Latest / Scripture Central / Introductory Pages | Jan 1-7 | Book of Mormon Matters with John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson

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Introductory Pages | Jan 1-7 | Book of Mormon Matters with John W. Welch and Lynne Hilton Wilson · Scripture Central

0:00
Hello, welcome to Scripture Central.
0:02
This is John W Welch. I refer to him as Jack in
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person. And I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson.
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And I'm very happy to be here. What a pleasure and privilege it
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is to be able to talk about the Book of Mormon and what it means
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for the world today. I mean, it is a marvelous work
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and a wonder. It comes from Isaiah chapter 29.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. But people don't realize that
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that word marvel and wonder. It's the same word in Hebrew.
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So it's a double miracle, a miraculous work and a miracle.
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So marvelous is miraculous and wonder is a miracle.
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So it's a miracle of a miracles. Yeah, I love it.
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A miracle squared. Yeah.
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And Squared is perfected. Yeah.
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Oh, that's great. It's.
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A. And it lives up to that in every
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way. Well, and today we get to start
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with the title page. Introduction, 8 witnesses, a
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little bit of Joe Smith history. Jack has written a terrific
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commentary and we have a shorter version and a longer version all
1:03
on Scripture Central. But I am really eager to
1:07
encourage not just a a brief overview of those, but to give
1:12
some real meat. I just feel like there's so much
1:15
research done on this. Would you mind if we start with
1:17
a little history background? Go ahead.
1:24
I'm fascinated with the timing of the whole Book of Mormon.
1:27
You know, Mironi comes first on September 21st in 1823.
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And of course, Joseph is a young teenager at the time.
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He's not prepared emotionally or spiritually, and every year he
1:39
hopes to get the plates from Mironi.
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But it takes time. And it wasn't until I started
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reading your book, opening the heavens, that I realized how
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significant it was that Moroni had told him you will get the
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plates when you bring the right person.
1:57
Since it's not in our history of the Church, we didn't know that.
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But the the beginning of the Book of Mormon not only was when
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Joseph was spiritually and emotionally and physically
2:07
ready, but he needed Emma. He needed a wife.
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Why do you think Joseph needed a wife to translate the Book of
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Mormon? Well, Emma is literate, she is
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well educated and she's a good scribe.
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But I think more than that, she's his support, she's his
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soul mate, she believes in him, she has a testimony and they.
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Are. Together of their marriage,
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yeah. I don't imagine that the Lord
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would want to entrust anyone as a solo operator.
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We don't operate in this world alone.
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We need witnesses. We have companionship, I'm sure.
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Emma and Joseph talk back and forth.
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I'm sure that they helped each other in all kinds of ways.
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We know they did. Joseph records him.
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You know, we know they did. And they of course we're living
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in fairly close quarters in. That small little.
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Cabin in. Harmony PA people.
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Who have been able to visit that harmony home where they lived,
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realize I know my wife Jeannie likes to point out that the
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woman's place, of course, was. By the hearth.
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By the hearth and cooking and all of that.
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And the only room where Joseph was translating was in that same
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room. Well, it's a it's a one room
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house. Yeah.
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Basically, yeah, and and and. He first got the plates though
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when they were up north in New York.
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But the translation that we have in our scriptures is all from
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further South, either Harmony or Fayette.
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I think Emma and her brother Ruben are the 1st 2 scribes and
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then Martin comes down in April of 28 and he's there for two
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months or April through June 14th.
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And we don't know how much each did.
3:57
Yeah, yeah. Because we don't have the
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records, we can't see it. I think that it was fairly a
4:02
fairly small amount until Joseph and Martin could really begin
4:06
working as a team. And Joseph, I think, kept a
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curtain between him and Martin, the references to there being a
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curtain. Are only with Martin, not with
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the other translators. The other thing that's
4:16
interesting is Martin had already asked Joseph in the
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winter. Was it February when Joseph took
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some of the writings from the plates and and wrote out some of
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those interesting Egyptian, Egyptian characters and he had
4:27
already taken them to Columbia University?
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And I I found out there's only five people in America who had
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studied the classics in Europe and were professors at different
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universities. And you saw three.
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Didn't you see Luther wasn't one of the professors, though.
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OK, he saw three people. But I'm fascinated that Martin
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had already done that before he felt validated to say I'm going
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to give up my time. And my money and my land and a
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lot of other things. And.
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And he begins acting as the scribe following that experience
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in Columbia, saying this is an accurate translation, which they
5:00
didn't know. No one spoke Egyptian.
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No one knew what reformed Egyptian it wasn't.
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But anyway. Of course, no one knows for sure
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what happened between Martin Harris and Charles Anthon.
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And and there are different accounts, lots of them, and
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stories that were told. But the bottom line was it was
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fully satisfactory to Martin Harris.
