Heart of the Matter – April 17th, 2007

Book of Mormon Part IV

LIVE! From the Mecca of Mormonism, this is… HEART OF THE MATTERTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology.. And I’m Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion. your host. Just a reminder, this show can be viewed via live streaming video from anywhere in the world. Just go to www.bornagainmormon.com.

Introduction

On Sunday evening I was a guest on an LDS man's radio program whose name was Van Hale:

Thoughts:
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Last night – Heart in the Church Logan, Utah:

We would love to come and speak at your church. Just email us at shawn@bornagainmormon.com.

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In Studio Guests:
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Shout Outs:
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Church Recommendations:

Andy’s Christian Film Reviews available at ww.bornagainmormon.com. This week's review: Amazing Grace which Andy gives two AA’s!

Evangelical Influence on Joseph Smith

In the writings of Joseph Smith (which Dean C. Jessee of BYU edited and put in a book called "The Papers of Joseph Smith"), Joseph said that he had an “intimate acquaintance” with evangelical religion and that he became “somewhat partial” to the Methodist faith. Tonight we are going to show how much of an influence 19th century evangelical Protestantism actually had on Joseph Smith and particularly, how these persuasive evangelical methods and its resultant culture were worked into the text of the Book of Mormon.

Again, again, you must ask yourself – were these methods and themes actually inscribed on golden plates which the LDS Church insists is the source of the Book of Mormon, OR did Joseph Smith borrow this information from somewhere else and pretend it was ancient? If it is borrowed, we must conclude that the Book of Mormon’s origins are fraudulent and therefore not worthy of allegiance that divine scripture demands.

Let me thank my friend Grant Palmer in advance for his excellent work in "An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins," which has helped me so much as I’ve researched tonight’s topic. I highly recommend his book.

Personal Admissions

Okay. First some personal admissions followed by some support for my admissions. I am not a big fan of present-day Evangelical Christian culture especially when it comes to public displays of emotional outbursts, come-forward altar calls, revolving door public confessionals, or any other culturally led manifestations of supposed inward spiritual convictions. Very little of it is biblical and I have to work very hard at not seeing most of it as culturally contrived.

There is no biblical mandate for the present-day altar call, for slapping people on the forehead to heal them, for publicly speaking in tongues to prove personal salvation, for shaking, rolling in the aisles, or weeping hysterically. I’m not saying people don’t truly experience Jesus in these emotional displays. I refuse to put God in a box. All I’m saying is these outbursts are NOT – by any means – biblically required.

Now scholars aren’t completely sure, but they can point in the general direction to the people who gave these theatric legs in the church. I am not going to address the theological implications of these men and their movements tonight but will instead focus on the methods they introduced to the lives of believers. Let it be said, however, that the theological implications are astounding, and long story short, it was at this time in American history – thanks to men like Charles Finney – that the pure gospel message of “What has Jesus done” unfortunately became, “What would Jesus do?”

There is a huge difference in how these terms are absorbed into a believer’s life. Generally speaking, it was a man named Charles Finney, born fourteen years before Joseph Smith, Jr., who, for the most part, introduced and popularized emotional outbursts in Christian religious gatherings. These outbursts included fainting, weeping, clapping maniacally, and the precursor to the present-day altar call, a thing called the “anxious bench.”

Non-Biblical Elements in Revivals

Antebellum revivals contained a number of almost predictable non-biblical elements in their revivals. The general formula looks something like this:

There was a gathering of generally animated people harboring religious anticipations. Some would recognize the existence of guilt and sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. in their lives. They would cry out to be forgiven and free from the bondage of sin. There would be an expected emotional response when forgiveness was obtained.

The Bible says that those who believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus is the Christ shall be saved.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

To the thief on the cross there was no anxious bench…

19th Century Revivalism and the Book of Mormon

Falling to the ground, no clapping, no coming forward, no public expulsion of glossalia. I personally know some very solid and true Christians who, in the quiet of their room, or office, or automobile, confessed Jesus with their mouths and were spiritually regenerated by grace through faith.

What’s my point?

Joseph Smith took these popular 19th century revival practices (which were popularized by people like Charles Finney, Abel Thornton, Lorenzo Dow, Ray Potter, Eleazer Sherman, and Alfred Bennett) and thematically included them in the text of the Book of Mormon as if they were a normative event four to five hundred years before Jesus was even born.

