Difference between revisions of "FAIR Study Aids/Gospel Doctrine/Book of Mormon/Lesson One"

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==Cain as Bigfoot, or Cain "Translated"==
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=Lesson One: "The Keystone of our Religion"=
  
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==={{Claim label}}===
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==LDS Lesson Manual==
  
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Cain—son of Adam and Eve and the first murderer—still walks the earth today.
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http://lds.org/manual/book-of-mormon-gospel-doctrine-teachers-manual/lesson-1-the-keystone-of-our-religion?lang=eng
  
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==={{Response label}}===
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==Resources==
  
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Nowhere in scripture, ancient or modern, is it declared that Cain would or did live beyond his mortal years. No mention is made of his death, but we do read of Lamech, Cain’s great-great-great-grandson, who made the same covenant with Satan that Cain did. This covenant is described as being had “from [or since] the days of Cain,” which seems to indicate that Cain was dead by this time. (See {{s||Moses|5|51}}.)
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1.     “The Keystone of our Religion”
  
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In any case, the scripture is ambiguous, and so the door is left open for all kinds of speculation about what happened to the man from the land of Nod. And hence began a Mormon urban legend.  For what its worth, if an apocryphal source can be trusted at all, the ''Book of Jasher'' does happen to give an account of the death of Cain:
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a.      Discuss how, for the same reasons, the Book of Mormon also plays a “keystone” role in our apologetic efforts – our defense of the Church will fail if we cannot adequately defend the Book of Mormon
  
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:And Lamech was old and advanced in years, and his eyes were dim that he could not see, and Tubal Cain, his son, was leading him and it was one day that Lamech went into the field and Tubal Cain his son was with him, and whilst they were walking in the field, Cain the son of Adam advanced towards them; for Lamech was very old and could not see much, and Tubal Cain his son was very young. And Tubal Cain told his father to draw his bow, and with the arrows he smote Cain, who was yet far off, and he slew him, for he appeared to them to be an animal.  And the arrows entered Cain's body although he was distant from them, and he fell to the ground and died. And the Lord requited Cain's evil according to his wickedness, which he had done to his brother Abel, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken.  And it came to pass when Cain had died, that Lamech and Tubal went to see the animal which they had slain, and they saw, and behold Cain their grandfather was fallen dead upon the earth. (Jasher 2:26-30)
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b.      At the same time, due to the nature of how the Book of Mormon came forth, evidence for the Book of Mormon also serves as evidence that (1) God exists, (2) Jesus Christ is the Savior and was resurrected, (3) that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet, and (4) that the Church he established is God’s Church. Thus, when we can bolster faith in the Book of Mormon, other concerns lose some of their potency.
  
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It is an odd coincidence that in the folklore accounts, Cain appears as some sort of hideous creature, even if he is just a spirit, and in this apocryphal account, his descendants mistook him for an animal.  But this is nothing but coincidence.  Whatever the case, Cain is definitely dead.
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2.      Many Witnesses have Testified of the Book of Mormon
  
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The notion that Cain somehow lived on, survived the Flood, and roams the earth today, is familiar to modern members mostly based on a single claim of David W. Patten supposedly meeting “a very strange personage,” dark and hairy, who “was a wanderer in the earth and and traveled to and fro.” (Thus managing to tie Cain to another popular urban legend: Bigfoot.)
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a.      The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith
  
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This account was published in a biography of Patten written by Lycurgus Wilson in 1900. Wilson had a letter from Abraham Smoot giving his recollection of what Patten said. In historical parlance this is what is called a late, third-hand account—the sort of thing most historians would dismiss. This kind of testimony is simply unreliable, tainted by the passage of time and the fog of memory.
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-          Angel vs. Treasure Guardian: Some critics have claimed that Joseph Smith’s story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon started out a money-digger’s yarn, with Moroni as a spirit guardian of buried treasure. Earliest sources better support the religious context (Mark Ashurst-McGee; Larry E. Morris). Furthermore, ancient motifs of angels delivering hidden books better fits the context of Joseph Smith’s story (John A. Tvedtnes)
  
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The story probably would have been forgotten if then-Elder Spencer W. Kimball hadn’t included it on pages 127–28 of ''The Miracle of Forgiveness''. Elder Kimball’s book has become a staple of Mormon reading, the book that many bishops give to members struggling with sin and many mission presidents assign their missionaries to read.
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-         Evidence for metal records and the practice of hiding them and other important documents in stone boxes; sealed books, etc.
  
