When a book's origin has as much plausibility as the original Book of Mormon, minus our contemptible confirmation biases we acquired at birth, we can read the book with hope and faith first, and then ask God about it. I find the small book delightful, encouraging and chock full of Melchizedek-style mysteries if we have an eye for seeing. Some of the passages are odd, but it's like the original in that way. The original is criticized mercilessly by thoughtless critics we can detect a mile away! Why? because we can imagine, to our righteous selves, what must lurk in their black hearts, we'll reason, but truthfully the Book of Mormon is delightful to us because we first had faith in it. BTW... it's ironic that someone posted the book is a bad Google Translation. Ha! Google Translation from what? Some have even reasoned it's a bad Google Translation from Portuguese. If it's Portuguese, then from where did the Portuguese come? If the plates are phony, how were they produced and how did their physicallity slip by the 8 honorable men who hefted and examine them know full well know-it-alls would accuse them of being duped. Ha! again. Here's another Ha! There were two scribes, one for Portuguese and one for the English. The English scribe says the book was translated from the Interpreter Stones in the seer's hand. The seer cannot speak English very well at all, and yet somehow, what we got is a pretty good read. It is definitely not a Google Translation and I can prove it all day long, passage after passage. So, read it for yourself, and eschew the accusers, deriders and critics like you do tobacco, drugs and alcohol. ...Anyway, a friend of mine on Facebook, with the initials D.H., posted the following very interesting snippet regarding one of those difficult and odd Book of Mormon passages that relates to what I am writing:
2 Nephi 12:84: “And their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes: and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people.”
To be perfectly honest, the following verse in the Book of Mormon has always bothered me. The idea that once indigenous peoples (seed of Lehi) become righteous that they would become white (as in their skin color will change) has always bothered me. This has been something people have debated about and questioned for years. The obvious connotation would seem to be that all righteous people are white? As if the ancient Hebrew people themselves were somehow Caucasian?
Mauricio has shared more details with us regarding the operation of the Urim and Thummim than we have previously had, saying that the translators presented often offered not just one word, but a number of choices, different words of similar meaning that could be used, and that in some cases perhaps none of those words perfectly matched the exact meaning and context of the original ancient text, but would present a number of options that come close to it.
With that new knowledge, as I was re-reading the Sealed Book of Mormon, my eyes landed on this:
Words of Moroni 1:2: “But, behold, many shall believe the words of this book, and rejoice to know that it proceedeth out of the hand of God, and from their eyes will fall the scales of the darkness that prevents them from seeing in their fullness the truth sent from the heavens to the children of men, and before many generations pass, they will begin to coalesce in true knowledge, and they will become a pure and pleasing people in the sight of the Lord upon all the inhabited earth.”
Here we read Moroni saying something very similar to the Book of Mormon. The descriptor words are a bit different and yet make all the difference in how we perceive their meaning. The Sealed Book of Mormon depicts a people becoming “pure and pleasing” as opposed to “white and a delightsome.” These two statements are very similar, and appear to be speaking of the same event, same circumstances. Which leads me to question: Was Joseph Smith Jr. also presented with a number of word choices, and he simply selected white and a delightsome as opposed to pure and pleasing?
Can you say, Uncle yet? Read it!
Jonathan C Felt
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Do you want a pure heart? Do you want so see God?
Jesus said, "Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they shall see God." This Sealed Book of Mormon contains the instruction of the Holy Spirit and of Jesus Christ on effectual prayer, speaking the name of God in power, and creating by the Holy Spirit within ourselves a Pure Heart that we might "see God." This is Good and all good comes from God and is loved by the children of God. Don't let others rob you or take this key to the Kingdom of Heaven away from you with their negative comments.Numbers 6:24-26 Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: 25 the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
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That they must get it for the Gems in it
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