Nephi had peace restored unto them…
New York, 1816: When Joseph Smith was 12 years old, Gilbert Hunt published a scriptural style account of the War of 1812, titled “The Late War between the United States and Great Britain.” The book was marketed for the use of schools throughout the United States” under the title The Historical Reader. Written in King James style English and laced with chiastic literary structure, The Late War bears remarkable similarities to The Book of Mormon, published over a decade later.
Possible explanations for the similarities include: 1. The Late War was a direct source for some of the language and content of the Book of Mormon. 2. The Book of Mormon was consciously styled in the language of The Late war but was not dependent on it for literary content. 3. The parallels between the BoM and the LW are incidental and both books merely reflect a style of writing in KJV prose that was conventional during the period.
Whatever the connection between the two volumes, the similarities clearly reflect the milieu in which they were created. The Late War and The Book of Mormon look exactly like you would expect two books with similar themes coming out of early 19th century frontier America.
“There are many other forms of lying. When we speak untruths, we are guilty of lying. We can also intentionally deceive others by a gesture or a look, by silence, or by telling only part of the truth. Whenever we lead people in any way to believe something that is not true, we are not being honest.”
Published in the Times and Seasons in 1842, the Book of Abraham, were said to be “written by his [Abrahams] own hand, upon papyrus.” [footnote] The Book of Abraham, LDS.org [/footnote] In 1880 the church canonized the Book of Abraham along with three hypocephalus known as Facimilies 1, 2 and 3. Thought to be lost in the great Chicago Fire (1871) the papyri were later discovered in New York and returned with great excitement to the church in 1967. Soon however both LDS and non-LDS scholars determined the papyri bore no semblance to the translation provided by Joseph Smith, verifying instead that they were common Egyptian funerary documents post-dating Abraham by centuries. For over 45 years this information was concealed from the general membership until 2014 with the publication of the ‘Translation and the Historicity of the Book of Abraham’ Gospel Topic Essay, in which the church admitted “None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham’s name or any of the events recorded in the book of Abraham” [footnote]Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham, Gospel Topic Essay [/footnote]
Compare below the translation provided by Joseph Smith and that of Egyptologists:
Joseph’s Translation
Modern Egyptological Translation
Abraham sitting upon Pharaoh’s throne, by the politeness of the king, with a crown upon his head, representing the Priesthood, as emblematical of the grand Presidency in Heaven; with the scepter of justice and judgment in his hand.
“Label for Osiris (text to the right of figure 1 of facsimile 3): Recitation by Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, Lord of Abydos(?), the great god forever and ever(?).”
King Pharaoh, whose name is given in the characters above his head.
“Label for Isis (text to the right of figure 2 of facsimile 3): Isis the great, the god’s mother.”
Signifies Abraham in Egypt as given also in Figure 10 of Facsimile No. 1.
“Altar, with the offering of the deceased, surrounded with lotus flowers, signifying the offering of the defunct.” –Theodule Deveria
Prince of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, as written above the hand.
“Label for Maat (text to the left of figure 4 of facsimile 3): Maat, mistress of the gods.”
Shulem, one of the king’s principal waiters, as represented by the characters above his hand.
“Label for Hor the deceased (text in front of figure 5 of facsimile 3): The Osiris Hor, justified forever.”
Olimlah, a slave belonging to the prince.
“Label for Anubis (text in front of figure 6 of facsimile 3): Recitation by Anubis, who makes protection(?), foremost of the embalming booth,…”
Image: Museum Walls Proclaim Fraud of Mormon Prophet, New York Times, December 29, 1912 [footnote] New York Times Article – Link [/footnote]
From the introduction to the Book of Abraham as published in the Pearl of Great Price: [footnote] The Book of Abraham – LDS.org [/footnote]
“A Translation of some ancient Records that have fallen into our hands from the catacombs of Egypt. The writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus.”
“None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham’s name or any of the events recorded in the book of Abraham. Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of Abraham.”
