Article on FAIR pointing out the sheer number of times and places Joseph identified the Nephites’ location.
There are several missing, such as the angel Moroni stating the Indians were in “this continent” (meaning North America), or Joseph identifying Mayan cities as Nephite cities, but this gives a feeling of how varied the quotes are and how many locations Joseph cited.
This is Beneficial Life[1].
They make money by selling insurance[2] and then investing the money while waiting to pay out for policies, like most insurance companies.
The company is run by the board of directors, who happen to be the prophets and apostles[3].
In 2009, Beneficial Life fired/laid off most of its employees[4] and decided it would no longer service new life insurance policies[5].
So what happened? Well, when the insurance company received the money for policies, it invested it in an area it thought was very very safe, but still making good returns. Namely, mortgage-backed securities[6].
So it was very similar to Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. It was also “too big to fail,” if you will, so the Deseret Management Corp gave it a cash infusion (more on this later).
So what gave the church the idea that they should invest in sub-prime mortgages:
“The deal has left local real-estate professionals shaking their heads. They say the land isn’t worth anything close to what the church paid.”
“Now the orphaned land of Avalea belongs to the church, and some local analysts say Shea and Fulton got off lucky.”
“It’s a phenomenal deal for the home builders, because very few buyers, I think, would be willing to pay that kind of money,”
Matt Baldwin, spokesman for Salt Lake City-based Property Reserve, did not return phone calls left last week, and neither did church officials.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/mormon/mormon568.html[7]
“Fulton Homes founder Ira Fulton is a high-profile Mormon and philanthropist who has donated more than $250 million combined to Arizona State University, the church-owned Brigham Young University and the University of Utah.”
Ah, so they gave the sub-prime builder money, and he then re-invested it into the church via tithing. This is known in other areas as “money laundering.” 10% return by investing your life insurance money in a member’s business makes perfect sense, unless the member is dealing with people who can never pay.
So why haven’t you heard about this by members? I don’t know, it was published in the Wall Street Journal[8]…
But I’d guess the reason that members think it is no big deal is that Deseret Management provided the $600 million. No tithing was used, we were assured over and over.
Except I have a co-worker who interviewed with a former VP of Beneficial Life. During the interview, this subject came up and the VP admitted that it was all tithing dollars.
“Even though tithing dollars were used, Beneficial Life will pay it all back” (paraphrase of the direct quote because memories are not precise). In fact, that is exactly why they continue to service the policies. It wasn’t just being nice to all the members who bought policies (because when the GAs die, they will need to pay out… this is a losing proposition), but because as the people who still have policies pay, the church gets a payback on the tithing dollars infused.
This is a pretty clear case of lying to membership on where tithing dollars go and how they are used. Giving loans that will be paid back can be considered “not tithing” when talking to the press. Well all those General Authority loans mentioned here[9] in a post yesterday become very suspicious.
As well as, “no tithing money was used in the building of the mall.”
Additional documentation:
http://www.insurance.utah.gov/docs/BLIC_Fin12-31-07.pdf[10]
http://www.rickross.com/reference/mormon/mormon568.html[11]
http://askville.amazon.com/future-fore-Beneficial-Life-Insurance/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=53971739[13]
TL;DR: Church’s life insurance company went belly up in 2009 due to something akin to money laundering. The members were told tithing was not used in bailout, but my contact spoke to eye witness who admitted that not only was tithing used, but the slow-death is the cover up so they could claim no tithing money was used in financial numbers game.
Plagiarism definition[1] includes to “present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.” By this definition, Joseph Smith, Jr. clearly plagiarized.
How to identify plagiarism[2]: We will be judging Joseph Smith, Jr. on the criteria listed in this paper. Specifically:
1) If he typically performed poor work and then suddenly did amazing things, odds are it was plagiarized.
2) If there are few or no citations to previous works, it is likely plagiarism.
3) If there are ANY exact match sentences, odds are there was plagiarism.
4) Feel free to do your own random searches.
These are NOT anti-mormon methods. These are the standards for finding and identifying plagiarism.
NOTE: One does not need to copy the entire play “Hamlet” to plagiarize Shakespeare. One needs merely to include key identifiable lines that are highly unlikely to be the student’s own work. Similarly, if Smith uses unique phrases from other works in his own, this is plagiarism whether or not he copies the entire work. That there are differences in the two works IS NOT A COUNTER ARGUMENT. If you don’t believe me, send in a work to be published, copying word for word a few sentences from Shakespeare without crediting him and wait for a letter from the publisher’s editor, along with a possible court summons.
I will post the timeline in the following format:
[Date] Source. Joseph Smith, Jr. Document that is affected, along with an approximate effect. SOURCE.
Timeline
1599 – Shakespeare’s Hamlet- Ophelia speech [3]. In the Book of Mormon, death is referred to as “a silent grave.” This phrase originates with Shakespeare. Mayan/Mesoamerican[4] cultures do not have the same concept of a “death as a silent grave” in any writings so far discovered.
1600s – The phrase “Type and a Shadow” arises with the Protestant church and the Guttenberg press. Latin translations do not have this concept present in them. The Book of Mormon uses this phrase so frequently, that searching for it online results in mostly mormon websites. “Tupos,” the original Greek word that “type” is taken from, would not have been invented when Nephites supposedly are saying it.
1604 – Grammatical mistake in Isaiah 6:2 pluralizes “seraphims”” 2 Nephi 16:2 original text pluralizes it to “seraphs”. Corrected later to “Seraphim” to hide the incorrect grammar
1784 – A man by the name of Emanuel Swedenborg wrote a book about his visions of the afterlife. Swedenborg insisted, “There are three heavens,” described as, “entirely distinct from each other.” He called the highest heaven, “the Celestial Kingdom,” Claims there are two kingdoms that resemble “Spirit Paradise” and a “Spirit Prison” in mormon theology. for the unbaptized are mentioned. Angels in the Celestial Kingdom wear a garment given to them by “the Lord” (description of the garment similar to Moroni’s in the 1838 version of the Moroni visit. He quotes several of the scriptures of the new testament to explain this.). Spirits and angels converse “as one man with another.” The spirit world is on Earth, but cannot be seen because of “the veil.” Marriage exists only in highest of Celestial Kingdom. Compare to doctrines in D&C 77[5].
1799-1812 – Spaulding writes Manuscirpt Found and Manuscript Story, similar in theme and many phrases to the Book of Mormon’s first Nephi and Alma portions[7].
