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Difference between revisions of "Detailed response to CES Letter, Conclusion"
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|claim=The author states, "When I first discovered that Joseph Smith used a rock in a hat to translate the Book of Mormon, that he was married to 11 other men’s wives, and that the Book of Abraham has absolutely nothing to do with the papyri or facsimiles…I went into a panic. I desperately needed answers and I needed them 3 hours ago. Among the first sources I looked to for answers were official Church sources such as Mormon.org and LDS.org. I couldn’t find them." | |claim=The author states, "When I first discovered that Joseph Smith used a rock in a hat to translate the Book of Mormon, that he was married to 11 other men’s wives, and that the Book of Abraham has absolutely nothing to do with the papyri or facsimiles…I went into a panic. I desperately needed answers and I needed them 3 hours ago. Among the first sources I looked to for answers were official Church sources such as Mormon.org and LDS.org. I couldn’t find them." | ||
|answer= | |answer= | ||
| − | * | + | *We found no mention of marriages to "11 other men's wives," on lds.org. We did find a number of mentions of plural marriage. |
| − | * | + | *We found the following mentions of a seer stone being used to translate the Book of Mormon, with a few mentions of the hat, on lds.org: |
**'''September 1974 ''Friend''''': "To help him with the translation, Joseph found with the gold plates “a curious instrument which the ancients called Urim and Thummim, which consisted of two transparent stones set in a rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate.” '''Joseph also used an egg-shaped, brown rock for translating called a seer stone.'''" <br>—“A Peaceful Heart,” ''Friend'', Sep 1974, 7 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/friend/1974/09/a-peaceful-heart}} | **'''September 1974 ''Friend''''': "To help him with the translation, Joseph found with the gold plates “a curious instrument which the ancients called Urim and Thummim, which consisted of two transparent stones set in a rim of a bow fastened to a breastplate.” '''Joseph also used an egg-shaped, brown rock for translating called a seer stone.'''" <br>—“A Peaceful Heart,” ''Friend'', Sep 1974, 7 {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/friend/1974/09/a-peaceful-heart}} | ||
**'''September 1977 ''Ensign''''': “'''Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light.'''" <br>—{{Ensign1|author=Richard Lloyd Anderson|article=‘By the Gift and Power of God’|date=Sep 1977|start=79, emphasis added}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/09/by-the-gift-and-power-of-god}} | **'''September 1977 ''Ensign''''': “'''Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light.'''" <br>—{{Ensign1|author=Richard Lloyd Anderson|article=‘By the Gift and Power of God’|date=Sep 1977|start=79, emphasis added}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/09/by-the-gift-and-power-of-god}} | ||
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**'''July 1993 ''Ensign''''': "David Whitmer wrote: ' '''Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light'''; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine.'" <br>—Russell M. Nelson, “A Treasured Testament,” ''Ensign'', Jul 1993, 61. {{ea}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1993/07/a-treasured-testament}} | **'''July 1993 ''Ensign''''': "David Whitmer wrote: ' '''Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light'''; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine.'" <br>—Russell M. Nelson, “A Treasured Testament,” ''Ensign'', Jul 1993, 61. {{ea}} {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1993/07/a-treasured-testament}} | ||
**'''January 2013 ''Ensign''''': "Some of the Prophet Joseph’s earliest revelations came through the same means by which he translated the Book of Mormon from the gold plates. . . .He described the instrument as “spectacles” and referred to it using an Old Testament term, Urim and Thummim. . . . He also sometimes applied the term to other stones he possessed, called “seer stones” because they aided him in receiving revelations as a seer. The Prophet received some early revelations through the use of these seer stones." {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/01/great-and-marvelous-are-the-revelations-of-god?lang=eng}} (NOTE: This was published after the author constructed his "Letter to a CES Director.") | **'''January 2013 ''Ensign''''': "Some of the Prophet Joseph’s earliest revelations came through the same means by which he translated the Book of Mormon from the gold plates. . . .He described the instrument as “spectacles” and referred to it using an Old Testament term, Urim and Thummim. . . . He also sometimes applied the term to other stones he possessed, called “seer stones” because they aided him in receiving revelations as a seer. The Prophet received some early revelations through the use of these seer stones." {{link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/01/great-and-marvelous-are-the-revelations-of-god?lang=eng}} (NOTE: This was published after the author constructed his "Letter to a CES Director.") | ||
| − | * | + | *We found the following mentions that the Joseph Smith papyri does not contain the text of the Book of Abraham on lds.org: |
**'''March 1976 ''Ensign:''''' A Book of Breathings text that closely matches the Joseph Smith version (and there are precious few of them) is the so-called Kerasher Book of Breathings. It too has a frontispiece, only in this case it is the same as our Facsimile No. 3, showing that it too is closely associated with our text." <br>—Hugh Nibley, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, 34–36 {{Link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/03/i-have-a-question}} | **'''March 1976 ''Ensign:''''' A Book of Breathings text that closely matches the Joseph Smith version (and there are precious few of them) is the so-called Kerasher Book of Breathings. It too has a frontispiece, only in this case it is the same as our Facsimile No. 3, showing that it too is closely associated with our text." <br>—Hugh Nibley, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, 34–36 {{Link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/03/i-have-a-question}} | ||
**'''July 1988 ''Ensign:''''' Why doesn’t the translation of the Egyptian papyri found in 1967 match the text of the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price? <br>—Michael D. Rhodes, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, July 1988, 51–53 {{Link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1988/07/i-have-a-question}} | **'''July 1988 ''Ensign:''''' Why doesn’t the translation of the Egyptian papyri found in 1967 match the text of the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price? <br>—Michael D. Rhodes, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, July 1988, 51–53 {{Link|url=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1988/07/i-have-a-question}} | ||
Revision as of 13:30, 13 July 2013
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[[../|Letter to a CES Director]] |