Book of Mormon, Part 28 – Pesticide B

Exploring Mormonism and Biblical Christianity

LIVE FROM THE MECCA OF MORMONISM
SALT LAKE CITY UTAH – This is Heart of the Matter, where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity, face to face. Show 1 BOM 32 Pesticides B January 3rd 2012

And I’m your host, Shawn McCraney. We praise the True and Living God for allowing us to participate in this ministry. May He be with you (and us) tonight.

Heart of the Matter can be seen right now from anywhere in the world via streaming video. You can also go to our archives and watch ANY past program. All of this is available by going to www.hotm.tv

Join us as we seek to support the Salt Lake Rescue Mission who feeds and clothes the homeless. How can you help? Bring new socks (the ones still wrapped in the bags) and new or “nearly new” winter coats for males or females here to the station between 9am and 3pm M-F and we will take them in bulk over to the mission. So far we have had great success with a number of people even going out and buying new coats for the less fortunate. Praise Him.

Alathea Ambassadors and Support

Well, it’s the first of the year 2012 and time to remind you that we have Alathea Ambassadors placed out there in the nation and world if you are looking for someone to talk to about Jesus, about coming out of Mormonism, or whatever else plagues you. Here’s our most current list: (Run Ambassadors list here) If you would like to meet with one of our Ambassadors just email us at Shawn@alatheamedia.com and we’ll put you in touch with one. And if you would like to be an Ambassador, write us at the same place. Now listen – you guys are like hibernating cell groups so be patient. When the Lord opens Mormonism up like a can of worms there will be fall out everywhere. So don’t give up hope, my friends. (Run Ambassadors List here)

Additionally, being it is the first of the month, we remind all Churches in the state of Utah that they have a great opportunity to become “Transistions” Trained. What does this mean? A wonderful program has been developed to help the Body of Christ with assimilating Mormons into the fold. Here is a list of current “Transitions-trained” churches in the state. (Run Transitions churches here) It doesn’t cost you anything, Pastors, so come on – lets power up and get better equipped to handle the exiting LDS? Huh? Huh?

Just email the address on your screen. Once your church is transitions trained, we’ll list you here as well. (Run Transitions Church list here)

Unique Worship Experiences

Speaking of churches, we do church on Sundays. We consider this a boutique church, with a very unique approach to “doing church.” What makes CAMPUS unique is:

• It’s totally deconstructed.
• It is based on the Word in verse by verse instruction and in song.
• It is low key and full of interactive fellowship.
• It’s short but action packed.

We meet at 10 am and at 2:30 pm. 10 am is called Milk. 2:30 is called Meat. Expect the teaching to match accordingly. Want more info? Go to www.c-a-m-p-u-s.com

Now, just to let you know, you can also watch all of the teachings online by going to the same site. These are verse by verse teachings through the Word by yours truly. Each of them takes about an hour. If you’re interested in learning about Matthew, watch the Milk archives, and if you’re interested in learning about Romans, watch the Meat archives. www.c-a-m-p-u-s.com

Even though the holiday, gift-buying season is over, we have entered into 2012 – a year where as a nation we will be voting for an American president. For this reason, Alathea Ministries presents a great Video called . . . “A Mormon President.” Take a look.

Additionally, Alathea Ministries has produced its third (and perhaps most impressive and usable book to date). We call it “Mormonism A to Z.” Now, listen carefully. We sold out of the first printing. They are not available anywhere at the moment. Even Lifeway Christian bookstore out in Murray sold out. But we are undergoing a second short-term printing of only 100 or so copies while we wait for another five thousand that are on the way. Expect more to be available again by next week.

Upcoming Program: "The Ex-Files"

Show “A Mormon President” trailer here

Well with 2012 upon us, Alathea Ministries (in conjunction with KTMW TV20) will begin airing a new television program in February . . . it’s called? “The Ex-Files.” It will be hosted by Bishop Earl with each program focusing on…you…

A Personal Journey from LDS to Christianity

Story of being a former member of the LDS church – how you came to discover the truth about it – and the process you underwent in coming out into a saving relationship with the Lord.

