Posted on 10/02/2011 7:00:18 PM PDT by delacoert
"The Book of Mormon" debuted this year as a Broadway hit that won nine Tonys, and the 2012 race for the Republican presidential nomination features not one, but two candidates of the Mormon faith.
Now the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is launching a major expansion of its "I'm a Mormon" advertising campaign, which, church officials say, seeks to educate the public and dispel myths about one of the fastest-growing religions in the world.
Beginning this week, a dozen U.S. cities in seven states will be targeted by the Salt Lake City-based church with ads on television, city buses and billboards inviting visitors to the church's website to learn about its beliefs and followers.
Users who log onto mormon.org can see profiles of Mormons from various walks of life, chat with church members and learn about Mormon practices, such as the prohibition against consuming alcohol, coffee and tea.
"Many people are not familiar with our faith, and that can sometimes lead to misconceptions," said David Evans, an elder who oversees the church's global network of 52,000 missionaries. "The best way to understand Mormons is to meet them and get to know them personally. These ads are an invitation to do that."
The church, boasting a membership of 14 million worldwide, including 6 million U.S. followers, has gained new attention in the American mainstream this year from Broadway to the White House campaign trail.
Public opinion polls in recent years have shown large blocs of Americans hold an unfavorable view of the religion, whose image problems are partly rooted in the faith's historical connection with polygamy.
An early tenant of the Mormon faith, plural marriage was renounced by the church more than a century ago, although it is still practiced by members of some breakaway sects.
That legacy has
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
On an agreement with a friend, my wife read the BoM, and read much of it aloud to me. I have to tell you that I have NEVER heard such a contrived effort, or such a feeble attempt at imitating Elizabethan English except in the company of a band of half-drunk Renaissance Faire visitors. About the only places the Book of Mormon sounds authentic at all, are where portions are lifted almost verbatim from the King James Bible. The author REALLY would have been FAR MORE convincing had he stuck to the American English of his own era. As it is, the whole thing just comes off as a sham. [HKMk23]
Mormons and seekers of the truth...what HKMk23 says is true and I've got three examples you can study on your own to determine once and for all whether Joseph Smith plagiarized some of his content direct from other sources than supposed "gold plates."
Some times it got Smith into trouble by revealing his true source -- that it wasn't "gold plates," after all, that he was "translating."
Example #1: 2 Nephi 23 of the Book of Mormon is a word-for-word theft of Isaiah 13 [and please note...that the italicized words of Isaiah 13, KJ Version during Joseph Smith's day, were not in the original Hebrew from which the KJV was translated...So if they weren't in the Hebrew, how did Nephi get them? Did he reach into the future of 1611 in the UK, and superimpose them into golden plates between 559 and 545 BC?]
Example #2 Per http://www.undergroundnotes.com/Smithbook.pdf -- In the "Mosiah" chapter fourteen in the Book of Mormon, Isaiah chapter fifty-three is copied word for word, including the italicized words that the King James translators added for clarity! There are sixteen italicized words from the King James Bible in "Mosiah" fourteen. The list of italicized words are
and (three times),
there is,
our,
was (twice),
he was,
was any,
his (twice),
a portion (once).
How did these italicized words from a 1611 translation get into a document that was supposedly written before the time of Christ? The answer is obvious: Smith copied them when plagiarizing the King James translation of the prophet Isaiah.
Example #3: Finally, compare 1 Nephi 22:20 in the Book of Mormon with Acts 3:22:
Acts 3:22, as cited by the Kings James Translators in 1611 using common 17th-century language of the era to translate something from over 1500 years prior:
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you (Acts 3:22)
Now compare that to 1 Nephi 22:20, as cited by Joseph Smith in 1830 using common 1611 language to "translate" something supposedly originally said 2400 years earlier -- and 600+ years PRIOR to Peter's quotation.
The issue is not the paraphrases of the first 7 words of Acts 3:22 or the first 19 words of 1 Nephi 22:20...It's what follows: Acts 3:22: "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you...like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you"
...Compared & Contrasted to...
1 Nephi 22:20: "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you"
Except for "unto your brethren" midway between the above two phrases in Acts 3:22, 'tis the exact SAME King James language "paraphrase," even though the NT was in Greek and the Book of Mormon supposedly wasn't -- and even though 19th century Americans were closer to 1950s American than 1611 speech wise!
Please note, Mormons, that when you "paraphrase" someone you do exactly that -- you paraphrase. You don't quote someone word for word for 27 exact King James English words within two phrases -- putting the exact same semi-colon at the exact same spot...and you certainly don't quote exactly somebody supposedly speaking over 600 years in the future of your statement in a historical colloquialism from 200 years behind you in its exact translation. (Please also check Dt. 18:15, 18 and you'll see that indeed BOTH Acts 3:22 and 1 Nephi 22:20 are EACH paraphrases of those verses).
