tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1697252510240921192024-03-05T01:39:00.200-08:00Ether's CaveA Place for Book of Mormon ResearchJohn Geehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765634264821041881noreply@blogger.comBlogger273125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-15293644708418437062023-10-13T12:59:00.000-07:002023-10-13T12:59:00.273-07:00Nephi and the Spirit of the Lord<p>Nephi's remarkable vision of the ministry of Christ, his future posterity and the apostasy and Restoration of the Gospel in the Latter-days is one of the most significant visions recorded in Scripture (1 Nephi 11-14). Nephi is introduced to this experience by an individual who he describes as the Spirit of the Lord. This has led some readers to wonder whether this heavenly personage was the pre-existent Jesus or the personage of the Holy Ghost. Several factors lead me to conclude that the individual who conducted Nephi's Vision Recommend was the personage of the Holy Ghost.</p><p>It is certainly true that a “spirit” even a good spirit need
not be the Holy Ghost and may be just a messenger. My question is this: How
does Nephi use the term “Spirit of the Lord”?</p><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Nephi introduces his vision by saying that because of his <i>faith</i>
in the Son of God, his father Lehi spake “by the power of the <b><i>Holy Ghost</i></b>”
and says that he, Nephi, “was <i>desirous</i> also that I might <i>see</i>, and
hear and <i>know</i> of these things, by the power of the <b><i>Holy Ghost</i></b>,
which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him.” He also
explains, “For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God
shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the <b><i>Holy Ghost</i></b>.”
Then he says, “And the <b><i>Holy Ghost</i></b> giveth authority that I shall
speak these things, and deny them not” (1 Nephi 10:17-22). It is interesting that
Nephi introduces his vision by mentioning the Holy Ghost not once, but four
times and the last time in verse 22 is noteworthy in that he cites “the Holy
Ghost” as his authority for what is is about to reveal and not just “the power
of Holy Ghost.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now in the earliest text of the Book of Mormon there is no chapter separation
between 1 Nephi 10:22 and 1 Nephi 11:1, so the beginning of chapter 11 follows
immediately upon Nephi’s citation of the Holy Ghost as his source of authority
for what he is about to reveal. So the word “<b><i>For</i></b>” in 1 Nephi 11:1
is a continuation of his previous words where he has just mentioned the Holy
Ghost 4 times.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“For it came to pass after I had <i>desired</i> to <i>know</i>
the things that my father had <i>seen</i>, and <i>believing</i> that the Lord
was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was
caught away in the <b><i>Spirit of the Lord</i></b>, yea, into an exceedingly
high mountain” (1 Nephi 11:1).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>So the “Spirit of the Lord” of which Nephi speaks is the
Spirit by which Nephi is “caught away.” And then the Spirit converses with him
after Nephi affirms his righteous desire for knowledge and his faith (remember
10:17 on what the Holy Ghost does).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“And when I had spoken these words, <b><i>the Spirit</i></b>
cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, <b><i>the most high God</i></b>;
for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou,
Nephi, because thou believest in the <b><i>Son of the most high God</i></b>;
wherefore, though shalt <i>behold</i> the things which thou hast <i>desired</i>”
(11:6). Nephi passes the interview because of his faith in the words of his father and his righteous desires. So the Spirit, the same “Spirit of the Lord” by whom Nephi was “caught away”
conducts Nephi’s vision recommend interview. On the face of it, his language of
praise suggests that the “Spirit of the Lord” is not the "most high God" or the "Son of the most high God" (he doesn't say Blessed art thou because thou believest in <i>me</i>") and he is definitely not the angel who appears when
the Spirit leaves in verse 14. So who is the “Spirit of the Lord”?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In verse 7 the Spirit of the Lord tells Nephi that he is
going to see something in the vision. “Thou shalt behold <b><i>a man descending
out of heaven</i></b>, and <b><i>him shall ye witness</i></b>; and after ye
have witnessed him ye shall bear record that he is the <b><i>Son of God</i></b>”
(11:7). So the Spirit of the Lord tells Nephi that he is going to see a man
descending out heaven (future tense), which is fulfilled in 12:6, and that he
will be required to bear testimony to that. This again suggests that the Spirit
of the Lord is not that individual who he will shortly see and of whom he will
then bear testimony. So, if the Spirit of the Lord is not the Son of God, who
is he?</p></div>
<p class="MsoNormal">The conversation continues and in verse 11. Nephi reports,
“for I beheld that he was in the <b><i>form of a man;</i></b> yet nevertheless,
I knew that it was <b><i>the Spirit of the Lord</i></b>; and he spake unto me
as a man speaketh with another” (11:11). Remember, this “Spirit of the Lord” is
the same individual by whom Nephi was “caught away in 11:1 which immediately
follows upon Nephi’s attribution of authority for his knowledge of the
mysteries he learns. Then the Spirit of the Lord goes from Nephi’s presence (footnote to
D&C 130:22-23) and an angel takes over the divine presentation (11:14). <o:p></o:p>Also consider that Nephi’s father Lehi “spake by the <b><i>power of the Holy Ghost</i></b>” (11:17). Following his vision, Nephi speaks of “the <b><i>Spirit of the Lord </i></b>which was in our father” (15:12).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All of the above strongly suggests to me that the “Spirit of the
Lord” by whom Nephi is “caught away” and who interrogates Nephi before he is
shown the vision, reveals mysteries to the one who desired to see and know
through faith, and who praises the most high God the Father and the Son of God
is the individual known as the Holy Ghost and Nephi’s source of authority.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-47696169368969651222023-04-15T14:30:00.001-07:002023-04-15T14:30:00.179-07:00Resurrection Teachings Part 6: The Testimony of Nineteenth Latter-day Saint Church Leaders<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">On
February 19, 1854, Brigham Young spoke to a congregation of Latter-day Saints
in which he addressed this subject.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Not
more than a week since, I was told the baby resurrection doctrine was spreading
among the people. It is something I do not understand. The spirit of Joseph
Smith is in the bodies of their children; and some have the spirit of Hyrum;
and I do not know but some would go so far as to say that the spirit of old
Mother Smith had actually come into the bodies of some child before she was
dead. The returning again of the spirits of the dead into the bodies of our
babies is the theory of the baby resurrection.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, 19 February 1854, Ms d 1234, Box 48, Folder 11, Church History Library.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The
false doctrine of “Baby Resurrection” as described by Brigham Young, does not
refer to the true and comforting doctrine that little children who die before
the age of accountability will, through the mercy and Redemption of Jesus
Christ will one day be resurrected with a perfected immortal body and be
blessed with eternal life (Mosiah 3:16, 18; 15:25; Moroni 8:22; Doctrine and
Covenants 29:46-48; 137:10). Rather, it has reference to the false idea more
commonly known today as multiple mortal probations.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We
remember that that 1835 the Prophet Joseph Smith had characterized the
resurrection teachings of Robert Matthias as false. Matthias had taught that
the spirits of prophets, saints, or apostles, including Adam, Abraham, John the
Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostle Matthias, had risen and were “resurrected” as
new babies were born into mortality and the spirits of the dead inhabited the
bodies of these children (See Part 5 of this series).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In
spite of Joseph Smith’s condemnation of this teaching, and the clear testimony
of the Scriptures in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and
Covenants that we retain out personal identity after death and in the
resurrection, the false teaching of multiple probations was perpetuated after
death of the Prophet Joseph Smith by some who were or had been members of the
Church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">On
November 21, 1847, Wilford Woodruff recorded that Elder Orson Pratt refuted
this doctrine in a sermon given on that day.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“O
Pratt addressed the congregation upon the subject of the resurrection which was
interesting to us all. </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Some had been teaching the doctrine that the
resurrection was by birth or through the womb</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> but Br Pratt showed the folly
of such a doctrine, & Proved by many revelations that the dead were raised
by the power of God & the blowing of the Trump of Michael the Ark Angel who
was Father Adam & that the graves of the Saints would be opened & their
Bodies would come forth out of their graves according to the visions of Ezekiel
& many of the prophets. He showed that However miraculous it might appear
unto us it was just as easy for God to perform this work as it was to turn
water into wine or make Bread without flour to feed a multitude. W. Woodruff
followed Br Pratt & bore testimony to what had been said & spoke in the
spirit of the Lord.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Wilford
Woodruff Journal, 21 November, 1847, emphasis added.</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">President
Brigham Young in his teachings repeatedly emphasized the correct doctrine of
resurrection that we, like our Savior Jesus Christ, will retain our personal
identity as the following statements show.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">February
19, 1854</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">"It
appears inconsistent to me, to believe that Jesus Christ is a perfect example
of the resurrection, and then straightway declare that no person can be
resurrected as he was. I understand that </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">every person that receives a
resurrection will receive it as the Savior did</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">, though their bodies should
sleep in the dust for thousands of years, or only for a few days. A time will
come when the people will be resurrected as quick as lightening. These times
and seasons, and the method by which this will be brought about by the Almighty
is known to himself. We have nothing to do with that. It will be enough for us to
obtain our resurrection; and we shall get the resurrection we live for. If we
prepared our bodies for an inheritance in a celestial kingdom, they will be
quickened by a celestial glory, and of it receive a fulness."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, 19 February 1854, Ms d 1234, Box 48, Folder 11, Church History Library, emphasis
added.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In
his report of President Young’s sermon Wilford Woodruff wrote: “He said
that </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">we should have the same bonefide identical body that our spirit
occupied while in this life</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">. Our graves would literally be opened and our bodies
come forth.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, in Wilford Woodruff Journal, 19 February, 1854, emphasis added.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">February
18, 1857</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“To
Bro Hyde he said, I wish you to quit your preaching of sundry erroneous
doctrines viz. Baby resurrection with all its fooleries also. Resurrection of
other materials than those composing the elements of this body which will be
raised also, Fatalism, that if a man is a drunkard or a thief, or a liar,
&c he will remain so.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, President’s Office Journal, 18 February, 1857, Church History Library.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">February
24, 1857</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“In
conversation with Bro Hyde Prest Young asked bro Hyde whether in the morning of
the resurrection he would ask for the body of Boggs, of a dog or the
restitution of his own body, a course of reasoning in which Prest Young showed
him the danger of holding these ideas even if he do not teach them. Would like
them to preach these doctrines before the conference of Elders, and let him
[Young] reply and correct them. Then showed in much plainness the doctrine of
the resurrection of the elements of this body to unite with the spirit, that
has honored and exalted it, as every element pertaining to the earth, however
diffused in gas, smoke, vapor etc. belongs to this earth & not to the moon,
sun, etc. and will remain associated with this planet. So with the elements of
a human body are associated with the spirit, and ever will belong to one
another.”</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young President’s Office Journal, February 24, 1857, Church History Library.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">March
25, 1860</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">“The very particles that compose our bodies will be
brought forth in the morning of the resurrection, and our spirits will
then have tabernacles to be clothed with, as they have now, only they will be
immortal tabernacles—spiritual tabernacles …. After the spirit leaves the body,
it remains without a tabernacle in the spirit world until the Lord, by his law
that he has ordained, brings to pass the resurrection of the dead. When the
angel who holds the keys of the resurrection shall sound his trumpet, then the
peculiar fundamental particles that organized our bodies here, if we do honor
to them, though they be deposited in the depths of the sea, and though one
particle is in the north, another in the south, another in the east, and
another in the west, will be brought together again in the twinkling of an eye,
and our spirits will take possession of them. We shall then be prepared to
dwell with the Father and the Son, and we never can be prepared to dwell with
them until then.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Brigham Young, 25 March, 1860, <i>JD</i> 828.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">February
23, 1862</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“In
the afternoon Brother George Teasdale spoke well. Was followed by Brother
Kimball who spoke of the body & spirit of man but did not explain the
subject to the satisfaction of President Young. He then followed Brother
Kimball and explained the matter to the people and said the body or tabernacle
was all & everything to us. Without the tabernacle we could not get
exaltation. We should have in the morning of the resurrection the same body we
have now. The baby resurrection as taught by OH was a false doctrine & and
no truth in it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Wilford
Woodruff Journal, 23 February, 1862.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“But
there is constant warfare between them [our mortal bodies and our spirits], <i>still
they must remain together, be saved and exalted together, or neither of them
will be saved and exalted with the salvation and the exaltation which the
Gospel offers</i>. Our bodies are all important to us, though they may be old
and withered, emaciated with toil, pain, and sickness, and our limbs bent with
rheumatism, all uniting to hasten dissolution, for death is sown in our mortal
bodies. The food and drink we partake of are contaminated with the seeds of
death, yet we partake of them to extend our lives until our allotted work is
finished, when our tabernacles, in a state of ripeness, are sown in the earth
to produce immortal fruit.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, 23 February, 1862, <i>JD</i> 9:288, emphasis added.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">June
23, 1867</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“We
have another one in the Quorum of the Twelve who believes that infants actually
have the spirits of some who have formerly lived on the earth, and that this is
their resurrection, which is a doctrine so absurd and foolish that I cannot
find language to express my sentiments in relation to it.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, 23 June, 1867, <i>JD</i> 12:66.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">September
4, 1867</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“The
Twelve held a Council in the Evening in relation to false doctrines. O Hyde had
formerly preached an incorrect doctrine on the resurrection called the Baby
resurrection. Elder Hyde renounced the doctrine and made it all right with the
Quorum.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Wilford
Woodruff Journal, 4 September, 1867, Kenney, 6:361-362. I have standardized the
punctuation and spelling.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">September
10, 1867</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“The
Twelve held a meeting in the evening at 6 oclock. O. Hyde spoke his feelings
and said President Young told me in 1850 that my views on the baby resurrection
was not true, that I might believe what I pleased if I would not preach false
doctrine. But I am ready to follow in the beaten track. Brother Young said no
man could know much about the resurrection until he passed through the
resurrection and had the keys of it. For that reason I have been silent upon
the subject and I have not heard any of the Twelve preach upon it that I
recollect. O have not contemplated for years the resurrection in any other
light than you do. The subject died within me years ago.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Wilford
Woodruff Journal, 10 September, 1867, in Kenney, 6:363-364. I have standardized
the punctuation and spelling.</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>October 7, 1867 </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Elder Orson Hyde preached about the resurrection in part to
correct his earlier erroneous teachings.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“You
fathers and mothers who have lost your little ones be comforted with the
thought that the time is drawing near any how when your children will be
restored to you; and when they come forth it will be to a life that will never
end, for their bodies will be animated by spirit instead of blood, the same
bodies that are sown in corruption will be raised in incorruption. They are
sown natural bodies but will be raised spiritual bodies. Jesus himself is the
promulgator of this truth. After he rose from the dead, when in conversation
with Thomas said he “Thomas, you have been rather unbelieving with regard to my
being the same individual character, now reach hither thy finger and thrust
them into the wound I received in my side and look at my hands through which
the nails were driven and be not faithless but believing. Again we are told
that when the Savior shall come or about that time, the sea shall give up its
dead, and that in the resurrection the dead shall come forth, bone shall come
to its bone and they shall be covered with flesh and the Lord Almighty shall
breathe upon them and they shall live. These sayings contained in the
Scriptures are confirmation of the doctrine taught be Jesus, which I have
advanced—that our resurrected bodies will be identical with those we now
possess.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“Some
may say ”were these always your views brother Hyde?” I cannot say that they
always were, yet there was but a short period of my life when my views were
different. Lilabout twenty years ago I did indulge somewhat in the speculative
notions of a vain philosophy that no more accorded with the truth of Heaven
than this tabernacle resembles a Methodist meeting house. Well brethren and
sisters I do not suppose you are all acquainted with the peculiarities of my
teachings twenty years ago, and I shall not tell them now. If any of you have
heard me say anything in former days contrary to the principles of truth as
revealed by the Lord through his servants forgive me.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Orson
Hyde, 7 October, 1867, Historian’s Office Reports of Speeches 1845-1885, Church
History Library.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">October
6, 1867</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“I
just as much expect my body these eyes this head cheeks mouth and every part of
my system the body and lower limbs to receive in the resurrection which is as
much as I expect to enjoy another minute without any doubt without any
hesitation in my faith or a quiver in my feelings pertaining to this matter
that is my faith I shall possess this body precisely as I now possess<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but it will be raised immortal incorruptible
eternal a spiritual body … My belief is precisely as Brother Hyde has said.
Jesus is the Firstborn from the dead he is the first fruits from the earth and
as he was raised immortal incorruptible not subject to pain and death any more
so will be the body of every [person?] that has ever lived <on earth>
ever will live on it he is our patron in all things now this is my belief with
regard to the resurrection I have the sayings of the ancient prophets of Jesus
I have the sayings of the Apostles and the Prophet Joseph Smith Junior I have
the revelations of the Spirit of God and the Holy Ghost testifies to me that
this is true.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, October 6, 1867, Papers of George D. Watt MS 4534 box 4, folder 12,
Church History Library.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Every
component part of the creature comes forth in the resurrection. The parts that
form the organization of man endure for ever unless he forfeits his right to
them; and he shall possess them when he is resurrected.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, <i>Deseret News Weekly</i> 6 October 1867.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>September 5, 1875</b> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">At the funeral of Elder George A Smith, President Young
testified of the truth of the resurrection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">"But
suffice it for me to say at this time, that </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">the very body that lies there in
that coffin is the body that will be raised at the first resurrection</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">, and
will come forth; yes, </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">brother George A. Smith; and we will see him in the
flesh just as we have seen him while associating with him here</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">; only he
will be made pure, holy and immortal. And if we are made pure we shall
associate together. </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The very flesh and the very bones, and the component
parts that comprise the body of brother George A. Smith, now lying before us,
will come forth in the resurrection</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">, which this book (the Bible) teaches,
this book (the Book of Mormon) teaches, and this book (the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants) teaches, from beginning to end, wherever they speak on the subject
of the resurrection."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brigham
Young, <i>Deseret News Weekly</i>, 5 September, 1875.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>October 8, 1875</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">President Young again emphasized
that in the resurrection the very body associated with the individual while in
mortality would be resurrected with the same body, all that been associated
with that individual, but perfected in immortal form. He stated:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“I
declare to the Latter-day Saints, and to all living upon the earth who have
intelligence to understand, that <i>the particles which comprise the component
parts of our bodies will never enter into other bodies to form the elements of
their bodies; but these very identical particles that now compose our bodies
will be resurrected and come together by the power of the trump of God and will
be re-united</i> to form the body–excepting the blood, which will not be
necessary to our existence in an immortal state–and then be prepared to receive
the spirit, preparatory to their exaltation. Query: <i>Would not the particles
that compose the body of our Savior, according to their intelligence, oppose the
idea of becoming a part of any other body but His? Again: Would not the Saints,
who are faithful in magnifying the Priesthood of the Son of God, object to the
particles which now compose their bodies, and which they have sanctified
through obedience to that Priesthood, entering into and forming parts of other
bodies than their own–bodies which their spirits had not possessed and of which
they knew nothing in this life?</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“Although
some may think that the substances of which our bodies are composed are borrowed
for our use during this mortal existence, it is not so, neither will they be
thrown off at death, never to be restored; and though in the resurrection the
bodies of the righteous will be raised immortal and free from all corruption,
they will be none the less tangible or perceptible to the touch of those who
are permitted to handle them. The question may be asked: Will the bodies of
those who do not observe the laws of God, and which are not sanctified by
obedience to them, come forth in the resurrection? Undoubtedly they will; but
not at the same time nor to the same glory that they do who observe the laws of
God . . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“And
by the exercise of his power <i>the original elements which have formed the
bodies of men will be brought forth in the resurrection–bone to bone, sinew to
sinew, flesh to flesh, not one hair shall be lost–and all this in obedience to
law, that the substances which have formed the tabernacles of men, or of
beasts, or of fowls, or of fish, shall not be intermingled or lost; but shall be
all restored to their own places</i>, though they may have been swallowed up in
the depths of the sea, or have been scattered to the four winds of heaven.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Resurrection: A Discourse By Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, Delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
at the General Conference, October 8<sup>th</sup>, 1875</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">.Salt Lake City: Deseret
News Steam Printing Establishment, 1875, 4-5.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Following
the death of Brigham Young in 1877, other Church leaders have continued to warn
against the false teaching of multiple probations and teach to true doctrine of
the Gospel that we retain our personal identity after death and following
resurrection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“It
is true, all of us are clothed with mortality, but our spirits existed long
before they took upon them this tabernacle that we now inhabit. When this body
dies, the spirit does not die. The spirit is an immortal being, and when
separated from the body takes its flight to the place prepared for it, and
there awaits the resurrection of the body, when the spirit will return again
and re-occupy this tabernacle which it occupied in this world ….</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“The
testimony of the Latter-day Saints is in addition to and consonant with that of
the disciples of Jesus Christ who lived at Jerusalem, those who lived on this
continent, the Prophet Joseph, Oliver, Sidney, and others, of our crucified and
risen Redeemer, because they received it not of them, but by the same Spirit by
which they received it. No man ever received this testimony unless the Spirit
of God revealed it unto him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“We
will see Brother Urie again. Sister Urie will meet him on the other side of the
grave. The spirit and the body will be reunited. We shall see each other in the
flesh, in the same tabernacles that we have here while in mortality. Our
tabernacles will be brought forth as they are laid down, although there will be
a restoration effected; every organ, every limb that has been maimed, every
deformity caused by accident or in any other way, will be restored and put right.
Every limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame. We will know each
other and enjoy each other's society throughout the endless ages of eternity,
if we keep the law of God. It is for us to remain true and faithful and keep
our covenants, and to train our children up in the paths of holiness, virtue
and truth, in the principles of the gospel, that we may with them be prepared
to enjoy the perfect and eternal day.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Joseph
F. Smith, Sermon delivered at the funeral services of James Urie, Sixteenth
ward, Salt Lake City, February 3, 1883. <i>JD</i>, Vol. 24, pp. 75-82.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“There
is another thing I wish to refer to here. I have heard that in Zion there are
some men who entertain the idea that they inherit the body and spirit of Moses,
or Abraham, or David, or Noah, or somebody other than themselves. I hope none
of you here indulge in anything of this kind, because it is the most foolish,
nonsensical and false doctrine. You gaze upon a man who professes to have
inherited the body or spirit of Moses, or any of those I have named, and I
think you will conclude that his appearance does not indicate that such is the
case; at any rate, it certainly has no improved him. Brother Woodruff, Brother
Cannon, Brother Smith, Brother Lorenzo Snow, or any of the brethren, will never
inherit anyone’s body or spirit but their own, in time or in eternity, unless
the devil gets into them. It is Satan who inspires men to believe such absurd
things. He delights in having any of the brethren entertain false ideas, no
matter what they are. I tell you that whoever sees me in time or eternity will
see Wilford Woodruff, not Noah, nor Abraham, nor Enoch. Every man has his own
identity, and he will never lose that identity. Therefore, when you hear such
doctrine as that advanced, do not believe it. There are a good many things
Satan would like us to believe, but we must guard against these.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Wilford
Woodruff, Address given in Manti, Utah, May 19, 1889, <i>Collected Discourses</i>
1:262-263.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Now
I do not think there are any misgivings in the hearts of Latter-day Saints this
morning in regard to what President Woodruff has said to use concerning the
doctrine which he has taken to puncture; that is, that the spirit of any man
now in this probation had been on the earth in a former age, in another body.