If you were once LDS and are now a born-again Christian, we invite you to contact us by going to www.exmormonfiles.tv. Please don’t think that you don’t have anything to say. You do. And your story will affect people for Our King. So . . . if you have been LDS and are now a born-again Christian, please go to: www.exmormonfiles.tv and fill out the online form. Bishop Earl will set up a time to meet with you to talk.

Symbolism in Communion Elements

Alright, how about a moment, “From the Word?”

We left off a few programs ago discussing the Lord’s first miracle, changing water into wine, as reported in John chapter two. As some additional information on that topic, shared by Jed, the symbolism of real fermented wine is as important an element in the elements of communion as unleavened bread. Why? Unleavened bread (or bread without yeast) is symbolic of Jesus being without sin – holy – not putrified in His flesh, not puffed up. But the alcoholic content in fermented wine is equally symbolic. Why? As alcohol may serve to disinfect some microbial invaders so does our King disinfect all sin while protecting us from committing more – by and through our being covered in His shed blood. These things are not straight across perfect applications, but they certainly emblematic. To the LDS, who are willing to use pumpernickel bread and water as their sacramental elements, the symbolism is forfeited.

When I was an LDS boy scout we took a trip down a river and found ourselves out in the wilderness on a Sunday. Our leaders got the bright idea that we should have a sacrament meeting – but we had no loaves of Wonder bread around. So what did we use? Dehydrated brownie mix for bread and microbial river water. As boys not knowing or caring about the Lord, we loved it, not recognizing any import to the elements because we did not recognize any import to what Jesus meant and did for us. We all snickered and nudged each other as our leaders administered these elements in an attempt to somehow get us to remember Him. Looking at it now, I’m not so sure there was really any difference between our eating brownie mix and what most LDS do every Sunday when consuming elements of their choosing instead of the elements of the Lord’s.

And with that let’s have a word of prayer.

Historical Events in Mormonism

Run “From the Word” intro here

PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER

Last year we started off our examination of the Book of Mormon by likening it to the growing of an onion – calling the end product “the Book of Mormonion.” We laid out the framework for this analogous instruction to look something like this:

(go to boards and explain them)

Shawn goes to boards.

A few weeks ago, prior to the 300th show celebration, I suggest strongly that Mormonism, (meaning Mormonism with Joseph being seen as a prophet, Seer, and revelator of a religious movement) began after a series of troubling events that occurred in June of 1828. To support this as fact, we ought to note that it was only after June of 1828 that Joseph’s mother and two brothers started to pull away from their own memberships (and activity) in the local Presbyterian church and move over to support Joseph. Joseph’s mother was devout in her religious appellations and the fact that she continued to be faithful in the Presbyterian church up until June of 1828 proves she had no reason to believe she should act in any other way. In other words, if Joseph really had a vision as a fourteen-year-old boy (back in 1820) where God supposedly told him all the churches (and their creeds and professors) were wrong, why did his own mother and brothers wait until 1828 to even begin to leave Presbyterianism? They waited because there was no First Vision in 1820 and it wasn’t until old Joseph started “claiming divine inspiration” that his Mother and brothers began to support his new role. Now, as we said two weeks ago, we aren’t sure of how long it was between Marin Harris losing of the 116 pages and Joseph starting back in to “translate.” But what we do know it was no later than September of 1828 – or three months after the first 116 pages turned up missing. This is

The Golden Plates and the Translation of the Book of Mormon

An important bit of information because the LDS love to paint a picture that shows Joseph getting the golden plates, then sitting down with Oliver Cowdery, and producing the Book of Mormon in a matter of sixty to ninety days. Not so. You see, by promoting this farce, LDS missionaries are able to assign “a miraculous nature” to the translation story of the Book of Mormon, which lends to the notion that it really did come from God. But let’s just calmly look at the facts, okay?