Bottom line: The apostle Peter paraphrased Moses in his original language; and the Book of Mormon writer -- IF it was a historical doc -- could also paraphrase Moses in his own language within a separate venue. (No concern in and of itself). It's only when you compare the additional generations of paraphrasing and translating that it becomes quite obvious where Smith got his source for 1 Nephi 22:20.
Illustration: If one of your 2010 FR posts was published in the year 3800 in a publication -- and they used an exact version of that quotation as it appeared in a British cockney-slang or Scottish colloquial vocab-adapted publication as published in the year 3575 -- I don't think future FReepers would tell us with a straight face that the author of the year 3800 publication "translated" the original Freeper source from gold-plated Freeper documents written in the year 2010...with his face stuck in a hat.
Jesus Christ brought forth this book, the Book of Mormon.
AMEN
Good post!!
Amen
Christ isn't into fan fiction...
If one thinks being "nice" and not telling people that they worship a false gods is Christianity then maybe they need a lesson in what the bible says
Please do tell us what YOU think Christ taught ..
No, a conman by the name of Smith did.
What jesus?
Matthew 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.
Resty..the Mormons have a false god, a false jesus... Mormons are without a savior..
It's July 1830. Smith hasn't learned to be a bit more sophisticated in covering his tracks. And he admits -- in what you & your fellow Mormons say is canonized "scripture"--as to who "brought forth" the Book of Mormon:
"Behold, thou wast called and chosen to WRITE THE BOOK OF MORMON... (D&C 24:1)
So, what, Resty? You just ignore the "prophet's" words when they aren't convenient for you to embrace? Even here, Smith admits he "wrote" -- vs. "translated" -- the Book of Mormon.
Now did Smith have the wherewithal to both plagiarize parts of the BoM from the Bible -- as well as concoct his series of tall tales? Ya betcha he did! His own mom has testified in a book edited by a Nibley -- one of the most well-known names in Mormondom [Preston Nibley, not Hugh].
Joseph's mom, Lucy Mack Smith, said that when Joseph was about the age of 17, he was quite "fluent" in telling such tall tales...I have this book, and the context of where she includes it is before Smith, Jr. had ever supposedly "translated" any gold plates of ancient history.
I call to the stand for her testimony, Lucy Mack Smith:
"During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of the continent, their dress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them. On the twenty-second of September, 1824, Joseph again visited the place where he found the plates the year previous; and supporting at this time that the only thing required, in order to possess them until the time for their translation, was to be able to keep the commandments of God...he fully expected to carry them home with him. (Lucy Mack Smith, edited by Preston Nibley, History of Joseph Smith, p. 83, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, 1958)
So the context seems to describe Joseph Smith telling tall Summer tales at the age of about 17 1/2.
“Hinckley bells, Hinckley bells, Hinckley all the way...”
Merry Smithmas, y’all, and if your sacred texts weren’t full of references to the Catholic Church as “the great and abominable church” and “the whore of Babylon”, this mackerel snapper wouldn’t care one way or another about Mormonism and its book with the made up names (”Mosiah” is my favorite) and tales of Jewish Indians wiping out the “white and delightsome” Nephites without leaving one trace of evidence.
Mackerel snapper LOL, have not heard that in many years. God Bless my FRiend...
It is sad but soon you all of you anti LDS will be on the outside looking in....
but you anti’s made your choice to kick the Lord’s True Church
For those of you who are friends of the Mormons we invite you to listen to uplifting words and a refuge in the coming storm ahead.
http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2011/10?lang=eng
Meanwhile, back in a place I call reality...
“Lord’s True Church”
The Lord we worship doesn’t accept screwing multiple women, raping children, and committing murder like the Mormon cult. Besides, if you are going to plagiarize the Bible you’d think the morons would make up their own stories.
Thanks and G-d bless!
Heh, heh, “mackerel snapper” was what my grandfather called himself.
You didn’t want to hear what he called the Jehovah’s Witnesses especially when they showed up at his doorstep usually with a small child in tow so he wouldn’t swear at them. Didn’t work. I thought Grandpa was just being grouchy until I read a few issues of “Watchtower” and “Awake”.
Distortion, distortion, distortion
No facts just assumptions hearsay of events and how liars spin...
Joseph Smith was an honorable servant of the Lord as well as Brigham Young....
Just reveals to me how some ears are eager to believe falsehoods from the anti’s Mormons
Did you finally find some facts to back up your claim we are liars?
Well?
Resty your true motives here...were never lost on me. Your church and you have never had any desire to be one with Christians.
In fact your founder despised Christians.
All you and the mormon church wants are more members. All the HIVE wants is more $$$$....
Clear as day.
God have mercy on you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.