Heart of the Matter: September Announcements

This is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology., where Mormonism meets Biblical Christianity, face to face. Show 37 Biblical Indictments of Mormonism. September 11th, 2012. And I’m Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion., your host. We praise the True and Living God for allowing us to participate in this ministry. May He be with you (and us) tonight.

Weekly Gatherings and Special Events

Every week we meet up at the University of Utah to focus on the Word of God, which helps us focus on God Himself. We meet at 10 am and then again at 2:30 pm. Go to www.c-a-m-p-u-s.com for more information. Now, we never miss gathering together for this purpose. But we are making an exception: On Sunday, September 23rd from 1-3:30 pm, Dr. Norman Geisler, perhaps one of the most important Bible scholars and Christian minds of our day, will be visiting Utah. For this reason, we will not gather at CAMPUS in the afternoon. Again, we will not gather at the University of Utah in the afternoon on Sunday, September 23rd, in order that our attendees can take advantage of this important visitor to the state of Utah. Again, Dr. Norman Geisler will speak on "How to Interpret the Bible" and "Dealing with Alleged Errors in the Bible" at Grace Community Bible Church in Sandy, Utah, located at 11592 South 1300 East, Sandy, UT 84094, on Sunday, September 23rd from 1-3:30 pm. Go. Attend. Who cares what plans you have made for that day or what church you attend! Go hear Dr. Geisler and learn facts about the Word of God from someone who knows them and draw closer to our God. Attendance is free.

Okay, tonight (right after this program), there will be another segment of Transition aired right here on TV20. We have some dear friends who have come out of Mormonism that have a son who has not wanted much to do with God or religion in the aftermath. I ran into them on Sunday, and they told me their son tuned into the first Transitions segment last week, and it really spoke to him. Praise God. Listen, the Transitions people have gone to a lot of work and expense to produce this tool, and it is excellent. We all care about people who have discovered the truth about Mormonism and are transitioning out. These guys have done something concrete to help churches, pastors, and other believers effectively assist these people in the process. So tune in right after the program to another outstanding segment of transitions – hear on TV 20.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements and Events

Last week, Derrick and Denita loaded me up in their car, and we drove down to Cedar City to speak at the Calvary Chapel down there with Pastor Joe Carroll and to interview on Crossover Radio 88.9. We want to thank all of you who came from near and far to attend this warm and welcoming event. If you live within driving distance of Calvary Chapel Cedar City, we wholeheartedly endorse them as THE church to attend in the Cedar City area.

This Saturday, September 15th, I have the pleasure of speaking at a large outdoor event they’re holding in Spanish Fork. They’re calling it: The Good News Celebration! Doors open at 10 am, and the event will run until 7 pm. The speakers schedule looks like this:

10:00 am — Opening Prayer & Announcements
10:30 am — Kentucky Gospel Group
11:00 am — Hands of Praise
11:30 am — Doris Hanson (Polygamy: What Love is This?)
12:15 pm — Bob Stringham (Christian Motorcycle Association)
1:00 pm — John Kauer (Think About Eternity)
1:30 pm — Carl Moore (Spreading Unity Through Dance)
2:00 pm — Shawn McCraney (Heart of the Matter)
3:00 pm — Praise Band
3:30 pm — Dennis Higley (author)
4:30 pm — Pastor James Thompson (Crossings Church)
5:00 pm — Adam's Road Band
6:15 pm — Pastor Mike Bagley (First Baptist Pleasant Grove)
7:00 pm — Closing Announcements & Prayer

The address is 1800 West 7300 South Spanish Fork. Admission is free. Want more information? Go to www.goodnewscelebration.com.

Examining Mormonism

You know, the longer I examine Mormonism – its doctrine, its leaders, and of late, the things some prominent LDS people say and do, the more I am convinced it is not just off in its ways but is, in fact, antithetical to the Good News presented in the Bible. Let me give you just a couple of from this week alone. I was recently handed a copy of an interview of LDS member Mitt Romney and his LDS wife from Parade Magazine dated August 26th, 2012. The interview asked:

“How has tithing shaped your view of how we treat each other?”

Sister Romney said, “I love tithing. When Mitt…

The Nature of Giving

"I actually cry when I give that check," was the heartfelt response, highlighting the emotional underpinnings upon which Mormonism stands. When we cry, often it's about us. In a humorous yet pride-tinged addition, Brother Romney remarked, "So do I, but for a different reason."

