Robert’s] request Pres. Midnight to dawn on the equinox. For the next step, you'll be taken to a website to complete the donation and enter your billing information. One important thing to note is that Oliver Cowdery also lived in Poultney, Vermont and was a member of Pastor Ethan Smith’s congregation. Yet, the work contains a highly complex and powerful narrative structure that remains internally cohesive. What has rarely been addressed is that for much of his language and narrative structure, Smith turned to the most read and memorized author of the late seventeenth century, John Bunyan. Roberts is an extremely well respected figure in LDS church history and is considered by past and current General Authorities to be one of the most intelligent and scholarly writers the church has ever seen.Wikipedia says the following regarding B.H. When Bunyan composed the story of Faithful’s martyrdom (and Hopeful’s subsequent conversion), he began by adapting and conflating two New Testament stories: the stoning of Stephen (the first Christian martyr) and the conversion of Paul (Acts 7 – 9). The characters are in an unknown language. Mr. Palmer suggests that “While biblical material is evident in 1, 2, and 3 Nephi and elsewhere in the Book of Mormon, the inspiration for Jacob, Enos, Mosiah, and Alma seems to be partly drawn from Joseph Smith’s own spiritual odyssey. They accuse Faithful 4) of being a “madman,” 5) of stirring up contention among the people, and 6) of slandering the town leaders. After they prayed, an earthquake loosened their bands (Alma 14:22, 26-28; Acts 16:23, 25-26).Both used the same phrases in their preaching (Alma 12-13 & Hebrews 3-4 and many others stating similar/same phrases on Faith, Hope and Charity. The details of the speech, condition of the speaker and the actions and conversion of the crowd seem to provide the inspiration for the King Benjamin speech to the Zarahelmans in the Book of Mormon. Interestingly, the same hot topics that were debated among the denominational ministers found their way into the Book of Mormon. As a result, Joseph Smith’s contribution to the history of American creativity has been neglected. As the pilgrims enter the city, their presence causes a disturbance among the citizens, and the travel companions are 1) bound and thrown into prison. and later journeyed to the Americas to establish a new civilization. Grant informs us of the following comparisons:Both were wicked before their conversions (Mosiah 27:8; 1 Timothy 1:12-13).Both traveled persecuting and seeking to destroy the church (Alma 36:6, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:9, Acts 22:4).Both were persecuting the church when they saw a heavenly vision (Mosiah 27:10-11; Acts 26:11-13).Their companions fell to the earth and were unable to understand the voice that spoke (Mosiah 27:12; Acts 22:9; 26:14).Both were asked in vision why they persecuted the Lord (Mosiah 27:13; Acts 9:4; 22:7).Both were struck dumb/blind, became helpless, and were assisted by their companions. Yet another close parallel Mr. Palmer points out and provides many examples of is the “Evangelical preaching approach,” “style,” “impact,” and “message” of the preachers of the time vs. the Book of Mormon.Are we really to believe the Book of Mormon is inspired of God given it essentially recasts identical and chronological stories, events, and characters of the bible with only different names? How could it be possible that these same italicized words, which were added in 1611, appear in the Book of Mormon as if Joseph Smith translated them directly from golden plates written over 1,000 years prior to the KJV Bible? Bunyan also enlarged the original narrative of Stephen (which originally only consisted of a council of judgment, a theological discussion and a stoning), adding an expanded dramatization of the court scene, imprisonment and torture, the martyr being portrayed as a “madman” by detractors, accusations of sedition, the martyr’s “bold” defense of his beliefs, a judge pronouncing a formal death sentence, the martyr being scourged and burned at the stake, and, finally, the declaration that the martyr “sealed the truth of his testimony with his blood.”. This attitude was too much for the historically minded Roberts...After this Bro. The wider academic community steered clear of the debate, leaving serious inquiry into the Book of Mormon to a small group of scholars and enthusiasts. (Grant Palmer, An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins, p. 50).Mr. His presence causes a great disturbance among the citizens, and Abinadi is 1) bound and thrown into prison. 