1815 – Norris Stearns vision, similar to First Vision[8].
1816 – Elias Smith vision, similar to First Vision[9].
1816 – Solomon Chaimberlain visits Smith’s home pronouncing all churches corrupt[10].
1817 – Joseph Smith’s library acquires a copy of Swedenborg’s “Heaven and Hell and Its Wonders.” Although Smith’s family are not members, the book is checked out frequently and the neighbors certainly read and discussed it. source: Magic and the Early World View, D. Michael Quinn.
1821 – A Palmyra newspaper stated that diggers on the Erie Canal had unearthed “several brass plates” along with skeletons and fragments of pottery. Source: Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History, pp. 35-36.
1821 – Charles G. Finny vision, similar to First Vision[11].
1821 – Apochryphal Book of Enoch published in English by Richard Laurence, similar to Enoch chapters in the Pearl of Great Price’s “Book of Moses.”
1 January, 1823 – Spaulding manuscript sold to printing house. Sidney Rigdon takes 3 years off of being a minister, reported to be working on a document during these three years. More analysis here[12].
1823 – Detroit manuscript found by Joseph Smith’s uncle and sent to Dr. Mitchel for translation. The characters are printed in local paper. Characters are almost identical to the Anthon Transcript[13]. More here[14].
Prior to November 1823 – “During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would to with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them.” (Lucy Smith, Biographical Sketches, p. 85).
1 October, 1825 – M. M. Noah summarized the parallels between the cultures of Hebraic and Indian customs in Joseph’s hometown paper. Joseph Smith’s father took the paper (Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History, 45-46).
1826-1828 – The Wonders of Nature and Providence Displayed is written. This book is checked out of Smith’s local library continuously. It contains Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews[17].
28 December,1827 – Philosophy of a future state published by Thomas Dick. Joseph Smith possessed a copy. Book of Abraham numbers, stars, counting and philosophy are similar, including stars populated by “various orders of intelligences.” These intelligences are “progressive beings” headed towards perfection.
1827 – Martin Harris rendition of the First Vision is recorded[18].
March 1830 – Book of Mormon is published.
October 1830 – Peter Bauder inteview of Joseph Smith, First Vision[19].
1831 – Joseph Smith journal entry of First Vision (only Jesus appears)[20].
1831 – Legend of Enoch, told in Masonry, is very similar to Joseph’s version of Moroni’s visit written in 1831[21]. List of similarities available here[22].
10 February, 1831 – Alexander Campbell prints a pamphlet stating that the Book of Mormon answers all the theological questions of the day in a curious manner. Alludes to Rigdon having written it (Campbell’s subject areas: infant baptism, ordination, the Trinity, regeneration, repentance, justification, the fall of man, the atonement, transubstantiation, fasting, penance, church government, religious experience, the call to the ministry, general resurrection, eternal punishment, who may baptize, the right of man, and apostasy). He claimed that phrases such as, “your own eternal welfare,” “salvation is free,” “everlasting salvation of your souls,” “an infinite atonement,” “flesh must go to mother earth,” and “death must deliver up its dead” were not uncommon 2300 years prior.
1832 – First Vision written in Joseph Smith’s diary. source: 1832, Joseph Smith Letterbook 1, pp.2,3, in the handwriting of Joseph Smith.
1832 – Orson Hyde and Samuel Smith preach the Book of Mormon in Ohio. Nehemiah King, Spaulding’s brother, and seven other residents identify it as coming from Spaulding’s Manuscript. E. Howe’s Mormonism Unvailed contains their affidavits.
March 1832 – Doctrine and Covenants 77 published[24].
1832 – Orson Pratt and John Murdock diaries record several excommunications including branch presidents who denounce degrees of glory as a Satanic revelation. Even Brigham Young had a hard time with it at first and described it as a, “trial too many” (D&C 77).
1833 – Book of Commandments is published with a section on how the plates were found. No First Vision mentioned.
1833 – Willard Chase gives account of first vision related to him By Joseph Smith, Sr.[25].
1833 Apocryphal Book of Enoch revised and reprinted[26].
1834-1836 – Olvier Cowdery publishes “Messenger and Advocate” with the origin of Book of Mormon. No First Vision mentioned.
9 November, 1835 – Joseph Smith gives First Vision account to Jewish Minister[29].
14 November, 1835 – Joseph Smith gives First Vision account to Erastus Holmes[30].
1837 – Parley P. Pratt publishes A voice of warning as a guide for missionaries. No First Vision mentioned.
1838 – First Vision is revised and includes seeing the son of God and Father (God) as separate individuals[33]. Because of a scribe’s death and Joseph’s imprisonment in the liberty Jail, this had to occur a few months after James’ death.
1839 – Edward Hunter reports that Joseph Smith said, “Emanuel Swedenborg had a view of the world to come, but for daily food he perished.”
1841 – Parley P. Pratt states that he owns a copy of “Apocryphal Book of Enoch” which is very similar to the Enoch portion of the Pearl of Great Price, translated 4 years previous. Source: Millennial Star 1 (July 1840):61.
1 March, 1842 – Wentworth letter published in Times and Seasons mentioning gold plates and angels, but no earlier “First Vision.”
15-16 March,1842 – Joseph Smith becomes Master Mason.
17 March, 1842 – Relief Society organized. Joseph uses masonic language in the introduction. Citation to masonic ceremony not mentioned.
14 May, 1842 – Nauvoo endowment introduced with same grips, tokens signs and penalties as the Masonic ceremony, except for the fourth grip. Five points of fellowship are identical. Source: David Buerger, Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, Chapter 3: Joseph Smith’s Ritual (as well as pre-endowed individuals of 1990 who were also Master Masons).
1842 – Joseph Smith History published as a series in the Times and Seasons, containing the Moroni Visit and First Vision as we now know them.
17 June, 1842 – “Bro Joseph Ses Masonary was taken from preasthood but has become degen[e]rated. But menny things are perfect” (Letter from Heber C. Kimball to Parley P. Pratt).