That doctrine ought to have laid still a score of years ago. But when a false
doctrine is put forth, some unwary person takes hold of it, and then some
aspiring individual, later on in life, adopts it as his view. It may be that is
savors a little of the mysterious, and some people delight in getting hold of
something of that kind, that they may talk of it in private, if not in public,
and arouse the curiosity of others. Thus it spreads. Each one says to himself,
“I wonder if this is not something that will turn out to be sound doctrine. It
may be put forth a little early; but after a while I think it will be found to
be sound doctrine.” This is how they delude themselves. There is so much truth
that is plain and simple and easy to be understood by the children and by the
Saints, however weak and feeble they may be, that it is a foolish thing for men
to indulge in speculative theories. Brethren and sisters, life is too short for
this. There is enough of truth to occupy the attention and intelligence of the
brightest and the most competent among the Latter-day Saints.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“We
should become thoroughly acquainted with the doctrines of daily life, of
honesty, of integrity, of virtue; labor with all earnestness and faithfulness
to build up the Kingdom of God and vie with each other in seeking to accomplish
the purposes of the Lord; not to waste our time in speculation, in unsound and
questionable doctrine, or in any foolish and unprofitable contention or
argument. Let us entertain correct doctrine—doctrine that will recommend itself
to the hearts of the Latter-day Saints, and which we have proved to be right
and acceptable to the Lord.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Francis
M. Lyman, Manti, Utah, May 19, 1889, <i>Collected Discourses </i>1:266.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“I, myself, sat for over two hours once in a
meeting-house in St. Louis, listening to a prominent Elder of this Church, who
called the people together to preach unto them the doctrine that was called
“baby resurrection’ he preached to two or three thousand people, and there was
not a word of truth in the doctrine. I thought he ought to know better. In the
afternoon I was called on to speak. After meeting there were a great many
people gathered round me and asked what I thought of the man’s sermon. I
replied, it is all nonsense. Well, that is just how I felt. It is no benefit in
this world for men to preach such false doctrine. And now, every little while,
I hear of some one of the Elders, who wishes to be considered smart, trying to
teach something he knows nothing about.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The Elders have a world of truth to preach
about. There is enough revealed to fill the whole earth as long as you live.
Preach the truth as you understand it. Do not speculate on things you know
nothing about, for it will benefit no one. If you listen to false doctrine you
will be led away by false spirits. Remember and observe this, and you will be
all right. Keep in the paths of truth, and all will be well with you.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wilford Woodruff, Address given in Salt Lake
City, Utah, 6 April, 1890, in <i>Collected Discourses</i>, 2:60-61.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“We
hear occasionally of some of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints who are of the opinion that mankind have more probations than
one on the earth, and that some men who have lived in this dispensation have
figured prominently in other dispensations, and borne names in those
dispensations which are well known to us now. The idea entertained by such
people is that a man who, for instance, lived in the days of Abraham, or of
Moses, or of the prophets who succeeded him, might figure at those times, live
and be an active and notable man, and then die, his body be consigned to the
tomb, and his spirit be born as a baby at some subsequent time in another body.
This is the reincarnation believed in by the Hindoos and the Theosophists :
only among the Hindoos it is believed that human spirits take the form of
animals and re-appear from time to time upon the earth. Hence the Hindoos are
very particular in their treatment of animals; for perchance, according to
their view, an animal form might contain the spirit of a very dear relative or
friend.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“That
a belief in reincarnation should prevail among the Latter-day Saints seems
strange; for there is nothing in the gospel, as taught in the Bible, in the
Book of Mormon, in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, or in the teachings of
inspired men, that furnishes the least foundation for such a conception. It is
true that pre-existence is taught; but the pre-existence in which we believe is
confined to our first estate. We are taught that our present life is our second
estate, and this is a probation given unto us in which to gain experience and
to be tried and purified, to prepare us for our next estate. The teachings of
men who have had a deep understanding concerning the purpose of our Great
Creator in placing us here in this condition of existence, show that this is
the grand opportunity which is given to man—an opportunity which he must not
fail to avail himself of, as it is the only opportunity that he will have on
the earth, his earthly existence is confined to one appearance in the flesh.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“When
a child comes forth it possesses a tabernacle. That tabernacle is the house of
its spirit, intimately associated with the spirit; separated, it is true, for a
time by death, but designed to be re-united in the great hereafter. The Savior
says that His disciples looked upon the long absence of their spirits from
their bodies to be a bondage. (See Section 45, Doctrine and Covenants). We are
taught that all holy beings look forward with joyful anticipation to the time
when their bodies and spirits will be re-united in the resurrection. They do
not look forward to reincarnation, or to another birth as a baby, but to the
union of their spirits and their bodies— the bodies that they possessed and in
which they had passed through all the trials and temptations and vicissitudes
incident to a mortal career.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“This
is the doctrine taught in the gospel; and the doctrine of reincarnation is
utterly foreign to every principle which God has revealed in the last days to
His Church. . . .</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“The
Latter-day Saints should be warned on these points, and not be carried about by
`every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby
they lie in wait to deceive,’ but cling to the simple and plain truth, as God
has revealed it and as He teaches it unto those who will receive it; not
seeking to dive into mysteries and to adopt strange and startling ideas, but
confining themselves to that which God has written cultivating within
themselves continually His Holy Spirit, that through it they may be led into
all truth.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">[George
Q. Cannon] “The Doctrine of Reincarnation,” <i>Juvenile Instructor</i> 28/21
(November 1, 1893): 675-676; reprinted in Cannon, <i>Gospel Truth</i>, 23-24.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Every
once in a while we hear of men and women in the Territory who claim to be the
spirits of some ancient worthies, or to be indeed the Savior come again to
earth. They teach their false doctrines, and, surprising to state, there are
even some members of the Church who accept their teachings. The result is that
no small number of the people are being led away by these deceptions, and are
losing the Spirit of the Lord, which is capable of discerning spirits and
detecting the evil influences which are abroad in the earth.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">[George
Q. Cannon, “Beware of Delusions,” <i>The Contributor</i> 15/6 (April 1894): 391.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Satan
uses every possible device by which to deceive the people, and will sometimes
mix one falsehood or error with a great amount of truth in order to mislead . .
. . Satan has power to tell some truths, but he never tells them with a view to
benefiting those with whom he communicates. His object is to bring about their
destruction, as this is his mission upon the earth. Even though he may announce
some truths in his messages, there is also deception close at hand tending to
bring about the ruin of the party who partakes of the spirit.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">[George
Q. Cannon], “Beware of Delusions,” <i>The Contributor</i> 15/6 (April 1894):
391.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“What
a glorious thing it is to know and be true to that which has been revealed in
these latter times through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It
was revealed anciently by the Savior himself, and he exemplified that glorious
principle of which I wish to say a few words, and which has been renewed and
emphasized more especially in these latter days through Joseph Smith--I refer
to our identity, our indestructible, immortal identity. As in Christ we have
the example, he was born of woman, he lived, he died, and he lived again in his
own person and being, bearing even the marks of the wounds in his flesh, after
his resurrection from the dead so also a testimony has been given to you, in
later days, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and others who have been blessed
with knowledge, that the same individual Being still lives and will always
live. Jesus is possessed of immortality, and eternal life; and in evidence of
his existence and his immortality, and in evidence of the great and glorious
truths of the gospel which he taught, the death which he died, and the
resurrection that he wrought from the dead, he has revealed himself and borne
his own record and testimony to those who have lived and still live in this day
and age. What a glorious thought it is, to me at least, and it must be to all
who have conceived of the truth or received it in their hearts, that those from
whom we have to part here, we will meet again and see as they are. </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We will
meet the same identical being that we associated with here in the flesh not
some other soul, some other being, or the same being in some other form, but
the same identity and the same form and likeness, the same person we knew and
were associated with in our mortal existence, even to the wounds in the flesh</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">.
Not that a person will always be marred by scars, wounds, deformities, defects
or infirmities, for these will be removed in their course, in their proper
time, according to the merciful providence of God. Deformity will be removed;
defects will be eliminated, and men and women shall attain to the perfection of
their spirits, to the perfection that God designed in the beginning. It is his
purpose that men and women, his children, born to become heirs of God, and
joint heirs with Jesus Christ, shall be made perfect, physically as well as
spiritually, through obedience to the law by which he has provided the means
that perfection shall come to all his children. Therefore, I look for the time
when our dear Brother William C. Staines, whom we all knew so well, and with
whom we were familiar for years I was familiar with him, all my life, just as I
was familiar with Aunt Rachel here all my life, and do not remember the time
when I did not know her I look for the time, I say, when Brother Staines will
be restored. He will not remain the crippled and deformed William C. Staines
that we knew, but he will be restored to his perfect frame every limb, every
joint, every part of his physical being will be restored to its perfect frame.
This is the law and the word of God to us, as it is contained in the
revelations that have come to us, through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The point
in my mind which I desire to speak of particularly is this: When we shall have
the privilege to meet our mother, our aunt, our sister, this noble woman whose
mortal remains lie here now, but whose immortal spirit has ascended to God from
whence it came, when that spirit shall return to take up this tabernacle again,
she will be Aunt Rachel in her perfection. She will not always remain just as
she will appear when she is restored again to life, but she will go on to
perfection. Under that law of restoration that God has provided, she will
regain her perfection, the perfection of her youth, the perfection of her glory
and of her being, until her resurrected body shall assume the exact stature of
the spirit that possessed it here in its perfection, and thus we shall see the
glorified, redeemed, exalted, perfected Aunt Rachel, mother, sister, saint and
daughter of the living God, her identity being unchanged, as a child may grow
to manhood or womanhood and still be the same being.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“I
want to say to my friends, my brethren and sisters, and to the kindred, that
the Lord Almighty has revealed these truths to us in these days. We not only
have it in the written word, we have it in the testimony of the spirit of God
in the heart of every soul who has drunk from the fountain of truth and light,
and that witness bears record of these words to us. What else would satisfy us?
What else would satisfy the desire of the immortal soul? Would we be satisfied
to be imperfect? Would we be satisfied to be decrepit? Would we be satisfied to
remain forever and ever in the form of infirmity incident to age? No! Would we
be satisfied to see the children we bury in their infancy remain as children
only, throughout the countless ages of eternity? No! Neither would the spirits
that did possess the tabernacles of our children be satisfied to remain in that
condition. But we know our children will not be compelled to remain as a child
in stature always, for it was revealed from God, the fountain of truth, through
Joseph Smith the prophet, in this dispensation, that in the resurrection of the
dead the child that was buried in its infancy will come up in the form of the
child that it was when it was laid clown; then it will begin to develop. From
the day of the resurrection, the body will develop until it reaches the full
measure of the stature of its spirit, whether it be male or female. If the
spirit possessed the intelligence of God and the aspirations of mortal souls,
it could not be satisfied with anything less than this, You will remember we
are told that the spirit of Jesus Christ visited one of the ancient prophets
and revealed himself to him, and lie declared his identity, that he was the
same Son of God that was to come in the meridian of time. He said he would
appear in the flesh just as he appeared to that prophet. He was not an infant;
he was a grown, developed spirit; possessing the form of man and the form of
God, the same form as when he came and took upon him a tabernacle and developed
it to the full stature of his spirit. These are truths that have been revealed
to us. What for? To give us intelligent hope; to give us intelligent
aspiration; to lead us to think, to hope, to labor and accomplish what God has
aimed and does aim and design that we should accomplish, not only in this life,
but in the life to come.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“I
rejoice exceedingly that I know and have known nearly all my life such a noble
woman. I do not remember the first time that I saw Aunt Rachel, I can't recall
it; it seems to me I always knew her, just as I knew my mother in my childhood
and all the way through life; and I rejoice exceedingly in this testimony of
the Spirit of the Lord that has come to us through revelation in the latter
days. Through this testimony I am confident that I shall see Aunt Rachel, by
and by; and when I go -and I expect to go, perhaps, long before she shall
recover this tabernacle I expect to meet her there. </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I expect to meet the
same individual that I knew here. I expect to be able to recognize her, just as
I could recognize her tomorrow, if she were living. I believe I will know just
exactly who she is and what she is, and I will remember all I knew about her;
and enjoy her association in the spirit as I did in the flesh; because her
identity is fixed and indestructible, just as fixed and indestructible as the
identity of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. They cannot be any other
than themselves. They cannot be changed; they are from everlasting to
everlasting, eternally the same; so it will be with us. We will progress and
develop and grow in wisdom and understanding, but our identity can never change</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
….</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Who
is she? This is her casket. This is her mortal tenement; this is but the clay
that enveloped the immortal, living Aunt Rachel, the living spirit. The spirit
has fled. Her spirit, the immortal part, has departed from this tabernacle;
hence, this tabernacle lies here lifeless and ready to return to mother earth
from whence it came, but to be restored again, every element to be recalled and
re-formed in its perfect frame, when Aunt Rachel will come and take possession
of it and inherit it forever, just as Christ came and took up his body that was
not suffered to see corruption, and inherited it in its immortal state, never
to be separated again; so it will be with her.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Joseph
F. Smith, </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Speech
at the funeral services of Rachel Grant, mother of President Heber J. Grant<i> Improvement Era</i>, 12 (June, 1909): 591,
emphasis added.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“God
is the God of the living, and not of the dead. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, and of the ancient prophets. They live! They live not only in the
words they spoke, the predictions they made, and in the promises handed down
from generation to generation to the children of men; they live not only in the
record they made, in the doctrines that they taught, and in the hope that they
held out for redemption, atonement and salvation, but they live in spirit, </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">in
entity, as they lived here</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">. They are prophets, as they were prophets here,
the chosen of God; patriarchs, as they were here; </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">possessing the same
identity, the same entity; and by and by, if not already, they will possess the
same bodies they possessed while journeying in mortality</i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">. Those bodies will
become purified, cleansed, and made perfect; and the spirit and the body will
be reunited, never more to be separated, never again to taste of death. This is
the law and the promise of God, and the words spoken to his ancient prophets,
come down to us through the generations that have followed.”</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Joseph
F. Smith, <i>Improvement Era</i>, 21 (February 1918): 357, emphasis added.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Resurrection is requisite for eternal
perfection. Thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ, </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">our</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> bodies,
corruptible in mortality, will become incorruptible. </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Our physical frames</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">,
now subject to disease, death, and decay, will acquire immortal
glory. Presently sustained by the blood of life and ever aging, </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">our
bodies</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> will be sustained by spirit and become changeless and beyond the
bounds of death.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Russell
M. Nelson, “Perfection Pending” <i>Ensign</i> (November 1995): 86-88.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Many living witnesses can testify to the literal
fulfillment of these scriptural assurances of the resurrection. Many, including
some in my own extended family, have seen a departed loved one in vision or
personal appearance and have witnessed their restoration in “proper and perfect
frame” in the prime of life. Whether these were manifestations of persons
already resurrected or of righteous spirits awaiting an assured resurrection,
the reality and nature of the resurrection of mortals is evident. What a
comfort to know that all who have been disadvantaged in life from birth
defects, from mortal injuries, from disease, or from the natural deterioration
of old age will be resurrected in “proper and perfect frame.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Dallin H. Oaks, “The Resurrection,” <i>Ensign</i>
(May 2000): 14-16.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-33462251635318239502022-09-27T05:00:00.027-07:002022-09-27T11:33:42.614-07:00Resurrection Teachings Part 5: A Doctrine of Devils. The False Teachings of Robert Matthews ("Matthias")<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">In November 1835 Latter-day Saints in Kirtland
Ohio were visited by a man who represented himself to be a Jewish teacher by
the name “Joshua.” While in Kirtland, the Prophet patiently listened to the
man, and then after several days, dismissed his teachings as erroneous, and told
him to leave.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">The man’s real name, as it turned out, was not
Joshua, but Robert Matthews (also known as Matthias), and he is the subject of
an interesting biography now in a second edition. See Paul E. Johnson and Sean
Wilentz, <i>The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19<sup>th</sup>
Century America</i>, updated edition (New York and Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2012). That book provides useful historical context on Matthias’
background and ideas. Readers who want to know more about Matthias may want to
consult that biography as well as Joseph Smith’s journal account of his visit
given below. The extract from Joseph Smith’s account of his encounter with Matthias
as recorded in his 1835 journal is given below at the end of this post (original punctuation and
spelling is included). </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We can draw several conclusions about this man's teachings and understand several reasons that the Joseph Smith found them erroneous and inconsistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.</span> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><i>First</i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">, while there may have been additional things with which he may have taken issue (Joseph remarked that Matthias’ mind was “evidently filled with darkness”), Smith’s account makes clear that the man’s teachings about <i>the resurrection</i> were those of the most interest to him. Hence his patient effort to get to man to state explicitly those things about which he may at first have been vague.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><i>Second</i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">, as Isabella Van Waggonen, one of the visitor’s former followers explained, “Matthias and his disciples at this time <i>did not believe in a resurrection of the body</i>, but that the <i>spirits of the former saints would enter the bodies of the present generation</i>, and thus begin heaven upon earth.” [Olive Gilbert], <i>Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave</i> (New York: For the Author, 1853), 94-95, emphasis added. This would have directly contradicted Joseph Smith’s own testimony of the resurrection.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><i>Third</i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">, Matthias professed to be Deity himself, a claim that many, including Joseph Smith, would have considered blasphemous. This did not mean that Matthias aspired to be <i>like</i> God. Rather, he claimed to be God himself. Johnson and Wilentz note, “At quieter times and before smaller audiences, Matthias provided details about his own past and the world’s future. Matthias was the Spirit of Truth—the male governing spirit, or God. He could enter any body or take on any shape and had been doing so for thousands of years. His spirit had given life to all the plants and animals, and it remained in them. He had created Adam and had endowed him with the male governing spirit; during his early lifetime Adam was God.” (<i>The Kingdom of Matthias</i>, 94). Van Waggonen remembered when she first met Matthias “on opening the door, she for the first time, beheld Matthias, and her early impression of seeing Jesus in the flesh rushed into her mind” (<i>Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave</i>, 90). After Joseph Smith shared an account of his early visions, Matthias felt comfortable opening up to the Prophet observing that Joseph “could bear stronger meat than many others.” In this setting Smith recorded that Matthias “professed to be the spirit of truth itself, also, that he possesses the soul of Christ.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><i>Fourth</i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">, Matthias held that instead of a literal resurrection of the body in which the dead would rise from their graves, “resurrection” consisted of the “spirit of the fathers” or some of the spirits of dead individuals, ancestors, former prophets or saints, inhabited subsequent mortal bodies of their descendants. This, he professed, had happened many times. In addition to Adam “<i>The Spirit of Truth had entered Abraham</i> …. <i>The Spirit then entered each of the prophets and apostles</i> in their turn and was strengthened each time by the knowledge and faith acquired in a righteous man’s life. <i>The Spirit had been Jesus Christ</i>. After the Crucifixion <i>he entered Mathias, the Apostle</i> chosen by God to replace Judas.” (<i>The Kingdom of Matthias</i>, 94-95). Elijah Pierson was another firm supporter of Matthias. The two men, Pierson and Matthias, “mutually discovered that they held the same sentiments, both admitting the direct influence of the Spirit, and the transmission of spirits from one body to another.” Pierson possessed the body of Elijah the Tishbite “Matthias, however, claiming to be the Father, or to possess the spirit of the Father—he was God upon earth, because the spirit of God dwelt in him; while Pierson then understood his mission was like that of John the Baptist, which the name Elias meant” (<i>Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave</i>, 92-93).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Hence “resurrection” as taught by Matthias, consisted of certain spirits, or a collective group of departed spirits, migrating from mortal body to mortal body from generation to generation.<i> “</i>In the proper order of things, the governing spirit passed from father to son in a fixed system of spirit genealogy. When a righteous man died, his spirit joined his father’s spirit in the body of a newborn child. The child then carried those spirits through life, adding acquired knowledge along the way. And at his death the child’s spirit rejoined the spirit of the father who was his teacher in the body of yet another child” (<i>The Kingdom of Matthias</i>, 95). When pressed by Joseph Smith to clarify his views of the resurrection Matthias claimed “that he poss[ess]es the spirit of his fathers, that he is a litteral decendant of Mathias the Apostle that was chosen in the place of Judas that fell and that his spirit is resurrected in him, and that this is the way or scheme of eternal life, this transmigration of soul or spirit from Father to Son.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span>After showing hospitality, patiently listening, and asking clarifying questions, the Prophet pronounced the man’s teachings false and inspired by a demonic or wicked source. It was time for him to go. “I told him that his doctrine was of the Devil that he was in reality in possession of wicked and depraved spirit, although he professed to be the spirit of truth, it self, also that he possesses the soul of Christ; he tarried until Wednesday 11.<sup>th</sup>, after breckfast I told him, that my God told me that his God is the Devil, and I could not keep him any longer, and he must depart, and so I for once cast out the Devil in bodily shape, & I believe a murderer.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal;"><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9–11 November 1835 • Monday–Wednesday</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Monday morning 9<u><sup>th</sup></u><sup>.</sup> after
breckfast <s>Sister</s> <Mary> Whitcher came in and
wished to see me, <s>she</s> I granted her request she gave a
relation of her griveances which were, unfathonable at present, and if
true sore indeed, and I pray my heavenly Father to bring the truth of
her case to light, that the reward due to evil doers may be given
them, and <that> the afflicted & oppressed may be delivered;—
while setting in my house between the hours of <s>nine</s> <ten>
& <s>10</s> 11 this morning a man came in, and introduced
himself to me, calling <himself> <s>self</s> <by the name
of> </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/23#12769458680516554582" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Joshua the Jewish minister</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, his appearance was some <s>what</s> <
thing> singular, having a beard about 3 inches in length which is
quite grey, also his hair is long and considerably silvered with age [p.