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That's the bottom line. The fact that he comes back and
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commits everything lets us know he was satisfied.
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But of course, the 116 pages, or however many there were, I get
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lost. And we're learning more about
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the details of what happened there.
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I think it's really important for people to know that at the
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same time that Martin Harris finally persuades Joseph to let
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him take that thinking, that if I can only show people in
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Palmyra that we're we really are doing something here and that
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will help the cause somehow, and it doesn't go well.
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For whatever reason, people need to remember that Joseph and Emma
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lose their first son within that same month.
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She goes into labor the day after Martin leaves.
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I said a horrific I used to work labor and delivery.
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It's a horrific time for her. She is on her deathbed for two
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weeks and finally it's Emma. Remember who?
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Let's who tells Joseph you need to go take the journey.
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I'll stay here with my parents. So out of this, I think we learn
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that great sacrifices were made, and even though the Lord is is
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always encouraging and complimenting and advising, and
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Joseph is correcting himself, he's learning how to repent.
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He's learning how to be faithful.
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And after this, of course, Joseph needs to take a time out.
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Moroni takes not only the plates, but I understand he
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takes the Urim and Thummim for a period as well.
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It goes back when he's going to receive section three of the
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Doctrine Covenants. Well, Joseph will meet again
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with Moroni for for the annual visit.
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September 21st and 22nd Moroni Day.
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Yeah. And this is now 1820. 28. 8.
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And then he has to figure out, well, what do I do next?
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And he prays for help. Not only does he pray for help,
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but there's somebody else who is finishing up teaching at the
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Joseph Smith senior home in Palmyra and his name is Oliver
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Cowdrey. The whole story behind that is
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so miraculous. I just, I look at the story of
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Oliver Cowdrey coming like the Lord is having a master's chess
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game, and it is absolutely amazing.
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He wasn't even supposed to take the job.
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It was for his brother. And you know that just every
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little piece is getting him. He meets David Whitmer at the
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right time, and they're good friends and they're good friends
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immediately. And Oliver Cowdrey finishes the
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school year in the early spring. I didn't know their school was
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over so early, but I guess you have to start.
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For farming, for farming, you have to get out in the.
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Fields So by the last couple days in March, he's talking
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Samuel Smith into coming down with him and they walk that over
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140 miles. They do this long walk and
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they're all on foot and it's still cold outside.
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They arrive on Sunday night, April 5th to Harmony, PA.
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And and when you think of the skills that are required, I
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mean, Oliver Cowdrey is a great penman.
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He's good with language. He knows how to spell.
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He will become the editor of the Messenger and Advocate.
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He is a man who was prepared. And when the church is
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organized, what's the first commandment that's given to the
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church? Keep a record.
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A record shall be kept and of course Oliver Cowdrey is already
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crucial for that. It wasn't just that Oliver was
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curious about this and says he wants to come.
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No, he had a reservation. He.
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Was praying there in Palmyra. He's curious.
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He's heard about it. He is spiritually sensitive
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enough that he has a vision and the Lord appears to him.
9:01
I've often wondered what that first conversation between
9:05
Joseph and Oliver might have consisted of, because Joseph
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will recognize, as Oliver describes, what he has seen that
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Oliver has seen what Joseph has seen.
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He has seen the Lord. He knows what he looks like.
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He knows that he's been called. And Jack, are you getting that
9:24
from outside sources or you getting that from the Doctrine
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Covenants in section 6? Well, it's partly there, but
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it's mostly in Joseph Smith's own 1832 account where he says
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this. Oliver came and he had had a
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vision of this kind. So Joseph is now able to accept
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Oliver. As the man who the Lord sent,
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the Lord was the one who sent him.
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And the next day it becomes a sacred day in our faith
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tradition that it is April 6th. But I'm just fascinated what you
10:01
found about April 6th. Well, I didn't find it, but
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Gordon Madsen did, as we've been working on the legal papers of
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Joseph Smith not too long ago. But the contract, The
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installment purchase contract? Between Joseph.
10:17
Joseph. Smith and his father-in-law.
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Father-in-law when Joseph Smith buys the house.
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Buying the 8 acres of the farm. That's right.
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Now they had just been living on that by the good graces of Isaac
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Hale, and Joseph now wants to own that property.
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And Isaac is going to sell it to him.
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He he agrees. You see, under American and
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common law, a man's home is his castle, which means he can then
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determine who can come on and off of the property.
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And Isaac Hale, of course, was very curious and always wanted
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to know what's going on and was asking questions.
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And for whatever reason, Joseph wasn't comfortable bringing him
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in too much into this whole process.
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But when Oliver Cowdrey comes and he's a scribe, he knows how
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to write agreements. They do ride out on April the
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6th, the purchase agreement for the installments that Joseph
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shall pay. Three or four installments
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should cover the whole cost. And then the document is signed
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by Joseph Smith and Isaac Hale. And then there are witnesses.