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The passage where Kimball quotes Wilson is really unnecessary to the chapter itself, which is about unforgivable sins, including murder. He cites several examples of murderers in the scriptures, beginning with Cain. He then throws in, almost as a passing idea, “an interesting story” about Cain.
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-          Could also add insight from Elder Holland’s October 2009 GC talk about Joseph and Hyrum affirming the divinity of the Book of Mormon in the face of death.
  
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Matthew Bowman wrote that Wesley Smith, the brother of President Joseph Fielding Smith, was reportedly also almost attacked by a hideous being. He rebuked the entity with his priesthood, similar to the Patten story.  He then related the story to President Smith, who naturally identified this character as Cain, basing that identification on the David Patten story.  Even if we give Wesley Smith the benefit of the doubt, and grant that some evil spirit made an appearance, using critical thinking we can surmise that there is no justification for even making that identification of Cain.  Any evil spirit theoretically could appear as a hideous being.  Other folklorish stories are similar in their details.
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b.     The Three and Eight Witnesses
  
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It appears, according to Bowman, that the conflation of the myths of the wandering Cain and Bigfoot started around 1980 with some Bigfoot sightings in South Weber, Utah, and by 1990, those residents were associating their Bigfoot sightings with Cain.  (''Journal of Mormon History'', Fall 2007, "A Mormon Bigfoot: David Patten's Cain and the Conception of Evil in LDS Folklore", pp. 62-82).  An author named Shane Lester has even gone so far as to write a fictional book based on the conflation of these stories called the ''Clan of Cain: The Genesis of Bigfoot.''  However, oddly, Lester made the following claim, referring to the Patten story...
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-          Could discuss the different experiences of the two sets of witnesses, how they compliment and affirm each other.
  
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:A recently uncovered document reveals a possible connection between the origins of the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and Bigfoot.  Searching through the archives of historical church documents the author, Shane Lester, uncovered an extraordinary story that becomes the foundation of a new theory about the origins of Bigfoot. "I uncovered an obscure historical document that sheds new light on the Bigfoot mystery. I used this encounter as the basis for a fictional story that links the mystical, legend of Bigfoot to the origins of Mormonism," says author, Shane Lester ([http://web.archive.org/web/20080609233412/http://www.mormonstoday.com/011207/A2Bigfoot01.shtml])
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-         Share background information on each or some of the witnesses that show that they were honest and trustworthy.
  
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He is he taking credit for "uncovering" some historical document from Church archives, as if the story is news.  The story that he is referring to is unambiguously Elder Patten's story of the encounter with Cain in the first chapter of the book.  Lester originally had offered a sneak-peek at that first chapter on his site. ([http://web.archive.org/web/20040701233040/http://clanofcain.com/]}.  But the story about Patten and Cain has been publicly available since Wilson's book on Patten came out in the year 1900 (a century before Lester wrote his book).  Furthermore, the account is anything but obscure.  It is well-known because of President Kimball's book.  He claims the Cain-is-Bigfoot theory is "new" and that it sheds "new light" on Bigfoot.  The theory has been around for several decades now, and it is very unlikely that Lester was the one to originate it.  As we just saw in a preceding paragraph, Bowman documented where that came from.  Thus, Lester is making claims that are utterly baseless.  The ''Clan of Cain'' isn't Lester's only book that attempts to link Mormons with occult themes.  He also wrote a book on Mormons and a theory linking them to extraterrestrials called ''The Conversion Conspiracy'', which also features LDS folkloric themes.  ([http://www.amazon.com/Conversion-Conspiracy-Shane-Lester/dp/1601453337]).
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-         Talk about how none ever denied their testimony, despite the fact that some fell away.
  
