Posted on 10/18/2010 10:45:49 AM PDT by T Minus Four
When the Lord told the Jaredites he would lead them to a new land (Ether 2:7), he also instructed them to build eight barges to traverse the waters to their new destination (v. 16).
According to Ether, these barges, which were patterned after Noah's Ark (6:7), were "tight like unto a dish," peaked at both ends and had holes that could be unplugged to allow ventilation (2:17, 20).
The story of Noah, or some equivalent figure, is found in a wide array of ancient non-biblical literature and could easily have been known to the ancient Jaredites. Some of these traditions about the Ark or "deluge boat" contain details and oddities not found in the Bible.
Dr. Hugh Nibley has shown that several of these non-biblical details and oddities are also found in the Jaredite account.
Some of these ancient sources, for example, claim that the shape of the deluge boat resembled a crescent moon when viewed from the profile. Like the Jaredite barges, it would have been peaked on both ends. Artwork of actual sea-going vessels from the Tyrians and Sidonians show that some boats really had such a shape.
Although the book of Ether never says that the Jaredite barges had sails, we are told (as noted in a last week's installment) that the barges were driven by furious winds (Ether 6:5-9). While the Bible never mentions that wind was a factor in propelling the Ark, the deluge boat was supposedly sail-less but driven by ferocious winds.
Just as the Jaredite barges were "tight like unto a dish," the deluge boat had a portal that could be shut during the storm flood. The word "ark," in fact, originally meant a "box" such as a chest or coffin that was covered with a lid. And just as the barges had ventilation holes, the Ark had not only a door that could be shut but at least one nappashu, which is translated as "air-hole" or "window" but means "breather" or "ventilator" and was not an ordinary window. The Jaredite barges and the deluge boat both took on almost submarine-like natures, often being submerged in violent waves during their voyage.
Concerned about the lack of light in the barges, the brother of Jared asked the Lord for some means of illumination. Glass would break, the Lord replied, and they couldn't light fires, so the Lord turned the problem back over to the brother of Jared. Having complete faith in the Lord's abilities, the brother of Jared climbed a mountain, "did molten out of rock" 16 small transparent stones and asked the Lord to touch the stones so they would shine in their vessels.
While the tale of "shining stones" has elicited the laughs of critics, we find that the story is perfectly at home in ancient lore. According to the ancient Palestine Talmud, for example, the Ark was illuminated with a miraculous light-giving stone. This precious stone supposedly glowed for 12 months inside the Ark and would dim during the day so that Noah knew if it was day or night outside.
Such information was likely unavailable to Joseph Smith. As Dr. Nibley explains, of the four copies of the Palestine Talmud that mention the Ark's shining stones, two appeared 30 years after Joseph had already translated the Book of Mormon. When the Book of Mormon was published, there was not a single translation of the Palestine Talmud available in any modern language.
As noted above, it was the brother of Jared, not the Lord, who suggested the idea of the shining stones. It seems reasonable to surmise that the brother of Jared was familiar with an ancient tradition of Noah and his illuminated stones. One of those ancient sources (unknown in 1830) relates the tradition of a gem that could be produced by subjecting certain stones to intense heat. The resulting gem would be a perfectly transparent crystal which shined as brightly as the sun (see the same elements in Ether 3:2, 4).
The common name for this gem was "Moonfriend," or Jalakanta, which interprets, "that which causes the waters to part." Thus the peculiar power of this shining gem enabled its possessor to pass through the depths of water unharmed.
The Ark was also called a "bright house" or moon-boat, not only "because it was crescent-shaped and wandered through space for 12 months, but also because it was illuminated by a miraculous light." While ancient Babylonian texts tell us that the deluge-boat had a "window" or nappashu, the "window" in Genesis comes from the Hebrew tsohar, which also translates as "shiner" or "illuminator."
The Book of Mormon version, which is a fuller account than any other, contains both ideas that the barges had a ventilator as well as an illuminator.
Oh come on PD, no whining. Nobody is contesting your right to believe in whatever you fancy. In fact, I served in the Air Force where I was willing to give my life for your freedom to believe this nonsense.
Sure its just down the hall past the constantly bash and insult the Mormons office.
I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the otherThis is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)and which I should join.
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.