The term "tithing" is an Old Testament concept, often misapplied and misused by both Mormonism and Christian pastors. This stance is unwavering, regardless of the opposition received through countless emails. However, it is important to note that the New Testament offers minimal guidance to believers on giving. The most straightforward instruction is found in 2nd Corinthians 9, which encourages believers to be "cheerful givers," happy and joyous in giving, acknowledging that everything belongs to God, as stated in Haggai 2:8:
"The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts."

Therefore, giving should be a joyful act, free from reluctance or tears, focused solely on Him.

Misinterpretation of Biblical Teachings

In a completely separate example, Apostle Jeff Holland spoke recently, and "the Wa," a friend of ours, was present taking notes. Holland asserted his "Apostolic right" to bless the audience and directly quoted: "Let us Latter Day Saints be the leaven in the bread and the salt of the earth."

For those familiar with the Bible, this is a confusing statement. Leaven is traditionally viewed as a negative symbol in bread or humankind, intended here by Apostle Holland as a compliment to Latter-day Saints, but biblically it represents corruption. Leaven infiltrates flour, causing decomposition and gas that inflates the mixture. Scripturally, leaven symbolizes the evils of pride and hypocrisy.

Biblical Warnings on Leaven

Matthew 16:6: "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

Mark 8:15: "And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod."

1st Corinthians 5:6-8: "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

A true apostle of the Lord would never instruct believers to be "leaven."

Understanding Commandments

As we return to scripture, John 14:15 offers a succinct summary from our Lord: "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

In the Mormon/Christian conversation, this is a pivotal scripture, as it works like a double-edged sword. Mormon individuals sometimes express that one can't merely proclaim belief in Jesus and be saved by faith; rules and commandments must also be followed. This is agreeable, yet it raises the question, "What are His commandments?"

From a Mormon perspective, when being truthful, one would likely list the following: Have faith, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost through authorized LDS hands. Pushed further, they may include: love God and neighbor, keep the Sabbath-day, pay tithing, and generally adhere to everything He commanded. Further inquiry might lead them to admit that for Latter-day Saints, obeying Christ's commandments encompasses more than these tenets.

Understanding Christ's Commandments

Following the LDS prophet, sustaining all other LDS leaders, fulfilling callings as a member, being morally clean and physically compliant to LDS standards, doing your home and visiting teaching, getting endowed in the LDS temple, being sealed for time and all eternity to a spouse, and a host of other actions and attitudes, the LDS have labeled His “commandments.”

So, go with me back to the Bible for a minute. Here in John 14:15 Jesus says plainly:

“If you love me, keep my commandments.”

Contextually, and in this dispensation of grace, what are believers commanded to do by Christ? How does someone work the work or do the will of God?

Believing on Jesus

In John 6:28-29 some Jews came to Jesus and asked Him:

“What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? And Jesus answered and said unto them, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

Notice that the passage reads:

“That ye believe ON Him whom He has sent,” and not “believe in Him whom He has sent.”

This is because in the Greek we have the “pronominal antecedent omitted and the preposition “eis” retained” . . . which, when everything is said and done, it means Jesus is whom we believe on not in the facts or teachings or commands. HIM.

Again, “This is the work of God, that you believe ON Jesus whom the Father has sent.” You rely on Him and His work, you make His Lord and King of your life.

Then, after Jesus ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father as our one and only high priest, and the Holy Spirit fell, the other commandment from our Lord became possible and was added to believing ON Him and Him alone – to love.

Love As a Commandment

1st John 3:23 makes it plain and clear, saying:

“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

Latter-Day Saints always want to say they are Christian, and when this claim is challenged they don’t understand why and become indignant. Maybe this will help. So with that . . .

Run “From the Word here.”

GRAPHIC

. . . let’s have a word of prayer.

PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER

We've been working page by page through the Book of Mormon and last week finished pointing out the strange stuff in 1st Nephi.

I received an email about the program from a Mormon who said that it appeared I was “struggling” with my presentation about the Onion and recommended I read two pro-Book of Mormon books that would open my eyes to the truth of it.

I wrote him back and admitted that his perception of a struggle was correct but it was due to some technical difficulties we were having with the show that threw me off my game.

