BOM, Part 44 – Harvest I

Heart of the Matter

Weekly Gatherings at CAMPUS

Every week we gather and pray, and sing, and study the word – and your never there? Did someone hurt your feelings? Do you feel unworthy? Are you afraid of organized religion? Come give us a try at CAMPUS. Sunday at 10 am for what we call MILK and at 2:30 for what we have labeled MEAT. Join us. Go to www.C-A-M-P-U-S.com for more “info.”

And listen, beginning Sunday June 3rd we are adding a third gathering. For ages 16 to 25. Milk is at ten. Meat is at 2:30. And MAYHEM will be from 7-9. If you’re 16 to 25 years of age, join us. For food, open microphone, live music and more. That will begin Sunday June 3rd from 7-9 pm – ages 16-25. MAYHEM. www.c-a-m-p-u-s.com

Concerns Over Liberty University

Got an email from Al Wagner out in Bakersfield. He let me know that . . .

This week the LARGEST Evangelical Christian University in the WORLD – Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell Sr., has invited Mormon Mitt Romney to deliver their school's commencement address. If you go to the Liberty University website and look at their statement of beliefs, an active faithful Mormon would not accept ANY tenet of doctrine listed.

In the Liberty University freshman textbook called, “The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics” it says the following: “Mormon doctrine stands in stark contrast to Jewish and Christian monotheism which teaches that there is only one true God and that every other ‘God’ is a false god.”

And yet, and yet an active, faithful, temple attending Mormon has been asked to deliver the commencement speech to a gathering of hard-working individuals and their families who specifically attended this University because it is supposed to be sold out to the true and living God!

On the screen we have the email and phone number of Liberty University:
EMAIL: jrmoore@liberty.edu
PHONE: (434) 582-2000

Take a moment and articulate the mistake they have made in embracing an active Latter-day Saint in this way.

Critique of American Christianity’s Support for Mormonism

Along these lines, I want to point out how narcissistically United States Christians are in their support of Mormonism of late. You see, presently members of the body in America have chosen to build bridges with this religion they have long considered a cult merely because it will benefit the conservative party in the United States politically and possibly economically.

But are American Christians considering the spiritual plight of those brothers and sisters living abroad – especially in third world countries? See, while American Christianity may (may) still understand the doctrinal garbage of Mormonism, the message they are sending across the WORLD is Mormonism is A-OKAY . . . I mean, even the conservative Christian groups made one their President, right?

So “knock, knock, knock,” . . . at the door in Peru, Brazil, Japan, an even Australia.

“Well, ello there mate! Honey, thayre’s some nice young Mormon men standing at our door!”

“Mormons, you say?” says the wife. “Isn’t the President of the United State Mormon.”

And the missionary replies:

“He certainly is, maam. May we step in an share a message with you about . . . Jesus Christ?”

And while America gets her economic stability, and controls her social evils, the rest of the world can just fend for itself. Right?

Moment “From The Word”

We’re still in John 5 and this week we come to verse thirty-nine where Jesus says to the Jews:

39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

The Jews, in possession of scripture – which at that

Trust in Scripture

The time was all the books of the Old Testament – believed that their knowledge of them would grant them life eternal. In many ways their thinking was on target. Not that written words could give any person eternal life but the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, and we are told throughout its pages to read and study it. The first point to bring out in the Mormon/Christian debate is that if the Bible could not be trusted why does Jesus tell the Jews to search it?

In Isaiah 34:16 the Lord says:

“Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.”

When Jesus was alive, Luke records something very interesting, saying in Luke 24:27

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Jesus trusted the correctness of scripture, but the Mormons don’t?

The Role of Scripture in Recognizing Jesus

By searching the scriptures, Philip realized the identity of Jesus and went to tell Nathaniel about it, saying:

John 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Now remember, the Old Testament writings were just as Old to Jesus as the New Testament writings are to us. But He trusted them. Hmmmmmmm. In describing the Berean’s, Luke writes in Acts 17:11 the method by which they determined truth, saying:

“These (Berean’s) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

Paul wrote to Timothy the following about the Scripture, saying:

2nd Timothy 3:15 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

And this is what Jesus is saying to the Jews:

“Search the scriptures, my brethren. For in them you think you’ll find eternal life (but do you realize that they testify of? Me. And it is by and through me, of whom the scriptures testify, that you will be saved.”