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Oliver Calgary is one of them, and Samuel this.
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Is another one and we have the dates exactly.
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We have so much records that coincide with the history of the
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translation. It's fabulous.
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So when Oliver Calgary writes later, those days never to be
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forgotten, he says April 5th, April 6th, we did some business.
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He doesn't say what it was, but then he does say the next day,
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April 7th, we began. Yeah, the ending date, of
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course, is June 30th. By the end of June, they're
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completely finished. We know the beginning date, we
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know the ending date, but they don't start with the small
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plates, they have to start where the 116 pages ended, which is
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was Mosiah 3, but it's our Mosiah 1.
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They pick up where they had left off, which is right at the
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beginning of the the Book of Mosiah.
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We don't know whether they were at Chapter 2 or Chapter 3.
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They had a three on the 1st edition, that's.
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All that's right. It's we can't be exactly sure
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how much was done, but I don't think very much.
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Yeah, it sounds like we're walking into a play that's
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already started. And Oliver Cowdrey and Joseph
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will then work day and night. That it could be translated in a
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little over 65 days? Absolutely amazing. 65 working
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days. 65 working days. Thank you, of course.
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You have to clarify that there's 85 total possible days.
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Yeah, but you have to take him out when he's moving and when
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he's. But about 20 of those days, we
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know he was doing other things, including giving 18 of the
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sections of the Doctrine and Covenants and going to
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Colesville and back a couple times. 30 miles, whatever it
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was, yeah. And so I think we've been
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conservative. We haven't been trying to expand
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the number of days that weren't there.
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I think there probably were even even more days that were
13:19
unavailable than we've counted. OK, so we now are into the text
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he's translating, but when does the title page come?
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Because he's starting in Mosiah, you said, not the beginning.
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Yes. And we.
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Joseph Smith says that the title page was the last page on the
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plates, the large plates of of Mormon.
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We have that one fact. It was the last on the large
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plates, but we don't know yet. Did he translate the small
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plates first or the large place. We think we're pretty close in
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saying it's got to be the large plates that he's continuing with
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because that's where he would have started.
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The confirmation of this is that when we had the birthday, the
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bicentennial birthday of Joseph Smith in 2005 at the Library of
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Congress, we were invited to hold a wonderful two day
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celebration there in the in the Library of Congress.
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And as a part of that, James Hudson and the people there who
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were working with us wanted to pull out of their collection as
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many Joseph Smith items as they could and put on display.
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And they asked me for a list of things they might want to
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include, and and other people contributed to that list.
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Was the title page there? Well, I said, in addition to the
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things I know you have, this would be a great time if you
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could find the original copy of the copyright application that
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Joseph Smith filed on June 11th, 1829 in the Western District
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Court of New York. Do the papers of the archive
14:56
still contain, you know what happened when they consolidated
14:59
these in the late 19th century? They brought them all to
15:02
Washington. Find it, Jack.
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Well, he called me up on the phone and said.
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I think we found what you're looking for.
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The Library of Congress in DC has our original copyright
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request, which included the from the title page, right?
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I mean, doesn't that? Because as we we knew this
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before that Joseph had come home with a copy just a a filing not
15:27
not an official copy but a user's copy, duplicate of the
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official copy. So and that's been folded and
15:35
kind of torn off and things like that.
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We've had that in the Church records for quite a while, but
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now we found the clean, official version which had the full text
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and it contains as a description of the book because you have to
15:50
include a description of the book.
15:53
And Joseph Smith included the title page as we know it of the
15:59
Book of Mormon as the description on June 11th.
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Now, June 11th, he's not even finished with the translation.
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The translation finishes June 30th.
16:08
Maybe 28th OK, because he's got the three and the 8 witnesses.
16:11
On those two days, OK of June. So this is suggesting that the
16:16
title page was at the end of the book of Moroni and then he
16:20
translated the small plates. Not the end of the words of
16:23
Mormon or something. Like that?
16:25
Interesting. Exactly.
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OK, I love hearing the witnesses describe the translation.
16:35
Do you remember when Emma said he would start wherever he left
16:40
out without being known? What would the words were before
16:43
that he was able to go through? Should we just talk a little bit
16:46
about the Urman Thummim in the hat for a minute now when Martin
16:49
Harris was there? Martin describes a screen
16:52
between them and Emma describes the plate sitting on the table.
16:56
But by the time Oliver comes, the plates are not being used
17:01
and to block out the light he puts the interpreters, the Urman
17:05
Thummim in the hat and puts his head in the hat.
17:08
How do we know it's the Urim and Thummim Jack?
17:11
Because he says it is. But legally, what happened to
17:14
there? Well, on the, the legal matter,
17:17
you know, we wonder, is Joseph using the sear stone?
