|
|
| (7 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| − | =={{Question label}}==
| + | #REDIRECT [[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/The "Book of Lehi"]] |
| − | Mr. Nemelka claims to have been commanded to translate the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, as well as the lost 116 pages. What can you tell me about this?
| |
| − | | |
| − | =={{Answer label}}==
| |
| − | | |
| − | As part of his 'prophetic call,' Nemelka produced what he claims is a translation of the lost 116 pages, or "Book of Lehi." This portion of Mormon's abridgement (from Lehi to King Benjamin, roughly) was lost by Martin Harris after the manuscript was loaned to him by Joseph Smith (See [http://scriptures.lds.org/dc/3/1#1 D&C 3], [http://scriptures.lds.org/dc/128/10#10 D&C 10]).
| |
| − | | |
| − | ===History of the author===
| |
| − | | |
| − | Interested readers should consult the article below, which discusses Nemelka's history and tactics:
| |
| − | * Ben Fulton, "True Believer," ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' (27 December 2001) {{link|url=http://www.slweekly.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=1CABD745-2BF4-55D0-F1F7A0674E76FE36 on-line}}
| |
| − | * Stephen Dark, "Sealed Fate," ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' (26 January 2011). {{link|url=http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-13162-sealed-fate.html?current_page=all}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | The article makes the following claims: | |
| − | | |
| − | ====Biographical dates of interest for Christopher Nemelka====
| |
| − | * 1980 - Nemelka graduates from high school
| |
| − | * Summer 1984 - Nemelka claims that as an employee of LDS Church security, he was in the Salt Lake Temple. He reports there being called as a prophet.
| |
| − | * 1986 - Nemelka divorces from first wife, Paula Blades. They have two children.
| |
| − | * June 1991 - Ex-wife's family gets Nemelka's two children placed under care of Montana's Division of Family services; Nemelka takes one child unlawfully, and is charged with kidnapping. He eventually returns the child, who returns to his mother's custody, and charges are dropped.
| |
| − | * 1993 - Nemelka divorces from second wife, Jackie Stoll. He eventually finishes "the sealed portion," and markets it to some LDS fundamentalist groups. This leads to marriage with two plural wives, who also eventually leave him.
| |
| − | * 1996 - Vicky Prunty, one of the plural wives, cuts ties from Nemelka.
| |
| − | * Fall 2000 - Nemelka tells LDS member Christine Marie that he is an atheist; they later begin dating, and Nemelka announces that this was only a test. He tells Marie that he is a prophet, called to translate the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. She eventually gives him at least $5000.
| |
| − | * March 2001 - After visiting the home of an ex-wife, Nemelka sentenced to one year in the Salt Lake County jail for violating a restraining order.
| |
| − | * 20 April 2001 - Nemelka reports receiving a revelation in jail instructing him to take a plural wife
| |
| − | * 21 December 2001 - Interview with ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' published, in which he admits to forging the Sealed Portion, lying, and exploiting the religious hopes of others (see quotes below).
| |
| − | * March 2002 - scheduled release from prison for violation of restraining order.
| |
| − | * Mr. Nemelka was also excommunicated on an unspecified date for writing a paper about LDS temple ceremonies.
| |
| − | | |
| − | The article also provided the following quotations which it attributes directly to Nemelka:
| |
| − | | |
| − | ====Quotes from Nemelka====
| |
| − | * "What I did do was I deceived her [Christine Marie] religiously. I played with her religious beliefs and mind, which I do not think a person should do..."
| |
| − | * "My whole purpose, though, was to write the sealed portion. Get the sealed portion done. Sell it to the church. My whole idea was to sell it to the LDS church. I was going to sell it to them, because all the Mormons are looking for the sealed portion to come back. I thought I had a good talent for writing. I was going to write it up and sell it to them. They could do with it what they wanted. They probably would have kept it off the market."
| |
| − | * "I set about in my own mischievous and arrogant way, of which I’m not proud of now, to prove that a person could actually write scripture and present it to people who were looking for certain scripture...I was playing on the belief that LDS people have that one day the gold plates would be returned and the sealed portion would be translated. Basically, I set about to write a fictitious version of the sealed portion as I thought Joseph Smith would have written it had he continued to perpetuate his translation of the gold plates. Much to the chagrin of the LDS church and others, what I wrote was indeed well versed and quite appropriate for the scripture I was trying to portray. Anybody who reads it would just be totally amazed."