22] I should think he is about 50 or 55 years old, tall and strait slender
built of thin visage blue eyes, and fair complexion, he wears a sea green frock
coat, & pantaloons of the same, black fur hat with narrow brim, and
while speaking frequently shuts his eyes, with a scowl on
his countinance; I made some enquiry after his name but received
no definite answer; we soon commenced talking upon the subject of religion and
after I had made some remarks concerning the bible I commenced giving him
a relation of the circumstances connected with the coming forth of the book of
Mormon, as follows— being wrought up in my mind, respecting the subject of
religion and looking <s>upon</s> <at> the different systems
taught the children of men, I knew not who was right or who was
wrong and concidering it of the first importance that I should be
right, in matters that involve<s>d</s> eternal consequences; being thus
perplexed in mind I retired to the silent grove and bowd down
before the Lord, under a realising sense that he had said (if the
bible be true) ask and you shall receive knock and it shall be opened seek
and you shall find and again, if any man lack wisdom let him ask of
God who giveth to all men libarally and upbradeth not; information was
what I most desired at this time, and with a
fixed determination <s>I</s> to obtain it, I called upon the
Lord for the first time, in the place above stated or in other words
I made a fruitless attempt to pray, my toung seemed to be swolen in my
mouth, so that I could not utter, I heard a noise behind me like
some person walking towards me, <I> strove again to pray, but
could not, the noise of walking seemed to draw nearer, I sprung up on my
feet, <s>and</s> [p. 23] and looked around, but saw no person or
thing that was calculated to produce the noise of walking, I kneeled again
my mouth was opened and my toung liberated, and I called on the Lord
in mighty prayer, a pillar of fire appeared above my head, it
presently rested down upon <s>my</s> <me> <s>head</s>,
and filled me with joy unspeakable, a personage appeard in the midst, of
this pillar of flame which was spread all around, and yet nothing
consumed, another personage soon appeard like unto the first, he said unto
me thy sins are forgiven thee, he testifyed unto me that Jesus
Christ is the son of God; <and I saw many angels in this
vision> I was about 14. years old when I received this first
communication; When I was about 17 years old I saw another vision
of angels, in the night season after I had retired to bed I had not
been a sleep, <s>when</s> but was meditating upon my past life and
experiance, I was verry concious that I had not kept
the commandments, and I repented hartily for all my sins and
transgression, and humbled myself before Him; <whose eyes are over all
things>, all at once the room was iluminated above the brightness of
the sun an angel appeared before me, his hands and feet were naked
pure and white, and he stood between the floors of the room, clothed
<with> <s>in</s> purity inexpressible, he said unto me
I am a messenger sent from God, be faithful and keep his commandments
in all things, he told me of a sacred record which was written on
plates of gold, I saw in the vision the place where they were deposited,
he said the indians, were the literal descendants of Abraham he
explained many <s>things</s> of the prophesies to [p. 24] me,
one I will mention which is <s>this</s> in Malachi 4 behold the
day of the Lord cometh &c; also that the Urim and Thumim, was hid
up with the record, and that God would give me power to translate it,
with the assistance of this instrument he then gradually vanished out of
my sight, or the vision closed, while meditating on what I had seen,
the Angel appeard to me again and related the same things and much more,
also the third time bearing the same tidings, and departed; during the
time I was in this vision I did not realize any thing <s>else</s> around
me except what was shown me in this communication: after the vision
had all passed, I found that it was nearly day-light, the family soon
arose, I got up also:— on that day while in the field at work
with </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/23#10135877577893664876" title="Joseph Smith Sr."><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">my Father</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> he asked me if I was sick I replyed, I had but
little strenght, he told me to go to the house, I started and went part
way and was finally deprived <s>deprived</s> of my strength and
fell, but how long I remained I do not know; the Angel came to me again
and commanded me to go and tell </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/23#11825080972306097188" title="Joseph Smith Sr."><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">my Father</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, what I had seen and heard, I did so, he wept and
told me that it was a vision from God to attend to it I went and
found the place, where the plates were, according to the direction of the
Angel, also saw them, and the angel as before; the powers of darkness
strove hard against me, I called on God, the Angel told me that the
reason why I could not obtain the plates at this time was because I
was under transgression, but to come again in one year from that
time, I did so, but did not obtain them [p. 25] also the third
and the fourth year, at which time I obtained them, and translated them
into the english language; by the gift and power of God and have been
preaching it ever since. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While I was relating this brief
history of the establishment of the </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/23#15628467584585556903" title="Church of Christ"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Church of Christ</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in these last days, </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/23#6540952343797126604" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Joshua</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> seemed to be highly entertained after I had
got through I observed that, the hour of worship & time to dine had
now arived and invited him to tarry, which he concented to,</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After dinner the conversation was resumed and </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#10269258252844051761" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Joshua</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> proceded to make some
remarks on the prophesies, as follows:</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He observed that he was aware that I could bear
stronger meat than many others, therefore he should open his mind the more
freely;— Daniel has told us that he is to stand in his proper lot, in the
latter days according to his vision he had a right to shut it up and
also to open it again after many days, or in the latter
times; Daniels Image whose head was gold, and body, armes, legs and
feet was composed of the different materials described in his vision
represents different governments, the golden head was <to represent>
Nebuchodnazer King of Babylon, the other parts other kings & forms of
government, which I shall not now mention in detail, but confine my
remarks, more particularly to the feet of the Image; The policy of the
wicked spirit, is to separate what God has joined togather and unite what
He has separated, which he has succeded in doing to admiration, in
the present state of society, which is like unto Iron and clay, there
is confusion in all things, both [p. 26] both Political and religious, and
notwithstanding all the efforts that are made to bring about a union,
society <s>is</s> remains disunited, and all attempts to <unite
her> are as fruitless, as to attemp to unite Iron & Clay.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The feet of the Image, is the government of
these </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#17240398693926988348" title="United States of America"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">united States</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, other
Nations & kingdoms are looking up to her for an example, of union
fredom and equal rights, and therefore worship her, like as Daniel
saw in the vision, although they are begining to loose confidence in her,
seeing the broils and discord that distract, her political & religious
horizon this Image is characteristic of all governments and institutions or
most of them; as they begin with a head of gold and terminate in the contempible
feet of Iron & clay: making a splendid appearance at first, proposing to do
much more than the[y] can perform, and finally end in degradation and
sink, in infamy; we should not only start to come out of Babylon but leav
it entirely lest we are overthrown in her ruins, we should keep
improving and reforming, twenty-fours hours for improvement now is worth
as much as a year a hundred years ago; the spirit of the Fathers that
was cut down, or those that were under the altar, are now rising this
is the first resurection the Elder that fall’s first will rise
last; we should not form any opinion only for the present,
and leave the result of futurity with God: I have risen up out of
obscurity, but was look<sup>d.</sup> up to when but a youth, in
temporal things: It is not necessary that God should give us all things at
first or in his first commission to us, but in his second. John saw
the angel deliver the gospel in the last days, which would not be
necessary if [p. 27] it was already in the world this expression would be
inconsistent, the small lights that God has given, is sufficient to lead
us out of babylon, when we get out we shall have the greater light. I
told </span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#5185038065339663617" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Johua</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> that
I did not understand him concerning the resurection and wishd him to
be more explanitory on the subject; he replied that he did not feell
impressed by the spirit to unfold it further at present, but perhaps he
might at some other time.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I then withdrew to do some buisness with
another gentleman that called to see me.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He [</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#12324037710901812682" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Robert Matthews</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">] informed </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#10050910657965712581" title="Warren Farr Parrish"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">my Scribe</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> that he was born in Washington
County </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#11125764691954392847" title="Cambridge Township, New York"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Town of Cambridge</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> New
York. he says that all the railroads canals and other improvements
are performed by spirits of the resurection.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The silence spoken of by John the Revelator which
is to be in heaven for the space of half an hour, is between 1830
& 1851, during which time the judgments of God will be poured out
after that time there will be peace. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Curiosity to see a man that was reputed to be a
jew caused many to call during the day and more particularly at
evening suspicions were entertained that said </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#2313933143925051998" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Joshua</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> was the noted </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#4456771769196550835" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mathias</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> of </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#4376386960317553074" title="New York"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">New York</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, spoken so much of in the public
prints on account of the trials he underwent in that place before a
court of justice, for murder manslaughter comtempt of court whiping his
Daughter &c for the two last crimes he was imprisoned, and came out about
4, months [p. 28] since, after some, equivocating he confessed that he was
realy </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#5508360962093266784" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mathias</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: after supper I proposed that
he should deliver a lecture to us, he did so sitting in his chair; he
commenced by saying God said let there be light and there was light, which
he dwelt upon through his discource, he made some verry exelent
remarks but his mind was evidently filled with darkness, after he
dismissed his meeting, and the congregation disperced, he conversed freely
upon the circumstances that transpired in </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#16531070661390370494" title="New York"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">New York</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">,</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His name is </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/1#17731092439503113370" title="Robert Matthews"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Robert Mathias</span></a></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, he
say[s] that Joshua, is his priestly name. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 16.5pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">during all this time I did not contradict his
sentiments, wishing to draw out all that I could concerning his faith; the
next morning Tuesday 10<sup>th</sup> I resumed the conversation
and desired him to enlighten my mind more on his views respecting the
resurection, he says that he poss[ess]es the spirit of his fathers, that
he is a litteral decendant of Mathias the Apostle that was chosen in the
place of Judas that fell and that his spirit is resurrected in
him, and that this is the way or scheme of eternal life, this
transmigration of soul or spirit from Father to Son: I told him
that his doctrine was of the Devil that he was in reality in
possession of wicked and depraved spirit, although he professed to be the
spirit of truth, it self, also that he possesses the soul of Christ;
he tarried until Wednesday 11.<sup>th</sup>, after breckfast I told him,
that my God told me that his God is the Devil, and I could not keep
him any longer, and he must depart, and so I for once cast out the
Devil in bodily shape, & I believe a murderer </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Joseph
Smith Journal, 9-11 November, 1835, <i>The Joseph Smith Papers: Journals, Volume
1: 1832-1839</i>, ed. Dean C. Jesse, Mark Ashurst-McGee, Richard L. Jensen
(Salt Lake City, UT: Church Historian’s Press, 2008), 92-95.</span></p>Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-59835182558270910662022-09-26T17:00:00.001-07:002022-09-26T17:00:00.182-07:00Resurrection Teachings Part 4: The Testimony of Joseph Smith<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">On several occasions the Prophet Joseph Smith testified of the truth of the resurrection based upon the revealed written word in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, as well as personal revelation including visions. Here are a few of his statements on this important subject.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Wherefore, the Almighty God gave his Only Begotten Son, as
it is written in those scriptures which have been given of him. He suffered
temptations but gave no heed unto them. He was crucified, died, and rose again
the third day: And ascended into heaven, to sit down on the right hand of the
Father, to reign with Almighty power according to the will of the Father; That
as many as would believe and be baptized in his holy name, and endure in faith
to the end, should be saved (D&C 20:21–25).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of
him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing
record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—That by him, and through him,
and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are
begotten sons and daughters unto God (D&C 76:22–24).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>As concerning the resurrection I will mer[e]ly say that all
men will come from the grave as they <s>lay</s> lie down, whether old or young
their will not be added unto the[i]r stature one cubit neither taken from it.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Joseph Smith Discourse, Wilford Woodruff Journal, 20 March
1842, in <i>Joseph Smith Papers. Documents. Volume 9: December 1841</i>, ed. Alex
D. Smith, Christian K. Heimburger, Christopher James Blythe (Salt Lake City, UT:
Church Historian’s Press, 2019), 294.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I care not what the theories of <s>men</s> <man> are.
– we have the testimony that God will raise us up & he has power to do it.--
If any one supposes-- that any part of our bodies. that is the fundamental
parts thereof, ever goes into another body <s>t</s>he is mistaken.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Joseph Smith Journal, 7 April 1843, in Joseph Smith Papers.
Journals. Volume 2: December 1841–April 1843, ed. Andrew H. Hedges, Alex D.
Smith, Richard Lloyd Anderson (Salt Lake City, UT: Church Historian’s Press,
2011),344.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will tell you what I want. if to morrow I shall be called
to lay in yonder tombs. in the morning of the resurrecti[o]n, let me strike
hand<s> with my father, & cry, my father, & he will say my son,
my Son,--as soon as the rock rends. & before we come out of our graves.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Joseph Smith Journal, 16 April 1843, in <i>Joseph Smith
Papers. Journals. Volume 2: December 1841–April 1843</i>, ed. Andrew H. Hedges,
Alex D. Smith, Richard Lloyd Anderson (Salt Lake City, UT: Church Historian’s
Press, 2011), 359.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Would you think it strange that I relate what I have seen
in vision in relation.-- this intere[s]ting theme. Those who have died in Jesus
christ, may expect to enter into all that fruition of Joy when they come forth.
which they have possessed here, so plain was the vision I actually saw men,
before they had ascend[e]d from the tomb, as though they were getti[n]g up
slowly, they took each othe[r] by the hand & it was my father & my Son,
my mother & my daughter. <my brother & my sister> when the voice
calls, suppose I am laid by the side of my fathe[r].—what would be the first Joy
of my heart? where is my fathr. my mother. my sister. they are by my side <I
embrace them. & they me.>”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Joseph Smith Journal, 16 April 1843, in <i>Joseph Smith
Papers. Journals. Volume 2: December 1841–April 1843</i>, ed. Andrew H. Hedges,
Alex D. Smith, Richard Lloyd Anderson (Salt Lake City, UT: Church Historian’s
Press, 2011), 360.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-25369252425487236832022-09-26T16:45:00.001-07:002022-09-26T16:45:00.187-07:00Resurrection Teachings Part 3: The Witness of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants<p><b>The Book of Mormon</b></p><p><i>The Testimony of
Jacob the Son of Lehi</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the
Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the
temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual
death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell;
wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must
deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its
captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored
one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy
One of Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">O how great the plan of our God! For on the other
hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous,
and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit
and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible,
and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like
unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge
of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness;
and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment,
and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even
with the robe of righteousness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">And it
shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death
unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear
before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the
judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God (</span>2 Nephi 9:11-19).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>The Testimony of
Abinadi</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">And if Christ had not risen from the dead or have
broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death
should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath
no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a
light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which
is endless, that there can be no more death.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Even this mortal shall put on immortality,
and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be
brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according
to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">If they
be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they
be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to
the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation— (</span>Mosiah 16:7-11).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><i>The Testimony of Amulek</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Therefore, the wicked remain as though there had been
no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold,
the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God,
and be judged according to their works.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Now, there is a death which is called a temporal
death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death,
that all shall be raised from this temporal death.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">The spirit and the body shall be reunited
again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper
frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand
before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all
our guilt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Now, this restoration shall come to all,
both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked
and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads
be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it
is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the
bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one
Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or
whether they be evil.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Now,
behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body,
and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you
that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from
death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more;
their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the
whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see
corruption. (</span>Alma 11:41-45).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><i>The Testimony of
Alma</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you
look forward with an eye of faith, and view </span><span style="color: #201500;">this mortal body</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> raised in </span><span style="color: #201500;">immortality</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">,
and </span><span style="color: #201500;">this corruption</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> raised in </span><span style="color: #201500;">incorruption</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, to stand before God
to be </span><span style="color: #201500;">judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">?
(Alma 5:15).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death and being raised from </span><span style="color: #201500;">this
mortality</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> to a state of </span><span style="color: #201500;">immortality</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, and being brought before the
bar of God, to be judged according to our works (Alma 12:12).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">The </span><span style="color: #201500;">dead shall come forth</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, and be </span><span style="color: #201500;">reunited, both soul and body</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">,
and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to </span><span style="color: #201500;">their works</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">.
Yea, this bringeth about the </span><span style="color: #201500;">restoration</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> of those things of which hath
been spoken by the mouths of the prophets. The </span><span style="color: #201500;">soul</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> shall be </span><span style="color: #201500;">restored</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">
to the </span><span style="color: #201500;">body</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, and the </span><span style="color: #201500;">body</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> to the </span><span style="color: #201500;">soul</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">; yea, and </span><span style="color: #201500;">every
limb and joint shall be restored to its body</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">; yea, </span><span style="color: #201500;">even a hair of the
head shall not be lost</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">; but </span><span style="color: #201500;">all things shall be restored to their proper
and perfect frame</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> (Alma 40:21-23).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">I say unto thee, my son, that the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">plan of
restoration</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">all
things should be restored to their proper order</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">. Behold, it is requisite
and just, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">according to the power and resurrection of Christ</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, that the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">soul
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">of man should be </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">restored</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> to its </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">body</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, and that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">every part
of the body should be restored to itself.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">And it is requisite with the justice of God that men
should be judged according to their works; and if their works
were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that
they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">And if their works are evil they shall
be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be
restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality
raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised
to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to
inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—
…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Do not suppose</span><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">, because it has been spoken
concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness.
Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness (Alma 41:1–10).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and
mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the
resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men
into the presence of God; and thus they are </span><span style="color: #201500;">restored</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> into his presence,
to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice (Alma
42:23).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><i>The Testimony of Mormon</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">And </span><span style="color: #201500;">their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">,
being left by the hands of those who slew them to </span><span style="color: #201500;">molder upon the land, and
to crumble</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> and to return to their mother earth … And the day soon cometh
that </span><span style="color: #201500;">your mortal</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> must put on </span><span style="color: #201500;">immortality</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, and </span><span style="color: #201500;">these bodies</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">
which are </span><span style="color: #201500;">now moldering in corruption</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> must soon become </span><span style="color: #201500;">incorruptible
bodies</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">; and then ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to be
judged according to your works; and if it so be that ye are righteous, then are
ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you (Mormon 6:15, 21).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><i>The Testimony of Moroni</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of
God, until </span><span style="color: #201500;">my spirit and body</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> shall </span><span style="color: #201500;">again reunite</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, and </span><span style="color: #201500;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">
am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing
bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen
(Moroni 10:27).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><b>Latter-Day Revelation</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">For a trump shall sound both long and loud, even as upon Mount Sinai,
and all the earth shall quake, and they shall come forth—yea, even the </span><span style="color: #201500;">dead
which died in me</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, to receive a crown of righteousness, and to be clothed
upon, even as I am, to be with me, that we may be one (D&C 29:13).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the </span><span style="color: #201500;">days of his probation</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">—that
by his </span><span style="color: #201500;">natural death</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> he might be </span><span style="color: #201500;">raised in immortality unto eternal
life</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, even as many as would believe (D&C 29:43).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">For as ye have looked upon the long </span><span style="color: #201500;">absence of your spirits from your
bodies</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> to be a </span><span style="color: #201500;">bondage</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, I will show unto you how the </span><span style="color: #201500;">day of
redemption</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> shall come, and also the restoration of the scattered Israel.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his
trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud.
Wherefore, if ye have slept in peace blessed are you; for as you now behold me
and know that I am, even so shall ye come unto me and your souls shall live,
and </span><span style="color: #201500;">your redemption shall be perfected</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">; and the saints shall come forth
from the four quarters of the earth. Then shall the arm of the Lord fall upon
all nations (D&C 45:45–47).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">Yea, and </span><span style="color: #201500;">blessed are the dead that die in the Lord</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, from
henceforth, when the Lord shall come, and old things shall pass away, and all
things become new, they shall </span><span style="color: #201500;">rise from the dead and shall not die after</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">,
and shall receive an inheritance before the Lord, in the holy city. And he that liveth when the Lord shall come,
and hath kept the faith, blessed is he; nevertheless, it is appointed to him to
die at the age of man. Wherefore, children shall grow up until they become old;
old men shall die; but shall not sleep in the dust, but they shall be changed
in the twinkling of an eye. Wherefore, for this cause preached the apostles
unto the world the resurrection of the dead (D&C 63:49–52).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">For notwithstanding they [the righteous] die,
they also shall rise again, a spiritual body. They who are of a celestial
spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body;
even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory
by which your bodies are quickened (D&C 88:27-28).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">In all their afflictions he was afflicted. And the
angel of his presence saved them; and in his love and in his pity, he redeemed
them, and bore them, and carried them all the days of old. Yea, and Enoch
also, and they who were with him; the prophets who were before him; and Noah
also, and they who were before him; and Moses also, and they who were
before him; and from Moses to Elijah, and from Elijah to John,
who were with Christ in his resurrection, and the holy apostles,
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, shall be in the presence of the Lamb.
And the graves of the saints shall be opened; and they shall come forth and
stand on the right hand of the Lamb, when he shall stand on Mount Zion, and
upon the holy city, the New Jerusalem; and they shall sing the song of the Lamb,
day and night forever and ever (D&C 133:53–56).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">Their </span><span style="color: #201500;">sleeping dust</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> was to be </span><span style="color: #201500;">restored unto its perfect frame,
bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the
body to be united never again to be divided</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">, that they might receive a
fulness of joy … For the dead had looked upon the long </span><span style="color: #201500;">absence of their
spirits from their bodies</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;"> as a </span><span style="color: #201500;">bondage </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201500;">(D&C 138:17, 50).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #201500; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p>Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-28613764249017363422022-09-26T16:40:00.001-07:002022-09-26T16:40:00.178-07:00Resurrection Teachings Part 2: Early Christians Writers After the Death of the Apostles<p>Following the death of the Apostles and other disciples who knew
Jesus and had witnessed his resurrection, many false teachers arose who
rejected their clear testimony. Some false teachers introduced erroneous ideas which
were contrary to the first-hand testimony of the earlier Apostles and disciples.
Faced with this challenge, Christian leaders during the second and third
centuries vigorously defended the bodily resurrection. It should be noted that these
early Christians maintained that although our bodies would be changed to an
immortal state when we are resurrected, our individual identities would remain
intact. Unless otherwise noted, all references cited are from the English
translation of <i>The Ante-Nicene Fathers</i>, 10 vols., translated and edited
by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let none of you say that this very flesh will not be judged
nor rise again. Consider ye in what state ye were saved in, in what ye received
sight …. For just as you were called in the flesh, you will also come to be
judged in the flesh. As Christ the Lord who saved us, though he was first a
Spirit, became flesh, and thus called us, so shall we also receive the reward
in this flesh. (2 Clement 9, in 7:519).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We expect to receive again our own bodies. (Justin Martyr, <i>First
Apology</i> 18, in 1:169).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">[Souls do not] transmigrate into other bodies (Justin Martyr,
<i>Dialogue with Trypho</i> 5, in 1:197).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For even if any one is laboring under a defect of body, yet
if he is an observer or the doctrines delivered by Him, He shall raise him up
at His second advent perfectly sound. He has made him immortal, incorruptible,
and free from grief. (Justin Martyr, <i>Dialogue with Trypho</i> 69, in 1:233).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But, in truth, He has even called the flesh to the
resurrection and promises to it everlasting life …. Why did He rise in the
flesh in which He suffered, unless to show the resurrection of the flesh?
