| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 178.1 | The Miracle of Translation | RIPPLE::KOTTERRI | Rich Kotter | Wed Oct 26 1988 14:22 | 70 |
| More from "Study, Faith & The Book of Mormon" by John W. Welch.
The miracle of translation
--------------------------
First, some history -- the year 1829. Only recently have I come to
appreciate what a staggering achievement it was for Joseph Smith to
bring forth the Book of Mormon at all. The mere fact that it exists is
more of a miracle than most of us know. Consider for example, the
simple question of how long it took Joseph to translate the Book of
Mormon. Many solid and independent historical documents written by
people like Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Knight, David Whitmer, Oliver
Cowdery, and even public records like the mortgage on Martin Harris'
farm, thoroughly corroborate these details and reveal an amazing story.
After the setbacks of 1828, the translation of the Book of Mormon
finally began on April 7, 1829, two days after Oliver Cowdery arrived
in Harmony, Pennsylvania, guided by a personal revelation from the Lord
to come serve as Joseph's scribe. A short five weeks later, by May 15,
they had already reached the account of Christ's ministry among the
Nephites in 3 Nephi 11. By June 11, we know that they had translated
the last of the plates of Mormon, for Joseph used those words from the
title page as the legal description on the copyright application he
filed that day. By June 30, the job was finished at the Whitmer
farmhouse in Fayette, New York.
Total time to translate: 85 days
--------------------------------
Start to finish -- no more than 85 total days. But even from that must
be subtracted time and disruption when Joseph and Oliver moved the
first week in June on buckboard from Harmony to Fayette, some 120 miles
away; time for trips to Colesville for supplies (60 miles round trip),
time to receive and record 13 sections now contained in the Doctrine &
Covenants, time to restore the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods,
time to convert and baptize Samuel and Hyrum Smith and several others,
time to experience manifestations with the Three and Eight Witnesses,
and I suppose a little time to eat and sleep.
This leaves only about 60-65 days that the Prophet had to work on the
translation, which works out to a phenomenal average of eight or nine
finished pages per day - day in, day out. A week to produce 1 Nephi,
with all its subtle religious and cultural baggage that Hugh Nibley has
taken volumes to unpack. A day and a half to translate King Benjamin's
Speech, which is one of the most masterful texts anywhere in religious
literature. Beside teaching doctrines about the atonement, service,
humility, conversion, and covenants it also reflects ancient Israelite
piety infused with the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
No libraries to consult
-----------------------
Yet there was no time there for Joseph to consult at libraries (even if
there had been a library in Harmony, Pennsylvania -- which there was
not); no time to study the Mishnah to find out how, in fact, Israelite
kings delivered covenant renewal speeches, like Benjamin's, from towers
to their people who gather by families in tents around their temple; no
time to revise and refine, no time to crosscheck entangled dates and
interwoven details. Instead, the text came, as Oliver recorded five
years later, "day after day, uninterrupted." as the words fell from his
mouth."
Seeing this has brought home to me the magnificance of the text of the
Book of Mormon. This was an astonishing achievement. The text came one
time through, final copy, dictated, and thus it has stood, except for
minor stylistic editing, to this day. As a lawyer, I know what it is to
dictate. After years of practice, I still cannot count on dictating
anything perfectly the first time.
To be continued...
|
| 178.2 | Legal System | RIPPLE::KOTTERRI | Rich Kotter | Wed Oct 26 1988 14:25 | 78 |
| More from "Study, Faith & The Book of Mormon" by John W. Welch.
Legal System
------------
Also as a lawyer, I have been fascinated and impressed with the
technical sophistication of the Book of Mormon in ancient legal
affairs. Whoever wrote the Book of Mormon had intimate familiarity with
a completely consistent, operating legal system, grounded in the
jurisprudence and legal terminology of ancient Israel.