1844 – Joseph admits in his diary that in 1844 he studied the Kabbalah with a Jewish convert to Mormonism, Alexander Neibauer, who was born near Prussia and educated in the Law of Moses to become a Rabbi. Jewish scholars identify Kabbalah teachings included in the Church Doctrine. Smith also studied under Joshua Seixas, a Jewish Hebrew scholar who was brought to Kirtland to teach Hebrew in Smith’s school for the Elders (Seixas didn’t convert to Mormonism). The class met in the upper room of the temple. Joseph, along with Oliver Cowdery, also met with both Neibauer and Seixas privately to gain information on various Hebrew and religious subjects (Mormons and Jews: Early Mormon Theologies of Israel by Steven Epperson. Signature Books;
SLC, 1992. Cited at http://www.signaturebookslibrary.org/Jews/jewsch4.htm)[12].
22 June, 1844 – Joseph Smith is killed.
1852 – Deseret news publishes First Vision account quoting Joseph as saying only angels appeared[14].
29 May,1852 – Joseph Smith’s First Vision account to Erastus Holmes published in Deseret News[15].
1855 – Brigham Young teaches in 1855 that only angels appeared in the First Vision (JoD. 2:171; see also here)[16].
1859 – First Vision recounted by Martin Harris in Tiffany’s Monthly[17].
1921 – B.H. Roberts starts investigation into Book of Mormon[18].
Autumn 1966 – James B. Allen, who served as assistant church historian, frankly admitted that the story of the First Vision “was not given general circulation in the 1830s” (Source: Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Autumn 1966, p.33).
1985 – B.H. Robert’s “Studies of the book of Mormon” is published.
Conclusion
Any number of these are clear plagiarism by today’s standards –enough that any student attempting a small portion of this would be thrown out of BYU.
Why is the mormon God okay with such loose standards of plagiarism, especially when he is fine with giving technology 3700 years in advance (submarines to the brother of Jared), and could easily have told Joseph and others how to keep good records?
Why would Joseph need to plagiarize any doctrine, even a single line?
I think the shifting First Vision, the clear presence of multiple sources to each document Joseph produced, and so forth clearly illustrate a pattern of plagiarism and a total lack of original ideas whenever Joseph had large, clear portions of newly written revelation.
Favorite line (emphasis added):
I spent an inordinate amount of time attempting to determine what a sword from the time period of Laban would look like, its construction, etc. I could not locate one from his time period, but I did for an earlier time period, that of Solomon, about 250 years earlier. Using the description in the Book of Mormon, of the sword of Laban, I obtained a replica of the sword of Solomon, gold hilt and all.
The sword that I obtained weighs over eight pounds, is bottom heavy, (a gold handle), and is extremely clumsy to use – much to heavy to use in battle.
Bonus comment:
The hilt of a sword is the wrapping around the tang. It can indeed be made of gold wire. I know swords. The crossguard, or quillons, would NOT be be made of soft metal. In history, swords wielded by certain leaders might well have a gold wire or silver wire hilt. The whole hilt will NOT be so wrapped. The base will be leather with the final layer being the wire.
I have hundreds of them in my collection and I hold a 7th dan in Kendo. Steel was nearly unheard of in Pre-columbian America. Obsidian swords CAN be sheathed. You make the scabbard out of leather that has been boiled in oil. This would NOT be cow leather as there were no cows in Pre-C America.
The Sword of Solomon was crap.
So the Sword of Laban probably was not an effective weapon. Nibley says the gold hilt was a symbol of power (despite Nephi saying he used it in battle to defend his people) and that it was never intended to fight with. He compares it to the dagger of King Tut as evidence that such things existed in the ancient world.
“[N]one is more famous or more beautiful than the fine steel dagger with its hilt of pure gold and finest workmanship, that was found on the person of the youthful King Tutankhamen” (Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, V).
Ok… steel dagger with a hilt of pure gold, should be just a google away…
“…Tutankhamen’s tomb also contained a dagger with a gold blade” (The Age of Iron: Tutankhamen’s Tomb).
Wait… whuh? Gold blade?
“One of the most famous examples is knifemaker Buster Warenski’s replication of the gold dagger found in King Tut’s tomb. Warenski’s dagger was made with a cast gold blade and the knife contained 32 ounces of pure gold in its construction.”
Here is a picture of tut’s knife.
Did I just catch Nibley in a published lie? That is very clearly NOT a steel knife with a golden hilt!
It’s a golden knife all the way through. Not a symbol of power and authority on a useable knife, but clearly just a symbolic knife (try cutting anything with gold).
Oh Nibley… did you have to mislead the entire church on such a simple matter?
“Suppose your youth receive their impressions of church history from “pictures and stories,” and build their faith upon these alleged miracles [and] shall someday come face to face with the fact that their belief rests on falsehoods, what then will be the result? Will they not say that since these things are myth and our Church has permitted them to be perpetuated …might not the other fundamentals to the actual story of the Church, the things in which it had its origin, might they not all be lies and nothing but lies? … [Some say that] because one repudiates the false he stands in danger of weakening, perhaps losing the truth. I have no fear of such results. I find my own heart strengthened in the truth by getting rid of the untruth, the spectacular, the bizarre, as soon as I learn that it is based upon worthless testimony” (Defender of the Faith: The B. H. Roberts Story, p. 363).
We can learn apostasy by studying history
“A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ” (James Talmage, A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182). What should we be looking for? Lost authority, corrupted doctrines, and a false order of religion.
Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness” (President Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, p.266).
TL;DR: This is a collection of 100% church sources that illustrate that the current church is in apostasy, corrupt and would be rejected by Joseph and the Christ Joseph believed in.
NOTE: To those who would say I ‘cherry picked” or pulled quotes out of context, there are many, many quotes by Ezra Taft Benson about the church being in apostasy. I did not use most of his quotes because of the context of history. Ezra felt that many of the more touchy-feely apostles were secretly communists. Ezra had a spy watching N. Elden Tanner, David O. McKay and others throughout his time at the church. The spy watched Leonard Arrington during his opening of the church history vaults, and Ezra, Mark E. Peterson and Boyd K. Packer were responsible for shutting up church history again.
So I thought it best not to use quotes where the apostles and prophets meant only a subsection of the apostles. I have tried to skew the quotes to only be about GENERAL apostasy, and illustrate how those principles are active today. This list, is in fact, cherry picked in FAVOR of the church. In addition, I think that Joseph’s “key that will never rust” was abandoned when a minority of the apostles (Boyd, Mark and Ezra) were able to shut off history. Following three apostles over the majority has, in fact, led to today’s modern apostasy.
Corrupted doctrines
Yes, President Young did teach that Adam was the father of our spirits and all the related things that the cultists ascribe to him. This, however, is not true. He expressed views that are out of harmony with the gospel (Letter to Eugene England, February 19, 1981).