(Justin Martyr, <i>Dialogue with Trypho</i> 8-9, in 1:297-298).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">[Simon Magus had a woman companion named Helena who] passed
in succession from one female body to another, as from vessel to vessel. She
was, for example, that Helen on whose account the Trojan war was undertaken …. Thus
she, passing from body to body, and suffering insults in every one of them, at
last became a common prostitute; and she it was that was meant by the lost
sheep (Irenaeus, <i>Against Heresies</i> 1:23, in 1:348).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They [some Gnostic teachers] deem it necessary, therefore,
that by means of transmigration from body to body, souls should have experience
of every kind of life as well as every kind of action (unless, indeed, by a
single incarnation, one may be able to prevent any need of others …. In order
that, as their writings express it, their souls, having made trial of every
kind of life, may, at their departure, not be wanting in any particular. It is
necessary to insist upon this, lest, on account of some one thing being still
wanting to their deliverance, they should be compelled once more to become
incarnate …. He must pass from body to body, until he has experience of every
kind of action which can be practiced in this world, and when nothing is longer
wanting to him, then his liberated soul should soar upwards to that God who is
above the angels … In this way also all souls are saved, whether by their own
which, guarding against all delay, participate in all sorts of actions during
one incarnation, or those, again, who, by passing from body to body, are set
free, on fulfilling and accomplishing what is requisite in every form of life
into which they are sent, so that at length they shall no longer be [shut up]
in the body (Irenaeus, <i>Against Heresies</i> 1:25, in 1:351).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All those who have been enrolled for life [eternal] shall
rise again, having their own bodies, and having their own souls, and their own
spirits, in which they had pleased God. Those, on the other hand, who are
worthy of punishment, shall go away into it, they too having their own souls
and their own bodies. (Irenaeus, <i>Against Heresies</i> 33:5, in 1:411).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have not entertained a vain belief in the resurrection of
the body. But although it is dissolved at the appointed time, because of the
primeval disobedience, it is placed, as it were, in the crucible of the earth,
to be recast again; not then as this corruptible [body], but pure, and no
longer subject to decay: so that to each body its own souls shall be restored
(Irenaeus, <i>Fragments</i> 12, in 1:570).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, it is not for you alone (Simon), that the
transmigration philosophy has fabricated this story. Carpocrates also makes
equally good use of it …. The transmigration of human souls, therefore, into any
kind of heterogeneous bodies, he thought by all means indispensable, whenever
any depravity whatever had not been fully perpetrated in the early stage of
life’s passage. Evil deeds (one may be sure) appertain to life. Moreover, as
often as the soul has fallen short as a defaulter in sin, it has to be recalled
to existence, until it “pays the utmost farther,” thrust out from time to time
into the prison of the body (Tertullian, <i>A Treatise on the Soul</i> 35, in 3:216).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I apprehend that heretics of this school seize with special
avidity the example of Elias, whom they assume to have been so reproduced in
John (the Baptist) as to make our Lord’s statement sponsor for their theory of
transmigration, when he said, “Elias is come already, and they knew him not;”
and again, in another passage, “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which
was for to come.” Well, then, was it really in a Pythagorean sense that the
Jews approached John with the inquiry, “Art thou Elias?” and not rather in the
sense of the divine prediction, “Behold, I will send you Elijah” the Tishbite?
The fact, however, is that their metempsychosis, or transmigration theory,
signifies the recall of the soul which had died long before, and its return to
some other body. But Elias is to come again, not after quitting life (in the
way of dying), but after his translation (or removal without dying); not for
the purpose of being restored to the body, from which he had not departed, but
for the purpose of revisiting the world from which he was translated; not by
way of resuming life which he had laid aside, but of fulfilling
prophecy,--really and truly the same man, both in respect of his name and
designation, as well as of his unchanged humanity. How, therefore, could John
be Elias? You have your answer in the angel’s announcement: “And he shall go
before the people,” says he, “in the spirit and power of Elias”—not (observe)
in his soul and his body. These substances are, in fact, the natural property
of each individual; whilst “the spirit and power” are bestowed as external
gifts by the grace of God, and so may be transferred to another person
according to the purpose and will of the Almighty, as was anciently the case
with respect to the spirit of Moses (Tertullian, <i>A Treatise on the Soul</i>
35, in 3:216-217).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Assuredly, as the reason why restoration takes place at all
is the appointed judgment, every man must needs come forth the very same who
had once existed, that he may receive at God’s hands a judgment, whether of
good desert or the opposite (Tertullian, <i>Apology</i> 48, in 3:53).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">[In the resurrection] thy former substance must return to thee,
the matter and the memory of the very same human being …. There would be no
grounds for judgment without the presentation of the very person to whom the
sufferings of judgment were due. (Tertullian, <i>The Soul’s Testimony</i> 4, in
3:177).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, we are not permitted to suppose that God is either
unjust or idle. Unjust (however He would be) were He to exclude from reward the
flesh which is associated with good works; and idle, were He to exempt it from
punishment, when it has been an accomplice in evil deeds (Tertullian, <i>On the
Resurrection of the Flesh</i> 15, in 3:555).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The very same flesh which was once sown in death will bear
fruit in resurrection-life, the same in essence, only more full and perfect;
not another, although reappearing in another form. For it will receive in
itself the grace and adornment that God shall be pleased to spread over it,
according to its merits. (Tertullian, <i>On the Resurrection of the Flesh</i>
52, in 3:585).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This, for a dead man to be raised again, amounts to nothing
short of his being restored to his entire condition …. God is quite able to
remake what He once made. (Tertullian, <i>On the Resurrection of the Flesh</i>
57, in 3:590).</p><p class="MsoNormal">Thus far, then, on the subject of Hades, in which the souls
of all are detained until the time which God has determined; and then He will
accomplish the resurrection of all, not by transferring souls into other bodies,
but by raising the bodies themselves …. It [the body] is not raised the same
thing as it is now, but pure and no longer corruptible. And to every body its
own proper soul will be given again; and the soul, being endued again with it,
shall not be grieved, but shall rejoice together with it, abiding itself pure
with it also pure. And as it now sojourns with it in the world righteously, and
finds it in nothing now a traitor, it will receive it again (the body) with
great joy. (Hippolytus, <i>Against Plato</i>, 2, in 5:222).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If they [the heretics] also admit that there is a
resurrection of the dead, let them answer this, What is that which died? Was it
not a body? It is of the body, then, that there will be a resurrection. (Origen,
<i>De Principiis</i>, 2:10, in 4:293).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I died” (Rom. 7:10), he (Paul) says, meaning, since sin was
imputed to me. But Basilides does not notice that this has to be understood of
the natural Law, and he relates the apostolic word to preposterous and impious
fables, and tries to base on this apostolic word the doctrine of reincarnation,
that is, the doctrine that the soul keeps passing from body to body (Origen, <i>In
Rom</i> 5:1, in <i>Gnosis: A Selection of Gnostic Texts</i>, 2 vols., Werner
Foerster, ed. and trans. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, 1:78).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The statement “God recompenses the disobedient unto the
third and fourth generation” is understood by the followers of Basilides as
referring to the (re-) incarnations (Clement of Alexandria, <i>Excerpta ex
Theodoto</i>, in <i>Gnosis: A Selection of Gnostic Texts</i>, 1:226).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A law of resurrection is established in that Christ was
raised up in the substance of the body as an example for the rest. (Novatian, <i>Concerning
the Trinity</i>, 10, in 5:620).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For Almighty God Himself will raise us up through our Lord
Jesus Christ, according to his infallible promise, and grant us a resurrection
with all those who have slept from the beginning of the world; and we shall
then be such as we now are in our present form, without any defect or corruption.
For we shall rise incorruptible: whether we die at sea, or are scattered on the
earth, or are torn to pieces by wild beasts and birds< he will raise us by
His own power (<i>Apostolic Constitutions</i> 5:7, in 7:439).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-64720060429343437452022-09-26T16:35:00.001-07:002022-09-26T16:35:00.182-07:00Resurrection Teachings Part 1: The New Testament Witness<p><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Christ Rose from the Dead</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">The New Testament Witness of the Apostles of Jesus clearly
affirm that Jesus, after he was put to death, rose again on the third day with
his glorified resurrected body. He was seen and heard by men and women who had
been his disciples these men and women touched his resurrected body. They
recognized who he was and identified him as the same individual they had known
before his death, although now in a glorified and tangible state.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">The Testimony of Matthew<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">In the end of the
Sabbath day, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, early in
the morning came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And
behold, there had been a great earthquake; for two angels of the Lord descended
from heaven, and came, and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon
it. And their countenance was like lightning, and their raiment white as snow;
and for fear of them, the keepers did shake and became as though they were
dead. And the angels answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for we know
that ye seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he
said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his
disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into
Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly
from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples
word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying,
All hail! And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him (Matthew
28:1-10).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">The Testimony of Mark</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">And when the sabbath was
past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought
sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the
morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising
of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone
from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone
was rolled away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they
saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and
they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus
of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place
where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he
goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. And
they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were
amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid. Now when
Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary
Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told them
that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard
that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. After that he
appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the
country. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they
them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided
them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them
which had seen him after he was risen. (Mark 16:1-14).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">The Testimony of Luke</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">And as they thus spake,
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto
you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a
spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise
in your hearts? Behold </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">my</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;"> hands and </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">my</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;"> feet, that it is </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I
myself</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye
see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his
feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them,
Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an
honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them,
These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is
written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. (Luke 24:36-48).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">The former treatise have
I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the
day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given
commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed
himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: (Acts
1:1-3).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">The Testimony of John</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">Then the same day at
evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the
midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he
shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when
they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my
Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed
on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye
remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are
retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when
Jesus came.The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his
side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within,
and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the
midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy
finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my
side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto
him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen
me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have
believed. (John 20:19-29).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was
manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that
eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have
fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his
Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1-3).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">The
Testimony of Peter and the Apostles<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">Ye men of Israel, hear
these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and
wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves
also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath
raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that
he should be holden of it (Acts 2:22-24). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">The God of Abraham, and
of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus;
whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was
determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired
a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath
raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses (Acts 3:13-15).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">Be it
known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by
him doth this man stand here before you whole (Acts 4:10).</span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">Then Peter opened his
mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But
in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted
with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace
by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was
published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism
which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and
with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of
the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he
did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged
on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all
the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat
and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach
unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be
the Judge of quick and dead (Acts 10:34-42).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">The
Testimony of Paul<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">Moreover, brethren, I
declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have
received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in
memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen
of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred
brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some
are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And
last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am
the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his
grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; for I laboured more
abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore
whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. Now if Christ be
preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no
resurrection of the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:1-12).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Now if we be dead with Christ, we
believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that <b>Christ being raised
from the dead dieth no more</b>; death hath no more dominion over him. For in
that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord (</span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Romans 6:8-11).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">All Shall Be Raised from the Dead</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">The New Testament not only contains the sacred
testimony of the bodily resurrection of Jesus, but also provides the additional
testimony that after the resurrection of Jesus others who had been dead were
similarly resurrected and appeared unto many.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">The Testimony of Matthew</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">And the </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">graves were opened</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">; and </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">many of the
bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his
resurrection</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">, and </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">went into the holy city</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">, and </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">appeared unto many</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">”
(Matthew 27:52-53).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">New Testament Apostles also testified and taught that the
resurrection of Jesus will eventually bring about the resurrection of all men
and women who have died so that each may be judged by the Lord in their
resurrected form according to the deeds done in the body. This message of a
literal resurrection, only made possible through the resurrection of Jesus, is
an essential part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">The Testimony of Paul</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the
firstfruits of </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">them that slept</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">. For since by man came death, by man came
also the </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">resurrection of the dead</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">. For as in Adam </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">all die</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">, even
so in Christ shall </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">all</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> be </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">made alive</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">But some man will say,
How are the dead raised up? and </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">with what body do they come?</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;"> Thou fool,
that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou
sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance
of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased
him, and </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">to every seed his own body</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">. All flesh is not the same flesh:
but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of
fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies
terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the
terrestrial is another. There is one </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">glory of the sun</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">, and another </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">glory
of the moon</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">, and another </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">glory of the stars</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">: for one star differeth
from another star in glory (1 Corinthians 15:35-41).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">So also is the <b>resurrection of the dead</b>. It <b>is
sown in corruption</b>; it is <b>raised in incorruption</b>: It is <b>sown in
dishonour</b>; it is <b>raised in glory</b>: it is <b>sown in weakness</b>; it
is <b>raised in power</b>: It is <b>sown a natural body</b>; it is <b>raised a
spiritual body</b>. There is a <b>natural body</b>, and there is a <b>spiritual
body</b> (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the <b>dead shall be
raised incorruptible</b>, and we shall be changed. For <b>this corruptible</b>
must put on <b>incorruption</b>, and <b>this mortal</b> must put on <b>immortality</b>.
So when <b>this corruptible</b> shall have put on <b>incorruption</b>, and <b>this
mortal</b> shall have put on <b>immortality</b>, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">1 Corinthians
15:51-55).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">For </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">we must all appear</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> before the judgment seat
of Christ; </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">that every man may receive the things done in his body, according
to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> (2 Corinthians 5:10).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">our vile body</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">,
that it may be fashioned </span><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">like unto his glorious body</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">, according to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself (Philippians
3:20-21).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">The Testimony of John</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">Marvel not at this; for
the hour is coming in the which <b>all who are in their graves</b> shall hear
his voice, and shall <b>come forth</b>; they who have done good, in the <b>resurrection
of the just</b>; and they who have done evil, in the <b>resurrection of the
unjust</b> (John 5:28-29).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.05in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #201500; font-size: 11pt;">And I saw the <b>dead,
small and great</b>, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another
book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of
those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the
<b>sea gave up the dead which were in it</b>; and <b>death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them</b>: and they were judged every man according to
their works (Revelation 20:12-13).<o:p></o:p></span></p>Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-21318134086656732312022-09-26T16:30:00.001-07:002022-09-26T16:30:00.333-07:00Resurrection Teachings: Introduction<p>One of the clearest and most plain parts of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ is the doctrine that Jesus Christ not only suffered and died for
us, but that he was resurrected from the dead with a glorious and perfect body
of flesh and bone. He appeared to friends and disciples who recognized him as
the same Jesus who they had known before his death, touched his body, and knew for
a certainty who he was. Associated with this is the additional truth that
through the power of his resurrection and redemption, all who have lived and
died and will yet live and die in mortality will be raised with a perfected
body from the grave as Jesus was and judged according to our deeds.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
have always declared that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World and our
Redeemer from death and that through the changes of mortality, death, and
resurrection, our very identities are preserved and redeemed. It may, therefore
seem, strange, that from time to time, through misunderstanding or deliberate
attempts to deceive, there have been some who dismiss, oppose, or seek to
distort this doctrine. Examples of such efforts can be found in ancient and
modern history, including the history of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ
from Joseph Smith’s day to the present one. While none of these modern examples
have ever been numerous among the Saints, it may be helpful to provide a
summary of some of these examples with corrective teachings of latter-day Apostles
and prophets warning the Saints against these erroneous teachings and affirming
the true nature of the resurrection. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This introduction begins a series of blog post which will
survey this issue. They will first review the nature of the resurrection, as taught
in ancient Scripture, early Christianity, as well as Latter-day Scripture. Next,
they survey examples of false teachings from the history of the Church during
the nineteenth century. Finally, they note contemporary examples. It is hoped
that this series will help the reader, especially Latter-day Saints, to avoid
confusion and be strengthened in their faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and
