Lost in the Translation

Just how good a translator was Joseph Smith? On YouTube you can find videos by people letting us all know. You can find on Mormon sites that a PhD in Egytpian languages does not really know how to translate like Joesph Smith. These experts rely on grammar, association, science and other tools; but they do not understand the importance of religion in translating. Amazing how there is no special "religious code" to translate anything in the Bible. Greek (koine), Aramaic, and Hebrew seem to be pretty straight forward.

The above photo is some of the characters copied by Joseph from the rarely seen gold plates. These were presented to Dr. Anthon by Martin Harris. Anthon thought they were just randomly drawn figures that meant nothing. Today no one knows what any of these characters are. But leave it to Joseph to say Anthon thought his translation was one of the best he had ever seen. Mormons today say it is Joseph's word verses Anthon's. But why would Anthon have any more insight than any expert today.

Joseph had a chance to redem himself as a world class translator when the Book of Abraham papyrus was rediscovered in 1967. The LDS church was confident that Joseph's ability to translate would be verifed. With the discovery of the Papyri, Hugh Nibley (the Mormon's favorite think tank) was quickly put to work. He asked Dee Jay Nelson to first look at the work. He found it a fraud. (Unfortunately he also decided to improve his credentials and falsely started calling himself a PhD. ) Then Dr. Richard Parker from Brown University was asked, he published his findings in Dialogue. He also found it fraudulent. Unfortunately any Egyptian expert that has looked at the papyrus has also found it to be an Egyptian fureral text.

Now Joseph had a very creative method of translating most of his works. The golden plates for the Book of Mormon were translated with a stone in a hat pulled up over his face. (I am not kidding. This was recorded by David Whitmer whose home was used to do the tanslating.) Now I am certain none of the Egyptian experts tried to translate it that way. Sadly with the determination of the LDS church to justify Joseph, you can imagine their current prophets taking the infamous seer stone doing the same thing. Where did this method of rock in hat come from? It is the same method he used to search for buried treasure in the hills of New England. More on that later.

Acknowlege Racism- Not Yet

What is more relevant about Mormon racism today is not the answer, but how well crafted the question is. The question LDS like to answer is when were black people allowed to go to the temple? They have an answer for this one. While Brigham Young is often referred too about this 1978 revelation, his quote is truncated to make it look prophetic. Guess which part of the following quote is usually missing?

"Cain slew his brother . . . and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. . . . How long is that race [blacks] to endure the dreadful curse that is upon them? That curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 290).
Was this the only time brother Young made this kind of statement?

"When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity."(Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 143).

The question never answered is, "Do you believe that black skin is or ever was a sign of a curse from God?" Mitt Romney or any Mormon leader does not ever want to answer that one on national television. Any yes or no answer looks foolish. Any drawn out explaination looks weak. This is a question that anyone with knowledge of the pre-existance belief can answer.

"But those spirits in heaven that rather lent an influence to the devil, thinking he had a little the best right to govern, but did not take a very active part any way were required to come into the world and take bodies in the accursed lineage of Canaan; and hence the Negro or African race" (Speech of Elder Orson Hyde, delivered before the High Priests' Quorum, in Nauvoo, April 27, 1845, printed by John Taylor, p. 30).

"Those who were less valiant in pre-existence and who thereby had certain spiritual restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as the Negroes. Such spirits are sent to earth through the lineage of Cain, the mark put upon him for his rebellion against God and his murder of Abel being a black skin "(Mormon Doctrine, pp. 476-477, 1958 edition; p. 527 in the second edition in 1966).

But wait, LDS cry out that these statements do not come from the standard works. They are just opinions of these leaders. This is the response I have heard more than once. If your apostles and prophets cannot be trusted as guides, then what is their purpose? Why have apostles and prophets? Was anything really restored? Of course the real reason these are called "opinions" is that most LDS know in their hearts that this racism is wrong. Instead of trying to defend these statements, they try to deflect them.

Christian

I am amazed at the number of LDS websites that have posts which go at great length to prove they are Christian. They believe Jesus is God's son, they believe he was sinless, they believe he rose from the dead. These sites take many common points to prove their case. I have yet to see one that tells the whole story. Never do you see one that admits their Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer. It is rare to see one that admits they are polytheistic. When these rarely acknowledged points are known, it is obvious we are not talking about the Jesus of the Bible. (These same points are not found in the Book of Mormon either.) Mormons want to be known as 'followers of Christ.' I perfer to call them 'followers of Christ- the spirit brother of Lucifer.' Since Lucifer seeks to undermine Christ, I could also call them 'anti-Christians.'