Nevertheless, to constantly have to read through and study a book like the Book of Mormon or Doctrine and Covenants or Pearl of Great Price for a Bible-loving Christian is akin to forcing a health-conscious person to eat deep fried fast food or making a classically trained musician listen to really bad rap.

A person can only take so much before they begin to crack.

So with that being said, I am going to take a break this week from the mundane and painful verse-by-verse examination of the Onion and cover something a little more . . . shall we say, satisfying in the Mormon/Christian debate –

I’ve culled through my personal Bible and am going to present to you passages that serve to indict modern Mormonism.

Now I am of the opinion that God warned us long ago (and persistently) about how to detect counterfeits to His truth – and He included the warnings in His word. I am personally convinced that He certainly had Mormonism in mind (among other counterfeit faiths) when He dictated a number of passages in Holy Writ.

So tonight I am going to go through the Old Testament and point out passages that speak – even scream – about Mormonism.

Let’s begin in . . .

Exodus 32:13-14 which says

“Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely

Questioning LDS Beliefs Through Scriptural References

The Sabbath as Described in Scripture

be put to deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God.: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” The LDS claim to obey and keep the Sabbath. This passage shows the idiocy of such thinking.

Childbearing and Sin Offerings

The LDS claim child bearing, brought on by the Fall of Adam, was a good thing and always part of God’s Plan of Salvation. If this was so, why does God say the following about a woman who has given birth in Leviticus 12:6-7?

“And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.” Leviticus 12:6-7

Marriages and Teachings of Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith not only married a couple sets of mother/daughters while living as the supposed prophet of the restoration, he said God told him to! But Leviticus 20:14 plainly states that . . .

“If a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.”

The Oneness of God

Deuteronomy 6:4 presents a whole bunch of problems to LDS doctrine. It says “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” Deuteronomy 6:4 The LDS says Jesus name is Jehovah and the Father’s name is Elohim and that they are separate beings, separate gods. But this passage, describing the One God, reads in the Hebrew:

“Shama O Yisra'el, Y@hovah elohiym is one Y@hovah!” proving God is one, with a personal name of YHWY and the title of Elohim.

Recognizing False Prophets

There are many passages the Lord has given us to discern lying, deceptive, false prophets. Here are a few of the best:

Deuteronomy 13:1: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.”

Deuteronomy 18:22: “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

Jeremiah 14:14: “Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.”

Ezekiel 13:2-3 & 6-9:

2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold,

Biblical Interpretations and LDS Beliefs

I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.

9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

The LDS love to call Utah, Zion. They have Zion’s Bank, Zion’s National Park, Zion’s Securities, Sounds of Zion, and the LDS sing, speaking of Utah and the Mormon Church as a whole. One of the most popular LDS Hymns is titled, “Israel, Israel, God is calling!” The LDS believe they are going to gather Israel in Zion, with Zion being Utah and or the Mormon Gospel. They sing:

Israel, Israel, God is calling,?Calling thee from lands of woe.?Babylon the great is falling;?God shall all her tow'rs o'erthrow.?Come to Zion, come to Zion?Ere his floods of anger flow.?Come to Zion, come to Zion?Ere his floods of anger flow.

The True Zion

But 2nd Samuel 5:7 tells us plainly where Zion is and what she is, saying: “Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.” Jerusalem, folks. Not Utah.

The LDS claim God is housed in a body of flesh and bone. But Solomon, knowing the Awesomeness of the true and living God, said, when contemplating building a temple made with hands, said:

2nd Chronicles 2:6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?

The Eternal Nature of God

Psalm 10:16 says: “The LORD is King for ever and ever.” The LDS claim this passage speaks of Jesus (since the word LORD is supposedly speaking of Him). But they also teach He was created. This passage says otherwise. In fact, in the Hebrew this passage is translated “Jehovah is from (owlam – the vanishing point) to the (awd – perpetuation)” meaning there is no place where Jehovah begins nor is there a place where He will ever end.

Psalm 118:27 says “God is the Lord.” Translation in LDS terms? “Elohim is Jehovah” – a total contradiction of what they teach about God the Father and Jesus in their temples. We find a similar situation in Isaiah 42:5, which says

(SHAWN: EXPLAIN THIS AS YOU READ IT)

Isaiah 42:5 “Thus saith “God the LORD,” he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”

And yet another total indictment on the LDS position of who God is, who Jesus is, and the three-in-one nature of God is Isaiah 44:6, which says “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”

How about one more:

Isaiah 45:5 “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.”