Examples? Okay. A Methodist camp meeting was held in Palmyra New York – Joseph Smith’s home turf – on June 7th 1826. In June 7th 1826, Joseph claimed a knowledge of the golden plates but had not yet received them. Okay?

Okay, listen.

(Note): The anxious bench was a place repentant sinners would come forward and take a seat as they prepared to have an outward spiritual experience.

Methodist Camp Meeting in 1826

At this particular camp meeting: Over 10,000 people attended. Most in family units. They pitched their tents with the doors facing the stand where the preachers were sitting. Around the area where the revival was held a circle was drawn, and the area was considered “sacred ground, a temple.”

One preacher, named Benjamin Paddock, wrote a report of the revival that was published in the Methodist Magazine of August 1826. In the report, it was said that the large crowd listened to the farewell of one Bishop M’Kendree, a Methodist leader who had presided over the area for years and had grown too old to serve any longer.

Speaking of the departing leader Bishop M’Kendree, listen to the description of this revivalistic event: The people had such reverence for this “Sainted” man “that all were melted… and awed in his presence.” Palmer, quoting from the Methodist Magazine wrote: “In his emaciated and ‘feeble’ condition, he spoke of his love for the people and then delivered a powerful message that covered ‘the whole process of personal salvation.’ Tremendous unity prevailed among the crowd” and “nearly every unconverted person on the ground” committed oneself to Christ. At the close of the meeting, “blessings and newly appointed Preachers were made.”

King Benjamin's Farewell

Now, let’s turn to the Book of Mormon, and examine an account where a fictional King named Benjamin gives a farewell address to the people.

The King Benjamin Sermon:

“The people gathered themselves together throughout the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the last words which their (beloved) King Benjamin should speak unto them… They pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family… every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple… the multitude being so great that King Benjamin caused a tower to be erected… (And he said from the platform) “I am about to go down into my grave… I can no longer be your teacher… for even at this time my whole frame doth tremble exceedingly while attempting to speak unto you.”

Like Bishop M’Kendree, King Benjamin expressed his love for the people and delivers a powerful sermon on salvation. The people’s response was so overwhelming that the Book of Mormon reads that “not one soul, except it were the little children, but who had entered into the covenant and taken upon them the name of Christ.” At the meeting's end, they “appointed priests to teach the people.”

Coincidences? Maybe. So let’s look at more.

One of the traditional methods of preaching – especially at revivals and especially by Methodist ministers in Joseph Smith’s younger days – was to blend descriptive phraseologies of the time with biblical terms. This was designed to

(Southern accent) “make a filthy soul shake like a willow in the eye of God’s storm, to awaken them, to expose their frightfully sinful condition and lay it bare before the All-Seeing Eye of Gawd!”

Like revival language present even today, evangelical sermons harped on themes like: Sin and guilt, Repentance and grace, Fear and trembling. For whatever reason, preachers of the Great Awakening and thereafter developed their own style of speech, a sort of quasi-biblical vocabulary, and a system of phrases that sounded like they came from the mouth of God Himself – but didn’t.

What is really interesting is how these very 19th century pulpit terms and phrases found themselves in the Book of Mormon.

Listen! Prior to the publishing of the BOM, Preacher Lorenzo Dow is

The Influence of 19th Century Preaching on the Book of Mormon

"Awaken the mind . . . midst of darkness . . . prepared to die . . . everylasting mercy . . . What must I do? . . . cry for mercy . . . hard heart . . . to sing my dear redeemer's praise . . . the pardoning love of God . . . ‘break these chains . . . the day of grace is now passed . . . and unprepared to meet God.’"

Another local pastor, Alfred Bennett, spoke thusly – Pains of hell . . . wicked heart . . . O blessed Jesus . . . unspeakably happy, overwhelmed with joy . . . slumbering consciousness . . . eternal welfare of others . . . awful terrors . . . clouds of darkness round your soul . . . filled with his love . . . racked with pain.

From the pulpit, preacher Abel Thornton cried – Life is a state of probation . . . endless woe . . . sunk deep in my heart . . . hardness of heart . . . cry to the Lord for mercy . . . a great change in your heart . . . his arm extended to all . . . trembling voice . . . children of wrath by nature . . . sing a new song, even praises to God.

Themes in Joseph Smith’s Writings

Eleazer Sherman touted – . . . awful pains of deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. . . . forever miserable . . . what shall I do to be saved . . . tremble in his presence . . . a wounded heart . . . a thick cloud and such darkness . . . unto tears . . . exquisite happiness.

