Can you imagine how livid he would have been at having to clear the table after dinner or wash his own garments? That poor man.
Here is some great information on the Book of Mormon, I've got tons more on all of the scriptures.
Was Joseph Smith Smarter Than the Average Fourth Year Hebrew Student? Finding a Restoration-Significant Hebraism in Book of Mormon Isaiah
Paul Y. Hoskisson
Here are just a few quotes.
To produce a Hebraism hidden in the English text by inserting when, an otherwise unattested reading of this Isaiah verse, would seem like an impossible task for Joseph Smith, given that he had much less schooling than the average reader today. Yet that is exactly what he produced.
The resolution to the missing apodosis can be found in that venerable grammar of biblical Hebrew, Gesenius, as it is affectionately called. It was first published more than two hundred years ago in German and has been revised numerous times. The standard English edition first appeared in 1910 and is a revision of the 28th German edition.13 As a budding young prophet, Joseph Smith must have had Gesenius on the top of his must-read list if he were going to create a Hebraism. In any case, ยง112 contains a lengthy explanation of the grammatical structure of the Hebrew main clause, that is, the apodosis.
Here is a little more.
If Joseph had been even moderately educated for his day, he might have known that italicized words in the King James Old Testament Bible of his day were added to aid in the translation. The italicized words are not translations of any Hebrew words, but were important to help make the English text read like English. Therefore, he could have simply, without much thought, omitted in the Book of Mormon version the italicized words of the King James translation and thereby could have created a text that was more Hebraic than the King James. In fact only twenty-nine percent of King James Isaiah italics was altered in the Book of Mormon renderings of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon version,8 which indicates Joseph was not mindlessly changing italicized words in the text.
In fact, in the Isaiah sections of the Book of Mormon, besides omitting italicized words, โmany times the italics in the [King James Version] are replaced with other words.โ9 Such is the case in the verse in question. Josephโs dictated text omits the that in this verse and substitutes a different relative conjunction when in the place of the King James that: โAnd it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lordโs house shall be establish
... keep reading on reddit โก
I first met James Stoddard in the MTC where he was my teacher for five weeks. His testimony of Jesus Christ and in the restoration of the church through Joseph Smith was larger than life, and we nearly hung on his every word. His example set the tone for my mission and love for reading the words of the prophets of the church.
About 10 years ago, I met him again when I started work at a software company based in Provo, UT. Sitting in orientation, the presenter skimmed through the employee directory and I saw his name go by. Excited, I found where he was located and caught up on old times. Whenever I was in town, we always had a good chat and I was fascinated with his research and work he was producing as part of the Joseph Smith Foundation, which he started. When he left, he went in full time on this foundation, partnering with his daughter, Hannah, to produce books, videos, presentations and websites to promote faith, answer questions, and help those struggling with a faith crisis.
Last year I experienced my own faith crisis and I reached out to him again for help. He offered some 1-on-1 counseling to answer questions. I purchased a couple of his faith crisis books and found them very informative and well written. Although we ended up on different sides of belief, I will always be grateful for his willingness to help, his friendship and the example he set when I was just a young missionary about to be sent out into the world.
His funeral will be held tomorrow in Salem, UT. Details can be found here:
I finished the book "an insider's view of Mormon origins" According to documents of that time, including Lucy Mac's journal, the whole Smith family, except Hyrum's widow, and all the living witnesses of the BOM except Crowdery, followed Strang and joined his church. He claimed that he saw angels that showed him where to find the plates of Laban (remember when Nephi was commanded to kill Laban to get the plates?), he (Strang) got them in some hidden place and translated them and publish them. Man I wish I could have access to that book of "scriptures"! Anyway... In her journal, in 1845, Lucy Mac wrote that she was satisfied that James Strang was the rightful successor of her son Joseph, and that he was the prophet, seer and revelator of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints.
Confused much? Me too. I'm not sure if I keep digging for more details on this, or if I just had enough of this crap.
At what point do you say you don't want to know more? I'm afraid there's no end for the secrecy and untold stories of Mormonism.