17:19
Still, he used that with Martin Harris, because you remember the
17:23
time when Martin Harris wanted to try to trick Joseph just to
17:26
test him, and he switched out one rock for another and Joseph
17:30
detected that. But on July the 1st, a year
17:34
later, 1830, there will actually be a lawsuit filed against
17:37
Joseph Smith in New York court, just over the border from
17:41
Harmony. There was a woman who had
17:44
apparently joined the church, given some money to the
17:47
Colesville branch and wanted it back, and she was claiming that
17:53
Joseph Smith was a fraud. And so she was rely on relying
17:56
on New York law to get her money back, and maybe with damages as
18:01
well. At that trial, July the first
18:05
Joseph Smith appeared. Josiah Stoll appeared.
18:07
Other people appeared. You're all people that Joseph
18:09
had worked for. He was he.
18:11
They had been his employer. And they were ready to testify
18:14
that Joseph wasn't a fraud, he was an honest person, and he
18:16
could actually do some of these things that people might not
18:20
have been willing to give him the credit for.
18:23
But then the interesting legal points So how does the judge
18:27
decide is Joseph a fraud or not when he looks in the New York
18:33
statute book and it says that in order to bring a fraud, action
18:38
must be commenced within two years of the time of the alleged
18:42
fraud. Otherwise the claim is stale.
18:47
As lawyers, we say the statute of limitations has run and the
18:50
case has to be dismissed. Well, how does this deal with
18:53
the urine thumb? Well, because the claim was that
18:58
Joseph had used the seer stone in translating and that that was
19:02
a fraud because you can see the seer stone.
19:04
And this is July 1st of 1830. Thirty and so two years before.
19:10
The statute of limitations had just run, and so at least that
19:14
court decided that because the testimony of everyone was that
19:19
Joseph had not used the seer stone for two years or more, the
19:25
action was dismissed. But he was translating the Book
19:27
of Mormon that we know it during that time, and Joseph said he
19:31
used the urban thumbum. And we have evidence now of that
19:34
in another setting where they found Joseph innocent because he
19:38
wasn't using the seer stone. I got it.
19:39
That's great. That's great.
19:41
That's a little little background news, and who knows?
19:45
But at least Joseph testified that he had stopped using the
19:47
seer stone once Oliver Cowdrey was there.
19:56
The eyewitnesses describe Kim spelling out difficult words
20:03
after he pronounces them. And so as we look at the
20:06
original manuscript, and this is Brother Skousen's work, is just
20:10
fabulous. It is archaeological evidence
20:13
that it took place. As they said, there's no
20:15
carrots, there's nothing up above, You know it's in the same
20:19
line just as Joseph. It only happens a couple times,
20:21
but enough to say that that's what's happening.
20:24
And it sounds to me also like at least Joseph Knight recorded it
20:29
this way, that Joseph had the scribes repeat back the phrase
20:33
that they had just said. That's right, my wife and I
20:37
actually decided we wanted to try this and I encourage anyone.
20:41
To write out the Book of Mormon, you mean?
20:43
Well, to sit down with someone and somebody open up a part of
20:50
the Book of Mormon and you read line by line, I like to use
20:55
Royal Skousen's critical text because each of the lines is
20:59
separately identified kind of sense lines.
21:03
And I think that's maybe the way it was dictated.
21:06
And Royal decided that because you can tell when Oliver Calgary
21:09
is dipping his pen in or into the ink and that's probably
21:13
coming after he's written down a line and read it back and then
21:17
dipping to start on the next one.
21:19
So I have used a quill and had someone read as I write out it
21:24
is so slow. And when you and Jeannie did it,
21:28
did you use a quill? No, we used a ballpoint pen.
21:30
OK. But we wanted to know if you
21:32
could actually do it the way this was done and what you how
21:35
you'd feel as and we'd take a turn being the reader or the
21:41
scryer. I love it.
21:42
And if you read a line and person's trying to write it down
21:49
as you read it, and then they read it back to you, and then
21:52
you say correct, and then you read the next line and go on and
21:57
you you just do this for 30 minutes and see how many words
22:01
you can actually compose that way.
22:05
How how long did you guys do this?
22:06
Was it just 30 minutes? Well, we did it a couple times,
22:09
30 minutes each. And we we learned that you can
22:13
do it at a rate that would allow you to translate and transcribe
22:16
the Book of Mormon within the time frame that the that Joseph
22:20
Smith had. Now, would it have been slower
22:22
with a quill though? I think substantially, but I
22:26
don't know. We'll have to ask Oliver.
22:29
I think you probably were not as good with a quill as Oliver was.
22:33
Oliver would have been much. Faster and I think they were
22:35
pretty good because we do have examples of of people taking
22:38
down dictation with Quill. Of course.
22:41
I mean, look what they do with Joseph's sermons, yeah.
22:49
And the title page is not written by Joseph.