Either Brigham Young was a prophet, or Bruce R. McConkie is right about him and he was wrong. Why trust McConkie when his book, “Mormon Doctrine,” was rejected for having errors? Additionally, why assume that “Brigham was speaking as a man” when he said it as a prophet from the pulpit at conference, and McConkie is not speaking as a man when he said these things in letters on the side?
“It is a very apparent fact that we have traveled far and wide in the past 20 years. What the future will bring I do not know. But if we drift as far afield from fundamental things in the next 20 years, what will be left of the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith? It is easy for one who observes to see how the apostasy came about in the primitive church of Christ. Are we not traveling the same road?” (Joseph Fielding Smith Journal, 28 December 1938).
“While the scriptures do assure us that the Church will continue to exist and be divinely led by prophets of the Lord right up until his Second Coming, they do not state that all, or even a majority of its members will follow those prophets. On the contrary, they foretell extensive, and in some cases, almost total defection from true principles” (The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil, pp. 169-170).
“Not only are there apostates within our midst, but there are also apostate doctrines that are sometimes taught in our classes and from our pulpits and that appear in our publications. And these apostate precepts of men cause our people to stumble. As the Book of Mormon, speaking of our day, states: ‘They have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men'” (2 Nephi 28:14)” (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Pg.89 90).
Moroni was similarly explicit in predicting false teachings among the saints. Reflect upon the unmistakable implications of this point-blank indictment of members of the “holy church of God:” “O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God?” (Mormon 8:38).
Since there is only one “holy church of God” on earth, and since it is being polluted, the blame therefore appears to rest upon the teachers and hypocrites within that church (The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil, pp. 170-171).
Gordon B. Hinckley disses Lorenzo Snow and Joseph Smith, Jr.
“I had a direct revelation of this. It was most perfect and complete. If there ever was a thing revealed to man perfectly, clearly, so that there could be no doubt or dubiety, this was revealed to me, and it came in these words: ‘As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be'” (Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.5).
“Q: There are some significant differences in your beliefs. For instance, don’t Mormons believe that God was once a man? A: I wouldn’t say that. There was a little couplet coined, ‘As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.’ Now that’s more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don’t know very much about. Q: So you’re saying the church is still struggling to understand this? A: Well, as God is, man may become. We believe in eternal progression. Very strongly. We believe that the glory of God is intelligence and whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. Knowledge, learning, is an eternal thing. And for that reason, we stress education. We’re trying to do all we can to make of our people the ablest, best, brightest people that we can” (Gordon B. Hinkley Q&A San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, April 13, 1997).
On whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, he (President Hinckley) sounded uncertain, “I don’t know that we teach it. I don’t know that we emphasize it… I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don’t know a lot about it, and I don’t think others know a lot about it” (Time Magazine, August 4, 1997).
“These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they are simple. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from the Bible” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p.345).
Corrupted Authority
“I would be surprised if ten percent of those who claim to hold the Melchizedek priesthood will remain faithful to the gospel at the time of the seventh president and that there would be thousands that think they hold the priesthood at that time, but would not have it properly conferred upon them” (Minutes of a meeting, September 7, 1886).
“The day will come when man’s priesthood and authority will be called to question, and you will find that there will be hundreds who have no priesthood, but who believe they hold it, they are holding only an office in the church” (Truth, 3:153).
“Brethren, this church will be led onto the very brink of hell by the leaders of this people, then God will send the one mighty and strong spoken of in the 85th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, to save and redeem this church” (Brigham Young quoted about D&C 85:7, Truth, March 1, 1936, 1:10, p. 135).
True authority is not mainstream
“The world always mistook false prophets for true ones, and those that were sent of God, they considered to be false prophets and hence they killed, stoned, punished and imprisoned the true prophets, and these had to hide themselves ‘in deserts and dens, and caves of the earth,’ and though the most honorable men of the earth, they banished them from their society as vagabonds, whilst they cherished, honored and supported knaves, vagabonds, hypocrites, impostors, and the basest of men” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith Pg. 205).
Gordon B. Hinckley vs. Brigham Young
Gordon “Q: And this belief in contemporary revelation and prophecy? As the prophet, tell us how that works. How do you receive divine revelation? What does it feel like? A: Let me say first that we have a great body of revelation, the vast majority of which came from the prophet Joseph Smith. We don’t need much revelation. We need to pay more attention to the revelation we’ve already received. Now, if a problem should arise on which we don’t have an answer, we pray about it, we may fast about it, and it comes. Quietly. Usually no voice of any kind, but just a perception in the mind. I liken it to Elijah’s experience. When he sought the Lord, there was a great wind, and the Lord was not in the wind. And there was an earthquake, and the Lord was not in the earthquake. And a fire, and the Lord was not in the fire. But in a still, small voice. Now that’s the way it works” (San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, April 13, 1997).
Brigham “Q: [Do] you, like the old prophets, receive direct revelation from God? A: Yes, and not only me but my brethren also. Q: Does that extend to all the church without reserve or rank? A: Yes, and it is just as necessary for the mother to possess this spirit in training and rearing her children as for anyone else. Q: It is not absolutely necessary, then, that each person receive revelations through you? A: Oh, no; through the spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost; but to dictate to the church is my part of it” (Deseret News, May 23, 1877).
Infallibility of leadership or the common claim that the prophet will never lead us astray was directly spoken against: Where does the idea come from?
“I will give you a key that will never rust, if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray” (William G. Nelson, Young Woman’s Journal 17 (1906), p.543).
“We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark that they would do anything they were told to do by those who preside over them [even] if they knew it was wrong; but such obedience as this is worse than folly to us; it is slavery in the extreme; and the man who would thus willingly degrade himself, should not claim a rank among intelligent beings, until he turns from his folly. A man of God would despise the idea. Others, in the extreme exercise of their almighty authority have taught that such obedience was necessary, and that no matter what the saints were told to do by their presidents, they should do it without any questions. When the Elders of Israel will so far indulge in these extreme notions of obedience as to teach them to the people, it is generally because they have it in their hearts to do wrong themselves” (Joseph Smith Jr., Millennial Star, Vol. 14, Num. 38, pp.593-595).
“What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually” (Brigham Young, JD 9:151).