In my opinion, the single most diabolical act Joseph Smith perpetrated on the hearts of seeking men and women was not his fictitious priesthoods, not polygamy, and not even his fraudulent revelations, but His teaching the world that the Bible could not be trusted. But search it my friends, for it testifies of Him, the only one who saves.

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon

So Joseph Smith had three and eight witnesses sign affidavits stating they had seen the plates in one way or another. Proudly LDS defenders will say: And none of them ever denied their witness – even after being disenfranchised from the faith. But think about these men for a minute. They had signed a written witness of having seen plates – swearing in the name of God – and this witness is included in the preface of every Book of Mormon. For any of them to admit that they were tricked, or worse yet, that they were lying, it would have labeled them deceivers for the rest of their lives. From start to finish, the testimonies of these witnesses were anything but stable and reliable.

The Tale of the Plates

So sometime after the witnesses signed their affidavits, the golden plates were returned… where we are not so certain. Some accounts say plainly that the plates were returned to the Angel Moroni and other accounts say they were buried in the Hill Cumorah. One of the more fanciful accounts states that the plates were taken to a cave in the Hill Cumorah and deposited with a whole bunch of others. Now take a minute and contemplate this part of the BOM story.

In the Old Testament God had men write their inspirations down on recordable surfaces. These records accumulated as other men recorded what God told them. Soon the accounts are gathered, compiled and copied as the manuscripts weathered. One reason why manuscript evidence for the Old Testament is so scarce is because when new copies were made the old copies were then destroyed. So that’s how God works with humanity to bring forth His word. Now listen to Joseph’s tale. God has men write their inspirations down on molten plates of ore and/or gold. In terms of transportation, this practice in

The Story of the Golden Plates

and of itself would have been totally inconvenient. But they too are carried about for a thousand years and then they’re ultimately compiled onto what are an even heavier set called . . . the GOLDEN PLATES. The Golden plates are then buried in a hill called Cumorah by a man named Moroni and Moroni comes back to earth as an “angel” some 1200 years and reveals where he buried them to a guy convicted of conning people by pretending to “see buried treasure under the earth through the use of a seer stone in a hat. Instead of these plates being passed along and used by scholars to interpret and re-interpret their reformed Egyptian engravings they had to be returned either to the angel who revealed where they were buried, or to where they were buried, or to a secret cave full of other plates.

Does this sound real or true? The general story most LDS repeat about the golden plates location is to say the Angel Moroni took them to heaven. If this is the case, why weren’t they always in heaven? Why did they need to be buried in the first place if their ultimate home was going to be heaven? The holes in the logic of the whole BOM stories are endless if someone would just sit down and think about them. But more importantly, when the story is compared to how God has worked for five thousand years with and through humanity the Smith accounts are just ludicrous.

Brigham Young and the Cave of Records

Now, Joseph Smith himself said very little about how the plates were taken from him. It is from other parts of Mormon history we get these other stories: For a truly laughable account check out the article titled: "Cumorah's Cave", Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute) 13 (1): 50–57. The article details how Brigham Young spoke at length (in the Journal of Discourses) about a hidden cave located there in the Hill Cumorah. According to Young Joseph Smith, along with Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer (and possible Hyrum Smith) went to the cave and put the plates on a table near "many wagon loads" of other ancient records.

The Sword of Laban

Hanging on the wall of this cave was a Sword belonging to the nefarious BOM character Laban. “Here myth, myth, myth, myth! Here myth myth myth!” The LDS Prophet Brigham Young claimed that Oliver Cowdery related this story about the caves directly. The Journal of Discourse also states that these men made yet another visit to the same secret cave and there they unsheathed the Sword of Laban and ceremoniously laid it over the top of the plates. When they uncovered it, they read these words engraved upon it: “This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ." I’m not sure you realize it but this line is extremely militaristic and millennialistic in nature – attitudes which played a very big role in the early Mormon mindset and continue to live in the LDS heart today.