then hope of our own resurrection.<o:p></o:p></p>Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-80235910914339179972021-05-05T08:51:00.000-07:002021-05-05T08:51:06.339-07:00Zoramites in Southern Arabia<p>In 1981 the following inscription was published. It comes from the Wadi el-Sirr, some 40 kilometers north of Sanaa, Yemen. It dates to the middle Sabean Period, somewhere between 300 BC and the time of Christ.</p><blockquote><p>Abrathid, of Zoram, daughter of the sons of Thagram, founded and completed the tower Yaf'am (exalted) and the cemetery Rabakh (place of rest) with the help of her husband, Azbar and his sons from the sons of Zoram.<br /></p></blockquote><blockquote><p>(Peter Stein, <i>Lehrbuch der sabaischen Sprache</i> [Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2012], 2:130.) <br /></p></blockquote><p>The inscription is informative on a number of points, but here I would like to highlight four:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The inscription, as well as the whole building project, was commissioned by a woman. While pre-Islamic Arabic does not have the reputation of granting many rights or much status to women, this inscription shows that it was possible for a woman to commission and direct construction works. In the inscription, Abrathid has a higher status than her husband, Azbar. Although she is assisted by her husband and her sons, she takes pride of place in the inscription while they are mere afterthoughts. <br /></li><br /><li>The inter-tribal marriage is highlighted. Abrathid comes from the Thagram tribe and has married into the Zoram tribe.</li><br /><li>The cemetery is located in the general region where the Book of Mormon places the burial of Ishmael. This may simply be coincidence, as burials tend to take place in the vicinity of the death, wherever that may be.</li><br /><li>There is a tribe named after an individual named Zoram, and Azbar and Abrathid are Zoramites. This is probably not the same Zoram as is mentioned in the Book of Mormon, but the name is the same and it occurs in the area where Zoram traveled on the wilderness journey. The name does not appear in Harding's index as the inscription was originally published about ten years later.<br /></li></ol>Inscriptions like this one indicate that information relevant to the Book of Mormon may still be found in ancient Arabia.<br />John Geehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765634264821041881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-23700673642159672832021-04-30T12:36:00.000-07:002021-04-30T12:36:03.744-07:00Nephite Weights and Measures Again<p>A number of years ago, Robert F. Smith compared the Nephite weights and measures with Horus-eye fractions from Egypt. One need not go into the advantages and disadvantages of such a proposal to note that another possibility presents itself. </p><p>To review, the Book of Mormon lays out the following values (Alma 11:4-19):</p><p>2 leahs = 1 shiblum</p><p>2 shiblums = 1 shiblon </p><p>2 shiblons = senum</p><p>2 senums = 1 amnor</p><p>2 amnors = a ezrom</p><p>At least as early as the third to fifth century BC, Southern Arabia had a system of values that also doubled in size.</p><p></p><p>2 kyš = 1 šśʿ</p><p>2 šśʿ = 1 tmrt<br /></p><p>2 ʾtmr = 1 gms<br /></p><p>2 ʾgms = 1 nṣf</p><p>2 ʾnṣf = 1 K<br /></p><p>2 K = 1 ʾrbʿt </p><p>We also have an idea of some prices from the time. A herd animal normally cost between 1 ʾrbʿt and 1 tmrt and 1 ʾrbʿt, 1 gm, and 1 tmrt. </p><p>(See Peter Stein, <i>Die altsüdarabischen Minuskelinschriften auf Holzstäbschen aus der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek in München</i> (Tübingen: Ernst Wasmuth, 2010), 1:79-85.) </p><p>While we do not know the precise origin of the Nephite system, the South Arabian parallel may provide another possibility.</p><p><br /></p>John Geehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02765634264821041881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-19287018069901739632020-08-26T14:00:00.000-07:002020-08-26T18:07:12.693-07:00"Do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us?" Mulek and the people of Zarahemla<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrh-4h2eRWaKmiHX6fMDKKlp-t8u3ny5tjwkII3CbWJIDAMBddJsXVMdw_0D3n5ufau2fTuvqHazB8yQUhXmC9nyIqR5UMAfpBx96zatnxC14-TdHWmkhk4vF4W6NlFFBRvmlPiqdOjgi/s1600/Fran%25C3%25A7ois-Xavier_Fabre_-_Nabuchodonosor_Has_Zedekiah%2527s_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="651" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrh-4h2eRWaKmiHX6fMDKKlp-t8u3ny5tjwkII3CbWJIDAMBddJsXVMdw_0D3n5ufau2fTuvqHazB8yQUhXmC9nyIqR5UMAfpBx96zatnxC14-TdHWmkhk4vF4W6NlFFBRvmlPiqdOjgi/s400/Fran%25C3%25A7ois-Xavier_Fabre_-_Nabuchodonosor_Has_Zedekiah%2527s_Children_Killed_before_his_Eyes.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nebuchadrezzar has Zedekiah's children killed before his eyes (Francois Xaview Fabre)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When Nephi the son of Helaman prophesied to his people in the land of Zarahemla he appealed to various prophets already known to them in support of his testimony of Christ (Helaman 8:11-23). Warning them of imminent destruction if they did not repent, he reminded them that Jeremiah, a contemporary of Lehi, had foretold the destruction of Jerusalem.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<i>And now will you dispute that Jerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were Mulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem? (Helaman 8:21).</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
According to the biblical account, when king Zedekiah of Judah attempted to escape the siege of the Babylonians shortly before its destruction he was captured and then taken before Nebuchadrezzar. "And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon" (2 Kings 25:7). It is only through the Book of Mormon that we learn that one of Zedekiah's sons escaped, while all the others sons were killed.<br />
<br />
Our current text of the Book of Mormon, being only an abridgment from records possessed by the Nephites, provides little information about Mulek and the people of Zarahemla beyond a few verses (Omni 1:13-19; Mosiah 7:3; 25:1-4; Alma 22:30; Helaman 1:15; 6:10; 8:21). As early as 1887, one Latter-day Saint suggested that some of Mulek's people may have been polygamists who intermarried with native American women who were already present in the land of promise when they arrived. "Probably these aborigines mothers were more numerous and influential, than their Hebrew husbands" helping to account for how their Hebrew language became confounded so quickly (Anonymous, <i>Plain Facts for Students of the Book of Mormon with a Map of the Promised Land</i>. 1887, 4).<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
In his recent book, <i>The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon's Missing Stories</i>, Don Bradley, does an excellent job of teasing out potential clues from the text and secondary historical sources, as to the contents of the now lost Book of Lehi. While I do not necessarily agree with all of his interpretations and conclusions, the reader and future researchers will find a wealth of useful and interesting information to explore and consider.<br />
<br />
In relation to the origin of the Mulekites or people of Zarahemla, the following 1856 report of Emer Harris, the brother of Martin Harris, may be of interest. Emer presumably gleaned this information from his brother who acted as a scribe for Joseph Smith during the translation of the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon in Harmony Pennsylvania in 1828.</div>
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<i>Now I will tell you of the history of those that were lost. When the king from Jerusalem [Zedekiah] had his eyes put out but his son Muleck with some others of the royal family hid themselves, and on coming out of their hiding place they found 4 females of the royal family who also had hid themselves from the wrath of the king, they were married together, there being 4 males and 4 females---they were found in this country in the south part. When they were found, they had become a small tribe.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
(Report of Emer Harris, "General Minutes, April 6, 1856, Provo Utah Central Stake"; spelling and punctuation updated for clarity, in Don Bradley, <i>The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon's Missing Stories</i>. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2019, 259).<br />
<br />
For general information on the Mulekites see this article and video from Book of Mormon Central, <a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-should-readers-pay-close-attention-to-the-mulekites">Why Should Readers Pay Close Attention to the Mulekites?</a> John Sorenson's 1990 overview <a href="https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/sites/default/files/John%20L.%20Sorenson%2C%20The%20%E2%80%98Mulekites%E2%80%99%2C%201990.pdf">"The Mulekites"</a> is also still very useful. It may be of interest to some that the name Mulek may be attested in <a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/has-an-artifact-that-relates-to-the-book-of-mormon-been-found">recently recovered artifacts</a> from before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.<br />
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Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-60861275802869210492020-08-23T13:00:00.000-07:002020-08-24T09:20:53.771-07:00Nephi Son of Helaman: A Prophet Like Moses<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The prophet Moses was often seen as the ideal prophet in Israelite history. Biblical writers often portrayed subsequent Israelite leaders as prophets like Moses in a way that invites comparison and can highlight their legitimacy and the importance of their activities and teachings.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, and of course Jesus, are all portrayed in language which casts them as prophets “like unto Moses” in the tradition of Deuteronomy 18:18-19. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">One notable example of this pattern can be seen in the story of Elijah who, “smote the waters” of the Jordan River, “and they were divided hither and thither” so that he “went over on dry ground” (2 Kings 2:8, 14). This miracle recalled the parting of the Red Sea and showed that the power of God was with Elijah and Elisha as it had been with Moses (Exodus 14:21-22; 2 Kings 2:8, 14).</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEZE2psW9nzA60YjqdWoJmVOWQEezRSqUxk6M3qHmqFBwOzNRzSgFRnvAnR5KauaiO_gUuPyZPO7T5zqIXvU8fN7y7C4ceFvRopANVJ4UZuWe9Hxp31k5Vv0281pq6v3rKuJlMi_1wBQ0/s1600/478px-Philippe_de_Champaigne_-_Moses_with_the_Ten_Commandments_-_WGA04717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="478" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEZE2psW9nzA60YjqdWoJmVOWQEezRSqUxk6M3qHmqFBwOzNRzSgFRnvAnR5KauaiO_gUuPyZPO7T5zqIXvU8fN7y7C4ceFvRopANVJ4UZuWe9Hxp31k5Vv0281pq6v3rKuJlMi_1wBQ0/s400/478px-Philippe_de_Champaigne_-_Moses_with_the_Ten_Commandments_-_WGA04717.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moses with the Ten Commandments (Phillipe de Champaigne)</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><b>Nephite Prophets like Moses</b></span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Latter-day Saints have discussed a
similar pattern in the Book of Mormon where Nephite prophets like Lehi, Nephi, Abinadi or Alma are likened to Moses (See further reading below). According to David Seely<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
While the Book of Mormon, like the
New Testament, specifically identifies the future prophet like Moses as Christ,
it also develops the idea that the institution of prophecy that continued in
Israel included other future prophets like Moses. Similar to the
Deuteronomistic History, the Book of Mormon records the continuation of the institution of prophecy in its history and in several cases specifically
portrays prophets with characteristics of Moses (Seely, 372).<o:p></o:p><br />
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The ministry of Nephi the son of
Helaman is described in many ways that show him to be a righteous prophet like
Moses. Nephi prophesied that destruction was imminent if the Nephites did not
repent. Having hardened their hearts against the Lord, like Pharaoh, the wicked judges
challenged him to provide evidence for the truth of his words, Nephi reminded
his audience of Moses. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<i>Behold my brethren, have ye not
read that God gave power unto one man even Moses, to smite upon the waters of
the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites,
who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon
the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up?</i> (Helaman 8:11).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Nephi reasoned that “if God gave unto this man such power” as was evident from their own </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">scriptural heritage, they should not dispute God’s ability to reveal their pending destruction if they did not repent (Helaman 8:12). The Lord’s power at the Red Sea, manifested through Moses was a precedent and a sign to the people in support Nephi’s prophetic claims. The comparison of the prophet Nephi to Moses is reinforced by various facets of the narrative in the book of Helaman.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH9A3giSYCYUY5OlTOK5vq5oIxCUgn2RLVdsa4H-3MmmEuwAVOBMmzg_ejjgWmU2M8iEGlyoVTH_VkjYbXx6VOvcFTMYMpWpSKwji8fWWUcjUstGBBJo2LQd68KlTnQ2aGrvJ0rs3ib0Pq/s1600/FrankArthurBridgman_Pharaoh%2527s_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="1000" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH9A3giSYCYUY5OlTOK5vq5oIxCUgn2RLVdsa4H-3MmmEuwAVOBMmzg_ejjgWmU2M8iEGlyoVTH_VkjYbXx6VOvcFTMYMpWpSKwji8fWWUcjUstGBBJo2LQd68KlTnQ2aGrvJ0rs3ib0Pq/s400/FrankArthurBridgman_Pharaoh%2527s_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-indent: 48px;">Pharaoh's Army Engulfed by the Red Sea (Frank Arthur Bridgman)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><b><br />Unjustly Accused of a Crime</b></span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When the Israelites were in bondage to the Egyptians, Moses killed an oppressive Egyptian official who was abusing a fellow Israelite and hid the body in the sand. After the crime became known, Moses fled Egypt for his life (Exodus 2:11-15). The account in Helaman also involved a killing, the murder of the wicked Nephite Chief Judge, who was part of the oppressive Gadianton faction.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nephi, however, was innocent and made no attempt to flee. Initially hidden, the identity of the murderer was miraculously revealed by God. The Lord later commends Nephi for his faithfulness. “And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments” (Helaman 10:5).</span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nephi’s deliverance and the Red Sea Miracle<o:p></o:p></b><br />
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After the Lord revealed the murder
of the Chief Judge, leaders of the Gadianton party accused Nephi of complicity in
the crime, putting his own life in danger. Nephi then provided a miraculous
prophetic sign in which the true murderer was confronted, confessed, and Nephi
was fully vindicated. In the aftermath of his acquittal, his former accusers were left
in confusion, and like the waters of the Red Sea, were divided among
themselves. “And it came to pass that there arose a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">division</i></b> among the
people, insomuch that they <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">divided hither and thither</i></b> and went
their ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">midst</i></b> of them (Helaman
10:1). The allusion to the miracle at the Red Sea is further reinforced by the use of the words "hither and thither" which Nephi had previously used to describe that event.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Power to Smite the
People Like Moses’ Power to Smite Egypt<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
After his miraculous deliverance
from the wicked judges, the Lord gives Nephi an endowment of power. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>Behold I declare it unto thee in
the presence of mine angels, that ye shall have power over this people, and
shall <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">smite</span></b> the earth with famine, and with pestilence, and
destruction, according to the wickedness of this people. . . . And behold if ye
shall say that God shall <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">smite</span></b> this people, it shall come to
pass</i> (Helaman 10:6, 10). <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The Lord gave Moses power to smite
Egypt and its people with plague and pestilence (Exodus 3:20; 7:17; 8:2, 16;
9:15; 12:12-13, 23), and also gave him power to “smite” the waters of the Red
Sea (Helaman 8:11). <span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">When the Lord commands Nephi to go
forth again and warn to the people to repent, he prophesies that they will be
“smitten even unto destruction” (10:14), but the people continue to “harden
their hearts” like Pharaoh (Exodus 8:15). When they try to apprehend him, Nephi
is “taken by the Spirit and conveyed out of the </span><b style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">midst</i></b><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> of them.” His
enemies and former accusers are “divided against themselves,” and descend into a maelstrom of
contention and bloodshed (Helaman 10:18). The wicked Nephites, like the chaotic
waters of the sea, can be smitten or divided according to God’s will and power.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Famine Delivers the
Repentant from Destruction<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Hoping to deliver his people from
the escalating bloodshed Nephi uses his Moses-like power to ask the Lord to
send a famine to stop the destruction by the sword (Helaman 11:4-5). In an
interesting variation on the Red Sea miracle in which the Lord provided “dry
ground” (Exodus 14:16, 21-22) for the escape of his people, “the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">earth</i></b>
was smitten <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that it was dry</i></b>” in order to bring the people of Nephi to the path repentance and salvation (Helaman 11:6). <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The People Plead with
Their Leaders to Listen to the Prophet<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
When the more wicked Nephites
perish, the residue are led to repent. Like the Egyptians who plead with Pharaoh
to listen to Moses and let Israel go lest “we be all dead men” (Exodus 12:33),
the Nephites “began to plead with their chief judges and their leaders” to ask
Nephi to cry unto the Lord to turn away the famine so they will not be
destroyed. Nephi does so and the people are spared (Helaman 11:8-17). Moses is
the first prophet to be called a “man of God” (Deuteronomy 33:1), a title subsequently used of
other biblical prophets. “He is presented as the prototype of the Jewish man of
God, of the future religious leaders" (Teeple, <i>The Mosaic Eschatological Prophet</i>, 32). Following their deliverance from the famine, the Nephites considered Nephi to
be “a great prophet, and a man of God, having great authority given unto him by
God” (Helaman 11:18).<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nephi Resolves Controversies Like Moses<o:p></o:p></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Nephi, a former Chief Judge of the
Nephites warned the Nephites about the corruptness of the law under the rule of
unrighteous judges (Helaman 8:3). When new contentions arose after the famine,
Nephi and his brother Lehi, like Moses and his brother Aaron, were able to
receive divine guidance. “But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of
their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many
revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that
they did put an end to their strife” (Helaman 11:23). Moses was an inspired
lawgiver who received many revelations from God to govern the people. “The main
function of Moses in the history of Israel was to mediate the law" (Jackson, 123). Nephi, in contrast to the wicked judges, performs a similar function in Helaman.<br />
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHYmhTUKFnbu5hzFYsdKsYnGz5F2i1OASGNiS2g9Aq-LSDmMizQt_y6MAqQsgX8hmSoCWZEqeVC3BmRWzKwIv0IYybqfahc_IYyL6ozOZJkbdFOETrrdi_ukohYLYBQRfpuKyTDBH_hph/s1600/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHYmhTUKFnbu5hzFYsdKsYnGz5F2i1OASGNiS2g9Aq-LSDmMizQt_y6MAqQsgX8hmSoCWZEqeVC3BmRWzKwIv0IYybqfahc_IYyL6ozOZJkbdFOETrrdi_ukohYLYBQRfpuKyTDBH_hph/s400/hqdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-indent: 48px;">Nephi was falsely accused of the murder of the Chief Judge</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Unrepentant Nephites Dismiss Miracles Like Pharaoh and the Egyptians</b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" span="" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">When the Lord, through Moses, smote Egypt with plagues, signs and wonders, Pharaoh </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">promised to release the
Israelites from bondage, but soon went back on his word once the wonders ceased. Similarly, the
Nephites repented in times difficulty, but then quickly returned to their
wicked ways (Helaman 11:34-37). As the signs of Christ’s coming appeared with
greater frequency, the Nephites, like the Egyptians did “harden their hearts,
all save it were the most believing part of them” (Helaman 16:13-15). “And
notwithstanding the signs and wonders which were wrought among the people of
the Lord, and the many miracles which they did, Satan did get great hold upon
the hearts of the people upon all the face of the land” (Helaman 16:23)</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nephi’s Departure
Like the Departure of Moses</b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
In the biblical account, Moses did
not join the Israelites when they crossed into the land of promise. He departed
and was assumed to be dead or buried by God, although “no man knoweth of his
sepulchre unto this day” (Deuteronomy 34:6). The Nephites knew of a
<a href="http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-departure-of-alma-and-traditions.html">non-biblical tradition</a> that “the Lord took Moses unto himself” (Alma 45:19).
Like Moses and Alma, Nephi, the son of Helaman did not remain with the people of Nephi
after his ministry, but “departed out of the land, and wither he went, no man
knoweth” (3 Nephi 1:3). <span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The Lord was with Nephi as he
had been with Moses and previous Nephite prophets (Helaman 8:23). By evoking
the events and language of the Red Sea deliverance, the narrative in Helaman also teaches
that the God who led Israel through Moses to salvation was still present and would
lead his people to safety and happiness if they would let him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Learning from Nephi's Experience</b><br />
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="text-align: right; text-indent: 0.5in;">The account of Nephi in the Book of Helaman shows us how the word of God can provide </span><span style="text-align: right; text-indent: 0.5in;">guidance and protection. Nephi was able to see and explain how the teachings of former prophets pointed his people to Christ (Helaman 8:11-23). Those who followed Nephi’s counsel were able to act in faith and receive their own testimony that Nephi was truly a prophet of God (Helaman 9:1-5, 18). </span><br />
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">As with the Lord’s people
anciently, Latter-day Saints have also been blessed with prophets who receive commandments and
revelations for the Church “even as Moses” (D&C 28:2; 107:91-92). The
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds the keys to
minister all the blessings of the Gospel in our day including the sealing power
to bless families. Like Nephi and other prophets in the Book of Mormon,
modern apostles and prophets testify of the Savior and point us to Christ.</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Nephi, as a prophet like Moses, had
the spirit of revelation. This enabled him to know the Lord’s will for this day and time. This gift also gave him
comfort, guidance, and protection when confronted with evil. Each of us
needs to seek and cultivate the spirit of revelation as we negotiate complex
and even dangerous situations in our own lives. The scriptures and the
teachings of living prophets and apostles today can “<b><i>divide asunder</i></b> all the
cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ
in a strait and narrow course across the everlasting gulf of misery which is
prepared to engulf the wicked” (Helaman 3:29). The Lord taught the prophet the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>Yea, behold, I will tell you in
your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost which shall com upon you and
which shall dwell in your heart. And now, behold, this is the spirit of
revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of
Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground. Therefore, this is thy gift; apply
unto it, and blessed art thou, for it shall deliver you out of the hands of
your enemies, when, if it were not so, they would slay you and bring your soul
to destruction</i> (D&C 8:2-4). <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Holy Ghost can not only alert us to dangers, but prepare
us for the opportunity to participate in the Lord’s work of gathering Israel
and the Lord’s return. <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng">President Russell M. Nelson has taught</a><o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus
Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes
again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son,
Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming
days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding,
directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYzxJD9K-a9BBQ_y0Lw81w4RqOtJhw8TU4lo0csNnXJhKt5zAUmWiWQk-MMndG0OtMdMR9rqc1ikRx2TEtfwE-t5qBtMXHPyoEsxFegAh_IYFvlOM9K6DvuKHW3YKbgIhE8ot75spEg1zO/s1600/NelsonRussellMmaxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYzxJD9K-a9BBQ_y0Lw81w4RqOtJhw8TU4lo0csNnXJhKt5zAUmWiWQk-MMndG0OtMdMR9rqc1ikRx2TEtfwE-t5qBtMXHPyoEsxFegAh_IYFvlOM9K6DvuKHW3YKbgIhE8ot75spEg1zO/s400/NelsonRussellMmaxresdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Russell M. Nelson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sometimes even the difficult experiences and trials we pass through can prove to be a path of deliverance if we will remain humble, follow the counsel of current Church leaders, repent, and turn to God for support and guidance.<br />
<br />
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<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Moses<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nephi<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But lift up
thine rod, and stretch out thine hand over <b><i>the sea</i></b>, and <b><i>divide</i></b> it: and the
children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the <b><i>midst
of the sea</i></b> (Exodus 14:16).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were <b><i>divided</i></b>. And the children of Israel went into the <b><i>midst of the se</i></b>a upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left (Exodus 14:21-22).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">[Elijah repeated the miracle of the Red Sea at the Jordan river] and they were <b><i>divided hither and thither</i></b>, so that they two went over on dry ground (2 Kings 2:8; see also verse 14).</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And it came
to pass that there was a <b><i>division</i></b> among <b><i>the people</i></b>,
insomuch that they <b><i>divided hither and thither</i></b>, and
went their ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the<b><i> midst
of them</i></b> (Helaman 10:1). <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.12px; margin-bottom: 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But behold, the <b><i>power</i></b> of God was with him, and they could not take him to cast him into prison, for he was taken by the Spirit and conveyed away out of the <b><i>midst of them</i></b> (Helaman 10:16).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.12px; margin-bottom: 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there began to be contentions insomuch that they were <b><i>divided</i></b> against themselves, and began to slay one another with the sword (Helaman 10:18).</span></div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I shall <b><i>harden