“The First Presidency have of right a great influence over this people; and if we should get out of the way and lead this people to destruction, what a pity it would be! How can you know whether we lead you correctly or not? Can you know by any other power than that of the Holy Ghost? I have uniformly exhorted the people to obtain this living witness, each for themselves; then no man on earth can lead them astray” (Brigham Young, JD 6:100).
“I do not want men to come to me or my brethren for testimony as to the truth of this work; but let them take the Scriptures of divine truth, and there the path is pointed out to them as plainly as ever a guideboard indicated the right path to the weary traveller. There they are directed to go, not to Brothers Brigham, Heber, or Daniel, to any apostle or elder in Israel, but to the Father in the name of Jesus, and ask for the information they need. Can they who take this course in honesty and sincerity receive information? Will the Lord turn away from the honest heart seeking for truth? No, He will not; He will prove to them, by the revelations of His Spirit, the facts in the case. And when the mind is open to the revelations of the Lord it comprehends them quicker and keener than anything that is seen by the natural eye. It is not what we see with our eyes they may be deceived but what is revealed by the Lord from Heaven is sure and steadfast, and abides for ever. We do not want the people to rely on human testimony, although that cannot be confuted and destroyed; still, there is a more sure word of prophecy that all may gain if they will seek it earnestly before the Lord” (Brigham Young, JD 12:96).
“I know of but One in all the world who can be taken as the first and only perfect standard for us to follow, and he is the Only Begotten Son of God. I would feel sorry indeed, if I had a friend or an associate in this life who would turn away from the plan of life and salvation because I might stumble or make a failure of my life. I want no man to lean upon me nor to follow me, only so far as I am a consistent follower in the footsteps of the Master” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, Pg.4. See also the Juvenile Instructor, 1915, Vol. 50, pp. 738, 739).
“Do not, brethren, put your trust in man though he be a Bishop, an apostle or a president; if you do, they will fail you at some time or place; they will do wrong or seem to, and your support will be gone; but if we lean on God, He will NEVER fail us. When men and women depend upon GOD ALONE and trust in HIM ALONE, their faith will not be shaken if the highest in the Church should step aside” (George Q. Cannon, DW 43:322 [Mar 7, 1891]).
Persecution
“Ours is the blessing to live in a better season [than the early saints]. The terrible persecutions of the past are behind us. Today we are looked upon with respect by people across the world” (Ensign, Conference Report, November, 1996).
Compare to:
“And when the spirit of persecution, the spirit of hatred, of wrath, and malice ceases in the world against this people, it will be the time that this people have apostatized and joined hands with the wicked, and never until then; which I pray may never come” (Brigham Young, JD 4:326 327).
False order of religion
“When the Temple was built, the Lord did not see proper to reveal all the ordinances of the Endowments, such as we now understand. He revealed little by little. No rooms were prepared for washings; no special place prepared for the anointings, such as you understand, and such as you comprehend at the period of the history of the Church! Neither did we know the necessity of the washings, such as we now receive” (JD 19:16).
Combined with:
“Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles” (TPJS 308).
Ordinances can be added to, but not altered
“The Ordinances of the Kingdom of God on the Earth are the same to the children of Adam from the commencement to the end of his posterity pertaining to the carnal state on this Earth, and the winding up scene of this mortality. With regard to the Bible; we frequently say, we believe the Bible, but circumstances alters cases, for what is now required of the people may not be required of a people that may live a hundred years hence. But I wish you to understand, with regard to the ordinances of God’s House to save the people in the Celestial Kingdom of our God, there is no change from the days of Adam to the present time, neither will there be until the last of his posterity is gathered into the Kingdom of God. . . I can tell you that no man from the days of Adam, no woman from the days of Eve to this day, who have lived, and who are now living upon the Earth will go into the Kingdom of their Father and God, to be crowned with Jesus Christ, without passing through the same Ordinances of the House of God, you and I have obeyed. I wish you distinctly to understand that. There are many duties, and callings spoken of in the scriptures, and there are many not written, those for instance which are handed out to you by your President as circumstances require. Those imposed by the President of the Church of God, or by the president of any portion of it, are duties as necessary to be observed as though they were written in the Bible; but these requirements, duties, and callings change with the circumstances that surround the people of God.
But when you speak of the system of salvation to bring back the children of Adam and Eve into the presence of our Father and God, it is the same in all ages, among all people, and under all circumstances, worlds without end. Amen” (TPBY 3:347 348).
If we compare the original endowment ceremony with what we have today and ask, “Is today’s ceremony still the same, even with all the changes that have taken place?” I believe the honest answer would be something akin to, “Yes it is. People who receive their endowments today don’t receive nearly as much information as previous temple goers have received,” even by the most faithful members.
Faithful members need only inquire about the “five points of fellowship,” “penalties,” and “the preacher that was removed,” with a temple president or any member who went through the endowment before 1990 to know that ordinances, implications and content in the endowment changed significantly.
Not practicing polygamy in this life means apostasy
“If we were to do away with polygamy, it would only be one feather in the bird, one ordinance in the Church and kingdom. Do away with that, then we must do away with prophets and Apostles, with revelation and the gifts and graces of the Gospel, and finally give up our religion altogether and turn sectarians and do as the world does, then all would be right. We just can’t do that, for God has commanded us to build up His kingdom and to bear our testimony to the nations of the earth, and we are going to do it, come life or come death. He has told us to do thus, and we shall obey Him in days to come as we have in days past” ( Wilford Woodruff JOD 13:165 – p.166).
“We will not end the practice of plural marriage until the coming of the Son of Man” (Journal of John Henry Smith quoting Wilford Woodruff, 21 May 1888, LDS Church Archives).
“We are told that if we would give up polygamy–which we know to be a doctrine revealed from heaven and it is God and the world for it–but suppose this Church should give up this holy order of marriage, then would the devil, and all who are in league with him against the cause of God, rejoice that they had prevailed upon the Saints to refuse to obey one of the revelations and commandments of God to them.” Later in the sermon President Young asked, “Will the Latter-day Saints do this? No” (Brigham Young, JoD. 11:239).
“Where did this commandment come from in relation to polygamy? It also came from God…When this commandment was given, it was so far religious, and so far binding upon the Elders of this Church that it was told them if they were not prepared to enter into it, and to stem the torrent of opposition that would come in consequence of it, the keys of the kingdom would be taken from them. When I see any of our people, men or women, opposing a principle of this kind, I have years ago set them down as on the high road to apostacy, and I do to-day; I consider them apostates, and not interested in this Church and kingdom” (John Taylor, JoD. 11:221).