The Sealed Portion of the Plates

Before we leave the topic of the plates all together, let’s not forget that there was a portion of them that were sealed or not available to be translated by Smith at that time. Based on statements by David Whitmer and some third parties, about 2/3rds of the plates were sealed. The Book of Mormon itself says that this "sealed" portion contains "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof". (2nd Nephi 27:7) As a result of this most faithful Latter-day Saints believe that someday the plates will be given to someone special who will translate them into a subsequent book of scripture.

In 1987, a man named Christopher Nemelka claims that Joseph Smith himself delivered to him the sealed portion of the plates (do these fable EVER end out here in the Shire?) Anyway, Nemelka says he translated them into a 655 page long book. In a phone conversation I had with a one time faithful LDS woman (named Ida Smith, a great-great granddaughter of Hyrum Smith) she told me that the moment she read the book, she “knew from the burning in her bosom” that Nemelka is a true prophet and did in fact translate the remainder of the sealed portion of the plates.

In any case, in our chronological examination of the BOM, the plates are gone. And the time had come to get Joseph’s Book of Mormon printed. When Martin Harris approached a local printer named EB Grandin with the job, Grandin

The Printing Process of the Book of Mormon

Initially, Grandin rejected the work. But Harris, on a later visit, was able to convince Grandin to take on the publishing of the book. Grandin had employed a typesetter named John H. Gilbert and he wrote out his recollections of how the printing went down.

When the printer was ready to commence work, Martin Harris was notified, and Hyrum Smith brought the first installment of the manuscript, of 24 pages, closely written on common foolscap paper– he had it under his vest, and vest and coat closely buttoned over it. At night Hyrum Smith came and got the manuscript, and with the same precaution carried it away. The next morning with the same watchfulness, he brought it again, and at night took it away. This was kept up for several days. The title page was first set up, and after proof was read and corrected, several copies were printed for Harris and his friends. On the second day–Martin Harris and Hyrum Smith being in the office–I called their attention to a grammatical error, and asked whether I should correct it? Martin Harris consulted with Hyrum Smith for a short time, turned to me and said, "The Old Testament is ungrammatical, set it as it is written."

Roles of Joseph Smith and Others in the Printing

Martin Harris, Hyrum Smith, and Oliver Cowdery were very frequent visitors to the office during the printing of the Mormon Bible (Book of Mormon). The manuscript was supposed to be in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery. Every chapter, if I remember correctly, was one solid paragraph, without a punctuation mark, from beginning to end. Oliver Cowdery held and looked over the manuscript when most of the proofs were read. Martin Harris once or twice and Hyrum Smith once, Grandin supposed these men could read their own writing as well, if not better, than anyone else; and if there are any discrepancies between the Palmyra edition and the manuscript these men should be held responsible. Joseph Smith, Jr., had nothing to do whatever with the printing or furnishing copy for the printers, being only once in the office during the printing of the Bible (Book of Mormon), and then not over fifteen or twenty minutes.

Hyrum Smith was a common laborer and worked for anyone as he was called on. Oliver Cowdery taught school winters–so it was said–but what he did summers, I do not know. Martin Harris was a farmer, owning a good farm, about 150 acres, about a mile north of Palmyra Village, and had money at interest. Martin–as everybody called him–was considered by his neighbors a very honest man; but on the subject of Mormonism, he was said to be crazy. Martin was the main spoke in the wheel of Mormonism in its start in Palmyra, and I may say, the only spoke.

In the fall of 1827, he told us what wonderful discoveries Jo [Joseph] Smith had made, and of his finding plates in a hill in the town of Manchester (three miles south of Palmyra), –also found with the plates a large pair of "spectacles," by putting which on his nose and looking at the plates, the spectacles turned the hieroglyphics into good English. The question might be asked here whether Jo [Joseph] or the spectacles was the translator? Martin was something of a prophet–he frequently said that "Jackson would be the last president that we would have; and that all persons who did not embrace Mormonism in two years' time would be stricken off the face of the earth." He said that Palmyra was to be the New Jerusalem, and that her streets were to be paved with gold.

