Hi, I'm Grace. This is going to be my first post on the BOM Talks blog. I wanted to start out by taking a step back and looking at something interesting about the Book of Mormon. Bear with me.
Alma 8:109
"And thus ended the words of Amulek, Or this is all that I have written."
Wait, I'm sorry but this mystifies me. Isn't the BOM inspired as well? The person writing this doesn't know if the words of Amulek ended there or not? If he just puts that because there was more and he knows it but he didn't write it, why put the first statement in there at all? Shouldn't it be assumed if that's all that is there, then that's all we need to know?
Something Else Interesting...
The Testimony of the Three Witnesses! And The Testimony of The Eight Witnesses!
This is neatly tucked at the end of the Book of Mormon to prove that the plates Joseph Smith used to write the Book of Mormon did in fact exist. Eleven people total signed testimonies saying they saw the plates.
Now let's flip to the back of the Bible. we've got maps maybe, a brief concordance, maybe a picture if you have certain versions, etc. But guess what's not there? You guessed it, no testimony of witnesses!
There's several reasons for this:
1. The Bible stands on it's own as the inspired Word of God and doesn't need a verification certificate.
2. The Bible was written by many people over hundreds and hundreds of years, thusly, each individual person is a witness to God and the things that happened.
3. Events of the Bible were also witnessed by secular scholars without Jewish/Christian faith that have non-bias accounts of the happenings.
4. Events and teachings of the Bible can be backed up by factual science. By this I mean not the theories that are spouted without evidence, but by any science that is proven in stone. In fact, the Bible enlightens us on scientific happenings that were written down before science ever discovered it.
5. The original text, prior translation, is still available for others to read. There is no need to believe just one man's translation because you can get original Hebrew and/or Greek copies of the text and study it yourself.
This brings up another interesting point of how you can still get the original Bible text and study the Bible for yourself. Yes, there are many different interpretations out there of the Bible, I say interpretations because that's what most of them are, they aren't translations, but you can get a side by side Bible. I have a side by side and also a King James Version, which is the closest direct translation I have so far found. At any rate, my point is, if you don't trust something, such as the NIV (since they change a MULTITUDE of things in the Bible), go BACK to the original text. Get a side by side. Or even learn Greek and Hebrew and read it for yourself! It's still there.
However, the plates are not. Not only that, but good luck learning Reformed Egyptian, which has never even been verified as an actual language and in fact looks more like topsy turvy Greek letters than Egyptian. So how can you verify that the BOM translation that you have is the right one? You can't.
And you can't go by the older is better rule because the older you go the more blatant fallacies you will find. That's right, the newer versions took out a lot of information that PROVED the Book of Mormon false.
Then there is always their other tactic of just trying to change the facts that disprove their book by doing things such as starting the rumor that we never landed on the moon. Or we never went into space. We did. We certainly did. And there are no men living there. We also have satellites and pictures of space. If you don't believe in satellites either, don't use Satellite internet, tv, etc because all of that most be fake as well.
So, yes, I've gone on a bit of a bunny trail, but my point is, why should it be so hard to believe in something?
The verified facts should point to the TRUTH of your faith, not the falsehoods. If you have to grasp at straws to try and prove something is true, and if you have to make up evidence and hide the truth, then there may be an issue there.
So if the Book of Mormon is true, show me the evidence.
~Grace Marshall
Monday, August 3, 2015
Book of Mormon v.r.s. Bible's Lord's Prayer
Book of Mormon v.r.s. Bible's Lord's Prayer
Why do I say that? Well let's take a look. Lets start with something easy like the Lord's Prayer.
Bible: KJV - Matthew 6:9-13
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Book of Mormon: RCE - 3 Nephi 5:101
"After this manner, therefore, pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven,
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever! Amen.
Okay at first glance these sound very much in agreement. Yay! Mormons are Christians! But wait. Let's take a closer look. What if we look at them verse for verse?
Matt: 6:9- After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Nephi 5:101- After this manner, therefore, pray ye:
102- Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
6:10- Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
103- Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
6:11- Give us this day our daily bread.
104 - And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
6:12 - And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
105- And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.
6:13- And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
106- For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever! Amen.'
So first thing I'm sure you noticed is I put some words in red. These are Bible verses that are NOT in the book of Mormon. Was this intentional?! Maybe it was just lost in translation? Well let's look at how the Book of Mormon is designed. First, if you notice, it breaks Bible verse 6:9 into two verses Nephi 102-103. How is this relevant? Old trick, if you are going to trim things out without getting caught, make sure to add some fluff so it's not obviously.......less.
But why would the Book of Mormon not include "Thy kingdom come" and "Give us our daily bread?"
I can take some guesses but it really doesn't mater. The Book of Mormon and those that pray its prayer does not want God's kingdom to come. It doesn't ask for it in its prayer so therefore it IS different than what the Bible's prayer instructs you to ask for.
Now about giving us this day our daily bread. Whoa! Ask God to provide for you? No Joseph Smith couldn't have that. First Jesus already died on the cross providing us something far bigger than daily bread, but salvation. What do we have to do to obtain it? Nothing but claim his blood to cover our sins.
Well little Joe Smith couldn't have people thinking it's that easy. He needed people to work for their salvation in good deeds and tithing to "the church". So he took out instructing his followers to ask God. What does it say in the Bible? Ye have not because ye ask not.
There are a lot of differences in the Book of Mormon. Very crucial ones. In the coming posts we will explore them.
-J. Lindsey Marshall
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)