“…if plurality of marriage is not true or in other words, if a man has no divine right to marry two wives or more in this world, then marriage for eternity is not true, and your faith is all vain, and all the sealing ordinances, and powers, pertaining to marriages for eternity are vain, worthless, good for nothing; for as sure as one is true the other also must be true” (Orson Pratt, JoD. 21:296).
“If the doctrine of polygamy, as revealed to the Latter-day Saints, is not true, I would not give a fig for all your other revelations that came through Joseph Smith the Prophet” (Orson Pratt, JoD. 17:224)
“Polygamy is a principle revealed from heaven with a commandment to enter into it practically” (Orson Hyde, JoD. 20:99).
“The new and everlasting Covenant is marriage, plural marriage men may say that with their single marriage the same promises and blessings had been granted, why cannot I attain to as much as with three or four, many question me in this manner I suppose they are afraid of Edmunds, what is the Covenant? It is the eternity of the marriage covenant, and includes a plurality of wives and takes both to make the law…Joseph Smith declared that all who became heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ must obey his law or they cannot enter into the fullness and if they do not they may loose the one talent, when men are offered knowledge and they refuse it they will be damned and there is not a man that is sealed by this priesthood by covenants to enter into the fullness of the law and the same with the woman she says she will observe all that pertains to the new and everlasting Covenant both are under the Covenant and must obey if they wish to enter into a continuation of the lives or of the seeds” (Utah Stake Historical Record #64904/CH0/1877 1888. Quarterly Conference held March 3rd and 4th, 1883; Sunday, 2 PM, p.271).
“Some people have supposed that the doctrine of plural marriage was a sort of superfluity, or nonessential to the salvation of mankind. In other words, some of the Saints have said, and believe that a man with one wife, sealed to him by the authority of the Priesthood for time and eternity, will receive an exaltation as great and glorious, if he is faithful, as he possibly could with more than one. I want here to enter my protest against this idea, for I know it is false… Therefore, whoever has imagined that he could obtain the fullness of the blessings pertaining to this celestial law, by complying with only a portion of its conditions, has deceived himself. He cannot do it. When that principle was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith,… he did not falter, although it was not until an angel of God, with a drawn sword, stood before him and commanded that he should enter into the practice of that principle, or he should be utterly destroyed, or rejected….
“If then, this principle was of such great importance that the Prophet himself was threatened with destruction,… it is useless to tell me that there is no blessing attached to obedience to the law, or that a man with only one wife can obtain as great a reward, glory or kingdom as he can with more than one,…
“I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that every man in this Church, who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will not, shall be damned, I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less, and I testify in the name of Jesus that it does mean that” (Joseph F. Smith, JoD. 20:28-31).
Based on a 1933 First Presidency official statement issued to stem the tide of the Fundamentalists, is that the practice of polygamy is not required for exaltation in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. Notably absent, however, is any mention of whether those men who make the highest degree of the CK will then be required to have plural wives.
Vision of Lorenzo Snow (September 2, 1898 as recorded by his daughter who was present):
“My father <Lorenzo Snow> went to his room in the Salt Lake Temple, where he was residing at the time. He dressed in his robes of the Priesthood, went into the Holy of Holies, there in the House of the Lord and knelt at the sacred altar. He pled with the Lord to spare President Woodruff’s life, that President Woodruff might outlive him and that the great responsibility of Church leadership would never fall upon his shoulders. Yet he promised the Lord that he would devotedly perform any duty required at his hands. At this time he was in his 86th year.
Soon after this, President Woodruff was taken to California, where he died Friday morning at 6:40 o’clock, September 2, 1898. President George Q. Cannon at once wired the sad information to the [144] President’s office in Salt Lake City. Word was forwarded to President Snow who was in Brigham City. The telegram was delivered to him on the street in Brigham. He read it to President Rudger Clawson, then president of Box Elder Stake, who was with him, went to the telegraph office and replied that he would leave on the train about 5:30 that evening. He reached Salt Lake City about 7:15, proceeded to the President’s office, gave some instructions and then went to this private room in the Salt Lake Temple.
President Snow put on his holy temple robes, repaired again to the same sacred altar, offered up the signs of the Priesthood, and poured out his heart to the Lord. He reminded the Lord how he had pled for President Woodruff’s life and that his days might be lengthened beyond his own; that he might never be called upon to bear the heavy burdens and responsibilities of Church leadership. ‘Nevertheless,’ he said, ‘Thy will be done. I have not sought this responsibility but if it be Thy will, I now present myself before Thee for Thy guidance and instruction. I ask that Thou show me what Thou wouldst have me do.’
After finishing his prayer he expected a reply, some special manifestation from the Lord. So he waited–and waited–and waited. There was no reply, no voice, no visitation, no manifestation. He left the altar and the room in great disappointment. He passed through the Celestial room and out into the large corridor leading to his own room where a most glorious manifestation was given President Snow. One of the most beautiful accounts of this experience is told by his granddaughter, Allie Young Pond.
‘One evening when I was visiting Grandpa Snow in his room in the Salt Lake Temple, I remained until the doorkeepers had gone and the nightwatchman had not yet come in, so Grandpa said he would take me to the main front entrance and let me out that way. He got his bunch of keys from his dresser.
‘After we left his room and while we were still in the large corridor, leading into the Celestial room, I was walking several steps ahead of Grandpa when he stopped me, saying: “Wait a moment, Allie. I want to tell you something. It was right here that the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me at the time of the death of President Woodruff. He instructed me to go right ahead and reorganize the First Presidency of the Church at once and not wait as He had done after the death of the previous presidents, and that I was to succeed President Woodruff.”
‘Then Grandpa came a step nearer and held out his left hand and said: “He stood right here, about three feet above the floor. It looked as though He stood on a plate of solid gold.”
‘Grandpa told me what a glorious personage the Savior is and described His hands, feet, countenance and beautiful white robes, all of which were of such a glory of whiteness and brightness that he could hardly gaze upon Him.
‘Then Grandpa came another step nearer me and put his right hand on my head and said: “Now, granddaughter, I want you to remember that this is the testimony of your grandfather, that he told you with his own lips that he actually saw the Savior here in the Temple and talked with Him face to face”‘” (Temples of the Most High, N. B. Lundwall (comp.), 15th ed., pp. 140-141).