22:51
It was translated by Joseph. It was written by either Mormon
22:55
or Moroni. We can talk about that a little
22:57
more. Moroni and Mormon worked so
23:00
closely together. Oh, they had to.
23:02
And for a long time, when Mormon dies, Moroni is.
23:10
I'm sure Mormon's last words to Moroni was get it finished.
23:15
Mormon's dead and Moroni has to go into solitary hiding because
23:21
he says, people will search for me and if they find me, they're
23:23
going to kill me. And it's years and years and
23:27
years. But he doesn't have to be told
23:30
how to make plates or how to inscribe them.
23:33
No, because he had been working with his.
23:35
Father, he finishes the last two chapters of the Book of Mormon,
23:38
meaning the small Book of Mormon chapters 8 and 9.
23:41
Moroni writes those yes. And then he says goodbye to
23:45
everybody. At the end of the Book of
23:47
Mormon, Moroni has his farewell. First farewell.
23:51
Yes. And you know what he says there
23:53
in that first farewell. What's he concerned about?
23:56
He says. We're writing this so you won't
23:58
blame us to think that we're responsible for the devastation
24:02
of these people. It's it's Mormon 935.
24:07
These things are written that we may rid our garments of the
24:10
blood of the Brethren who have dwindled in unbelief.
24:14
He's feeling personally may be responsible.
24:18
Could we have done anything different to present it?
24:20
Could we have helped and he's being blamed.
24:24
But Jack? Then he adds the Book of Ether a
24:26
few years later. Well, after he's finished that,
24:29
then he comes back and it's 15 years later. 400 years from the
24:36
time of the birth of Christ has has passed and Moroni says,
24:41
well, I've been able to live this long.
24:43
Jesus has appeared to me. He tells us that and that maybe,
24:49
he said. Moroni, remember, you and your
24:52
dad promised back in Mosiah chapter 28 that an account would
24:56
be given of the. The 24 gold plates.
25:01
Which they had just found. They found.
25:03
And people are going to want to know what those are.
25:06
You were telling me that he first closes the book in the end
25:10
of his father's chapter of Mormon, and then he says another
25:13
farewell in ether and another farewell in Moroni, and then we
25:18
get the title page which has his fourth farewell.
25:22
That's right. And he's still alive.
25:25
He is now survived 36 years by himself, hiding from those who
25:29
are trying to take away the record.
25:31
And he is the guardian of the record.
25:33
So later in this year when you get back to the end of the Book
25:37
of Mormon and you start. Mormon and ether and Moroni.
25:42
All of that. Remember to tie this in with the
25:46
the title page, because I think the title page is then written
25:52
as the very last thing that Moroni will compose.
25:57
And he says it's written by my father, Mormon, and so on.
25:59
It's clearly in Moroni's voice. It is Moroni's voice.
26:04
And some of his own concerns. He talks about meeting people at
26:08
the Judgement Bar of God and knowing that this record is
26:11
true. And that's at the end of the
26:13
title page as well. In addition, however, I think
26:18
that Mormon may have already composed something of the title
26:23
page. I think Mormon may have
26:26
instructed Moroni. Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me
26:29
because he had done all this editing.
26:31
Remember, he was using that whole room that was filled with
26:33
plates and he was records. I don't know if they were all
26:37
plates. And then trying to synthesize
26:39
them into a meaningful testimony of our Savior.
26:43
I think Maroni, when he was between 20 and 30 years old,
26:47
probably worked during that 10 year piece that was declared
26:52
between 3:50 and 360, closely with his father.
26:56
So he's 20 years old. He's old enough.
26:58
He is the most amazing research assistant Mormon could ever hope
27:02
for. He knows the project intimately
27:05
and that's that's the way. And I think they probably talked
27:09
about how's this going to be delivered, What are we going to
27:11
do with this? And can you see God's hand in
27:14
this Jack? He completely orchestrates the
27:16
warfare for a 10 year period of peace.
27:19
Now the book says they did it to regroup and heal, but God uses
27:24
this timing to say let's have these two great minds work
27:30
together on compiling a record. God's hand is everywhere.
27:35
It's just amazing. So with all that background,
27:43
let's look at the title page. All righty.
27:46
It is it appears on the do. You have your 1830 copy there.
27:52
Yeah, I have an 1830 and you can see.
27:54
It's just a replica, but it's pretty good.
27:56
But you can see the title page is word for word of the what's
28:02
on the copyright application. But the way it's printed, both
28:06
in our paper copies and the way it is in the 1830 and 1836 and
28:11
42, what are all the additions? We can't see the parallels.
28:16
I'm sure you've heard the repetition, but you are the
28:19
master at finding the poetic patterns in these things.
28:23
Can you talk a little bit about the poetic patterns in the title
28:27
page? Yeah, the structure of the title
28:30
page. It's fascinating.
