[Mrs.Z]

LDS site.

Is it legit, or is it LDS propaganda?

[ODDITHER]

Its legit. ByU Scientists have been involved for many years in putting the 800+ manuscripts back together. They were written on parchment(animal skins) and buried until 1947. It has been an a long process until they were able to start using DNA to verify which parchment piece goes with together.
He explained it by saying if you took 800 10,000 piece puzzles mixed the pieces together and threw away the picture on the box - this is what they have been faced with.

Listen to it - promise you won’t be brain washed into becoming Mormon. The dead sea scrolls are very precious to all Jews and Christians.

[GLDNGUN]

I would certainly be wary of anything the LDS church says about the Bible. They already qualify their belief in God's Word by saying "as far as it is correctly translated". Of course, that gives them free reign to ignore or contradict the Bible at their whim. The LDS Church can simply say "well, that part wasn't translated correctly" when confronted with contradictions between their doctrine and the Bible. On any points where the 2 might be in agreement, of course they fully embrace those passages as "translated correctly". What a coincidence! LOL

For the LDS Church to continue to evolve, this will have to change. More and more, the LDS Church wants to be regarded as a "mainline" Christian church and will have to continue to abandon its more, shall we say, "unique" practices. Ending and outlawing polygamy was a start. More recently, the allowing of blacks in the priesthood (1978) and changes in their temple ceremonies have been a direct result of negative publicity.

Now comes the irony. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, is running for president. Most Mormons think this is simply wonderful. Most, not all. I know many Mormons and have been interested in what they have to say about Romney. Some, of course, are mind-numbed robots that will dutifully go pull the lever for a Mormon. Others that I have spoken to have said emphatically "I'm NOT going to vote for Romney just because he's a Mormon!" And they meant it. The couple I spoke to that said this were hoping that Fred Thompson would join the race, so he was their first choice. And these aren't "jack Mormons" I'm talking about either. These are temple Mormons living in Utah, but even they have said they are to the point of wanting to throw up every time they see an article on Romney in the Deseret News, because it's just another warmed-over puff piece about him being a member of "the church".

Still another LDS member that I'm very close to doesn't even want Romney in the race. She said it's because she just doesn't want the "whole Mormon thing" in the news. This really got me to thinking. The more I think about, the more I believe that the farther Romney goes, the better it will be for the LDS Church in the long run. By that, I mean the longer Romney hangs around, and it looks like he's in the "top 3" right now, the more light will be shown on the LDS Church.

Nothing but good can come out of this. When the heart of LDS doctrine becomes more widely known in the US, the more difficult time the LDS Church will have in appealing to people who are looking for a "Christian" church. Their conversion rates have already dropped dramatically over the past 10-15 years, and this will only increase now.

With decreasing conversion rates and bad publicity what will the LDS Church do in response? My guess is they will do the same as they have before when cornered. Change.

Any precedence for this? Sure is. After Joseph Smith died, the LDS Church actually split. Some followed Smith's son, while others followed Brigham Young to Utah. The former became the Reorganized Church of LDS, while the later became the LDS church in Utah. The RLDS church slowly moved away from most of the "peculiarities" of Mormon doctrine. They now regard the Bible as the authoritative Word of God without exception (like "as far as it's correctly translated"). They also changed their name and are now the "Community of Christ". They believe in the Trinity as most traditional Christian denominations do. They are close to being little different than a traditional Christian denomination.

I believe this is also the path the Utah Mormon church will follow, albeit not without some kicking and screaming.

So, to answer your question, the LDS Church still puts much less emphasis on the Bible than do most Christians and they make it subservient to their BOM, D&C, and their "prophets". Hopefully, that will change, and hopefully soon.

[txzman]

BYU is excellent in all things related to document research - many of their breakthroughs have literally changed the way we handle old manuscripts and archival documents.

In addition, their language programs are among the very best in the world.

[Lee'sGhost]

Gee, I don’t know. What the hell is LDS?