First off, and well BEFORE Joseph ever supposedly obtained any plates of any kind, he was telling his family stories and performing detailed recitals about the former ancient inhabitants of the Americas. This we know from the mouth of his own mother. Second, he announced the existence of said plates in September of 1823. This means that all the way back in 1823 Joseph was in the least contemplating what the plates would say and at the most was drawing up an actual outline of what story he would try and tell in the future. Third, Joseph claims he received the golden plates FOUR YEARS later, in September of 1827.

Got all that? Even to this point we have a story that is very different from Joseph getting the plates, sitting down, and translating them into a book in 60 to 90 days, don’t we? It was in January of 1828, or four months after he supposedly obtained the plates, that Joseph claimed that he first translated some of the characters. Thus far in our chronology, Joseph has had the story of the coming forth of a book from golden plates for four years and four months.

The Timeline of Joseph Smith's Translation

Ask yourselves: “Would this be enough time to at least flesh out a general storyline, especially if you read all sorts of books about ancient civilizations being in the Americas (which were very popular in his day and age)? I would have to say yes . . . certainly.

By June 14th of 1828 the first 116 pages had been tediously produced at a rate of less than one page per day. They were then lost, probably taken by Martin Harris’s wife. In the face of these lost pages, and several other personal tragedies already mentioned, Joseph is forced to re-evaluate the direction of his forthcoming book and his life in general. In the end, Joseph conveniently claims he has had “a revelation” from God. This would be the first of many. In this revelation he is told that the Urim and Thummim are to be taken from him and as a result he does not get to translate or work on the book “for a season.”

He is also told two other important things by revelation. First, the Lord tells him that when he does start back up translating that he must take the translation of the first 116 pages from another section of the plates which add more insights to “the Lord’s Gospel” than the source for the first 116 pages did. This would allow Joseph to retain the general theme of the lost 116 pages in his retranslation while giving him the liberty to expand on them and thus remove any question as to why the second copy was not identical to the first. Joseph also said that he was told by God that He (God) would provide Joseph with “a scribe” to help him complete this work in the future.

Joseph Smith's Revelations and Delays

Finally, we know from Joseph’s mother that when she and Joseph Smith’s father visited their son and his wife in September of 1828, Joseph declared that “he had begun back in on translating.” Once again, the process was slow and we remain uncertain of how far along he got. Jump forward now six months, to March of 1829.

Here Joseph claimed to receive another revelation from the Lord. This revelation commanded him to translate “only a few more pages of the new and improved religious text” and to then stop (again) . . . “for a season.” Why so, Joseph? In this revelation, the Lord tells Joseph why, saying, “I will provide means whereby thou mayest accomplish the thing which I have commanded thee.” (Doctrine and Covenants 5:30-34) I would suggest that up to this point Joseph was unable – by and through his own imagination and skill – to produce a manuscript that could be believed to be of ancient origin.

In other words, when he was dictating to Emma, Martin Harris, his brother Samuel, or Emma’s brother Reuben (all of these people are said to have…

The Role of Oliver Cowdery in the Book of Mormon Translation

Joseph, served for a time as his scribe, and his abilities were strictly limited. Why? These folks were not in on the con – they were the ones being conned! So by sitting there on his own and attempting to try and give them something consistent and clear was far too arduous a task for the unschooled young man – smart and intelligent as he was. He needed someone “from the inside,” someone involved in the scheme, someone familiar with the basic story, familiar to the family, and able to keep things clear and moving to help keep him stay on track and to get this thing fleshed out. And after six months of trying to get the job done by using people who were not in on the con, Joseph had had enough.

Waiting for the Promised Scribe

So he has “the Lord” step in say, “Stop for a season,” then add . . . “I’m gonna send you a scribe that will help you accomplish the thing which you have been commanded to do.” (Doctrine and Covenants 5) Remember, way back in September of the previous year, Joseph had told his parents that “an angel” said he would soon receive “a scribe,” and so here, six months later, Joseph has the Lord reveal to him that the scribe is on the way. Once this “promised scribe” shows up on scene, the translation process literally catches fire and the two men suddenly produce the rest of the Book of Mormon together in a relatively short period of time. Why? How?