28:31
It's composed, I think, with prophetic guidance and
28:35
inspiration and beauty. It's not just dashed off to
28:40
satisfy some legal requirement. It's his last will and
28:43
testament. So some people might say, well,
28:44
the title page. Joseph just just went to the
28:46
office of the county clerk and wrote this down.
28:49
No. This has been composed by
28:52
someone who is very well experienced in several different
28:58
artistic forms of expression, and who knows this record from
29:02
start to finish. What you see here is that there
29:05
are two halves of the title page, and in the 1st edition it
29:10
is broken into two paragraphs in the first half, which may have
29:15
been something that Mormon himself composed or instructed.
29:19
Because it's about Mormon, it says it's written by the hand.
29:21
Of account written by the hand of Mormon, and it says that it's
29:25
an abridgement written to the people of Nephi and also the
29:28
Lamanites. No mention yet of the Book of
29:31
Ether. Yeah, yeah.
29:33
And written to these Lamanites, who are a remnant of the House
29:37
of Israel, and also the Jew and the Gentile, written by way of
29:41
commandment and also by the spirit of prophecy and
29:44
revelation. That's a phrase that Mormon
29:46
likes. Yes, and I want to talk about
29:47
that after you're finished. But you finished about this,
29:50
this beautiful, poetic style here.
29:51
And then fourth, it says that it was written to be sealed up and
29:56
hidden under the Lord, to come forth by the gift and power of
30:00
God, and sealed by the hand of Moroni.
30:03
And this is where I think Moroni begins, sealed by the hand of
30:06
Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord to come forth in the due time by
30:10
way of the Gentile, the interpretation thereof being by
30:13
the gift of God. So what we have here in this
30:17
first half are several things that are written in triplicate.
30:22
You might say we have 3 audiences, Lamani's, Jews,
30:27
Gentiles. We have three ways in which it's
30:30
written, Commandments, spirit of prophecy, revelation.
30:34
We have three ways that Mormon talks about it being sealed up
30:37
to come forth by the gift and power.
30:40
Moroni certifies three more ways in which it is sealed by the
30:43
hand of Moroni to come forth by way of the Gentile to the
30:48
interpretation of God, by the gift of God.
30:50
So we have 333. It's there's this kind of drum
30:54
beat of these triplets. And do we see that kind of style
30:58
throughout the rest of Moroni or is he doing it here as three
31:02
witnesses or is he doing it with?
31:04
Great idea. I have no idea.
31:06
Well, 3 witnesses, of course, yes.
31:09
Under Jewish law, having three witnesses was what you should
31:13
have for most serious documents. And that's written right in
31:17
things like the Old Testament, but it's also right in second
31:22
Nephi chapter 27 and in the Book of Ether.
31:26
But this ties in with the need for three witnesses, because how
31:29
can Moroni see all this? He needs to call 3 witnesses.
31:34
Oh, so he calls God and the sun and the Spirit.
31:39
You got that? Oh, Jack.
31:41
And how do we know it's true? It's by the same witnesses.
31:44
Moroni 10 He says, if you will ask God the Eternal Father in
31:49
the name of Jesus Christ, he will reveal it by the power of
31:52
the Holy Ghost. So for Moroni, the lone Moroni,
31:57
he finds his three witnesses in the Godhead.
32:01
And what a better witness could you ever?
32:02
Ask for it's. The only way to know truth is
32:05
from our God. You were mentioning in your
32:09
notes that the second paragraph here on Moroni's work is
32:14
actually quoting the book of Mosiah.
32:18
Yes, when they were describing the ether, the people of the
32:22
Jaredites. That's right.
32:24
So if we say, all right, So what does Moroni, Why does he give us
32:27
this second paragraph? He follows exactly the same
32:31
triplicate pattern, but he first says it's an abridgment from the
32:37
record of ether, a record of the people of Jared.
32:41
And remember that we talked about the people of Nephi and
32:44
the people of the Lamanites, and now the third people is the
32:47
people of Jared. So we have that triplicate
32:50
completely. And then he says, these were the
32:53
ones who were scattered when the Lord confounded the language and
32:58
when they were building a great tower.
33:00
OK, we're going back to Genesis. What is it?
33:02
Chapter 11 or something with it? With after Noah's Ark.
33:05
The big thing then is the Tower of Babel.
33:07
That's what we're talking about, the time of Babel.
33:08
Of course, the Book of Ether begins.
33:10
With so this is before Abraham in about 2000, it's between
33:13
Noah. And Abraham isn't going back to
33:15
Genesis for this. What he has is the book of
33:18
Mosiah and King Mosiah. One of the last things he does
33:24
is he translates the 24 gold plates which he can by the use
33:29
of the. Urim and Thummim.
33:31
Can read and can tell people what has happened to.
33:34
That, but he's told not to show it.