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Why is it that some LDS people give these stories doctrinal credence?  Does that not manifest a measure of gullibility?  Is it only because President Kimball quoted it?  They give Cain some kind of quasi-translated status based on the story alone, without question, as if he is some kind of hideous undead creature akin to a vampire or zombie that can appear and attack people physically.  Why is no skepticism applied to the story, and to the new folklore that has arisen around it?  Wasn't Cain a son of perdition, a liar from the beginning?  Would someone believe claims from Mark Hoffman?  Then why should they believe possible words from the mouth of Cain?  As far as can be discerned from the folklore account, Elder Patten did not test Cain by shaking his hand to see if he was truly corporeal. What justification would there be to believe the words of a son of perdition?  It doesn't make sense that any good-thinking person would give those claims credence.
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-          Comment of the Consistency of their testimony.
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-          Relevant Criticisms: the witnesses are superstitious or visionary and therefore not reliable; some reports show they only claimed to see them “with an eye of faith” (or “spiritual eyes”), “out of the body”, “in a vision”, etc.; attempts to pass the experience of the three witnesses off as a hallucination, hypnotic spell, or merely “visionary”; attempts to redefine the experience of the eight witnesses as “visionary”; fuss over the fact that Joseph wrote the signed statements in the Book of Mormon; complaints that “all witnesses” stood by their testimony is an exaggeration since we don’t have personal writings from all 11 affirming their testimony. (Essentially all of these have been dealt with by Richard Lloyd Anderson in his book, or the various articles he has written)
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c.      Other Witnesses
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-          Inform people about the little know stories of the “informal witnesses” such as William Smith, Lucy Mack Smith, Emma Smith, Mary Whitmer, Lucy Harris, Josiah Stowell, etc. Discuss how these experience help solidify the objective existence of real, tangible plates.
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3.      The Book of Mormon was Written for Our Day
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a.      Here the Manual points out that although the Book of Mormon is ancient, it was still written for our day. While this is true, it could also be pointed out that although the Book of Mormon was written for our day, it is still an ancient document. Meaning, that it should not be held to modern assumptions and expectations. While it is good to “liken” the scriptures to ourselves for spiritual and practical purposes, we should not subsequently impose our modern viewpoint onto the authors of the ancient text. Understanding this import concept helps resolve several criticisms against the text.
 +
 
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4.      The Book of Mormon Can Bring us Nearer to God
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a.      Since the this refers us to the quote that also says the Book of Mormon is the “most correct” book, this could be a good time to discuss scriptural fallibility, pointing out that the Title Page warns about the “faults of men”(as do other verses in the Book of Mormon).
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b.      Also, since critics frequently use this quote when making a fuss over changes in the Book of Mormon, it might be a good time to introduce the Critical Text Project and Skousen’s Earliest Text edition of the Book of Mormon.   
 +
 
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c.      Finally, a discussion of what Joseph Smith actually meant by “most correct book” and how the critics are completely missing the mark may also be in order.
 +
 
 +
5.      Additional Scholarly/Apologetic issues pertinent to the Introductory martial (Title Page, Introduction, etc.)
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a.      Joseph Smith said the Title Page was at the back of the plates. This is counterintuitive to our modern sensibilities, but exactly what should be expected from an ancient Near-Eastern document (William J. Hamblin).
 +
 
 +
b.      The Introduction says that Book of Mormon peoples are “among” the ancestors of the Native Americans. This could be a doorway to discussing:
 +
 
 +
-          “Others” in the Book of Mormon: This implies that others would have also been in the America’s before Columbus, and a close reading of the Book of Mormon text also suggests the presence of others (John Sorenson, Matt Roper, and others)
 +
 
 +
-          The limited scope of Book of Mormon Geography: Book of Mormon people thus only occupied a small portion of the continent, a fact that is clear from a close reading of the text.
 +
 
 +
-          DNA and the Book of Mormon: Point out that critics have used DNA to attack the Book of Mormon, but LDS scientists have shown that this criticism is ill-founded, and have provided several reasons why their DNA might disappear.
 +
 
 +
-          While human genetics does not offer evidence of Near-Eastern contact, evidence from other fields, such as linguistics, do (Brian Stubbs). Could also point out evidence gathered by John Sorenson from botany, etc. and discuss the importance, as Sorenson points out, of using a holistic approach and not just relying on one type of evidence, like DNA.
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-          The Introduction talks about the translation by the “gift and power of God.” This could be a doorway to discussing different translation theories, and how we don’t know exactly what it means to translate by the “gift and power.” Discussion such as this may be necessary in conjunction with the discussion of changes and scriptural fallibility.  
  
 
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Revision as of 14:46, 23 December 2011

  1. REDIRECTTemplate:Test3

Lesson One: "The Keystone of our Religion"

LDS Lesson Manual

http://lds.org/manual/book-of-mormon-gospel-doctrine-teachers-manual/lesson-1-the-keystone-of-our-religion?lang=eng

Resources

1. “The Keystone of our Religion”

a. Discuss how, for the same reasons, the Book of Mormon also plays a “keystone” role in our apologetic efforts – our defense of the Church will fail if we cannot adequately defend the Book of Mormon

b. At the same time, due to the nature of how the Book of Mormon came forth, evidence for the Book of Mormon also serves as evidence that (1) God exists, (2) Jesus Christ is the Savior and was resurrected, (3) that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet, and (4) that the Church he established is God’s Church. Thus, when we can bolster faith in the Book of Mormon, other concerns lose some of their potency.