The unofficial story is that Christ met Lorenzo in the hallway because the church was in a state of apostasy and could not meet him in the Holy of Holies.
“Plural marriage is not essential to salvation or exaltation. Nephi and his people were denied the power to have more than one wife and yet they could gain every blessing in eternity that the Lord ever offered to any people. In our day, the Lord summarized by revelation the whole doctrine of exaltation and predicated it upon the marriage of one man to one woman (D. & C. 132:1 28)” (Mormon Doctrine, p.578).
“Plural marriage ended through revelation. We warn you against the so called polygamy cults which would lead you astray. Remember the Lord brought an end to this program many decades ago through a prophet who proclaimed the revelation to the world. People are abroad who will deceive you and bring you much sorrow and remorse. Have nothing to do with those who would lead you astray” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.447).
“I condemn it [polygamy], yes, as a practice, because I think it is not doctrinal. It is not legal. And this church takes the position that we will abide by the law. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, magistrates in honoring, obeying and sustaining the law” (Larry King Live, Aired September 8, 1998).
“For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory” (D&C 132:4).
“From [Joseph Smith] I learned that the doctrine of plural and celestial marriage is the most holy and important doctrine ever revealed to man on the earth, and that without obedience to that principle, no man can ever attain to the fullness of exaltation in celestial glory” (William Clayton, Historical Record 6:225 7, as quoted in MHP 4:214).
The current format of the church as a corporation with a non-profit arm is modeled after the Vatican
“Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the ‘whore of Babylon’ whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent” (Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 255).
The Mall
“After a while the gentiles will gather to this place by the thousands and Salt Lake will be classified among the wicked cities of the world. A spirit of speculation and extravagance will take possession of the saints, and the result will be financial bondage” (Amanda Wilcox records, BYU. See also Prophecies of the Latter Days, p.86 compiled by Ogden Kraut).
“He [Brigham Young] conversed freely on the situation of the saints in the mountains, and said that he dreaded the time when the saints would become popular with the world; for he had seen in sorrow, in a dream, or in dreams, this people clothed in the fashions of Babylon and drinking in the spirit of Babylon until one could hardly tell a saint from a black leg…Many of this people for the sake of riches and popularity will sell themselves for that which will canker their souls and lead them down to misery and despair” (Mosiah Hancock Journal, p.73).
“[Y]ou will travel west until you come to the valley of the Great Salt Lake… you will live to see men rise in power in the church who will seek to put down your friends and the friends of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Many will be hoisted because of their money and the worldly learning which they seem to be in possession of; and many who are the true followers of our Lord and Savior will be cast down because of their poverty” (Mosiah Hancock Journal, p.19).
Salt Lake City is the vainest city according to Forbes.
Church Leaders Living Off The Church = Church Apostasy
“I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you… And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes [tithing], and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day” (Mosiah 2:12, 14. emphasis added).
These verses have often been quoted by latter-day prophets (especially Joseph Smith) to express that true prophets and servants of God do NOT live off the people, but labor with their own hands for their own living.
Here are more scriptures that condemn Monson and the other wealthy boys at the top who live off of tithing (emphasis added):
Mosiah 18: 24 –And he also commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained should labor with their own hands for their support.
Alma 30: 32 –Now Alma said unto him: Thou knowest that we do not glut ourselves upon the labors of this people; for behold I have labored even from the commencement of the reign of the judges until now, with mine own hands for my support, notwithstanding my many travels round about the land to declare the word of God unto my people.
Mosiah 27: 5 –Yea, and all their priests and teachers should labor with their own hands for their support, in all cases save it were in sickness, or in much want; and doing these things, they did abound in the grace of God.
Alma 1 tells the story of Nehor, an evil man who was “an instrument of the Devil” and was condemned to death by Alma for doing what President Monson does today…
Alma 1:3, 5 –And he [Nehor] had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he termed to be the word of God, bearing down against the church; declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become popular; and they ought not to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people.
And it came to pass that he [Nehor] did teach these things so much that many did believe on his words, even so many that they began to support him and give him money.
And he began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel, yea, and even began to establish a church after the manner of his preaching.
For the sin of living off of the church members, Alma, God’s Prophet, condemned Nehor to death.
1 Cor. 9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
Why does the church want to look Christian? A “Christian church” is an apostate church
“It has become somewhat of a commonplace to observe that modern Mormonism tends to reduce itself to another Protestant sect, another Christian heresy, while the religion of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Parley and Orson Pratt and other leading early Mormons was a far more radical swerve away from Protestant tradition” (The Annual David P. Gardner Lecture, Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah, November 15, 1990).
“Christianity… is a perfect pack of nonsense… the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century” (John Taylor, JoD. 6:167).
“But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be …But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance” (Orson Pratt, JoD. 18:172).
“Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the ‘whore of Babylon’ whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent” (Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 255).
“Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity” ( Brigham Young, JoD. 10:230).
“And who is there that acknowledges [God’s] hand? …You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Brigham Young, JoD. 6:24).
“The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God” (Brigham Young, JoD. 8:171).
“With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world” (Brigham Young, JoD. 8:199).
“After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon” (George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, p.324).
“The Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called” (President Wilford Woodruff, JoD. 2:196).
Apostate churches have no common consent
“In the middle of the sixth century, Justinian I assumed control of the Church as part of his empire, and took from the people their right of ‘common consent’ in local matters within the Church; declared that only the clergy should have a voice in the affairs of the Church, and said further that the only voice the clergy could have was to accept and ratify the acts of the emperor in the direction of religious matters. If they refused to comply, they would be banished” (Mark E. Petersen, Which Church is Right? [missionary tract]).
This is going to be long, and a bit lecture-esque so sit tight and take notes. For TBMs, there may be a test on this later.
I recently was able to attend the showing in Idaho Fall’s museum of King Tut’s relics (mostly recreations, but that’s okay, I still find it fascinating). I’ll be updating this post with images from the visit as I go.
First, the sheer volume of what we know about Egyptian at this point amazes me.
Second, even something like this totally illustrates how the Book of Mormon is flawed in so many many ways:
Chariots (click for large view)
1) Chariots were in Egypt in the 16th century B.C. You’d think we’d find some if they existed over in America… you know, along with the wheel. Just imagine hitching a tapir to one of these. These things were not just crudely made whatevers. They were serious chariots. The lack of evidence isn’t evidence of lack, but remember –there is 1000 years of lack in the BOM, yet we find Egyptian chariots over the same time period, along with drawings, writings, and discussions about them.