33:36
That's right, because it contains a lot of stuff about
33:40
secret combinations and if this gets out.
33:44
It will be the problem. Yeah, so.
33:46
He says that ends up being the case.
33:48
Yeah. So what does Moroni do?
33:51
He's listed those three things, which are three things that King
33:56
Mosiah said as he described the book of Ether.
34:01
But now he says I'm going to show to the remnant of the House
34:04
of Israel three things. Great things that the Lord has
34:07
done for their fathers. Well, that's just like the great
34:10
building of the tower. Even greater #2 to know the
34:14
covenants of the Lord. So the Lord is mentioned.
34:17
Previously he had confounded the language.
34:20
Now he is going to be, he remembered as the maker of the
34:23
Covenant and Number one, that they were not cast off or
34:28
scattered forever. And yet they're in reverse order
34:32
as you look at the. Text.
34:32
That's right. Scattered Lord great thing are
34:35
then reversed. Great things the Lord has done
34:38
to know the Lord and not He's a. Masterful.
34:41
No wonder the Lord chose this Shakespeare, this young
34:44
Shakespeare general to be our, our and earth.
34:47
This is amazing. You like that?
34:49
Oh, I love it. The other thing I wanted to talk
34:52
about was that little phrase that you mentioned earlier about
34:55
the spirit of prophecy and revelation that's in the first
35:00
paragraph. Moroni is describing how this is
35:03
to come to pass, and I'm always fascinated to find phrases that
35:07
are biblical that are also repeated by Joseph in the
35:11
Restoration, including in the Book of Mormon.
35:14
So I looked up spirit of prophecy and I found it once in
35:20
the Book of Revelation. Chapter 19, I think is verse 10.
35:24
But interestingly, spirit of prophecy and revelation is never
35:29
mentioned in the Bible. And so I decided to look through
35:32
the Book of Mormon. Is Joseph Smith just copying a
35:35
phrase that he'd heard from Revelation chapter 19?
35:38
Well, the Book of Mormon has a total of 14 references to the
35:44
spirit of prophecy, and two of those are the spirit of prophecy
35:48
and revelation. So then I thought, well let's
35:51
look at the Doctrine Covenants. No, it's only mentioned twice
35:53
there. I then went to Joe Smith papers
35:56
and found it 10 times with spirit of prophecy, 4 times
36:00
spirit of prophecy and relation. I think part of the Restoration
36:03
was the importance of the spirit of prophecy.
36:06
I think this was a very important message, not only in
36:09
the Book of Mormon, but part of Joseph Smith's vocabulary that
36:12
that that rung in his heart, that he knew that the
36:16
Restoration required the spirit of prophecy and revelation.
36:19
Do you remember when Oliver Cowdrey first comes and he's
36:23
sort of asking how do you know when it's the spirit?
36:26
You know, we come to Second Great Awakening.
36:28
There's people barking and jerking.
36:30
There's camp meetings, there's revivals.
36:31
How do you know what's the spirit?
36:34
You know by the spirit revelation and this is the
36:38
spirit that Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt.
36:41
I I'm just fascinated that this was taught to Oliver and Joseph
36:48
before they translated these things.
36:53
That phrase is earlier than the translation.
36:57
Isn't that just fabulous? Now it was a biblical phrase,
37:00
but Joseph usually takes phrases from the Bible and then the Lord
37:04
teaches him a new and different definition.
37:08
Prophecy meant a testimony of Jesus Christ.
37:10
It didn't necessarily mean that you're Elijah.
37:14
Anyway, I'm touched by this here right here in the text.
37:17
And in fact, that brings us to the concluding lines of the the
37:21
title page. Title page.
37:22
Just as in the first half of the title page, Mormon had said how
37:27
it was written. You know, by way of commandment,
37:28
spirit of prophecy in Revelation.
37:31
Now Moroni will say why it was written.
37:35
So there's an echo there, and why?
37:37
How? And now why?
37:38
Why? To convince the audience one and
37:43
audience 2 and three, the Jew and the Gentile, that Jesus is
37:48
the Christ, the eternal God, manifesting Himself to all
37:54
nations, everyone. So there's another triplet
37:58
there. The Christ, the eternal gods of
38:02
the Christ on earth, the eternal God in heaven and to all the
38:07
world. And if there's any faults,
38:11
they're man's well, also in this week's Come follow Me, We've got
38:21
the introduction, we've got the Joseph Smith pages, we've got
38:24
the three witnesses. But we don't have a record of
38:28
Mary Whitmer's witness of Moroni and the plates.
38:31
Joseph does the first half of the translation down in harmony
38:35
and the persecution gets so bad down in Pennsylvania that he
38:38
writes David Whitmer and says, can we come up here?
38:40
And so poor Mary Now she's got eight kids, but six are still
38:44
living at home, even though some of them are married.
