Who wrote the book of Mormon?
Newton Joseph
Michael
I read the book WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON
Do you deny the truth of this book if you do why?
Just as with all religions, they are built on myth, fable, and folklore,
Mormonism is no exception. I read WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON by two ex
Mormons. (I can't find my copy and I don’t remember the authors name) I do
remember the Book of Mormon was copied from an idealistic novel of an
itinerant preacher by the name of Solomon Spaulding. Spaulding wanted his
novel to be believed as true history so he used the language of the bible,
King James Version. It was Spaulding's idea to give the reason for the
American Indians as coming from the Middle East. To give credibility to his
story he often used the phrase "and it came to pass". Many people around him
were in on his secret of wanting his book to pass as the very word of God.
Spaulding sent his manuscript to Cincinnati to be printed and it disappeared
from sight until it surfaced in the hands of Joseph Smith some years latter
as the book of Mormon. Joseph Smith purloined the manuscript and gave the
impression that "his" manuscript was given to him by an angel from magical
golden plates that he found in upstate New York.
There are people who have been so brainwashed as children they
can't see the mythological character of the book of Mormon. Angels indeed.
Angels should be a tip off of myth unless of course you were brainwashed to
believe in angels since childhood. Mormonism like all new religions of at
least the past 10,000 years were built on myth, fable and folklore and
Mormonism is not any different?
Newton Joseph
Arrow
they
> can't see the mythological character of the book of Mormon. Angels indeed.
> Angels should be a tip off of myth unless of course you were brainwashed
to
> believe in angels since childhood. Mormonism like all new religions of at
> least the past 10,000 years were built on myth, fable and folklore and
> Mormonism is not any different?
Arghhhhhh... Help me! I've never heard this before... Is it true? I
think this chap here has found the evidence that will convince million of
LDS around the world that the Church isn't true...
Seriously, when will people realise that the faith of an individual is based
on a personal experience with the Lord. There are a million and one reasons
why the LDS faith is good for me as an individual, and good for my family.
There are no reasons why it isn't. Add to that my personal testomony of the
Book of Mormon's divinity - gained not through indoctrination, but through
personal experiences in reading and praying about the book.
I just watched the news this morning and was saddened by this
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3524589.stm
When will people stop wasting precious time and effort trying to hack away
at the beliefs of others and instead try and actually FOLLOW the teachings
of God. Whether one calls him Elohim, Jehovah, Buddah, Allah or any other
name, the basic teachings of Love, Patience and Tolerance are commonplace.
And yes, I've followed the LDS NG's for years, yes I've read the arguments.
No, they have not shaken my testimony - and the same can be said for many
other LDS and those of other faiths with their own NG's. So for crying out
loud people, stop trying to destroy that which others love and try looking
around you to see what you can do to make this world a better place.
/rant off
Dale
Arrow
>
> Do you deny the truth of this book if you do why?
To be honest, this doesn't even merit a response, but seeing as you have
provided your own answer, I will let a quote and comment suffice.
> I read WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON by two ex
> Mormons.
Two ex-mormons. Who evidently held some grudge and had something to prove.
To be honest, any determined fellow could write a book to try and disprove
or prove a fact. But the problem lies here in that as ex-mormons, these two
chappies probably had a pre-determined goal in mind to disprove the BoM no
matter what the cost.
That alone is enough to make me 'deny the truth of your book'...
Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr.
What Bible, if any, do you use?
Most of the Authors of the books compiled to make Bibles are unknown!
The Lord said ALL SCRIPTURE is beneficial for learning and study!
He also said, those who are with ME are NOT against ME!
Anyone who attempts to tear down the faith and beliefs of another,
who's faith is based on Scripture, is AGAINST the Lord!
Goodbye
Newton Joseph
ACHILLES HEAL
By Newton Joseph
When some catastrophe befalls those who believe in God, have you
noticed that instead of
losing their confidence and faith in God, their confidence and faith
in God is strengthened.
This is also true of those who are confronted by opposing views of
religion and God in
particular. These people have to excerpt more of their energy which is
spent to reinforce and
bolster their beliefs to thwart any logic or reason from their
Achilles Heel of doubt.
Newton Joseph
Catholic Muslim or the thousands of other religions of the world. It should
be evident that environment is THE factor of the religious belief.
Arrow
Dale
Arrow
My dear friend, how little you appear to have investigated... I suggest you
do a little research on the missionary program of the Church, numbers of
members outside the US vs inside the US, number of converts per year and
what faith these converts come from before making comments like that...
Dale
Woody Brison
> The only reason one is a Mormon was because their parents were not Jewish,
> Catholic Muslim or the thousands of other religions of the world. It should
> be evident that environment is THE factor of the religious belief.
My parents were not Mormon, yet I became one. They were not
of any particular religion. I guess counterexample is one
of the most potent refutations?
Woody Brison
> Michael
Who is Michael? It looks like you are responding to someone,
but there's no link, reference, or any other hint I can see
to indicate who it is.
> I read the book WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON
>
> Do you deny the truth of this book if you do why?
Because I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I've
never read this other book you name.
<wonderful creative use of white space snipped>
> Just as with all religions, they are built on myth, fable, and folklore,
> Mormonism is no exception.
That is incorrect. Mormonism is built on a solid foundation
of fact, as testified by honest, rational witnesses, sound
principles endorsed by authority and experience, and by good
results.