20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, Never mind, all is wellI am well enough off. I then said to my mother,
Joseph Smith continues: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith-History 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270).Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (The Seer, p. 255).Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses, vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (Journal of Discourses, 18:172).President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (Journal of Discourses, 10:127).James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182).President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (Doctrines of Salvation, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, p.282).More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, p.316).President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p.196).
In conclusion let us summarize this grand key, these Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet, for our salvation depends on them.
1. The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.
2. The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.
3. The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.
4. The prophet will never lead the church astray.
5. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.
6. The prophet does not have to say Thus Saith the Lord, to give us scripture.
7. The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.
8. The prophet is not limited by mens reasoning.
9. The prophet can receive revelation on any matter, temporal or spiritual.
10. The prophet may advise on civic matters.
11. The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.
12. The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.
13. The prophet and his counselors make up the First Presidencythe highest quorum in the Church.
14. The prophet and the presidencythe living prophet and the First Presidencyfollow them and be blessedreject them and suffer.
I testify that these fourteen fundamentals in following the living prophet are true. If we want to know how well we stand with the Lord then let us ask ourselves how well we stand with His mortal captainhow close do our lives harmonize with the Lords anointedthe living ProphetPresident of the Church, and with the Quorum of the First Presidency.
Ezra Taft Benson
(Address given Tuesday, February 26, 1980 at Brigham Young University)
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"Follow me", said Jesus.
I choose Jesus.
That is a keeper response post for PD.
Wow. That is even more disturbing than the lesson titles. I think I’ll go throw up now.
“Follow me”, said Jesus.
I choose Jesus.
- - - - - - -
Amen, T.
“This precious stone supposedly glowed for 12 months inside the Ark and would dim during the day so that Noah knew if it was day or night outside. “
I would have thought it to brighten during the day and dim at night???
Ha! Good point See. And how did they KNOW whether it was day or night when it dimmed and brightened?
“A very reasoned appeal.
“I applaud the time you took to write it.
I suspect your gift is encouragement! I have plunged headfirst into getting my book published as a result of your encouragement. Should be out in April or May. It isn’t about mormonism, but a book in my professional field.
Thanks :-)
PS ... I should acknowledge you in the forward.
Here’s one of the songs the children at our Christian church at singing for the Christmas (thats December 25) program
I Wanna Know How It Feels (Karen Peck and New River)
My momma and daddy talked about going home
Since I was just a babe on their knees
They said that nothing compared to what was waiting up there
How one day we would finally be free
Well, I’ve never seen it but I keep on believing
It will be a place like I’ve never known
I keep my eyes on the sky ‘cause my soul wants to fly
Lord, my heart is ready to go
I wanna know how it feels
To make my way down the streets of gold
I wanna know how it feels
To have a talk with the saints of old
I wanna know what it’s like
To rest my feet by the River of Life
I’ve heard of Heaven and I know that it’s real
I wanna know how it feels
Sometimes I get weary from this life that I live
It seems that peace is something I’ll never find
I try to lighten my load when all that I’ve got to show
Is seven hundred things on my mind
Well, I’m seeing visions of a crystal clear river
Where sin’s forgotten without a trace
More than I’ve ever dreamed my eyes long to see
The look of love on my Savior’s face
I wanna know how it feels
To make my way down the streets of gold
I wanna know how it feels
To have a talk with the saints of old
I wanna know what it’s like
To rest my feet by the River of Life
I’ve heard of Heaven and I know that it’s real
I wanna know
I wanna know how it feels
To make my way down the streets of gold
I wanna know how it feels
To have a talk with the saints of old
I wanna know what it’s like
To rest my feet by the River of Life
I’ve heard of Heaven and I know that it’s real
I wanna know how it feels
I’ve heard of Heaven and I know that it’s real
I wanna know how it feels
is this really all you can post? can’t you defend your faith?
This was a great article, thanks for posting. To all the anti-mormon trollers: Is it really so far fetched that a small group of people could cross the ocean in barges? Why don’t you post an article about some biblical story, like the great flood, Moses turning the Nile into blood etc... and then have a group of atheists attack the story, sound like fun? Can you explain all the details on how/why God completely covered the Earth in water but preserved one family and all the animals on the earth in one small boat? Also, you are simply regurgitating born again and anti mormon ideas over and over. Why don’t you try reading the Bible, and coming up with an original thought? Have a nice day.
It does not mention glass. Just windows. These would be openings that could be closed and opened, but that would have weakened the structural integrity.
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