| |
| − | * “My true intent was to somehow perpetuate a religion that would be based on true Christian principals of Christ-like love...Where I made my greatest mistake, for which I’m now extremely sorry for, is that I used deception to perpetuate what I proposed as the truth, assuming at the time that Joseph Smith had done the same thing.”
| |
| − | * “See, when I did that thing with the fundamentalist group, there were people who wanted to kill me. They were so mad. When I came out and told these other polygamists, fundamentalist guys, that I had really written the sealed portion, that I had done it just to show people that it could be done—they were very upset.”
| |
| − | * “When I deal with people, I am amazed at the ignorance and stupidity of most. People are so easily manipulated and deceived. Knowing this has made me a near master of manipulation. I try only to use this art, however, to help people. Sometimes the things I do seem terrible at the time, but usually the manipulation works to accomplish that which I intended.”
| |
| − | * “Yeah that’s, that’s all bull****,” Nemelka said from jail. “All the revelations are bull****, of course. I made ‘em up.” {{ref|curse1}}
| |
| − | * “I’m even glad you’re doing the article, in a way...I am, so that the sealed portion will never go anywhere. There’s a lot to it, a lot more than what you’ve got. In the wrong hands it could really wreak havoc on a Mormon church, which I don’t want to do.”
| |
| − | | |
| − | ====Later Developments====
| |
| − | Since his release from prison, the ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' reports that Mr. Nemelka has resumed his prophetic claims and is again insisting that the "sealed portion" is a true prophetic translation. He insists that his confession for the newspaper interview was all a lie to deceive the judge in charge of his case:
| |
| − | | |
| − | :I knew I had to portray something to [Judge] Lindberg that would appease her personal opinion that I thought I was "above her law", and more especially, above the laws of the powerful LDS Church to which she belonged. With her legal power, she could have easily had me confined to a mental institution, if she actual thought I was serious about my calling as the revelator of the sealed portion of the plates of Mormon. I was in her grasp and I wanted out.
| |
| − | :The conclusion I came up with was simple: Lie to Ben Fulton and get him to write something that would impress Lindberg into thinking that I was done with The Sealed Portion and would have nothing further to do with it in the future...Everything I said to [reporter] Ben Fulton of The City Weekly was an attempted manipulation to attempt to ease the mind of Judge Denise Lindberg...{{ref|nemelkaexplain}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | In 2007, Nemelka sued the Church, Jeffrey R. Holland, M. Russell Ballard, and others for "Assault, Libel, and Slander." The suit was dismissed two days later.{{ref|lawsuit1}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | Of this event, Nemelka later indicated:
| |
| − | | |
| − | :Nemelka says he’s rather a messenger for “advanced beings from another planet,” even though he’s issued several prophecies. Those same beings, he says, told him to sue his critics in 2007, something he’s told those who believe in him they shouldn’t do. “I have to disregard all rules of humanity,” he says, laughing. “I’m the ultimate hypocrite. I’m under mandate to violate every gospel of Christ that I perpetuate.”{{ref|reasons.suing.1}}
| |
| − | | |
| − | =={{Endnotes label}}==
| |
| − | | |
| − | #{{note|curse1}} ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' (27 Dec 2001) (obscenity present in original).
| |
| − | #{{note|nemelkaexplain}} The Sealed Portion Website, "Questions," last accessed 5 July 2005. {{link|url=http://qanda.thesealedportion.com/qna_threads//read.php?10,126 }}
| |
| − | #{{note|lawsuit1}} "Nemelka v. Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. et al," ''news.justia.com'' (last accessed 12 October 2008) {{link|url=http://news.justia.com/cases/featured/utah/utdce/2:2007cv00524/62419/}}
| |
| − | #{{note|reasons.suing.1}} Stephen Dark, "Sealed Fate," ''Salt Lake City Weekly'' (26 January 2011). {{link|url=http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-13162-sealed-fate.html?current_page=all}}
| |
