Joseph Smith the Prophet, or, Why the Book of Mormon is tangible evidence of Christ

Is the Book of Mormon true or is it made up?

"No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." -George Cannon

And once again, I have to share something that was so well said

but not written by me.  Enjoy:

Have you ever heard people say: “Show me some real evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet, then I’ll believe”?

“Through the Book of Mormon, God has provided for our day tangible evidence that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is His prophet” (President Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, November 1988, p. 86).

Here is what it would take to make up the Book of Mormon:

•  Write the religious, social, and political  history of some ancient people, like the Mongols or people from Greenland
• Write the book off the top of your  head, using no reference material (no Google in Joseph’s day! And no  library nearby either. 
• You must have only between 2-3 years of formal schooling (Joseph’s wife said that Joseph couldn’t compose a “well-worded   letter” at the time of the translation of the Book of Mormon, let alone  make up a whole book (Emma Smith (Preston Nibley, The Witnesses of the      Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1968, p. 28.)
• You must complete the whole book in 65-75   working days.  Joseph sometimes  would produce 8 pages a day of finished text.  Eight pages!  Anyone who has written anything knows how difficult that would be.  In     comparison, modern translators who are working on translating the Book of Mormon    consider 1 completed page of translation per day to be productive, and      they are working from earlier translations with an entire team of help and  modern technology to assist!
• Your book must be full of evidence that science  will discover many years after you publish your book that verify your work  is authentic.  A great example of  this in the Book of Mormon was the last art of Hebrew poetry “chiasmus,”  unknown to Joseph Smith and learned America but later re-discovered in the  20th century in the Bible.  And lo and behold, the Book of Mormon is full of chiasmus.  Lucky guess Joseph!  Nothing like a backwoods farm boy who   knows lost Hebrew poetry.  Them type of boys are all over the place.  Read Alma 36 to see a really cool one (compare the main message of verse 1 to verse 30, verse 2 to verses 28-29, verse 3 to verse 27 and so on).
• You must invent over 280 new names the world  hasn’t heard, many of which properly derive from your ancient people’s  language (a language which you don’t know.  Have fun with that one.)
• Your book must include the fullness of the  gospel of Jesus Christ, including sermons that are so inspiring that people willingly read them again and again and again. However, your book      must also teach “new” truths unknown to common society that make unknown passages in the Bible clear.
• Your book must teach more about Jesus Christ than the New Testament does.  The Book of Mormon mentions Jesus on average of every 1.7 verses compared to  2.3 in the New Testament.  Another Testament  of Jesus Christ.  Um, yeah. (See  Susan Easton Black, Finding Christ through the Book of Mormon [1987],  6-18).
• Your book must be over 500 pages long and 300,000  words
• Your first draft must stand forever (other than very minor grammatical changes)
• You must have three honest members of your  community bear testimony to the truthfulness of the book throughout their whole lives, even when you are no longer friends.
• You must be willing to give your life, and the  life of a family member, for the book you write
• Last, the Holy Ghost must bear witness to  millions of people the world over that your book is indeed the very word of God.

We have the tangible evidence sitting in front of us. The book is either divine or it is a deception. Those who claim that the Book of Mormon is not true are claiming that the book was made up—fabricated by Joseph Smith, his friends, or someone else and pulled off as one of the great hoaxes of this world.
Note: Some of list is summarized from “Brother Joseph” by Kay Briggs.  Bookcraft, 1994, p. 13-15

 “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.” (George Cannon, as cited by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Safety for the Soul, Ensign November 2009, p. 89).

Can't We Just Do the Right Thing in America?

I am reprinting this, from Robert A. Hall, an actor who plays the coroner on CSI.  He's also a Marine Vietnam War veteran.   I do think it should be required reading for every man, woman and child in the United States of America, which is why I am pasting it here:

"I'm 63 and I'm Tired"
by Robert A. Hall

I'm 63.  Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked hard since I was 18.   Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years.   I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my  job or my income, and I worked to get where I am.  Given the  economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired.  Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic.  I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."   Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help.   But if they bought Mc Mansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how  bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers.  In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of    Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China   the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela .

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because  they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls;  of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery";  of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to. 

I'm tired of being told  that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama,  when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities  (harming them the most), government contract set-asides,  tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless  children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois. 

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation.  I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of being told  that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.  My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live.  Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough. 

I'm tired of being told  that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do.  Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off?  I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I #@*# sure think druggies chose to  take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime.  What's next?   Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"?   And, no, I'm not against Hispanics.  Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion.  I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record  and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military.  They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second  decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves.  Do bad things happen in war?  You bet.  Do our troops sometimes misbehave?  Sure.  Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are?  Not even close.  So here's the deal.  I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the  girls were Christian.  Then we'll compare notes.  British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear. 

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption.  Read the papers; bums are bipartisan.   And I'm tired of people telling me we need  bipartisanship.  I live in Illinois , where the " Illinois   Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years.   Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet. 

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught.  I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor.  The majority of Americans didn't have that in  1970, but we didn't know we were "poor."  The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who  don't take responsibility for their lives and actions.  I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm tired.  But I'm also glad to be 63.  Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making.  I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert  A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

A Movie Review

I know it's three years since "Dark Knight" came out, but it's always bothered me that my husband and I felt alone in our revulsion when we saw that movie.  So many people admired the acting, they said.  Ugh.  I never took the time to write a review, but I found one online that says what I would have.

http://bycommonconsent.com/2008/07/19/you-cant-fight-darkness-with-darkness/

He writes:  "Not only is The Dark Knight loaded with cliches that are all the more sad because they’re clearly meant to be taken as genuine insights, but they’re communicated in the context of a story that revels in its sadism. Make no mistake about it, The Dark Knight is a film about torture: twisted scenarios for wrenching suffering out of people are thrown at us like fastballs in a batting cage. What really shocked me was that the theater full of people around me weren’t weary of this barrage; rather, they were elated by its novelty...

... Modernism rears its ugly head again: the concept of flawed anti-hero is all fine and good, but why have all of our heroes been reduced to this? Why is it forbidden to tell stories about idealized heroes today? I see that Indiana Jones isn’t even in the top ten anymore, and Superman Returns was such a disappointment that the director actually apologized for its earnest tone and promised a “darker” sequel...

...I’m sure the makers of The Dark Knight and its millions of fans feel that this story represents a positive morality for our age, a morality that eschews black and white in favor of one big pall of satisfyingly unchallenging gray, replete with the anguished evil it can only coexist with but never defeat. Such an offering is a sad testament to our lost vision of righteousness."