the hearts</i></b> of the Egyptians (Exodus 14:17). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He <b><i>hardened
his heart</i></b> and <b><i>hearkened not</i></b> unto them (Exodus
8:15).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now behold,
notwithstanding the great miracle which Nephi had done in telling them
concerning the murder of the chief judge, they did <b><i>harden their hearts</i></b> and
<b><i>did
not hearken </i></b>unto the words of the Lord (Helaman 10:13).</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">[Elijah repeating the miracle of the Red Sea at the Jordan river]<b><i> smote the waters</i></b>, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on <b><i>dry ground </i></b>(2 Kings 2:8).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">[Nephi
teaches his people] God gave <b><i>power</i></b> unto one man, even Moses, to
<b><i>smite
upon the waters of the Red sea</i></b>, and they parted hither and thither,
insomuch that the Israelites who were out fathers, came through upon <b><i>dry
ground</i></b>, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and
swallowed them up (Helaman 8:11).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ye shall have
<b><i>power
</i></b>over this people, and shall <b><i>smite the earth</i></b> with famine
(Helaman 10:6)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For the <b><i>earth</i></b>
was <b><i>smitten</i></b> that it was <b><i>dry</i></b> (Helaman 11:6)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Intreat
the Lord</i></b> (Exodus 8:8. See also 8:9, 29-30; 9:28; 10:17-18).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the
Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send out of the land
in haste; for they said, <b><i>We be all dead men</i></b> (Exodus 12:33).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the
people began to plead with their chief judges and their leaders, that they
would say unto Nephi . . .<b><i>cry unto the Lord</i></b> our God that he turn away from us this
famine lest all the words which thou hast spoken concerning <b><i>our
destruction</i></b> be fulfilled (Helaman 11:8).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Moreover the man Moses
was very <b><i>great</i></b> in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh ‘s
servants, and in the sight of the people (Exodus 11:3).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Moses the <b><i>man
of God</i></b> blessed the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 33:1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We know that thou art a </span><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><i>man of God</i></b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (Helaman 11:8).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And they did
no more seek to destroy Nephi, but they did esteem him as a <b><i>great
</i></b>prophet, and a <b><i>man of God</i></b>, having <b><i>great</i></b> power and
authority given unto him from God (Helaman 11:18).</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And I will
harden Pharaoh’s <b><i>heart</i></b>, and multiply my <b><i>signs and my wonders</i></b> in the land
of Egypt (Exodus 7:3).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When Pharaoh
shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a <b><i>miracle</i></b> for you (Exodus 7:9).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nevertheless,
the people began to <b><i>harden their hearts</i></b>, all save it
were the most believing part of them (Helaman 16:15).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And
notwithstanding the <b><i>signs and wonders</i></b> which were
wrought among the people of the Lord, and the many <b><i>miracles</i></b> which they
did, Satan did get great hold upon the <b><i>hearts</i></b> of the people upon all the
face of the land (Helaman 16:23).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But <b><i>no
man knoweth</i></b> of his sepulcher unto this day (Deuteronomy 34:6).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then he
departed out of the land, and wither he went, <b><i>no man knoweth</i></b> (3 Nephi
1:3).</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Further Reading</b></div>
</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br />
Dale C. Allison, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The New Moses: A Mathean Typology</i> (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 1993),<br />
11-95.<br />
<br />
S. Kent Brown, “The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BYU Studies</i> 30/3 (Summer 1990): 111-126.<br />
<br />
Havilah Dharmraj, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Prophet Like Moses? A Narrative Theological Reading of the Elijah Stories</i> (Wipf & Stock, 2011).<br />
<br />
Bernard S. Jackson, "The Prophet and the Law in Early Judaism and the New Testament," <i>Cordozo Studies in Law and Literature</i> 4/2 (Autumn 1992): 123-166.<br />
<br />
Mark Leuchter, “Samuel: A Prophet Like Moses or A Priest Like Moses?” Mignon R. Jacobs and Raymond F. Person, eds., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Israelite Prophecy and the Deuteronomistic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>History: Portrait, Reality, and the Formation of a History</i> (SBL Press, 2014), 147-168.<br />
<br />
Noel B. Reynolds, “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BYU Studies</i> 44, No. 2 (2005): 5-23;<br />
<br />
Noel Reynolds, “Lehi as Moses,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Book of Mormon</i> Studies 9, No. 2 (2000): 26-35, 81-82;<br />
<br />
David R. Seely, “`A Prophet Like Moses’: (Deuteronomy 18:15-18) in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.” In Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson, eds., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch</i> (Orem, Utah: Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 372-373;<br />
<br />
Noel B. Reynolds, “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BYU Studies</i> 44/2 (2005): 5-23;<br />
<br />
Noel B. Reynolds, “Lehi and Moses,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Book of Mormon Studies</i> 9/2 (2000): 26-35, 81-82;<br />
<br />
David R. Seely, “`A Prophet Like Moses’: (Deuteronomy 18:15-18) in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.” In Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson, eds., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch</i> (Orem, Utah: Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 372-373.<br />
<br />
Howard M. Teeple, <i>The Mosaic Eschatological Prophet</i> (Society of Biblical Literature: 1957).</div>
Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-18183911027499897692020-08-19T12:30:00.000-07:002020-08-19T12:30:01.115-07:00Swine and Peccary: Shift Happens<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtCtP84ymqbWjtIwng1FEBFWnhwp7fZxFzW1JgYTZXtDQuJL-M-Qv3y-Ax-WWyjTHU3GIL8nnw90Ri_my6O4OPssm2QwhEA9ooVj354WfGI2NIKCwDV27BenBplCNUUjZOOQX9m-G8-v8/s1600/WildBoar2poland1unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="512" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtCtP84ymqbWjtIwng1FEBFWnhwp7fZxFzW1JgYTZXtDQuJL-M-Qv3y-Ax-WWyjTHU3GIL8nnw90Ri_my6O4OPssm2QwhEA9ooVj354WfGI2NIKCwDV27BenBplCNUUjZOOQX9m-G8-v8/s400/WildBoar2poland1unnamed.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Wild Pig</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The earliest reference to swine in the Book of Mormon text is among the Jaredites, where they are said to have been useful for food (Ether 9:18). Later, swine are mentioned, but never said to have been eaten by the Nephites who lived under the law of Moses (at least in times of righteousness). Of course, after the coming of Christ, there would presumably have been no prohibition against eating foods forbidden under the earlier law. These later references to swine are proverbial and entirely negative. The wicked among the Nephites are said to have returned from righteousness to wickedness "like the sow to her wallowing in the mire" (3 Nephi 7:8). Jesus' warning to his disciples in the Americas parallels that in Matthew's Gospel, "neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" (3 Nephi 13:6).<br />
<br />
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"></span><br />
If the Jaredites brought Old World species of swine to the land of promise no archaeological evidence for this has be identified thus far. Some readers of the Book of Mormon have suggested that Old World migrants applied the term swine or its equivalent to other species they found upon their arrival. One very good candidate for the swine mentioned in the Book of Mormon is the American peccary.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQlyGGiIDAwcGbfEcm32IQw1YJjGacPi2mQOqAM-eFwuTc13FWI7iPLRAKq1vu4_-81lUv8TKC0RMaya0FjSbTC0Ro_Gwv-lHt3eeo5K92e58lo8wUTZ2n6e1Ai_Wq4Kes1-8IrzGQZAk/s1600/WildpigsTexas4APHIS+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1600" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQlyGGiIDAwcGbfEcm32IQw1YJjGacPi2mQOqAM-eFwuTc13FWI7iPLRAKq1vu4_-81lUv8TKC0RMaya0FjSbTC0Ro_Gwv-lHt3eeo5K92e58lo8wUTZ2n6e1Ai_Wq4Kes1-8IrzGQZAk/s400/WildpigsTexas4APHIS+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Wild Pigs (Texas) These are descended from pigs introduced in Post-Columbian times</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">This naming practice, known as <i>loan-shift</i>, is familiar to scholars who study ancient cultures and their interactions </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">(</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Lawrence B. Kiddle, "Spanish and Portuguese Cattle Terms in Amerindian Languages," in Herbert J. Izzo, ed.,</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Italic and Romance: Linguistic Studies in Honor of Ernst Puigram. </i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1980, 273-74).</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaY6LyfhXjBe3SMdDAK3V22BBU5hGUNq0P4zT5PNr_-b-a5S3u4l52wUqC6L5KHHmnAXZzGyfvxR5DcqcQj3ptgRJYelUKA0EHWfOQZXqcisYSkNGhRrAej_ibar2TuMqESEhu0qcJMoa9/s1600/PeccarySaltillo320180427_155750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaY6LyfhXjBe3SMdDAK3V22BBU5hGUNq0P4zT5PNr_-b-a5S3u4l52wUqC6L5KHHmnAXZzGyfvxR5DcqcQj3ptgRJYelUKA0EHWfOQZXqcisYSkNGhRrAej_ibar2TuMqESEhu0qcJMoa9/s400/PeccarySaltillo320180427_155750.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Collared Peccary or Javelina (Saltillo Mexico)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Recently, some critics of the Book of Mormon have scoffed at the idea that migrants from the Old World to the new may have applied names they were familiar with new animals they encountered. Such criticisms are uninformed.<br />
<br />
Shift happens.<br />
<br />
Peccaries are not true pigs in terms of modern scientific classification, but they resemble them greatly in both appearance and behavior. The Spanish Conquistadors, explorers, and historians considered them pigs. Lyle Sowls observed:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
When one travels within range of the peccaries, one hears references to “wild pigs” or “wild hogs.” In Spanish-speaking countries these are “los puercos,” “los cerdos,” or “los cochinos,” while in Portuguese-speaking countries the country people talk of “porcos.” German settlers in South America refer to “the schwein.” All of these names have been given to peccaries by people who first knew domestic hogs and equated them with peccaries in the New World (<i>The Peccaries</i>. Tuscon: University of Arizona Press, 1984, 1).</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ0V_mtPqDHYJJqFohC92eBhnaVQP6oIhV0mb1e1Ejx5Ad-hzeAK4xeaHnTSYx-Hy2GsFVVgVevfR72PdPWFN3aF_3T-FAkkkP7dvZpF_bMCxanH9K-2nLppcSoB6DQ4WpYodJebrjMCID/s1600/PeccarySaltillo120180427_155752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ0V_mtPqDHYJJqFohC92eBhnaVQP6oIhV0mb1e1Ejx5Ad-hzeAK4xeaHnTSYx-Hy2GsFVVgVevfR72PdPWFN3aF_3T-FAkkkP7dvZpF_bMCxanH9K-2nLppcSoB6DQ4WpYodJebrjMCID/s400/PeccarySaltillo120180427_155752.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Collared Peccary or Javelina (Saltillo Mexico)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Two known species of peccary that can be found throughout Central, and South America are the white
lipped peccary and the smaller javelina or white-collared variety. Both of these species are at home in the tropical regions of the Tuxtlas Mountains of Mexico which some Latter-day Saints have suggested may have once been inhabited by the Jaredites. In his abridgment of the Jaredite record Moroni refers to "all manner of . . . swine" (Ether 9:18) suggesting that for the Jaredites at least there may have been more than one kind.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRexB_QNVmjtfi7rk9XTopaHP9oGY06VKN12ecawqoyBrSdQxqZeZcG0EabEiG0xrpb0zLxNVQaEcOnrgwq7Vp2zqVroiphCye6LfcziQy0LonaUqnFXvmtOyR0CVg_prDhyphenhyphenWyKjIHXiua/s1600/PeccarySaltillo220180427_155754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRexB_QNVmjtfi7rk9XTopaHP9oGY06VKN12ecawqoyBrSdQxqZeZcG0EabEiG0xrpb0zLxNVQaEcOnrgwq7Vp2zqVroiphCye6LfcziQy0LonaUqnFXvmtOyR0CVg_prDhyphenhyphenWyKjIHXiua/s400/PeccarySaltillo220180427_155754.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Collared Peccary or Javelina (Saltillo Mexico)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-30njyqx6DqxBzz8hLziA35qPQaxuIqaw2Tou4bTOoB8spH_H2VdYCTR_E5rvxxlecHwPAR0pyud4Fi0VsGeGSnZKf0e8txxYHjnH_jOmq3dlzpREy3UvW4xb4XLxa16esHVMbv1viBW/s1600/white-lipped-peccary3-9ae5dd72-f559-460a-8ab4-13a43bd21f5-resize-750.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="750" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-30njyqx6DqxBzz8hLziA35qPQaxuIqaw2Tou4bTOoB8spH_H2VdYCTR_E5rvxxlecHwPAR0pyud4Fi0VsGeGSnZKf0e8txxYHjnH_jOmq3dlzpREy3UvW4xb4XLxa16esHVMbv1viBW/s400/white-lipped-peccary3-9ae5dd72-f559-460a-8ab4-13a43bd21f5-resize-750.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">White-lipped Peccary</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The collared peccary is known to live in herds of up to 20--30 animals. It has "characteristically hog-like jowls,
protruding snout, thick neck, and delicate skinny legs. Gray to black hair
covers its heavy-set body, with longer stiffer hairs cresting the spine. A
collar of pale hair rings the neck. Like pigs, it grunts, or when frightened
makes a doggish bark . . . They roll in the mud or dust to cool and clean off
(Victoria Schlesinger, <i>Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide</i>. Austin:
University of Texas Press, 2001, 157-58).<br />
<br />
One interesting characteristic of the peccary is the pungent musk gland it has on its back. This enables it to emit an unpleasant odor when provoked. Once killed, it is necessary to remove this glad from the carcass or the musk will render the meat inedible. If this is done, however, the problem is is eliminated<br />
<br />
In spite of their gentle appearance, wild javelinas can be fierce when they feel threatened or cornered. One observer in northern Mexico observed, "Many dogs are killed by Peccaries, being torn open or gashed by their long, sharp-edged canine teeth. When about to attack, the Peccary lowers its head, champs its teeth, and advances sideways with its mouth open and under jaw turned to one side, ready for an upward lunge to rip up its enemy" (A. Starker Leopold, <i>Wildlife of Mexico</i>. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1959, 497). One thinks of the Savior's words "lest they turn again and rend you"!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IoMLnOuuM1rVDUSZYcuBtqr-qGYHKQ_k6RAx9dZ3-FsDhTY5vkgSUpEbLnNtJyM2tnJmcAHdyYhPQJhLAexIfe_RBWCqE071dIGg5WCW-QJFLTucSuHEnqBTl59yi9w5q3oD34c6_Ya0/s1600/Whitelippedpeccary1757px-Tayassu_pecari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="757" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IoMLnOuuM1rVDUSZYcuBtqr-qGYHKQ_k6RAx9dZ3-FsDhTY5vkgSUpEbLnNtJyM2tnJmcAHdyYhPQJhLAexIfe_RBWCqE071dIGg5WCW-QJFLTucSuHEnqBTl59yi9w5q3oD34c6_Ya0/s400/Whitelippedpeccary1757px-Tayassu_pecari.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White-lipped Peccary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
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The White-lipped peccary behaves much like the Collared Peccary, but favors swampy regions with thick vegetation. "This animal is more gregarious than the collared peccary, and hundreds of individuals may travel or wallow together; when this occurs, the low rumbling noise made can be heard for almost a kilometer" (Brian D. Dillon, "Meatless Maya? Ethnoarchaeological Implications for Ancient Subsistence," <i>Journal of New World Archaeology</i> 7 [1988]: 63). Both species are also omnivorous like domestic hogs. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Peccaries, as an important source of meat in ancient Mesoamerican were likely hunted and eaten from at least Olmec times (1200-400 BC). They were also valued for their hides.In recent recent decades, however, some scholars have become convinced that peccaries may have sometimes been tamed and husbanded for use. According to Sowls, "the collared peccary tames quickly if removed from the mother and handled at an early age. This readiness to taming has been described by many writers" (Sowls, 105). Dillon, based on ethnographic evidence, concluded that the taming of peccary was likely a Pre-Columbian practice and that these and other animals may have been kept in stone enclosures which have been identified at some Maya sites (Dillon, 64). Kitty Emery thinks that both white-tailed deer and peccaries were husbanded by the Maya for food and other uses and finds support for this in analysis from soil samples (Kitty Emery, "Fauna," in Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster, eds., <i>Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia</i>. London and New York: Routledge, 2010, 257).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Given its resemblance to wild pigs in its appearance and behavior, as well as its usefulness as resource for food and other commodities, it requires no stretch of credulity to see peccaries as an appropriate fit for the swine mentioned in the Book of Mormon.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGpJTX2a9xa4QpRpgpGTVeJGNkYCC9ysG0PKVCTCjMjMzbuUqFqEg6R6p34Gn2jeRHGq-JWCaALUa9ZjCL64rg5aTHyF9jiF5TJ4wjtsgRGIrbh96PJWvYDtuaOqkOdn967Lr-QVj5aTn/s1600/Whitelippedpeccary2757px-Tayassu_pecari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGpJTX2a9xa4QpRpgpGTVeJGNkYCC9ysG0PKVCTCjMjMzbuUqFqEg6R6p34Gn2jeRHGq-JWCaALUa9ZjCL64rg5aTHyF9jiF5TJ4wjtsgRGIrbh96PJWvYDtuaOqkOdn967Lr-QVj5aTn/s400/Whitelippedpeccary2757px-Tayassu_pecari.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">White-lipped Peccary</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>
Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-52279400180898255132020-08-17T05:00:00.000-07:002020-08-19T13:45:37.185-07:00Was Aminadab a Zoramite?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmywEUOtAO1Dq4dL8Bh3PMASHG__3LhYkpJQxvnQaJbx_2B_k-jZTnyOHImQzHdzMZzwHmVf7Q-BMjjzzQ-1R0UWU7M7yNuoOlA_ngxBV-V1oPOBIrBjlMFlz2H2lYVhdVAcHetEVifh_A/s1600/BMImagesPrisonNephiLehifire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="1600" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmywEUOtAO1Dq4dL8Bh3PMASHG__3LhYkpJQxvnQaJbx_2B_k-jZTnyOHImQzHdzMZzwHmVf7Q-BMjjzzQ-1R0UWU7M7yNuoOlA_ngxBV-V1oPOBIrBjlMFlz2H2lYVhdVAcHetEVifh_A/s400/BMImagesPrisonNephiLehifire.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Nephi and Lehi Encircled By A Pillar of Fire (Ronald Crosby)</span></td></tr>
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<br />
One of the more remarkable narratives in the Book of Mormon is found in Helaman chapter 5. A group of Lamanites and Nephite dissenters are miraculously prevented from killing the prophets Nephi and Lehi in a dark prison. Then in a merciful reversal, these persecutors find redemption from their own personal darkness and prisons when they choose to repent and are converted to Christ.<br />
<br />
In a key element of the conversion story, the apostate <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/my-people-are-willing-the-mention-of-aminadab-in-the-narrative-context-of-helaman-5-6/">Aminadab</a> (whose Hebrew name means "my brother is willing" or "my people is willing," reminds his fellow dissenters and Lamanites that Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom had once taught them faith in Christ (Helaman 5:41). Although it is possible that those three prophets served as missionaries on other occasions, the only time when the text names all three preaching together was during the mission to the Zoramites (Alma 31:5-6).<br />
<br />
Shortly after that mission, the Zoramites, many of whom remained unconverted, "became Lamanites" (Alma 43:4). Assuming that some of the dissenters in the prison had personally heard these prophets preach to the Zoramites, several elements of the prison narrative would have both evoked and graphically reinforced those earlier teachings. Indeed, this possible connection is strengthened by the parallel themes and language in both narratives.<br />
<br />
<b>Darkness</b><br />
<br />
In his words to the dissenting Zoramites years before, Amulek warned that if they procrastinated the day of their repentance, there would come a "night of <i>darkness</i> wherein there <i>can be no labor performed</i>" (Alma 34:33). Regarding the prison account, the record states that the would-be attackers were quickly "overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them" (Helaman 5:28). So profound was the fear generated by this darkness that they were unable to harm Nephi and Lehi and unable to even move. "And it came to pass that the Lamanites <i>could not flee</i> because of the cloud of <i>darkness</i> which did overshadow them; yea, and also they were <i>unmovable</i> because of the feat which did come upon them" (Helaman 5:34). These descriptions may have reminded them of the language previously used by Amulek.<br />
<br />
<b>Encircled About</b><br />
<br />
Alma taught Zeezrom, who accompanied Alma on his mission to the Zoramites, that it is the devil who seeks to "<i>encircle you about</i> with his chains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity" (Alma 12:6). And Amulek taught the Zoramites that when the wicked repent, the Lord "<i>encircles</i> them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice" (Alma 34:16). Employing similar imagery, the account in Helaman states that while in the prison, Nephi and Lehi were "<i>encircled about</i>" by a protective fire that literally separated them from their persecutors, who in contrast were surrounded by darkness (Helaman 5:23-25, 28). It is only after the Lamanites began to pray and to repent that they were "<i>encircled about</i>" by the same protective fire (Helaman 5:42-44). Much as Amulek had taught, the now-repentant Lamanites were included in the circle of mercy and safety.<br />
<br />
<b>Look and Live</b><br />
<br />
Alma taught the Zoramites about the bronze serpent that Moses raised up as a "type" in the wilderness, "that whosoever would <i>look</i> upon it might live. And many did <i>look</i> and live" (Alma 33:19). He also urged the Zoramites to "cast about [their] eyes" in order that they might begin to have faith in Christ (Alma 33:21-22). The prison narrative in Helaman echoes this concept of "look and live." The dissenter Aminadab "turned him about" and saw the faces of Nephi and Lehi within the pillar of fire (Helaman 5:36). "And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and <i>look</i>. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and<b><i> look</i></b>; and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi" (Helaman 5:37).<br />
<br />
<b>Faith and Repentance</b><br />
<br />
Furthermore, in urging the Zoramites to cry unto God for all of their needs, Amulek said, "Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your<i> faith</i> unto <i>repentance</i>. . . . Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save" (Alma 34:17-18). Similarly, when the Lamanites asked what they must do in order to remove the awful cloud of darkness that surrounded them, Aminadab explained, "You must <i>repent</i>, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have<i> faith</i> in Christ, who was taught unto <i>you</i> by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you" (Helaman 5:41).<br />
<br />
We cannot say what had once led Aminadab to leave the Church of Christ, but the possibility that he and at least some of his associates were Zoramites, who had personally heard Alma, Amulek, and Zeezrom preach to them is of interest. That important mission occurred 44 years earlier, suggesting that these dissenters were somewhat advanced in age at the time of their prison wake up call. Though long forgotten, a series of unexpected events led them to remember what they had once heard in their youth, but subsequently ignored or rejected.<br />
<br />
The Gospel message of mercy extends to the old as well as the young (Alma 5:49). Unforeseen circumstances may provide moments of clarity, and opportunity to return to the Good Shepherd, though he will never force us to believe and repent (Alma 42:27). Lost faith may be rekindled in the warmth of God's love and forgotten lessons can be remembered and obeyed. The God of miracles can work the unexpected, and when his people, like Aminadab, are <i>willing</i>, the Lord can confirm the words of his servants in mercy as well as in judgment.Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-78345216534603488462020-08-10T16:00:00.000-07:002020-08-10T18:05:08.581-07:00"Irrefutable" and "Enormously Impressive": Michael Coe on the Diffusionist Work of John L. Sorenson<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRys3GsJs-fP-uaosX9YaGPSk7bgVis0WAW3Lj7YJZM-hveqekGJDj0ZJOiqcKeb38DOg_h3N83zPS7y-MCtPLFF_iEBZmOREUeqVF3GV4EluktK4o5jIFRal7AxidmRU27GPaFm6VxfM/s1600/CoeMichaelpicture1f87e0af8fea36e75223afc6e564d8894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="274" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRys3GsJs-fP-uaosX9YaGPSk7bgVis0WAW3Lj7YJZM-hveqekGJDj0ZJOiqcKeb38DOg_h3N83zPS7y-MCtPLFF_iEBZmOREUeqVF3GV4EluktK4o5jIFRal7AxidmRU27GPaFm6VxfM/s400/CoeMichaelpicture1f87e0af8fea36e75223afc6e564d8894.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Michael D. Coe</span></td></tr>
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When I first attended BYU as an undergrad in 1988-1989 I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant with Professor John L. Sorenson in helping update an edition of his <i>Pre-Columbian Contact with the Americas across the Oceans: An Annotated Bibliography</i>. This was my first real introduction to the subject which has often been a topic of controversy among American historians and anthropologists, as well as Mesoamerican scholars. In fact, many scholars have in the past dismissed the subject as the domain of the kooky and badly misinformed. In the past several decades Sorenson's bibliography and subsequent publications, along with those of other careful diffusionists, have been helpful in sifting the kooky and poorly documented from the more sound and solid evidences of Pre-Columbian contact between the Old World and the New.<br />
<br />
Many years ago I had the opportunity to hear Professor Michael Coe speak at a conference of the world's leading Maya scholars at Brigham Young University. Although none of the scholars who spoke had the slightest interest in discussing the Book of Mormon, which they properly and politely explained in the introduction, I very much enjoyed the display of insight and learning that was shared. In his remarks, for example, Professor Coe discussed, among other things, Mesoamerican codices (or books). He stated his belief that in Olmec times (1200-400 BC) there must have been thousands of such <a href="https://etherscave.blogspot.com/2020/07/destruction-of-records-in-ancient.html">codices</a> which have not survived.<br />
<br />
In 2006 Professor Sorenson and Carl Johannessen published an essay summarizing key findings from the last few decades of research on the issue of diffusion ("Biological Evidence for Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Voyages," in Victor Mair, ed., <i>Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World</i> (Honolulu: University Of Hawaii Press, 2006, 238-97). A popular Summary of this article was published for a Latter-day Saint audience in <a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1383&context=jbms">"Ancient Voyages Across the Ocean to America: From `Impossible' to `Certain,'</a> <i>Journal of Book of Mormon Studies</i> 14/1 (2005): 4-17, 124-25.<br />
