The Origin of "Mormon"
Mark Hines
While reading one of the Tanners' books, I made an interesting discovery
yesterday. It is the sort of discovery that supports the comments of
those who find Christ and who leave the Mormon "church." Specifically it
bolsters their comments that Mormonism is a form of mental illness.
On page 57 of Mormonism, Magic and Masonry by Jerald and Sandra Tanner
is a letter by Joe Smith, who was responding to a claim about the
origins of the name "Mormon." Here is Joe Smith's letter to the editor:
"Sir: Through the medium of your paper, I wish to correct an error. . .
. The error I speak of, is the definition of the word "MORMON." It has
been stated that this word was derived from the Greek word mormo. This
is not the case. There was no Greek or Latin upon the plates from which
I, through the grace of God, translated the Book of Mormon. . . . I may
safely say that the word Mormon stands independent of the learning and
wisdom of this generation. --Before I give a definition, however, to the
word, let me say that the Bible in its widest sense, means good; for the
Savior says according to the gospel of John, "I am the good shepherd;"
and it will not be beyond the common use of terms, to say that good is
among the most important in use, and though known by various names in
different languages, still its meaning is the same, and is ever in
opposition to bad. We say from the Saxon, good; the Dane, god; the Goth,
goda; the German, gut; the Dutch, goed; the Latin, bonus, the Greek,
kalos; the Hebrew, tob; and the Egyptian, mon. Hence, with the addition
of more, or the contraction, mor, we have the word MORMON; which means,
literally, more good.
Yours,
Joseph Smith"
In Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible there is a list of "The Infernal Names,
and on page 59 there is, "Mormo-- (Greek) King of the Ghouls, consort
of Hecate."
Webster's unabridged dictionary defines "Mormo" as "a bugbear; false
terror." This definition also mentions "Hecate." While LaVey's Satanic
Bible was not published until 1969, Webster's dictionary, together with
the definition of "Mormo," was printed in 1828 with the title "An
American Dictionary of the English Language."
Interested in the matter, the Tanners researched Joe Smith's claim that
"mon" means "good" in Egyptian. Of course, all of the Egyptian language
experts who have commented on the matter disagree with Joe Smith on the
meaning of "mon" (Gerald and Sandra Tanner, pp. 57-58). Smith was mind
tripping when he came up with the word "mon" as Egyptian. When Smith
gave his definition of "mon" as Egyptian for "good," Champollion was
just working out the system of Egyptian writing. Joe Smith was
relatively safe in conning people. Besides Smith's verifiably false
definition of "mon" as an "Egyptian" term in the word "Mormon," there is
another rather obvious reason why the whole Mormon "church" is founded
on goofiness: When one recalls what Joe Smith said about the derivation
of the word "Mormon," his claiming to mix the English "Mor" (contracted
from "more," as he claimed) with the "Egyptian" word "mon," Smith broke
a basic rule of lexicography. Smith showed both his own ignorance and
the ignorance of anybody who would let themselves be called "Mormons." .
Lexicographers do not mix one language with another in the same word.
They do not start with an English prefix and add to it an Egyptian
suffix to coin acceptable dictionary words. The Tanners also point out
in Mormonism, Magic and Masonry (page 57) that Smith's "statement was
altered in the History of the Church so that Joseph Smith's Egyptian
explanation of the word Mormon could be omitted."
It is very common for LDS officials to delete embarrassing comments by
Joe Smith in an attempt to cover-up his lies, his utter ignorance,
contradictions, etc. Clearly, Mormon authorities were embarrassed by
Smith's explanation of the word "Mormon," and they deleted Smith's
comments in History of the Church.
The 1965 Salt Lake City Messenger printed the following comment by a
reader:
"Smith claimed that the word "Mormon" was formed from the Egyptian word
"mon" (which he said meant "good") and the English word "more,"
contracted to "mor" (together meaning "more good"). How can this be when
there is no Egyptian word "mon" which means good. Even if there were
such an Egyptian word, how could it get conbined [sic] with an English
word here on the American continent sometime before 400 A.D.? The
English language did not develop until the middle ages and was totally
unknown in the ancient middle east."
(As a note, Old English, which is completely unreadable in comparison
with modern English and is closer to German than to English, did not
start until about A.D. 450.)
Now "Mormons" know what they are, and from Smith's own pen, too; they
are a grammatical and a lexicographal impossibility, a nonexistent
Egyptian word mixed improperly with an English word, a mongrel cur and a
laughing stock. Once more, LDS are left feeling embarrassed belonging to
the utter uneducated ignorance called "Mormonism."
______________________________________
Mark Hines
www.freeyellow.com:8080/members7/mjhines