>...I read WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON by two ex
> Mormons. (I can't find my copy and I don?t remember the authors name) I do
> remember the Book of Mormon was copied from an idealistic novel of an
> itinerant preacher by the name of Solomon Spaulding.
That theory is pretty old, and it's been pretty thoroughly
discredited.
>... Spaulding wanted his
> novel to be believed as true history ...
He did?
>... so he used the language of the bible,
> King James Version.
He did?
>...It was Spaulding's idea to give the reason for the
> American Indians as coming from the Middle East.
This sentence means what, now?
>...To give credibility to his
> story he often used the phrase "and it came to pass".
Hey, what a coincidence! Nephi did the same thing, and for
the same reason. So did hundreds, thousands, of other authors
throughout history. So I guess, if it contains a genuine
feature of ancient documents, it must automatically not be an
ancient document?
>... Many people around him
> were in on his secret of wanting his book to pass as the very word of God.
If this is an example of the book's "facts", it sounds
pretty dismal. Spaulding made it up, he tried to get it
published to help pay the bills. Just like anyone might.
> Spaulding sent his manuscript to Cincinnati to be printed
Um, no; he retained it in his own possession until he died. His
widow relinquished it to one Philastus Hurlburt, who said he would
try to get it published, and she would share in the profits.
Hurlburt was a scoundrel who had been a member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but had been excommunicated
for immorality. He was actively trying to discredit the Church,
and made up the story that the Book of Mormon had been adapted
from Spaulding's novel. Possibly someone among Spaulding's
relatives had thought there was a resemblance. Hurlburt took
it to his friend Eber Howe the antimormon publisher; they were
going to EXPOSE this great fraud, but on examination the novel
didn't resemble the Book of Mormon enough to bother with. They
wrote to widow Spaulding that it wasn't going to be published
(but didn't return the manuscript). They published a book against
the religion, in which they advanced the theory, but they declined
to produce the novel so that it could be verified.
Rumor, mystery, missing documents! This is what gullible
people base beliefs on... but it was a manufactured mystery,
and the reason was because the facts didn't meet the need.
>...and it disappeared
> from sight ...
It's no mystery what happened to it; Hurlburt and Howe just
kept it.
>...until it surfaced in the hands of Joseph Smith some years latter
> as the book of Mormon.
Um, no; it surfaced in Hawaii as the same unpublished manuscript
it had been. Howe died and some guy bought his printing business
and took all the stuff to Honolulu. He was going thru it and
found the manuscript, in 1884. It's no secret thing; it's been
published since, at least twice. You can get a copy and check
for yourself if it resembles the Book of Mormon.
>...Joseph Smith purloined the manuscript
No; antimormons Howe and Hurlbut purloined it.
>...and gave the
> impression that "his" manuscript was given to him by an angel from magical
> golden plates that he found in upstate New York.
I wonder if you can explain how he was able to get eleven or
twelve people besides himself to testify all their lives that
they had seen the plates? Three of them testified that they
had seen the angel, and heard the voice of God endorse the book.
They stuck by this story all their lives.
The testimony of the 8 witnesses --
http://scriptures.lds.org/bm/eghtwtns
The testimony of the 3 witnesses --
http://scriptures.lds.org/bm/thrwtnss
Most of these witnesses endured severe hardship because they
maintained the story was true. None of them ever changed their
stance on this, even tho several of them left the religion.
You'd think that having left it, they would spill the beans,
eh? Yet none of them ever did; they were clear and concise that
they saw what they said.
> There are people who have been so brainwashed as children they
> can't see the mythological character of the book of Mormon.
I wasn't brainwashed as a child. Yet I can't see any
mythological character to it. I think it reads like genuine
history, written anciently.
>...Angels indeed.
It sounds like you think that if it involves angels, it must
be false. That's a rather short-sighted viewpoint.
> Angels should be a tip off of myth unless of course you were brainwashed to
> believe in angels since childhood.
Unless, of course, angels really do exist, which would explain
all those stories in the Bible and elsewhere.
>...Mormonism like all new religions of at
> least the past 10,000 years were built on myth, fable and folklore and
> Mormonism is not any different?
A lot of scholars nowadays recognize that much in mythology
must have had a basis in fact. An example: the story in the
Iliad, of the sacking of Troy, was long thought to be myth,
but the ruins of the city were found by Schliemann in 1871,
working from the clues in the text of the Iliad. Much in
mythology and legend shows patterns that can be shown to be
genuine, given the knowledge.
But anyone can prove that Mormonism is true. Just live the
religion for a time, say a year or six months. Pay your
tithing, pray, study the scriptures, go to church, and see
the results in your life. It's easy to post diatribes, but
it's very hard to make results beyond anyone's control conform
to promised patterns.
Wood
Newton Joseph
realized it was based on myth and superstition.
Richard
>
> I read the book WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON
>
> Do you deny the truth of this book if you do why?
>
Here is a link to the entire 1882 "Who Wrote the Book of Mormon"
http://www.solomonspalding.com/docs/1882PatA.htm
I did not find, using Google, any recent book with that title.
You must realize that if the Book of Mormon was as obvious of a fraud
as you say, that it would have been discredited long ago.
You must also realize that innumerable books have been written in the
last 2000 years that PROVE "beyond question" that the Bible is false.
They still keep coming out.
If the Book of Mormon is false, it will fall on its own, we do not
need to worry about it. Same for the Bible.
What we do need to worry about is NOT rejecting things that might be
from the LORD without being very prayerful and careful about it.
Richard