Insights from Jeremiah

In the book of Jeremiah we are given some great insights into how God views people who think there is power in a building made with hands instead of a contrite heart. It’s a perfect picture for all temple attending LDS members today. Listen!

Jeremiah 7:4 “Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, these are lying words.”

Listen to how Mormonism is described, either directly or inadvertently, in Jeremiah 17:5:

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be…

Old Testament Favorites and New Testament Insights

like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.”

GRAPHIC

Obviously, this was by no means exhaustive, but I wanted to pull from some of my favorites from the Old Testament. In the New, which we’ll cover next week as a means to give me a break from my constant diet of Onion, there are far more.

Let’s open up the phone lines . . .
(801) 979-TV20
(801) 979-8820

• First time callers please
• LDS callers preferred.
• Turn off your tv’s once you have gotten through to the operators!

Articles and Emails

Articles

Emails

CONCLUSION

ARTICLES AND EMAILS Shawn, just a thought.

In 2 Nephi 5:21, it says that the Lord caused a cursing to come upon the Lamanites with a "skin of blackness." The "blackness", the LDS believe, was actually more of a brown color. This is the explanation the Mormon church stands by, as how the world got the Indians.

As one reads the Book of Mormon, there is no account of what must have been the absolute psychological horror of Laman or Lemuel, or any one of "their brethren", going to bed one night as a Jew, and waking up as an INDIAN!! Just think about that for a minute! It's a major theme of the Book of Mormon, and belief of the LDS! Seriously Shawn, where are the accounts of the unspeakable emotional, and psychological trauma that they must have gone through if that actually occurred? Where are the follow up stories in the Book of Mormon of how this overnight occurrence caused people to go completely berserk!!!, or where are the talks from the pulpit addressing this unbelievable happening?!

Examination of LDS Beliefs

Are there anthropologists, or other scientific researchers that have ever discovered an overnight change of a group of people who literally experienced a complete change of DNA to their physical bodies? Who one night, were perhaps lighting the Menorah, and speaking Yiddish, only to awake the next morning, as an Indian?! Seriously Shawn, it's laughable; actually, it would make for a good movie what do you think?

It's sad to think that the LDS believe that God labels one of His beautiful creations as a curse.

Keep up the good work Shawn.
Rusty

1

The following letter was sent by the Europe Area Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to its Stake Presidents and Bishops, and various other leaders in April 2012. It was sent in response to the increase in levels of disaffection of members who were encountering the problematic history of the church through the medium of the internet. The letter was soon afterwards leaked to rank and file members and ex-members, and became a public document. It is here reproduced, together with my response in the form of an open letter to the Europe Area Presidency:

(From a very intelligent, John Thompson)

Hi Shawn,

Having just discovered your programs tonight, I'm curious to know if you've studied Cognitive Linguistics.

The way you use syntax rules, shape grammatical forms, etc. indicated you might have an academic background in linguistics or are just highly intuitive. Your description of "first person singular" from Nephi reminded me of Dr. Philip Rubin's work in Lexigraphic Analysis as a tool to study "embedded pathology" in Nephi's "disclosures." Dr. Rubin (Prof. Brain Surgery, Yale) is a pioneer in computerized analysis of linguistic disclosures (see his photos on his facebook page)

Your discussion with Jim Johnson also brought out his density of "first person singular" references, as his disclosure was mostly all about himSELF, and not the teachings of Jesus.

As a teenager my focus became the Gospels, especially Gnostic interpretations of John & Thomas. But I also was fascinated enough with Mormon Doctrine to attend the LDS Church, and appreciate what they believed. So in college I began studying First Century Alexandrian Greek Dialect and some basics of Early Hebrew, graduating from UC with a BA in 1967 (MA 1970 then more postgraduate work in sacred art & literature). In London I then gained some appreciation of Elizabethan English, was used in first the Lucern Bible then the King James Bible.

So to better understand the Book Of Mormon, it seems one needs some background in these languages, as well as the vernacular used in New England during the Federal Period. Thus, besides CogInt Lexigraphic Analysis, some background in these four separate language uses seems helpful in reading the rare First Edition of the Book Of Mormon.