2. Many Witnesses have Testified of the Book of Mormon

a. The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith

- Angel vs. Treasure Guardian: Some critics have claimed that Joseph Smith’s story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon started out a money-digger’s yarn, with Moroni as a spirit guardian of buried treasure. Earliest sources better support the religious context (Mark Ashurst-McGee; Larry E. Morris). Furthermore, ancient motifs of angels delivering hidden books better fits the context of Joseph Smith’s story (John A. Tvedtnes)

- Evidence for metal records and the practice of hiding them and other important documents in stone boxes; sealed books, etc.

- Could also add insight from Elder Holland’s October 2009 GC talk about Joseph and Hyrum affirming the divinity of the Book of Mormon in the face of death.

b. The Three and Eight Witnesses

- Could discuss the different experiences of the two sets of witnesses, how they compliment and affirm each other.

- Share background information on each or some of the witnesses that show that they were honest and trustworthy.

- Talk about how none ever denied their testimony, despite the fact that some fell away.

- Comment of the Consistency of their testimony.

- Relevant Criticisms: the witnesses are superstitious or visionary and therefore not reliable; some reports show they only claimed to see them “with an eye of faith” (or “spiritual eyes”), “out of the body”, “in a vision”, etc.; attempts to pass the experience of the three witnesses off as a hallucination, hypnotic spell, or merely “visionary”; attempts to redefine the experience of the eight witnesses as “visionary”; fuss over the fact that Joseph wrote the signed statements in the Book of Mormon; complaints that “all witnesses” stood by their testimony is an exaggeration since we don’t have personal writings from all 11 affirming their testimony. (Essentially all of these have been dealt with by Richard Lloyd Anderson in his book, or the various articles he has written)

c. Other Witnesses

- Inform people about the little know stories of the “informal witnesses” such as William Smith, Lucy Mack Smith, Emma Smith, Mary Whitmer, Lucy Harris, Josiah Stowell, etc. Discuss how these experience help solidify the objective existence of real, tangible plates.

3. The Book of Mormon was Written for Our Day

a. Here the Manual points out that although the Book of Mormon is ancient, it was still written for our day. While this is true, it could also be pointed out that although the Book of Mormon was written for our day, it is still an ancient document. Meaning, that it should not be held to modern assumptions and expectations. While it is good to “liken” the scriptures to ourselves for spiritual and practical purposes, we should not subsequently impose our modern viewpoint onto the authors of the ancient text. Understanding this import concept helps resolve several criticisms against the text.

4. The Book of Mormon Can Bring us Nearer to God

a. Since the this refers us to the quote that also says the Book of Mormon is the “most correct” book, this could be a good time to discuss scriptural fallibility, pointing out that the Title Page warns about the “faults of men”(as do other verses in the Book of Mormon).

b. Also, since critics frequently use this quote when making a fuss over changes in the Book of Mormon, it might be a good time to introduce the Critical Text Project and Skousen’s Earliest Text edition of the Book of Mormon.

c. Finally, a discussion of what Joseph Smith actually meant by “most correct book” and how the critics are completely missing the mark may also be in order.

5. Additional Scholarly/Apologetic issues pertinent to the Introductory martial (Title Page, Introduction, etc.)

a. Joseph Smith said the Title Page was at the back of the plates. This is counterintuitive to our modern sensibilities, but exactly what should be expected from an ancient Near-Eastern document (William J. Hamblin).

b. The Introduction says that Book of Mormon peoples are “among” the ancestors of the Native Americans. This could be a doorway to discussing:

- “Others” in the Book of Mormon: This implies that others would have also been in the America’s before Columbus, and a close reading of the Book of Mormon text also suggests the presence of others (John Sorenson, Matt Roper, and others)

- The limited scope of Book of Mormon Geography: Book of Mormon people thus only occupied a small portion of the continent, a fact that is clear from a close reading of the text.

- DNA and the Book of Mormon: Point out that critics have used DNA to attack the Book of Mormon, but LDS scientists have shown that this criticism is ill-founded, and have provided several reasons why their DNA might disappear.

- While human genetics does not offer evidence of Near-Eastern contact, evidence from other fields, such as linguistics, do (Brian Stubbs). Could also point out evidence gathered by John Sorenson from botany, etc. and discuss the importance, as Sorenson points out, of using a holistic approach and not just relying on one type of evidence, like DNA.

- The Introduction talks about the translation by the “gift and power of God.” This could be a doorway to discussing different translation theories, and how we don’t know exactly what it means to translate by the “gift and power.” Discussion such as this may be necessary in conjunction with the discussion of changes and scriptural fallibility.


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