<br />
After reading the article from the 2006 publication, Professor Coe, who was very interested and pleased with the article, wrote to Professor Sorenson. His letter, dated October 12, 2006, and shared with Dr. Sorenson's permission, reads as follows.<br />
<br />
<br />
Dear John,<br />
<br />
I'm enormously impressed with erudition and research that's gone into your "Biological Evidence of Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Voyages." I think this is the best thing you've ever done!<br />
<br />
As you know, I've long been interested in the possibility of contact across the Pacific, and having immersed myself in Southeast & South Asia culture during the past 15 years, I'm more than ever convinced that there were such contacts. Your lone essay is right up there with Paul Tolstoy's 1963 paper on barkbeaters & paper-making on both sides of the Pacific.<br />
<br />
With best wishes.<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDct4T0dGDOxWkfXHU9Rm7cJ4lmeopfZFqXi-1F8fGhyphenhyphen569ajc1Rwo6WYxe-VEX3h-Sx8aGqQ1jM1H6QSmbHPMRVA9gh5Jm3IhvjtGwStiOhjaL8Yw5JuOFrMyXA7yLkCQZJnx5r7ME_KB/s1600/download.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1171" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDct4T0dGDOxWkfXHU9Rm7cJ4lmeopfZFqXi-1F8fGhyphenhyphen569ajc1Rwo6WYxe-VEX3h-Sx8aGqQ1jM1H6QSmbHPMRVA9gh5Jm3IhvjtGwStiOhjaL8Yw5JuOFrMyXA7yLkCQZJnx5r7ME_KB/s400/download.png" width="372" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Coe letter to John Sorenson October 12, 2006</td></tr>
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<br />
In 2009, Professors Sorenson and Johannessen published a detailed and lengthy monograph on the subject entitled, <i>World Trade and Biological Exchanges Before 1492</i> (New York: iUniverse, 2009).<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBqMvKMAHf9vi-EuKsrRrhfKNsBALXFqrGdnuYQZWqF69CxqLm8UdG-2kxistIp9RC-DnuUzjUjE3GSsD8AZON8k9XW4O_0_u-pPWm0jGaXiiSJb6AKxi3EUtZURiqLroDnNnqGnzVjA4/s1600/Sorensonworldtradebook151zUCmzUXxL._SL350_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="233" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBqMvKMAHf9vi-EuKsrRrhfKNsBALXFqrGdnuYQZWqF69CxqLm8UdG-2kxistIp9RC-DnuUzjUjE3GSsD8AZON8k9XW4O_0_u-pPWm0jGaXiiSJb6AKxi3EUtZURiqLroDnNnqGnzVjA4/s400/Sorensonworldtradebook151zUCmzUXxL._SL350_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Sorenson sent a complementary copy to Professor Coe who wrote back, thanking John for the book. In an email to John Sorenson dated February 5, 2010 Professor Coe wrote the following.<br />
<br />
<br />
Dear John,<br />
<br />
Many, many thanks for sending me your "World Trade and Biological Exchanges" book. It's an enormously impressive piece of scholarship. I'm really pleased that you've included discussion of nasty pests like hookworm in this compilation.<br />
<br />
So much of this evidence, I think, is irrefutable, such as the 1300-1400 AD presence of Polynesian chickens in Chile, or the sweet potatoes story, or the early Chinese peanuts.<br />
<br />
If I had another life, I'd devote much of it to proving the interlace between the religions and cosmologies of Southeast and South Asia, and those of Mesoamerica. Unfortunately, I've reached the age of 80, so that's unlikely to happen.<br />
<br />
With all best wishes,<br />
<br />
Mike<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEich737dLSJz00-n4jDcK31Zdc2Ly9JB6cKXK0wScZi3Cwr3FoKyyiloqYKyVQ8HvbKRN-3hBhsXzCRFEymm_hwCXmhjbiueW9ZvUycb7fgNulrx07WJ1JORAPBczfa2yAWaC8pzKU0kwys/s1600/SorensonJohnLpicturesmilehqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEich737dLSJz00-n4jDcK31Zdc2Ly9JB6cKXK0wScZi3Cwr3FoKyyiloqYKyVQ8HvbKRN-3hBhsXzCRFEymm_hwCXmhjbiueW9ZvUycb7fgNulrx07WJ1JORAPBczfa2yAWaC8pzKU0kwys/s400/SorensonJohnLpicturesmilehqdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John L. Sorenson</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>For Further Reading:</b><br />
<br />
John L. Sorenson, <a href="https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/book-mormon-mesoamerican-record">"The Book of Mormon as a Mesoamerican Record,</a>" in Noel B. Reynolds, ed., Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1997), 391-521.<br />
<br />
John L. Sorenson, <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/joseph-smith-the-worlds-greatest-guesser/">"An Open Letter to Michael Coe,"</a> Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 1 (2012): 91-109.<br />
<br />
Brice E. Dale and Brian Dale, <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/an-open-letter-to-dr-michael-coe/">"Joseph Smith: The World's Greatest Guesser (A Bayesian Statisitcal Analysis of Possible Correspondences Between the Book of Mormon and The Maya,"</a> Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 32 (2019): 77-189.Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-44603895786938190882020-08-10T05:00:00.000-07:002020-08-10T07:38:46.958-07:00"There is no archaeological evidence for . . ." <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Z2yiLWLOJPD75FhP6mG0mZvN2his7ngdVGR9CduRHICnwXyhE7jGzQ9sYZeOHDLxUB79trWmZaPtWJ-r6m1MpeYRVedkSpjkPmcqVP8-K9Wr2piFQ-06PEGcgbg3lH7S05tFT5bEmuO3/s1600/needle-in-a-haystack-1752846_960_720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="960" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Z2yiLWLOJPD75FhP6mG0mZvN2his7ngdVGR9CduRHICnwXyhE7jGzQ9sYZeOHDLxUB79trWmZaPtWJ-r6m1MpeYRVedkSpjkPmcqVP8-K9Wr2piFQ-06PEGcgbg3lH7S05tFT5bEmuO3/s400/needle-in-a-haystack-1752846_960_720.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
Kenneth Kitchen is Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies, University of Liverpool, England. He has published many books and articles relating to Egypt, the Bible, and the Ancient Near East.<br />
<br />
Two of these publications which I have read and enjoyed are Ancient Orient and Old Testament (Chicago: Inter-varsity Press, 1966), and his more recent work, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003). The later book is quite thorough in addressing many of the controversies surrounding the archaeology of the Bible and is not for the casual reader, however, the interested student of the archaeological background of the Bible will be well rewarded.<br />
<br />
Speaking from his position of experience as a well established Biblical scholar in the field Kitchen stated the following:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“In the field of history, whether it be the patriarchs, or
David or anyone else, we are repeatedly told that no extra-biblical occurrences
of this or that individual have been found, so their historicity is to be
dismissed or treated as doubtful, regardless of all other indications. No such
wrong criterion is applied elsewhere – why here? Absence of evidence is not,
and should not be confounded with, evidence of absence. The same criticism is
to be leveled at the abuse of this concept in archaeology: the syndrome: `we
did not find it, so it never existed!’ instead of the more proper formulation:
`evidence is currently lacking; we may have missed it or it may have left no
trace’; particularly when 5 percent or less of a mound is dug, leaving 95
percent or more untouched, unknown, and so, not in evidence.” (Kenneth A. Kitchen, "New directions in
Biblical archaeology: historical and Biblical aspects," in <i>Biblical
Archaeology Today, 1990. Proceedings of the Second International Congress on
Biblical Archaeology, Jerusalem, June-July 1990. </i>Jerusalem: Israel
Exploration Society, and The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities).</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
If we are truly seeking understanding, how we phrase issues and questions about the Book of Mormon is just as important. As with the Bible, instead of saying, for example, "there was no metal money in ancient America," we should say, rather, "evidence for this is currently lacking; we may have missed it or it may have left no trace."<br />
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<br />Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-35242183933916286592020-08-03T05:00:00.000-07:002020-08-03T05:00:01.142-07:00Scimitars or "Cimeters" in the Book of Mormon and Precolumbian Times<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvy_BLMUpvZHj-T27mKB1KMFExj-OtLBJ5PlhlBR9NyRJC2aLyQ_UTNXgfzVOp99rTUmyG6tE4n5bZHUpXPq5quvLhVaO7iZXfzq1IDUybJRiVF6zi8EPaufudVgPrwoMulVL_z3q4kMN/s1600/TepoztecatlBorgiacodexcurvedweapon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvy_BLMUpvZHj-T27mKB1KMFExj-OtLBJ5PlhlBR9NyRJC2aLyQ_UTNXgfzVOp99rTUmyG6tE4n5bZHUpXPq5quvLhVaO7iZXfzq1IDUybJRiVF6zi8EPaufudVgPrwoMulVL_z3q4kMN/s400/TepoztecatlBorgiacodexcurvedweapon1.jpg" width="346" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Curved Blade from the Codex Borgia (Wikipedia Commons)</td></tr>
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<br />
One of the weapons often mentioned in the war chapters of the Book of Mormon is the cimeter or scimitar. This was basically a sword with a sharp curved blade (Enos 1:20; Mosiah 9:16; 10:8; Alma 2:12; 43:37; 44:8; 59:2; Helaman 1:14). There is evidence that this was a significant weapon in the ancient Near East as early as 4000 years ago. A similar weapon made of a curved piece of hard wood with sharp flint or obsidian blades inset into the sides seems to have been known in ancient Mesoamerica as well. Monuments from Mexico and Guatemala, dating to the time of the Book of Mormon, show examples of this weapon. They indicate that curved knives and swords in various forms had a long and bloody history in ancient America. Book of Mormon Central has an excellent article with an accompanying video on this <a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-does-the-book-of-mormon-mention-cimeters">"Why Does the Book of Mormon Mention Cimeters?</a>"<br />
<br />
For more on the Scimitar see <a href="http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2013/08/ancient-near-eastern-scimitars-howlers.html">Ancient Near Eastern Scimitars</a>, <a href="http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2013/08/mesoamerican-scimitars-howlers-19.html">Mesoamerican Scimitars</a>, and <a href="http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2013/08/scimitars-in-mesoamerica-in-book-of.html">Scimitars in Book of Mormon Times</a>.Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-81746478857263345002020-07-27T05:00:00.000-07:002020-07-31T10:46:42.591-07:00The Departure of Alma and Traditions about the Death of Moses<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFIF6byGJ1RlDST50ILvImCTFk0i99xmMjv6E1oSYCGP0d0wEXCibHI79KtbX1kEXPF2um5bF-6_OqIyy6xg12p56rKCW9k856qaISI6zuE0Q18T4ZSYAJflLtpbj9n9f_mYdGYI4Lzq4/s1600/alma_the_younger_helaman.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFIF6byGJ1RlDST50ILvImCTFk0i99xmMjv6E1oSYCGP0d0wEXCibHI79KtbX1kEXPF2um5bF-6_OqIyy6xg12p56rKCW9k856qaISI6zuE0Q18T4ZSYAJflLtpbj9n9f_mYdGYI4Lzq4/s400/alma_the_younger_helaman.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alma counseling Helaman before his departure (churchofjesuschrist.org)</td></tr>
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After years of diligent service preaching the Gospel among the people of Nephi, the prophet Alma counseled with his sons, prophesied about the future, and blessed the Church.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>And when Alma had done this he departed out of the land of
Zarahemla, as if to go into the land of Melek. And it came to pass that <b>he was
never heard of more; as to his death or burial we know not of</b>. Behold, this we
know, that he was a righteous man; and the saying went abroad in the church
that he was <b>taken up by the Spirit, or buried by the hand of the Lord, even
as Moses. But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto
himself; and we suppose that he has also received Alma in the spirit, unto
himself</b>; therefore, for this cause we know nothing concerning his death
and burial </i>(Alma 45:18-19).</div>
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The reference to Moses being buried by the hand of the Lord
is seemingly a reference to the account in Deuteronomy which reads<br />
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<i>So Moses the servant of the Lord died
there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And <b>he
buried him</b> in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but
no
man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day </i>(Deuteronomy 34:5-6).</div>
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The Book of Mormon passage is interesting because it
suggests that while the Nephites were aware of the tradition that Moses was
buried by the hand of the Lord, they had additional information from
their scriptural heritage which indicated that
Moses was “taken up” by the Spirit and that the Lord “took Moses
unto himself.”<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtv-DtljgKWIu4d_OfVLgQWh12JJr6IcHTDDGKEpC2F_4AwIv3uzOWOwoXg0vhetixuvaywUfeAZSBxld2sLdhbI0MPc9CcPe2zKVYKXZEBeEK0kiDc2G2Uq30xkEje7niuPv2cKATc8Q/s1600/Alexandre_Cabanel_-_Death_of_Moses.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="1600" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtv-DtljgKWIu4d_OfVLgQWh12JJr6IcHTDDGKEpC2F_4AwIv3uzOWOwoXg0vhetixuvaywUfeAZSBxld2sLdhbI0MPc9CcPe2zKVYKXZEBeEK0kiDc2G2Uq30xkEje7niuPv2cKATc8Q/s400/Alexandre_Cabanel_-_Death_of_Moses.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Alexandre Cabanel, The Death of Moses (Wikipedia Commons)</span></td></tr>
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The enigmatic passage in Deuteronomy about the death of Moses gave rise to numerous Jewish and Samaritan stories in late antiquity. These stories have been the object of research by many scholars during the last century. "The death of Moses," writes Samuel Loewenstamm in one important study, "occupied the mind of apocryphal and midrashic writers unceasingly. They never tired of seeking new and innovative ways to understand it" (Samuel Loewenstamm, "The Death of Moses" in George W. E. Nickelsburg, Jr., ed., <i>Studies on the Testament of Moses</i>, Scholars Press, 1976, 185). In some of these tales Moses dies, but only after he is shown a vision of the future. In others, he cleverly evades the efforts of the angel of death to take his life, only to die later in peace to be buried by God or other heavenly beings. Other traditions focus on Moses ascent upon the mount. "A combination of the midrashim which deny Moses' death with reports of his disappearance in a cloud and his subsequent death leads to a reconstruction of a tradition in which Moses approached God ascending a mountain and was exalted from there to heaven by the cloud of Divine Glory (Loewenstamm, 198).</div>
<br />
In the Jewish text <i>Pseudo-Philo</i> which dates to the first century the Lord tells Moses that he will glorify and bury him in peace.<br />
<br />
<i>And when Moses heard this, he was filled with understanding and his appearance became glorious; and he died in glory according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him as he promised him. And the angels mourned at his death, and the lightnings and the torches and the arrows went all together before him . . . .And he buried him with his own hands on a high place and in the light of all the world </i>(Pseudo-Philo 19:16, in James H. Charlesworth, <i>The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha</i>. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1985, 2:328).<br />
<br />
Another example and somewhat more elaborate version of this tradition can be found in the Samaritan <i>Memar Marqah.</i><br />
<br />
<i>How great the hour at which the great prophet Moses stood on the top of Mount Nebo, and all the heavenly angels were doing him honour there. His Lord exalted him and He unveiled the light of his eyes and showed him the four quarters of the world. Great was the joy that was in Moses' heart when He revealed to him the sequel to the Day of Vengeance, so that he did not fear death. Great was the joy that abode in Moses' heart when he saw the angels standing about him, on his right and on his left, behind and before him. The great Glory took him by his right hand, embracing him and walking before him . . . . He turned his face toward Mount Gerizim and lay down on the ground, looking straight in front of him. God made a sleep to fall upon him and his soul departed without difficulty without him knowing</i> (John Macdonald, <i>Memar Marqah: The Teaching of Marqah</i>, 2:206).<br />
<br />
In this Samaritan text Moses is received up in glory on the mount in the presence of God and angels, but does not escape death, although it is sweet to him.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the best known non-biblical account of Moses' death is that of Josephus who wrote at the end of the first century.<br />
<br />
<i>Now as soon as they were come to the mountain called Abarim (which is a very high mountain, situated over against Jericho and one that affords, to such as are upon it, a prospect of the greater part of the excellent land of Canaan), he dismissed the senate: and as he was going to embrace Eleazar and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote in the holy books that he died, which was done out of fear lest they should venture to say that, because of this extraordinary virtue, he went to God. </i>(<i>Antiquities of the Jew</i>s, Book 4, Chapter 8,
verse 48, William Whiston Translation).<br />
<br />
James Purvis thought it likely that "Josephus and Marqah were both dependent upon a common old Palestinian story of the death of Moses, Each told the story in his own way, with Marqah and the other Samaritan writers glorifying Moses to a greater degree than did Josephus" ("Samaritan Traditions on the Death of Moses" in <i>Studies on the Testament of Moses</i>, 110).<br />
<br />
Josephus adds details not found in Deuteronomy, such as Moses being received into a cloud on the mount, but denied that Moses escaped death, a view with which he is apparently familiar, but denies. Examples of this alternative view can be found in other Jewish writings such as Philo of Alexandria (On the Life of Moses II:288-291). and some rabbinical sources which held that "Moses never died" (<i>b. Sota</i> 13b), and that in fact he "continues to minister above" (<i>Sifre Deut</i> 357 and <i>Midrash Tannaim</i> 224). It appears that "the two beliefs existed side by side in Judaism. The majority of the Jewish writers followed the biblical account and believed that Moses had died, but others accepted the belief in his bodily translation to heaven to remain there until his return to earth when the times were fulfilled" (Howard M Teeple, <i>The Mosaic Eschatological Prophet</i>. Philadelphia: Society of Biblical Literature, 1957, 42; see also C. Houtman, "Moses" in Karel van der Toorn, ed., <i>Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible</i> (Leiden: Brill, 1999, 596).<br />
<br />
The <a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/sam/chron1.htm">Samaritan Book of Joshua</a> was translated into Arabic in medieval times, but is believed to be based upon a Hebrew original and Samaritan sources that can be traced to the Hellenistic period. It contains similarities to the <i>Memar Marqah</i> mentioned above, but also has significant details not found there. Moses' tearful farewell is described as he ascends the mountain.<br />
<br />
<i>They began to cry aloud and wail and weep; and after a space of time he commanded them to be quiet and to sit down. Then he departed, walking slowly up the ascent of the mountain unto which God had ordered him to ascend, and with him were Yusha, the son of Nun, and el'Azar the imam, and the assembly of the leaders who were bidding him farewell and weeping at the approach of his separation from them and clinging to him. And when the farewells were prolonged with them, and night drew near, <b>a pillar of divine fire descended and separated between them and their master-peace be upon him--and no one knows what happened to him after this, even unto this time.</b></i><br />
<br />
The account goes on to say that after this time, "his dealings were directly with his Lord and His angels." This account is notable in that while it tells of Moses' disappearance the prophet is never said to have died.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_UHXDmpk0duPCjA1Yd5cAD1H_TZG8zoUOLlBik_RRhCoGxDH32LeARY_UlhR8tx5SQ_r-eRGRAgey4zove5AM_oaH6lKDXqT4DhlDOrUvNVPZjX8r6ibz71P03Jep_cgUrxLgZIb4qvH/s1600/Elijahascendsgesseppe1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1047" data-original-width="1600" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_UHXDmpk0duPCjA1Yd5cAD1H_TZG8zoUOLlBik_RRhCoGxDH32LeARY_UlhR8tx5SQ_r-eRGRAgey4zove5AM_oaH6lKDXqT4DhlDOrUvNVPZjX8r6ibz71P03Jep_cgUrxLgZIb4qvH/s400/Elijahascendsgesseppe1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angeli Giuseppe, Elijah Taken Up in a Chariot of Fire (Wikipedia Commons)</td></tr>
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<br />
The persistence of two divergent traditions following the compilation of the Hebrew Scriptures (one where Moses died and another where he did not) has led some scholars to wonder if the roots of the tradition of Moses' translation do not derive from earlier sources which we no longer have. Loewenstamm views the passage in Deuteronomy 34:5-6 as "a toning down" or polemic against a tradition of Moses' translation already known to the biblical writer ("The Death of Moses" 198).<br />
<br />
The prophet Elijah who ascended into heaven without tasting death (2 Kings 2:11) is portrayed as a prophet like Moses throughout the Book of Kings. The Elijah account, as many have observed, seems to have been written in such a way as to invite a comparison between the two prophets. It is noteworthy that the place of Elijah's translation is in the same general region as Moses' departure on the other side of Jordan, opposite Jericho (Deuteronomy 34:1; 2 Kings 2:5-6). According to Dale Alison, "It is not impossible that one or more contributors to Kings knew the tradition to which Deuteronomy may already be a counter, that Moses never died" (<i>The New Moses: A Matthean Typology</i>. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 1993, 42).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlWErw6fPV6B2xIQ0xX7DBaCnW60IbO_7qJp-gz5BWntogOYgTW2j77TMZV69kgBSZQWt9wcZZajk-qYuBsiyBlkJbYyCczdyeaUInIgvCs6diLiLmFXeO7ywjYAZakHUTQGsNblbA49Y/s1600/ElijahAscendsDorebetter1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="833" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlWErw6fPV6B2xIQ0xX7DBaCnW60IbO_7qJp-gz5BWntogOYgTW2j77TMZV69kgBSZQWt9wcZZajk-qYuBsiyBlkJbYyCczdyeaUInIgvCs6diLiLmFXeO7ywjYAZakHUTQGsNblbA49Y/s400/ElijahAscendsDorebetter1.jpg" width="325" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gustav Dore', Elijah Taken Up into Heaven (Wikipedia Commons)<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><br />Yair Zakovitch also thinks that the account in Kings points to an older and original tradition of the translation of Moses indirectly through the account of Elijah."The tradition of Elijah's ascent to heaven also borrows from the Mosaic narratives: not from the written version of Moses' death found in Deuteronomy 34, but from an earlier stratum of the tradition." He thinks that "the original story of Moses' ascent has disappeared, but its light still shines through in the Elijah story" (</span><i style="text-align: center;">"And You Shall Tell Your Son . . ." The Concept pf the Exodus in the Bible</i><span style="text-align: center;"> (Hebrew University, Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1991, 73-74, 79). Elijah, who parted the waters of the Jordan “hither and thither” as Moses did the Red Sea, was taken up by the Spirit (“the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up” 2 Kings 2:16). This is not indicated in the text of Deuteronomy but it is said of Elijah who is portrayed in Kings as a new Moses. Zakovitch sees here an indirect reference to an earlier Moses tradition, known to the writers of Deuteronomy and Kings in which the prophet of the Exodus did not die, but was "taken up" by the Spirit.</span><br />
<br />
A tradition that Moses was <b><i>taken up by the Spirit</i></b> was also known to the Nephites who were descendants of the house of Joseph through Manasseh (1 Nephi 6:2; Alma 10:1-3; 3 Nephi 5:20-23). Members of the Church in Helaman's day concluded that Alma, a prophet like Moses, had been translated in a similar manner. Their scriptures also indicated that the Lord <b><i>took Moses unto himself,</i></b> a description that is also missing from our current bibles (Alma 45:19). If these were derived from the plates of brass, which contained history, genealogy, and prophecies from their Josephite ancestors (1 Nephi 5:10-19; 3 Nephi 10:16-17), it would make sense that variations or fragments of that tradition might be found in later versions of the Moses story. Indeed, it appears that a tradition in which Moses was taken to God in the Spirit, glorified, but did not die, was had among Samaritans who claim a similar northern heritage.<br />
<br />
[For more on Alma's departure and Mesoamerica see <a href="http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2014/01/those-who-disappear.html">this earlier post</a>].<br />
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Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-80960485587803022082020-07-21T13:00:00.000-07:002020-07-27T09:50:40.837-07:00Destruction of Records in Ancient America and the Book of Mormon<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfnnFZEUg8iGHDCuKrK8zWNl5dEXncHNnK5-iJ1DTFFxQCza3aXLQhT-abs1SsrS1XRqD_FId1MfPjoLSHNjsXO1qlndsRf3eHMjU-AysY5XJXnkedldKN7eacsndO2-4RU7aI9auxijH/s1600/believers_burned.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfnnFZEUg8iGHDCuKrK8zWNl5dEXncHNnK5-iJ1DTFFxQCza3aXLQhT-abs1SsrS1XRqD_FId1MfPjoLSHNjsXO1qlndsRf3eHMjU-AysY5XJXnkedldKN7eacsndO2-4RU7aI9auxijH/s400/believers_burned.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men of Ammonihah burn the scriptures of believers (churchofjesuschrist,org)</td></tr>
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<br />
The Nephite prophet-historians carefully preserved their most valuable records which were privately passed down from generation to generation with stern admonitions to keep them safe from abuse and destruction (Alma 37:14-18). Enos, the son of Nephi's priest brother Jacob wrote that their Lamanite enemies, "swore in the wrath that, if it were possible, t<i>hey would destroy our records and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers</i>" (Enos 1:14), and the Book of Mormon shows that it was only through painstaking labor that they were able to be successful in doing so. Not long before the annihilation of the Nephites, Mormon recorded,<br />
<br />
<i>Knowing this to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni </i>(Mormon 6:6).<br />
<br />
Attempts to destroy records of the past have a long a tragic history and the history of ancient Mesoamerica is no exception. "Deliberate destruction of records," writes Nichoson, "frequently accompanied pre-hispanic as well as post-Conquest military takeovers. As always, one of the principles prizes of military victory was the past (cf. Orwell's `who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.'), and conscious alteration of existing records for political advantage in the wake of conquests and related upheavals must have been common.--and creates problems in long range chronological interpretation" (H. B. Nicholson, Western Mesoamerica: 900-1620," in R. E. Taylor and Clement W. Meighan, eds., <i>Chronologies in Ne World Archaeology</i>. New York: Academic Press, 1978, 320).<br />
<br />