We seem to share core spiritual values: Basic teachings in the four Gospels. What Christ actually says about the distinction between this "World"

The Concept of Kosmos and Ouranos

(Kosmos) and "Heaven" (Ouranos) is clear in the Greek. Kosmos did not mean "Earth" (Gaea), but more like "Social Sphere" (eg the World of Sports, the World of politics, etc; not a geographical location). Jesus was "not of this kosmos/culture" infers he realized he was part of ouranos/heaven/the quantum field. With Sha'tan (meaning Deceiver) as "Prince Of This Kosmos," he was being wonderfully poetic and accurate. If one compares all his compassionate references to the "poor" with his critical notes on the "rich" of this world, one realizes that 99% of the inhabitants of ancient Israel were under the rule of Roman Administrators and the Melchi.Zadok Priesthood (the wealthy older men of the 1%).

The references that Jesus makes to the rich and poor of this kosmos/world remind many of what is summarized on the Wikipedia page "Christian AnarchySomeone who follows Christ as their only authority—rejecting institutional control over their spiritual life.," a topic that Tolstoy expanded. The references to ekklesia (assembly or gathering) did not have strong religious interpretations ('church') two thousand years ago, especially in the First Century Pythagorean Revival in Alexandria, whose scrolls remind us at times of how Jesus viewed the rich and poor of this world. Even today, the Coptic Church in that famed Egyptian port suggests that Jesus grew up in that brilliant Greek City State, that his original language & ethical teachers were (as were most children back then), their adorning mother & grandmother (Mary & Anna) who taught him the secret theology within the Davidian lineage (from David, Solomon and up to Zerubabel when the kingship was overthrown by the priestly class). So the Hebrew and Greek that Anna taught him, was different than how the High Priests spoke and their Jehovistic Theology in the Torah's 613 "commandments" from the mouth of that god.

The Book of Mormon and Language Misinterpretations

So when Smith confabulated the intriguing BOOK OF MORMON, he had no idea of either Greek or Hebrew, so his use of place names and character names sounds like jibberish. From the King James Bible, Smith had a sloppy idea of Elizabethan grammar. Its OT translation was influenced more by St Jerome's translation than by the original Hebrew books, so Smith quotes phrases from King James rather awkwardly, and repeats its errors in translating from the Hebrew. One example of this is the distinctions between Hebrew, Greek, and Latin terms that are hastily noted as "judge" or "judgment" in King James, errors that Smith repeats.

The Relationship Between Language and Meaning

As Doric Greek & Sanscrit were "sister languages" (IndoEuropean Languages originating from the Arayas), their use of krisis (Greek) and Krma (Sanscrit) are linked {krisis=karma}, which in Latin means "con.sequences", causual sequences of events (causality). Thus both rich and poor in this world/kosmos are subject to the con.sequences of their thoughts, words and actions. Yet Lord Bacon and his council of translators chose the awkward word "judgment" to represent what Jesus spoke as "krisis".

These are just examples of key word usages that appear in English Bibles and in The Book Of Mormon as well. Smith seems to be unaware of the historical and linguistic meanings of the key terms he uses, and often conceptually misrepresents him, such as in 3 Nephi when he puts Jehovistic theological ideas (Torah=Law) into the mouth of Jesus who said "Moses gave you the Law/Torah but I bring you the Truth/aleithia." Ontologically the concept of truth in the Torah/Pentateuch is "emet" which is enormously different than what Jesus defined as "aleithia." Thus in 3 Nephi and elsewhere in his writings Smith's depiction of the epistemology of Jesus is "Jehovistic" and not at all what Jesus taught in Israel. And, as you know, mixed in with Smith's Christology in the First Edition is an array of New England slang from the mouth of our Lord.

With the sort of background hastily summarized here, in just a few examples, one can see how Cognitive Linguistics can then begin to study Smith's "embedded pathology" in Nephi. Long ago I heard a series of classes on BYU TV by a "Professor of Hebrew" there that was startling in that he seemed not to understand even the basics of "Early Hebrew" (before the vowel markers), which supposedly influenced Nephite & Lamanite syntax and grammar rules. He also seemed unaware of the sloppy attempts to use some Hebrew in The BOOK OF ABRAHAM, which Smith took from a Intro To Hebrew text read by some ministers in America's Federal Period.