38:46
It is not an empty house. She is not an empty nester when
38:50
she invites Emma and Joseph and Oliver to come and join.
38:53
And Mary Whitmer is absolutely exhausted with all this company.
38:58
And I think part of the problem was not only is it difficult to
39:02
give up a room when your home is filled, but more than the food
39:08
and the help, her sons are no longer helping her.
39:12
What they used to do, they're busy with the translation.
39:14
They want to be part of this and no one is cooperating.
39:17
And as someone who has tried to run a house, I feel very much
39:21
for her by her frustration that the company is destroying the
39:25
order of this home, especially when it's in upstate New York in
39:30
early June, late May. This is a very important time in
39:35
the farm and these people were not willing to to help like they
39:38
should have been. So I I look at her account and
39:42
we have two accounts of her seeing Moro and I-1 is you know,
39:47
she was overworked. And so Moro and I let her see
39:50
the place. Well, I don't know about you,
39:52
but that always said, well, what about Emma?
39:54
What about Lucy? What about anybody else?
39:57
You know? So I'm really grateful we found
39:59
another record of daughter's observation that was recorded.
40:05
And said actually my mom was going to kick him out.
40:13
Mary Whitmer had had it. She went to bed saying they are
40:17
leaving, they can go back to Harmony.
40:20
If the problem was when Oliver's hand got tired and Joseph's eyes
40:24
got tired, they went out to the Susquehanna and started skipping
40:27
rocks. And so it says in the record, I
40:30
know, I know, it says in the record if they can skip rocks,
40:33
they can chop my wood, you know this this frustration.
40:36
So she's decided I'm kicking him out and she gets up very, very
40:41
early to milk the cow. It's probably four or five in
40:43
the morning and it's still misty.
40:46
It's a very early in June. He is still in in the process of
40:50
of re of translating. And as she comes out of the barn
40:55
she sees an old man, and it is not a shining Angel, and he
41:01
grieves her and shows her the plates.
41:05
I think angels often come in scripture to turn people around,
41:11
and this is another example. Emma was doing what was right.
41:15
The spirit encouraged her. The spirit nudged her.
41:18
She kept following the still small voice, and she kept
41:20
getting soft paths to move ahead.
41:22
Whereas Mary she was, she had had it.
41:25
I'm kicking him out. And the Angel came and said.
41:28
Like Alma and the sons of Mosaic.
41:30
Exactly. A total reversal.
41:32
And so if the spirit is encouraging you, rejoice that
41:35
it's soft nudges if you don't really want a spanking from an
41:38
Angel. And Mary Whitmer turned her
41:40
heart around and opened her home.
41:43
And she chronologically is doing this prior to the three
41:48
witnesses and the eight witness. But you probably know the law
41:51
better than I do. I don't think women were allowed
41:53
to have a voice of witness in legal court in America at that
41:56
time. That's right.
41:57
So her voice was not written as the legal record.
42:01
However, it looks to me like she was our first witness after the
42:05
Prophet Joseph. That is a very sensitive and
42:09
inspiring explanation of that. Thank you, and I hope and we
42:18
invite anyone all of you as you read the Book of Mormon this
42:25
time this year. Reference yourself back often to
42:30
the title page and ask yourself, how is this chapter
42:37
accomplishing this purpose that Mormon and Moroni set out to
42:42
accomplish? It's the thesis right here at
42:44
the beginning. And look at the warning at the
42:47
end of the title page that says not to be critical and cast
42:51
things off because of the errors of men.
42:55
Moroni knows that he probably made mistakes along the way.
43:01
He's done the best he can. Well, and he wrote it in a
43:04
different language than Joseph translated it.
43:06
So it's fascinating to me to realize the errors of men are
43:10
are usually linguistic and cultural differences as much as
43:14
anything else. Don't be frustrated because
43:16
you're not from my culture and you're not reading it in my
43:18
language. That's right.
43:19
And of course, not being critical is is sometimes hard to
43:25
do. But I think we're told to judge
43:28
not that we be not judged. And if we get a little too
43:33
critical too quickly, put yourself in Marona's position
43:37
and think positively about the the wonderful things that he
43:42
suffered and and managed to accomplish in his life to bring
43:48
this forth. And then that it could comes
43:50
forth as such a marvelous work in a wonder or a miraculous
43:53
miracle. The translation and this gift to
43:57
the Restoration is the not just the keystone, not just the
44:02
beginning, not just the foundation.
44:03
But it for me is the answer to all the apostasy that had
44:08
developed by the satanic counterfeits that had
44:11
infiltrated into even well intending good Christians.
44:15
Their misunderstandings are absolutely necessary in the Book
44:21
of Mormon, and we'll point them out as we go along.
44:23
It's going to be a great year and hope May God bless you in
44:26
your scripture study. Absolutely.
44:29
Thanks very much.