76-78).LDS archaeologist Thomas Ferguson who spent years searching for Book of Mormon archaeology from the funding of the LDS church came to this conclusion in 1975, “I'm afraid that up to this point, I must agree with Dee Green, who has told us that to date there is no Book-of-Mormon geography” (Written Symposium on Book-of-Mormon Geography: Response of Thomas S. Ferguson to the Norman & Sorenson Papers, p. 29).Thomas Ferguson decided to remain somewhat quiet about his findings and conclusion with regards to the veracity of Mormonism, but in a personal letter (page 2) dated February 9, 1976, he wrote, “Mormonism is probably the best conceived myth-fraternity to which one can belong. The leader of the city, King Noah, 2) assembles a group of false priests to examine Abinadi, and he 3) is “brought before” the leaders and put on trial. member of Pastor Ethan Smith’s congregation, http://www.mazeministry.com/mormonism/holley/holleymaps.htm, Hebrews leave the Old World for the New World, A unity of race (Hebrew) settle the land and are the ancestral origin of American Indians, Prophets, spiritually gifted men transmit generational records, Quetzalcoatl, the white bearded "Mexican Messiah", Generosity encouraged and pride denounced, Hebrews divide into two classes, civilized and barbarous, Civilized thrive in art, written language, metallurgy, navigation, Government changes from monarchy to republic, Civil and ecclesiastical power is united in the same person, Long wars break out between the civilized and barbarous, Extensive military fortifications, observations, "watch towers", Roberts noted: "Ethan is prominently connected with the recording of the matter in the one case, and Ether in the other. ISBN-10: 0548135657. Both passages describe a troubled man who cannot sleep at night, so fearful that he trembles. Not a few things merely, one or two, or half dozen, but many; and it is this fact of many things of similarity and the cumulative force of them that makes them so serious a menace to Joseph Smith's story of the Book of Mormon's origin” (B.H. Hoffmann and the European traditions for at least some of the details that passed from the Smith family to neighbors and from there to outsiders. Roberts on the View of the Hebrews parallels with the Book of Mormon (emphasis mine):“It is altogether probable that these two books—Priest's Wonders of Nature and Providence, 1824; and Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews 1st edition 1823, and the 2nd edition 1825—were either possessed by Joseph Smith or certainly known by him, for they were surely available to him” (B.H. Unlock the digital membership and receive the digital Quarterly Journal and the Reckless Reader card that offers discounts or perks at participating bookstores. The messenger is a spirit prince.Vigil 4: The Morning Vigil He sits under a tree by a green sward. This has been changed in later editions to “Translated by Joseph Smith, Jun.” I could understand why the title page of the Book of Mormon allegedly required the writer to be listed as “Author and Proprietor,” but there is no way that the testimony of the eight witnesses would have to state this as well. Roberts wrote three separate studies that covered the many issues with the Book of Mormon. For example, please compare Isaiah 53 to Mosiah 14. Indeed, reading the Book of Mormon is tantamount to reading John Bunyan’s many works condensed into a single volume. To the LDS faithful, the Book of Mormon is the true historical account of a group of ancient Israelites who fled Jerusalem prior to the Babylonian captivity (600 B.C.E.) The parallels of these two stories are drawn from the recitals of Joseph Smith, his family, friends and acquaintances documented accounts to E.T.A. Thus, Abinadi 11) “seals” his “testimony” with his “blood.” Abinadi’s teachings and martyrdom 12) convert a witness, Alma, who becomes a main character in the story. One of the most prominent examples is the template that forms the narrative foundation for both the story of Faithful, a Christian martyr in Pilgrim’s Progress, and the story of the Prophet Abinadi in the Book of Mormon. Such attention, however, is a doubled-edged sword, forcing the LDS Church to respond to controversial issues from its past, such as its history of polygamy, denying priesthood authority to black males until 1978, and the on-going debate about Mormonism’s status as a traditional Christian faith. He views Egyptian artifacts. Instead of regarding it as the strongest evidence we have of Church Divinity, he regards it as the one which needs the most bolstering.