Oliver Cowdery’s Background

Who was this scribe? What was his background? Where did he come from and what did he bring to the table that allowed the translation process that at one time averaged less than “a page a day” to blossom and bloom into a full-fledged book between April 7th of 1829 and the end of June of the same year, averaging over nine pages a day? His name was Oliver Cowdery. Oliver Cowdery was born October 3, 1806, in Wells, Vermont. According to D. Michael Quinn and his book, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (pages 34-36) there is evidence that Oliver’s father, William Cowdery, was a follower of a religious leader named Nathaniel Wood whose small sect, called the "New Israelites," practiced divining for buried treasure and for other revelatory purposes. This would make sense since Oliver Cowdery, according to Doctrine and Covenants Section 8, also seemed to hold some type of divining gift. We might also note that Mormonism too, would make claims at being the restored church or “the New Israelites” in years to come. Oliver was raised in Poultney, Vermont, and it is now known (but rarely shared) that he was a distant relative to the Joseph Smith family (see Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1984, 222; Bushman, RSR, 578, n.51.)

We should also note the distant geographical connection between the Smiths and the Cowderys because, during the 1790s, both Joseph Smith, Sr., and two of Oliver Cowdery's relatives were living in the town of Tunbridge, Vermont. Many believe, though it is not confirmed to be certain, that Joseph Smith Senior was involved with the Cowdery’s many years earlier but because we can’t prove it I won’t try and prove it.

Anyway, and most significantly among all this other circumstantial evidence, while living in Poultney, Vermont, the Cowdery family attended the Congregational Church. The pastor of this church was a man named Ethan Smith, no relation to Joseph. And in 1823, the year Joseph said there were some golden plates available in a hill, Pastor Ethan Smith was in the process of writing a book he called, View of the Hebrews. This book speculated, from a Christian perspective, that Native Americans were of Hebrew origin. According to LDS author, Richard Bushman’s book, Rough Stone Rolling (pages 94-97), during the colonial and other early periods of American history, many Americans speculated about a possible connection between the Hebrews and the Americans Indians. So the concept was not original and it seems that Pastor Smith was hypothecating about the topic in his forthcoming book.

Oliver Cowdery and the "View of the Hebrews"

Because the Cowdery’s were actual members of the congregation that the author of The View of the Hebrews pastored, some, like David Persuitte, argue that Oliver had a working knowledge of the View of the Hebrews and that this knowledge played a significant role in the final version of the Book of Mormon. I could not agree more. Cowdery left Vermont around 1826 and

Oliver Cowdery's Background and Connection to Joseph Smith

Worked as a clerk in New York for about three years working until he moved to the town of Manchester in 1829 where he worked as a school teacher. While there, Oliver lived with different people, including Joseph Smith’s parents. Some say that it was here that Oliver learned of the Golden Plates (from Joseph’s father) but it is entirely possible he was in on the game well before this point in time.

I say this because what would draw Cowdery, a relative of the Smiths, to move to Manchester, live with Joseph’s parents, and then to finally go and help Joseph complete a book he wasn’t able to finish on his own?

Early Mormon Documents and Allegations

Mormon’s today suggest that Cowdery met Joseph Smith, Jr. on April 5, 1829—a year and a day before the official founding of the church—and that he heard from him directly how he had received golden plates containing ancient Native American writings. Early Mormon Documents 1:603-605 proves that Cowdery, like Joseph Smith, engaged in hunting for buried treasure and had used a divining rod in the process.

Vision and Allegations of Fraud

Adding more to the story, Grant Palmer, in his excellent book, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins points out on page 179 that according to Early Mormon Documents 1:379, that the "Lord appeared unto a young man by the name of Oliver Cowdery and showed unto him the plates in a vision" prior to their getting together. Does anyone here the smacking of a con? Of collusion? Of men of a similar ilk, background, family, and insights getting together and concocting a fraud?

Stay tuned.

Engage with Us

Let’s go to the phones:
(801) 973-8820
(801) 973-TV20

We love LDS callers.
We want first time callers.
We want seekers of truth.