[restornu]

Dead Sea DNA - DNA analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n6_v16/ai_16951744

10/25 Using Technology to Reveal & Safeguard the Dead Sea Scrolls
Donald W. Parry
Professor of Hebrew Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls Brigham Young University

11/01 DNA & the Dead Sea Scrolls
Scott Woodward, PhD
Director of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation
DNA and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Scott Woodward, PhD - Director of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation.
http://www.seattleu.edu/academicsalons/ideas/deadsea.asp

[John Leland 1789]

The Dead Sea scrolls were buried as though they were dead persons. The “Scriptures” that are among the Dead Sea Scrolls were ones with scribal errors serious enough to warrant their being buried and not used.

[FastCoyote]

“LDS site.

Is it legit, or is it LDS propaganda?”

All LDS stuff is by definition propaganda. LDS do not feel required to tell the truth, otherwise Joseph Smith would have been debunked long ago. I just read a good example, from Joseph Smith on most of the chruch leaders at some point denied they were involved in polygamy when they were neck deep in it.

[wita]

Dear lady, your comments are worthy of the same disgust, that honest Americans have expressed over the treatment of a four star general and the US Ambassador to Iraq at the hands of some of our elected officials.

Am I wrong to believe that any intelligent person should be able to find the answer to the question without making it a point of religious contention?

[restornu]

LDS site.

Is it legit, or is it LDS propaganda? ~ Mrs.Z

***

Disagree totally.

If your kid attends a vacation Bible school of church X, you can be assured that church will promote the doctrines (propaganda) of church X.

You as a parent should be aware and beware.

My query was made to make sure that there was no hidden agenda, and that the work was scholarly and could be duplicated and/or verified.~ Mrs.Z

***************************************************************

Part IV: The Dead Sea Scrolls and Modern Technology
from The Dead Sea Scrolls: Questions and Responses for Latter-day Saints
by Donald W. Parry, Stephen D. Ricks
pp. 39–40
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/bookschapter.php?bookid=&chapid=225

Overview of Recent Involvement
of Latter-day Saints
with Dead Sea Scrolls Scholarship
http://byubroadcasting.org/deadsea/book/introduction/overview.html

Putting the Pieces Together:
DNA and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Scott R. Woodward

Scott R. Woodward is associate professor of microbiology at Brigham Young University. This chapter is a revised version of “Analysis of Parchment Fragments from the Judean Desert Using DNA Techniques,” in Current Research and Technological Developments on the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Donald W. Parry and Stephen D. Ricks (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996), 215–38.
http://byubroadcasting.org/deadsea/book/chapter7/intro.html

Decipherers of Dead Sea Scrolls Turn to DNA Analysis for Help
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=990CEFD91231F93BA15750C0A963958260&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

DR. SCOTT WOODWARD
Professor, Researcher
Scott R. Woodward is currently a Professor of Microbiology and faculty member of the Molecular Biology Program at Brigham Young University. He received his Ph.D. degree in genetics from Utah State University in 1984. He did postdoctoral work in molecular genetics at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Utah. At the University of Utah, he discovered a genetic marker used for the identification of carriers and the eventual discovery of the gene for cystic fibrosis. He was also involved with the identification of other gene markers for colon cancer and neurofibromatosis. He joined the faculty at BYU in 1989. While at BYU he has been involved with the Seila, Egypt excavation team, directing the genetic and molecular analysis of Egyptian mummies, both from a commoners’ cemetery and from the tombs of the Egyptian Royal mummies. His research interests include the reconstruction of ancient and modern genealogies using DNA techniques with samples from all over the world, the tracing of human population movements by following gene migrations (including both Old and New World populations) and the DNA analysis of ancient manuscripts including the Dead Sea Scrolls. He has been the Scholar in Residence at the BYU Center for Near Eastern Studies in Jerusalem and a visiting professor at Hebrew University. His work has been featured both nationally and internationally on numerous programs, including GOOD MORNING AMERICA, Discovery, and The Learning Channel.
http://www.thirteen.org/pressroom/release.php?get=154