The Spanish Conquest led to the irreparable loss of valuable historical knowledge about the pre-columbian past. Diego Duran, who sought to reconstruct the history of the Mexica wrote with frustration, "Some early friars burned ancient books and writings and thus they were lost. Then too, the old people who could write these books are no longer alive to tell of the settling of this country,and it was they whom I would have consulted for my chronicle" (Doris Heyden, ed., <i>The History of the Indies of New Spain. </i>Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994, 20). <span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The sparse details concerning Tlaxcaltecan rulers given in the </span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Anonimo Mexicano</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">, a document written decades after the Conquest, sadly points to the dearth of historical knowledge caused by the loss of such records. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5GkbVvDz9YWPuKY9z4gMbT7uEHh9Z8J-_TdSaHVTbzH4sBoAWB-CgTQmHb-qQQzC_1TFkXi2RoRIMGD9siqSCsrn7-pSQT9kKGhlKg0-A3QdT-8-yWkJu2Q2JLA8_kmHsWxBOugQTAJc/s1600/BookburningRiveracolor1download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5GkbVvDz9YWPuKY9z4gMbT7uEHh9Z8J-_TdSaHVTbzH4sBoAWB-CgTQmHb-qQQzC_1TFkXi2RoRIMGD9siqSCsrn7-pSQT9kKGhlKg0-A3QdT-8-yWkJu2Q2JLA8_kmHsWxBOugQTAJc/s400/BookburningRiveracolor1download.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Diego Rivera's mural <i>The History of Mexico</i> (Wikipedia Commons)</td></tr>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="text-align: center;">In a passage which speaks of earlier kings the writer recounts</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>He was called Cuauhtzinteuctli, grandson of the ruler of Acolhua. And he made himself the ruler. and this ruler's accomplishments were not written, because the books about his rulership perished. The he was succeeded by Ilhhuicamina. After he died, Matlaccoatl followed behind him and was made ruler. After this ruler died, a son called Tezcacoatl received the rulership. After this Tezcacoatl died, one named Tezcapoctli ruled. After this Tezcapoctli died, the lord Teotlehuac followed him. But the accomplishments of all these lords are not found in the painted books. When the Spanish entered, they destroyed all these books</i> (</span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">Richley H. Crapo and Bonnie Glass-Coffin, ed., <i>Anonimo Mexicano. </i>Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 2005, 26).\</span><br />
<br />
In Yucatan, Bishop Diego de Landa caused the destruction of numerous Mayan codices of which less than a handful survive today. He wrote:<br />
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<i>These people also made use of certain characters or letters, with which they wrote in their books their ancient matters and their sciences, and by these drawings and by curious signs in these drawings, they understood their affairs and made others understand them and taught them. We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which there were not to be seen superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction</i> (Alfred M. Tozzer, ed., <i>Landa Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan. </i>Cambridge: Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 1941, 169).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Bernardo de Lizana wrote that Landa discovered a cache of idols in a cave.<br />
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<i>Thus he collected the books and the ancient writing and he commanded them burned and tied up. They burned many historical books of the ancient Yucatan which told of its beginning and history, which were of much value if, in our writing, they had been translated because today there would be something original. At best there is no great authority for more than the traditions of these Indians</i> (Tozzer, 78).<o:p></o:p><br />
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Subsequent Spanish Clergy and historians lamented the willful destruction of such records.</div>
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<i>With suspicion of this idolatry, they collected all the books and ancient writings which the Indians had and in order to erase all the danger and memory of their ancient rites, as many as they were able to find we burned publicly on the day of the auto and at the same time with these (were destroyed) the history of their antiquities</i> (Diego Lopez de Cogolludo, in Tozzer, 78).</div>
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<i>Afterwards some of our friars understood and knew how to read them, and even wrote them, but because in these books were mixed many things of idolatry, they burned almost all of them, and thus was lost the knowledge of many ancient matters of that land which by them could have been known</i> (Alonzo de San Juan Ponce, in Tozzer, 78).</div>
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<i>In the province of Yucatan, where is the so-called Bishopric of Honduras, there used to exist some books of leaves, bound or folded after a fashion, in which the learned Indians kept the distribution of their times and the knowledge of plants, animals, and other things of nature and the ancient customs, in a way of great neatness and carefulness. It appeared to a teacher of doctrine that all this must be to make witchcraft and magic art; he contended that they should be burned and those books were burned and afterwards not only the Indians but many eager-minded Spaniards who desired to know the secrets of that land felt badly. The same thing has happened in other cases where our people, thinking that all is superstition, have lost many memories of ancient and hidden things which they might have used to no little advantage. This follows from a stupid zeal, when without knowing or even wishing to know the things of the Indians, they say as in the sealed package, that everything is sorcery and that the peoples there are only a drunken lot an what can they know or understand. The ones who have wished earnestly to be informed of these have found many things worthy of consideration</i> (Jose de Acosta, in Tozzer, 78).</div>
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<br />
Native accounts from the Valley of Mexico indicate that during the reign of Itzcoatl (1427-1440) many Aztec records were deliberately burned by Aztecs rulers themselves for ideological and propaganda purposes. The rulers at Tenochtitlan rewrote their own history and destroyed earlier versions. <span style="text-indent: 48px;">“Doris Heyden explains, "The Aztec had to be put in a favorable light in order to eradicate their early and probably undistinguished past” (</span>Heyden, 81, note 7). For example, according to the Florentine Codex, “A council of rulers of Mexico took place. They said: `It is not necessary for all the common people to know of the writings; government will be defamed, and this will only spread sorcery in the land; for it containeth many falsehoods” (Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J. O. Anderson, eds., <i>The Florentine Codex. Book 10: The People. </i>Santa Fe: School of American Research and the Museum of New Mexico, 1961, 191). Joyce Marcus suggests that these burned histories likely, "contained the deeds of previous rulers, their genealogies, and their relations with neighboring peoples” (Joyce Marcus, <i>Mesoamerican Writing Systems: Propaganda, Myth, and History in Four Ancient Civilizations. </i>Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992, 146).<br />
<br />
<span style="text-indent: 48px;"><i>In the official Mexica version of the conquest of Azcopalzalco, the Mexica did not acknowledge the substantial aid they received from their allies, the Alcohua of Texcoco; in fact, they neglected to mention that they had had any help. To legitimize their new prominence, the Mexica also needed to establish that they had had a glorious and worthy heritage; thus, they decided to claim descent from the last great civilization, that of the Toltec. They also decided to elevate their patron deity of war, Huitzilopochtli, to a level above that of the other deities populating the cosmos. . . . </i></span><span style="text-indent: 48px;"><i>Itzcoatl thought that the Mexica’s historical archives were no longer appropriate to their new-found prominence, so he burned them and wrote a new history that was more in line with current needs</i> (Marcus 148-49). </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioA03CipLIoeTTmC79G71u2BEmKS7DLuijVB_agOqSIOp_7AfvMu_xzFt8JTnQ1_gi7jrWLZWsrM2A6MnxoqExwHG88XFv1xeSshBwQt9z398FgDN14uXeoRCSEVm7NzX7bJOPWTeMdaS7/s1600/CodexMesofoldedcropped2+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1600" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioA03CipLIoeTTmC79G71u2BEmKS7DLuijVB_agOqSIOp_7AfvMu_xzFt8JTnQ1_gi7jrWLZWsrM2A6MnxoqExwHG88XFv1xeSshBwQt9z398FgDN14uXeoRCSEVm7NzX7bJOPWTeMdaS7/s400/CodexMesofoldedcropped2+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madrid Codex</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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“The famous burning of the books by (Aztec) Itzcoatl," wrote Davies, "was hardly an isolated case and the Maya were surely not alone in ritually destroying their carved texts." He believes such codices, "were destroyed at intervals and history was then rewritten to suit the ruler of the day" (Nigel Davies, “The Aztec Concept of History: Teotihuacan and Tula,” in<i> </i>Jacqeline de Durand-Forest, ed., <i>The Native Sources and the History of the Valley of Mexico. </i>Oxford: BAR, 1984, 207). <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Monuments and Stela appear to have been frequently defaced and destroyed throughout most Mesoamerican history. Such monuments, written on stone, however, constituted only a small part of what once must have been a robust and widespread literary tradition of records written on perishable materials. The late Mayanist Michael Coe wrote that the end of the Classic Period of Maya culture sadly saw the destruction of many such records. </span></div>
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<i>It was not just the `stela cult’–the inscribed glorification of royal lineages and their achievements - that disappeared with the collapse, but an entire world of esoteric knowledge, mythology, and ritual. Much of the elite cultural behavior . . . such as the complex underworld mythology and iconography found on Classic Maya funerary ceramics, failed to re-emerge with the advent of the Post-Classic era, and one can only conclude that the royalty and nobility, including the scribes who were the repository of so much sacred knowledge, had "gone with the wind." They may well have been massacred by an enraged populace, and their screen-fold books consumed in a holocaust similar to that carried out centuries later by Bishop Landa</i> (Michael D. Coe, <i>The Maya</i>, Fifth edition. London: Thames and Hudson, 1993, 128).<br />
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The deliberate destruction of records makes sense in light of the Book of Mormon which was written by a record keeping people. Nephite enemies had rival traditions which conflicted with those held by the Nephites (Mosiah 10:12-17; Alma 54:16-18; 3 Nephi 3:10). Nephites dissenters, some of whom found value in keeping records for economic reasons, were not particularly interested in preserving much of the Nephite tradition itself (Mosiah 24:5-7). And the Lamanites actively sought to destroy Nephite records and traditions (Enos 1:14; Mormon 6:6). Records written on perishable materials would not likely have survived (Jacob 4:1-2; Alma 14:8). Original documents written on permanent material such as plates were carefully preserved and hidden up to come forth at a future day, but persistent efforts, following the last war to destroy anything considered Nephite would most likely insure that other Nephite records written in reformed Egyptian would not survive. When we think of the people of the people of Lehi as one pre-columbian group among many, it seems more understandable how the records of such a group might no longer be found in archaeological remains.<br />
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Matthew Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481291758039781214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-26058495463729533192019-06-01T11:00:00.000-07:002020-07-27T14:39:30.271-07:00Buyer Beware: Review of the Annotated Book of MormonPresident M. Russell Ballard recently counseled teachers and instructors in the Church, "not to pass along faith promoting or unsubstantiated rumors or outdated understandings and explanations of our doctrine and practices from the past. It is always wise to . . . consult the works of recognized, thoughtful, and faithful LDS scholars to ensure you do not teach things that are untrue, out of date, or odd and quirky." Here is a detailed 8 part <a href="https://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2019/06/a-review-of-the-annotated-edition-of-the-book-of-mormon-part-1.html">review</a> of book which is a prime example of what happens when we refuse to follow that Apostolic counsel. Differences of opinion and interpretation about Book of Mormon geography don't bother me. Everybody has a right to their own opinion. What is troubling is where books like the one reviewed below make factually, demonstrably erroneous claims that, if left unchecked, will damage the faith of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when they discover many of those things are problematic or untrue. There are many solid evidences of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. But the claims, as presented in this book cannot be relied upon. Buyer Beware.<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-87878882354696338412019-05-30T19:00:00.000-07:002019-05-30T19:00:04.636-07:00Has the Location of the Hill Cumorah Been Revealed?Some have recently claimed that the location of the Hill Cumorah has been identified by revelation and that the New York Hill, called by that name today is the same hill at which the Nephites and Jaredites of the Book of Mormon were destroyed. Other Latter-day Saints who have examined the historical
evidence have concluded that name of the New York Hill is likely based upon
old tradition rather than a revelation of the geographical location of Mormon's Cumorah. Do those who hold the latter view reject the Prophets? <br />
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In recent decades Church leaders and historians have expressed caution concerning the location of the ancient hill. See for example, a recent statement from the official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by two Church historians <a href="https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/saints-and-book-of-mormon-geography?lang=eng">"Saints and Book of Mormon Geography."</a><br />
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Recently, the Church has also issued <a href="https://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-topics/book-of-mormon-geography?lang=eng">another statement</a> affirming that the Church does not have an official position on the location of events in the Book of Mormon beyond affirming that they took place somewhere in the Americas. The Church welcomes humble and careful study of the subject, but cautions the Saints not to represent their personal interpretations as those of the Church.<br />
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On this see also my earlier post <a href="http://etherscave.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2017-08-31T13:30:00-07:00&max-results=7">"A New York Cumorah: Not a Hill We Have to Die On"</a><br />
<br />
Here is the latest from the Pan on this question<br />
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<a href="https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/2019/05/has-location-of-cumorah-really-been.html">"Has the Location of the Hill Cumorah Really Been Revealed?"</a><br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-83883551868684125422019-05-30T18:00:00.000-07:002019-05-30T18:00:01.033-07:00Neville-Neville Land<br />
A number of years ago I discussed some of the concerns I had over the rise of what has come to be known as the Heartland Movement.<br />
<br />
"Losing the Remnant: The New Exclusivist `Movement' and the Book of Mormon," <i>FARMS Review</i> 22/2 (2010): 87-124.<br />
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"Joseph Smith, Revelation, and Book of Mormon Geography," <i>FARMS Review</i> 22/2 (2010): 15-85.<br />
<br />
<br />
In 2015 I also addressed some of the writings and claims of Jonathan Neville who is currently one of the leaders of this movement.<br />
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<a href="https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/the-treason-of-the-geographers-mythical-mesoamerican-conspiracy-and-the-book-of-mormon/">"The Treason of the Geographers: Mythical `Mesoamerican' Conspiracy and the Book of Mormon," <i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-Day Saint Faith and Scholarship</i> 16 (2015): 161-205.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/john-bernhisels-gift-to-a-prophet-incidents-of-travel-in-central-america-and-the-book-of-mormon/">"John Bernhisel's Gift to a Prophet: Incidents of Travel in Central America and the Book of Mormon," <i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-Day Saint Faith and Scholarship</i> 16 (2015):207-253.</a><br />
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<br />
<a href="https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/zarahemla-revisted-nevilles-newest-novel/">"Zarahemla Revisited: Neville's Newest Novel," <i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-Day Saint Faith and Scholarship</i> 17 (2015):17-61.</a><br />
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<br />
<a href="http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2015/09/setting-record-straight.html">"Setting the Record Straight"</a><br />
<br />
<br />
It appears that I have not been the only target such attacks. These now include CES, including the Seminary and Institute program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young University, the Church History Department, editors of the Joseph Smith Papers, Interpreter Foundation, FAIRMormon, Book of Mormon Central, and some of the art which may be hanging on our chapel walls.<br />
<br />
I was recently surprised to note the appearance of <a href="https://www.nevillenevilleland.com/">Neville-Neville Land: Refuting the Errors of Jonathan Neville and Heartland Hoax</a>. It seems that Peter Pan and Captain Hook have taken up the gauntlet and have been addressing the poor logic, misrepresentation, and escapades of the Neville-One.<br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-39276484383039635482017-08-31T13:30:00.000-07:002017-08-31T13:30:45.167-07:00What is the significance of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon?In the past several months <a href="https://bookofmormoncentral.org/">Book of Mormon Central</a> has published a number of research summaries relating chiasmus and the Book of Mormon. The following article, <a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/does-chiasmus-prove-anything-about-the-book-of-mormon">"Does Chiasmus Prove Anything about the Book of Mormon?"</a> provides a concluding capstone to this recent series.<br />
<br />
For the sake of those who may have missed some of these I list them here with links to them at Book of Mormon Central.<br />
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<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/how-was-chiasmus-discovered-in-the-book-of-mormon">"How Was Chiasmus Discovered in the Book of Mormon?"</a><br />
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<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/how-much-could-joseph-smith-have-known-about-chiasmus-in-1829">"How Much Could Joseph Smith Have Known about Chiasmus in 1829?'</a><br />
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<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/what-counts-as-chiasmus">"What Counts as Chiasmus?"</a><br />
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<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/how-did-biblical-and-ancient-near-eastern-authors-use-chiasmus">"How Did Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Writers Use Chiasmus?"</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/can-chiasmus-survive-translation">"Can Chiasmus Survive Translation?"</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/was-chiasmus-known-to-ancient-american-writers">"Was Chiasmus Known to Ancient American Writers?"</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/what-can-we-learn-from-10-of-the-best-chiasms-in-the-book-of-mormon-part-1">"What Can We Learn from 10 of the Best Chiasms in the Book of Mormon? Part 1"</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/what-can-we-learn-from-10-of-the-best-chiasms-in-the-book-of-mormon-part-2">"What Can We Learn from 10 of the Best Chiasms in the Book of Mormon? Part 2"</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/what-can-we-learn-from-10-of-the-best-chiasms-in-the-book-of-mormon-part-3">"What Can We Learn from 10 of the Best Chiasms in the Book of Mormon? Part 3"</a><br />
<br />
There have also been several news stories about the recent Chiasmus Jubilee on August 16. These reports only deal with the last and closing event of what was actually a two day international conference hosted by Book of Mormon Central at Brigham Young University and included both Latter-day Saint and non Latter-day Saint Scholars. We expect that the proceedings will be published sometime in the future.<br />
<br />
Here is a transcript of <a href="http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/transcript-elder-holland-speaks-book-of-mormon-chiasmus-conference-2017">Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's remarks</a> at the Chiasmus Jubilee<br />
<br />
Here is a <a href="http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/elder-holland-speaks-book-of-mormon-chiasmus-conference?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LDSNewsRoomTop15+%28RSS%3A+LDS+Newsroom%29">brief report</a> including some pictures of Elder Holland<br />
<br />
and<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865687100/Chiasmus-a-columnist-and-conviction-in-the-Book-of-Mormon.html">"Chiasmus, a Columnist, and Conviction of the Book of Mormon"</a><br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-40344569928633075262017-01-16T16:00:00.000-08:002017-01-16T16:00:11.629-08:00A New York Cumorah? Not a Hill We Have to Die On<br />
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In 1990, anti-Mormons began to circulate copies of a letter purportedly written by F. Michael Watson, Secretary to the First Presidency to a Bishop Darrell L. Brooks in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated October 16, 1990. In his letter, Watson noted that a member of Brooks’ ward had “inquired about the location of the Hill Cumorah mentioned in the Book of Mormon, where the last battle between the Nephites and Lamanites took place.”He then wrote, “The Church has long maintained, as attested to by the references in the writings of General Authorities, that the Hill Cumorah in western New York state is the same as referenced in the Book of Mormon” (F. Michael Watson to Darrell L. Brooks, 16 October, 1990).<br />
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In 1993, while I was a student at BYU, I was also a part-time employee at the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS). Part of my responsibilities then included responding to frequently asked questions about the Book of Mormon which we often received. I was frequently at the office and remember when Brent Hall showed me a FAX from Michael Watson, then Secretary to the First Presidency. Brent allowed me to make a copy of it, which we found very helpful at the time in responding to questions about the 1990 letter, which anti-Mormons at Utah Mission in Marlow Oklahoma and Watchman Fellowship in Texas were then giving wide circulation. This was shared with me and others at the time, including some who had written to FARMS with questions. Additionally, Professor William Hamblin had also written directly to Michael Watson and received a copy of the same FAX from the Office of the First Presidency as well which he cited in an article published in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies in 1993. <br />
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Some writers have claimed without basis that the FAX was either a fabrication or was sent by a Church employee in Salt Lake City without the knowledge or support of the First Presidency or Michael Watson. These claims are baseless. The following is a copy of a two page document which I retain in my personal files. The first page is a cover memo written and signed by Brent Hall who was the office manager at FARMS during this time. The second page is the FAX in question. The cover memo or first page reads: <br />
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<i>I thought you would be interested in this FAX from Michael Watson, secretary to the First Presidency. We have been receiving a number of questions from the Oklahoma, Texas area where anti-Mormons are using a letter from Brother Watson to a Bishop where Brother Watson said that the Church supports only one location for Cumorah, and that is the New York location. I talked with him on the phone the other day and told him of the questions that were coming to us. He responded that the First Presidency would like to clear up that issue and he would FAX me with the clarification.</i><br />
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The second page, the FAX itself is dated April 23, 1993 and was sent by Carla Ogden (presumably secretary working in the office) to Brent Hall at FARMS. It reads:<br />
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<i>The Church emphasizes the doctrinal and historical value of the Book of Mormon, not its geography. While some latter-day Saints have looked for possible locations and explanations because the New York Hill Cumorah does not readily fit the Book of Mormon description of Cumorah, there are no conclusive connections between the Book of Mormon text and any specific site that has been suggested.</i><br />
<br />
As indicated in this memo:<br />
<br />
1) Brent Hall spoke directly with Michael Watson and discussed the questions that were being generated by his previous 1990 letter. <br />
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2) Watson informed Hall that the First Presidency wanted to clear up the misunderstanding (that the Church considered the location of the final battlefield in New York a matter of revelation and doctrinal importance) and that the forthcoming FAX was intended to address that misunderstanding.<br />
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3) The FAX itself, when the context is understood, constitutes a correction of the 1990 Watson letter as well as a clarification of the Church position on the subject. It is consistent with earlier statements by Church leaders that the question of the location of the final battlefield of the Jaredites and Nephites at Cumorah, as with other points of Book of Mormon geography, should not be considered a matter that has been settled by revelation, is not a standard of doctrinal orthodoxy, but remains an open question for careful students of the Book of Mormon.<br />
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[For details see my discussion <a href="http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1467&index=3">“The Church and Book of Mormon Geography”</a>]<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-169725251024092119.post-58043729517742341812016-09-28T10:30:00.000-07:002016-09-28T10:30:16.642-07:00Darkness and Destruction in 3 Nephi 8-10 (Howlers # 32)"The author, evidently, mounts the fiery steed of his imagination and herds together every strange thing, every wonderful thing, every blood-curdling story, and every impossible thing he had ever heard of, or thought of, or dreamed of, and attempts, in this master effort, to combine them all in one huge miracle!"<br />
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M.T. Lamb, <i>The Golden Bible</i> (1887).<br />
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"The account of the convulsions of nature, which occurred in America at the time of Christ’s coming, would compel the geologist to re-examine his theories as to the formation of land and sea, and the astronomer to adjust his laws of the heavens to the wonderful three days of darkness."<br />
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F. S. Spalding, <i>Joseph Smith, Jr., As A Translator</i> (1912). <br />
<br />
"Geology and the Book of Mormon are in irreconcilable"<br />
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T. C. Smith, <i>The Book of Mormon and Mormonism</i> (1912).<br />
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<br />
Wrong again. Those contrary rascals over at <a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/what-caused-the-darkness-and-destruction-in-the-34th-year">Book of Mormon Central</a> provides an informative summary of recent research and perspectives.<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0