Golden Daggers (Click for large view)
2) Golden Daggers were used only for ceremonial reasons. Why? Because a golden weapon would be lousy. Egyptians knew it. Warriors knew it. Only those who didn’t have to fight with knives would ever buy that a golden-handled sword (Laban) would be wielded in defense of a people.
Golden Writing (Click for large view)
3) You see how they wrote all over this sarcophagus? FARMS/FAIRLDS would jump all over it. “SEE? writing in Gold! BoM is true, bitches!” Except, do you see how thick that gold is? You see how little they can write because of the size of the Egyptian language? And no, saying, “it was reformed Egyptian” does not help your case.
Canopic Jars (Click for large view)
4) These sure look like a win for Joseph Smith, right? I mean, they look like different gods like in facsimile 1… but no, they are actually good evidence against. Sure, in King Tut’s time they were altered so they look like they are 4 different gods, but in Abraham’s time the heads on these would all have been pharaoh’s. Let me state that again more clearly. The four figures in the bottom of facsimile 1 clearly place that image as after King Tut’s time (1600 B.C.) and thus make it anachronistic for Abraham to be there (around 2000 B.C.) by several hundred years. But they do match for a funerary text from 500 B.C. (which is what the facsimile turned out to be).
5) DNA – In this National Geographic article, they are able to trace King Tut’s lineage and even discover that his parents produced him through incest. They are able to find his father, and show there is a good chance the fetuses found were his daughters –helping to explain why Ramses I came to power.
I mean, the amount we can tell is amazing. And why is no one claiming this DNA evidence is false, or that the urn-dating might actually reference some ancient Chaldean myth? Because King Tut’s father’s religion died with him, and there are no apologists today.
Remember, when it is science and not religion, it works and we believe it. When it is science and religion, apologists enter doubt into the equation by seizing every opportunity to make people question.
It seems, after hours and years of intensive study that the church is, in fact, true. Not just any church either, but in fact the church that the apologists have taught about. All this time their science was far superior and lines up perfectly with the faith, as well as historical fact.
So, for example, it is true that the Nephites and Lamanites were in a very limited area of Central America. Further they really did use tapirs as horses.
Also, they were only a small segment of population despite the early saint claims that, in fact, they were the Indians over in Missouri as well as in and around the burial mounds of New York. They were simply one of many people already there.
Also, the people did not use gold in transactions or measurements as originally thought, but cocoa beans,with gold weights.
Now, many members and exmormons alike have been fooled by the seemingly grandiose claims that caused them to expect to find: Christian churches and synagogues after Christ was on the North American continent, Christ’s name (Along with the virgin Mary) as early as 600 B.C. due to Nephi’s vision, evidence of Jewish passover rites, etc. from “the sea west to the sea east” or covering a very large area of land indeed.
Members should simply ratchet down their expectations to only finding some of these evidences. It’s clear now that the prophets and apostles in the Book of Mormon were given to a bit of exaggeration. I mean, they did use a word for “tapir” that brought it to the stature of a horse. They used words like “all the land,” “all the people,” and “every man” when they were CLEARLY talking about only a small subsection of people.
Accordingly, members should also adjust their beliefs about the after life. I mean, it is the same prophets and apostles given to the same exaggeration tendencies.
Hence, when you hear that all mankind would perish without the atonement, they really just mean a few people in eastern China. When you hear that the atonement is “eternal,” don’t forget that eternal is not a length of time, but rather, the name of god.
And when they say that only mormons will be in heaven, they really mean they will be a small subset of the indigenous people already there, such a small percentage that, even in heaven, their DNA mixing wouldn’t even register in multiple samples.
So you see, the apologist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is TRUE. That is the way history was, and the way Heaven will be, but don’t let it worry you because it’s all so small it doesn’t even register when you try and measure it.
Don’t let it bother you that their evidence for history destroyed your faith… that evidence destroys faith is an over exaggeration as well. It just muffles it a bit for 2.1415963 seconds.
Yes they could own property without being married.
This is not a good argument for why polygamy was required.
Corihor and Nahor are both mentioned in Ether as early Jaredites. Both are famous Nephite names. Nahor could POSSIBLY have been named after Mosiah translated the plates of Ether, although that would make him very young indeed while he went out and taught.
Korihor also came after the plates were found, so it is possible that they named their kids after villainous characters in the Book of Jared, but how about:
Coriantumr appears in Omni, long before Mosiah translated the record: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriantumr
or Levi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineage_of_Ether
or Shiblom, both Nephite and Jaredite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiblom#S
Being a name that came in Exodus long after the tower of Babel.
As well, Noah, being across all 3 cultures.
Corihor and Korihor: The pronunciation is identical, being only the hard consonant “K,” even though the individuals were from entirely different cultures.
The Nephites used -ihah often as the ending of a name, such as Moronihah or Nephihah. The Jaredites did not. They almost purely used -ihor. So we have a name from one culture, transported into another culture.
This would be like finding a Native American in the 1400s named “Mikey” or “Brandon.”
Coriantumr is also named in both cultures, but the shocking bit is he is named “Coriantumr” long before the Jaredite record is found or the people of Mulek are integrated into Nephite society. The same name is found in the book of Ether.
I guess they could have named them all Dave.
Nephites were Hebrews from Jerusalem when the written script was Egyptian.
Jaredites spoke an unchanged tongue from the tower of Babel, 2000 or so years earlier. That’s more like an Icelandic name showing up unchanged in celtic England.
Even the name “Thor,” as central to Scandinavia as a name gets, has altered over the centuries. The letter “thorn” pronounced “TH” no longer exists in Swedish. Now it is pronounced as “t” even though they used to have a character for it. 2000 years is a long time to suppose that anything stays the same.
Further, names aren’t translated in the Book of Mormon. i.e. Timothy (one of the 12 Nephites when Jesus arrives in 3 Nephi 11) is not translated “God’s honor.” Names are left as names, so I don’t buy that there are similar meanings.
Also, Timothy is Greek. How did a Greek name end up in the text of Hebrew speaking, Reformed Egyptian writing, South Americans around the 60 B.C. to A.D. 33 time period?
Portrait of General Joseph Smith.
The Legion (led by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and mayor of Nauvoo) quickly became a formidable concentration of military power in the American West.