Completion of the Printing

Martin was in the office when I finished setting up the testimony of the Three Witnesses–(Martin Harris–Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer). I said to him, "Martin, did you see those plates with your naked eyes?" Martin looked down for an instant, raised his eyes up, and said, "No, I saw them with a spiritual eye." The work was commenced in August 1829, and finished in March 1830–seven months.

Martin Harris's Doubts

When it came time to have his Book of Mormon printing paid for, however, Joseph faced a problem. Martin Harris, the mark and his only capable financier, got cold feet. Now, this is wholly intriguing isn’t it? I mean Harris was supposed to have SEEN the plates themselves . . . and then gets cold feet about paying for the printing? Very, very suspicious isn’t it? So what could Joseph do? He did what Joseph would do more and more and more when needed to fix a problem – he received…

Revelation to Martin Harris

In his own history, Smith said this specific revelation was “a commandment of God and not of man, to Martin Harris, given by him who is Eternal” (History of the Church, 1:72). So let’s open up the phone lines.

(801) 973-8820
(801) 973-TV20

And while the operators are clearing your calls, just listen to the Revelation Joseph received to move Martin “the Mark” Harris to pony up the cash to print the first run of the BOM.

In Doctrine and Covenants Section 19, Joseph speaks to Martin in the person of Jesus Christ, saying:

1 I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I am he, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world. In the next five verses Joseph has Jesus speak of punishment, suffering, and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then in verses 6 to 12 he spouts some explanations about the eternality of hell and, having primed the pump, comes back to the topic at hand at verse 13:

13 Wherefore, I command you (Martin Harris) to repent, and keep the commandments which you have received by the hand of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., in my name; 14 And it is by my almighty power that you have received them; 15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.

In verses 16-19 Joseph continues (as the voice of Christ) to describe the suffering of the unrepentant. Then in verse 20 he says:

20 Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power; and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit.

In verses 21-25 Smith continues to speak about things like repenting then he returns to the point of the revelation in the first place in verse 26:

26 And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God—

Harris' Obligation

In verses 27-31 Smith rambles on telling Harris he needs to focus on teaching the basics and to avoid getting into other things, then again, he returns to the subject at hand again beginning in verse 32:

32 Behold, this is a great and the last commandment which I shall give unto you concerning this matter; for this shall suffice for thy daily walk, even unto the end of thy life. 33 And misery thou shalt receive if thou wilt slight these counsels, yea, even the destruction of thyself and property. 34 Impart a portion of thy property, yea, even part of thy lands, and all save the support of thy family. 35 Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer. Release thyself from bondage.

In verses 36-37 the “Lord” does a little more preaching to Harris, then wraps the matter up in this manner:

38 Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof. 39 Behold, canst thou read this without rejoicing and lifting up thy heart for gladness? 40 Or canst thou run about longer as a blind guide? 41 Or canst thou be humble and meek, and conduct thyself wisely before me? Yea, come unto me thy Savior. Amen.

Harris paid the bill. And on March 26th 1830, the Wayne Sentinel, a local paper ran the following advertisement stating that the Book of Mormon was “for sale, wholesale and retail, at the Palmyra Bookstore.”

Correspondence

From Lynda and Lyle:

Dear Shawn:

I have contacted ______ church in St George and was told that they have their schedule set a year in advance. I then contacted the pastor of the ______ Church in Washington, Utah. He informed me that he would not have you speak at his church because he doesn't want to offend the Mormons in the community. He agrees with what you are doing in your ministry but believes that he only needs to teach the bible to reach the Mormons. He also agrees with Rush Limbaugh but wouldn't have him speak at his church either! I have discovered that the Christian pastors rely on the donations of their parishioners.

Romans 6 and Christian Living

For their personal support. I have come to the conclusion that the pastors are more afraid of losing members and thus their livelihood rather than teaching people how to witness to Mormons.

Rick asked:

Question on Sin and Law

Today you talked about Romans 6 and our putting away the sinful man and rising in Christ. We also talked about the LAW being done away with by Christ, also that there is no MORAL law either. My question relates to sin then. If there is no law what then is sin. Christ taught that we should not even lust, or be angry with our brother, but now there is no "written" list, i.e. the 10 commandments. What determines if this or that is a sin?