And preacher George Whitefield said – Tormented in this flame . . . awake, arise from their sleep . . . Methinks I see the Judge sitting on his throne . . . till Christ be formed in your hearts.

Grant Palmer notes that while 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Nephi are books based on a lot of information taken straight out of the Bible, Jacob, Enos, Mosiah, and Alma appear to have been composed of a lot of material from the life of Joseph Smith. He concludes: “Interwoven among the modified Bible passages of the Book of Mormon (between Jacob 1 and Alma 42) are similar examples of literally hundreds of popular phrases from 19th century frontier preaching.”

Patterns of Revivalist Movements

See if you hear the similarities:

Finally, before we go to your calls, let’s top tonight off with just a little more revelatory information into the origins of the Book of Mormon.

Remember at the beginning of the show, I said: “Antebellum revivals contained a number of almost predictable non-biblical elements in their revivals. The general formula looks something like this: There was a gathering of generally animated people harboring religious anticipations. Some would recognize the existence of guilt and sin in their lives. They would cry out to be forgiven and free from the bondage of sin. There would be an expected emotional response when forgiveness was obtained.”

Let’s turn to the Book of Mormon, once again, and see if these revival patterns are present.

Now remember, I am not saying these patterns are not indicative of the Lord working in people’s lives. What I am saying is these themes existed strongly in Joseph Smith’s time and were incorporated into the themes of the BOM. It’s just not feasible or reasonable to believe that the very same cultural processions found in an 18th century revivalist movement would be described carbon-copy in the record of a nomadic people-group some 2000 years earlier.

Ready?

(GO TO COPIES)

From Alma, Chapter 5 (a favorite chapter among the more Christian oriented LDS) Awakened them out of a deep sleep . . . midst of darkness . . . encircled about by the bands of death and the chains of hell . . . a mighty change in your hearts . . . to sing the song of redeeming love . . . the arms of mercy extended toward them . . . and setting upon your heart the vain things of the world.

From Jacob Chapters 1-3 and 6 . . . wicked heart . . . wounded soul . . . the welfare of your souls . . . pierced with deep wounds . . . feast upon his love . . . awake from the slumber.

Evangelistic Phrases in the Book of Mormon

In the Book of Enos, evangelistic phrases are found: Wrestle in prayer . . . joy of the Saints . . . sunk deep into my heart . . . welfare of my brethren . . .

Phrases From King Benjamin's Sermons

But perhaps the most prolific and popular evangelistic phrases in the Book of Mormon are found back in King Benjamin’s sermons themselves: Consider: Singing the praises of a just God . . . everlasting punishment . . . shrink from the presence of the Lord . . . awful situation . . . happy state . . . a state of misery . . . carnal state . . . O have mercy . . . wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts . . .

And this is only a sample – and not the best examples – due to my lack of time this past week to really dig in. The book is littered – and I use that word purposefully – littered with 19th-century terms and phrases that originated right then and there.

These phrases were NOT biblical, they were NOT passed down by Lehi and his sons, but they were straight out of the mouths of revivalist preachers right in Joseph Smith’s hometown PRIOR to when the plates were supposedly received.

Common Themes in Revival Exhortations

You want more? You want more?

These revivalist exhorters also spent a great deal of time talking about the evils of costly apparel, Indians being equals, attacks on Catholics and Masons, America being the “New Jerusalem,” a concern for the name of the Church, the proper age for baptizing children, and the nature of God – all, as we’ve said, are themes found in the Book of Mormon.

As we conclude tonight’s message, let me ask you one thing:

“If you could know that the Book of Mormon is a work of fiction, would that be important to you?

This is really an important question because if you say “No, I really don’t care. I know the Church is true regardless,” then you are not interested in Truth. You’re only interested in yourself – your lifestyle, your thoughts, your interests.

But, if you say, I want to know truth, no matter how hard it is to initially bear, then you are a seeker, and God will – if you continue to seek – reveal Himself to you.

This is “The Heart of the Matter” so to speak.

But let me tell you, let me promise you, if you place your life, and trust, and hope in the saving blood of Jesus Christ completely, you have nothing to fear.

Nothing. And God will make Himself known to you.

Alright, let’s go to the phones.
(801) 973-8820
(801) 973-TV20

Conclusion:

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