This is especially true of Alma, who after all was the Chief Judge. The
reports on the trials of Abinadi, Nehor, and Korihor turn out to be
remarkable legal documents in light of what we know about the ancient
laws regarding reviling, false witnessing, blasphemy, murder, heralding
the results of an infamous conviction, and so on.
Law is of great importance to the Nephites, as it was for Israelites in
general. Thus it is significant that Alma says that the Nephites were
*strict* to obey the law of Moses, which they did, down to the coming
of Christ.
Thiefs and Robbers
------------------
How true this was can be seen by such things as the following: It turns
out there was a big difference under the law of Moses, and in ancient
Near Eastern criminal law generally, between being a "thief" and being
a "robber". A "thief" was an inside member of the community; he usually
worked alone, he stole things like chickens at night. A thief's offense
was not serious, and he was punished lightly, usually being required to
return that which he had stolen and then doubling it.
A "robber" on the other hand was an outsider, literally an outlaw,
living outside the community and outside the protections of the local
law. Robbers hid out in the hills, in bands, swearing oaths of secrecy,
swooping down on villages, openly assassinating and plundering. Robbers
were one of the greatest scourges of ancient civilization; sometimes in
Egypt they occupied whole cities. Soldiers were sent out after them,
and when they were caught, they were put to death on the spot -- no
trial was necessary.
Gaddianton Robbers
------------------
This kind of information turns out to be significant in understanding
the Book of Mormon, for it, too, rigorously observes this distinction:
The Gaddianton robbers are always called robbers, never thieves. They
live out in the hills, and the army goes out to battle against them.
When the Nephites catch one,... they put him to death on the spot. No
trial is mentioned, as they hung him on a tree and ritually chopped the
tree down ( a form of notorious execution which indeed has a remarkable
parallel in another obscure corner of Jewish law that oddly requires
that the tree on which the culprit is hung be chopped down).
Laban's Threat
--------------
Now we can also better understand why Laman was so frightened by
Laban's threat. When Laman tried to obtain the plates of brass, you
recall, Laban threw him out, saying, "Thou art a robber, and I will
slay thee". Indeed, Laban was a military officer. And even though Laman
clearly was not a robber, if Laban chose to characterize him as such,
Laban had the power to put some real teeth into his threat.
Of course, if the text had said, "Thou art a *thief*, and I will slay
thee," it wouldn't have sounded quite right. But that too is a telling
point, for there is little substantive distinction between "theft" and
"robbery" in Anglo-American law; nor could Joseph have learned the
ancient distinction from his Bible, for the translators of the King
James Version use these two words indiscriminantly and interchangeably.
For example, in the story of the Good Samaritan, the King James Version
says that a man went down from Jerusalem and fell among "thieves". Of
course, you do not fall among "thieves" out in the desert, but among
"robbers," which is how the Greek reads. Unlike the King James Version,
however, the Book of Mormon uses these two terms correctly.
To be continued...
|
| 178.3 | Literature | RIPPLE::KOTTERRI | Rich Kotter | Fri Oct 28 1988 10:26 | 40 |
| More from "Study, Faith & The Book of Mormon" by John W. Welch.
Literature
----------
Consider something from the world of literature. I first became aware
of the remarkable precision of the Book of Mormon when I was serving a
mission in South Germany. There, 20 years ago, I was introduced at a
lecture in a Catholic seminary to the idea of chiasmus in the Bible.
Chiasmus is a variety of parallelism that was frequently used in the
ancient Near East, especially in Hebrew, although not exclusively.
Instead of simply saying something twice in direct parallel form
(a-b-c/a-b-c), a chiastic text repeats itself the second time in the
opposite order (a-b-c/c-b-a).
Since chiasmus is a rather distinctive, recently detected mode of
expression which often helps in analyzing biblical texts, I was excited
early one morning to discover that several writers in the Book of
Mormon also employed this stylistic device.
Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon
------------------------------
As it turns out, some of the most meaningful and well constructed
examples of this form of writing found anywhere in the world appear on
the pages of the Book of Mormon. A fine example is found in Mosiah
5:10-12 where the six elements -- "name, called, left hand, remember,
blotted out, and transgression" -- appear first in that order, and then
reappear in the opposite order. Another creative example is in Alma
41:13-15. Alma uses chiasmus brilliantly to depict the reciprocal
aspect of restorative justice.
And nothing surpasses the chiastic composition of Alma 36, where Alma
places at the pivot point of his intricately balanced chapter the
central spiritual turning point at which he called upon the name of
Jesus Christ, the son of God, to atone for his sins. Alma could have
drawn on no better literary expression to place Christ more squarely at
the middle of things than does this example of chiasmus.
To be continued...
|
| 178.4 | Lessons from the Book of Mormon | RIPPLE::KOTTERRI | Rich Kotter | Fri Oct 28 1988 14:58 | 81 |
| More from "Study, Faith & The Book of Mormon" by John W. Welch.
Lessons from the Book of Mormon
-------------------------------
Finally, consider some more practical and spiritual kinds of lessons we
have yet to learn from the Book of Mormon. As bishop of a BYU student
ward, I have found over and over that answers to spiritual struggles
were there to be found in the Book of Mormon, but they did not sink in
until we had prayerfully searched the scriptures to obtain an answer to
our needs.
Forgiveness
-----------
For example, I had one member in my ward who could not feel completely
forgiven, even though she had sincerely tried. It occurred to us how
Benjamin had counseled an commanded his people that they must impart of
their substance to the poor in order to *retain* a remission of their
sins from day to day (Mosiah 4:26). This turned out to be the answer.
Giving offerings to the poor has long been a part of holy Israelite
fast days on which they sought atonement for there sins. Perhaps here
is a lesson we all should learn, a forgotten step in the repentance
process, to remember the poor and the needy.
Temptation
----------
On other occasions, I counseled members of my ward who were struggling
with temptation that they should pray more effectively by pleading with
the Lord to help them overcome what was tempting them. I learned this
lesson too from the Book of Mormon, for it says that the righteous
Nephites offered up a prayer ever day "that they might not enter into
temptation" (Alma 31:10). When was the last time you asked your
Heavenly Father that you not be influenced by a specific temptation?
Derision
--------
Or again, have we really comprehended how the devil operates? Lehi's
vision of the great and spacious building, for example, tells us
graphically that the one main weapon used by the wicked is mocking and
derision. I don't think we guard *ourselves* enough against behaving
this way. Yet when you know your opponent's play book, it's a lot
easier to plan your defense. No better expose' of the cunning but
rakish ways of the devil can be found than in the Book of Mormon.
Seed of Faith
-------------
Or again, have we really noticed what Alma actually says about planting
that seed of faith in Alma 32? What is it that he tells us we will
know when the seed begins to grow? Do we know that the seed is "true"?
Well, for Alma, it says that we will begin to know that the seed
is "good" (Alma 32:30-33,36) Now there is an important difference
between knowing that something is "true" and knowing that it is
"good." Satan, for example, knows much that is true, yet he knows
little of the good. We must know both. How great it is to know not
only that the gospel and the Book of Mormon are true, but also that
they are good.
Covenants
---------
This list could go on and on, but consider one more. There are lessons
yet to be learned about makeing and keeping covenants. When Jesus
had but a few days to spend witht eh righteous people at Bountiful,
what did he spend his time saying and doing? Just a few months ago,
it dawned on me that he met them at the temple, where he entered
into covenants with them.
Jesus prepared these people to make covenants at the temple, to
keep these commandments, to take upon them his name, and to remember
his marked body which he had just shown them, and which they had
received and touched with their own hands.
If Jesus had but a short time to spend with these people and chose
to spend it with them at the temple, shouldn't we spend a little
more of our time there as well?
To be continued...
|
| 178.5 | Not a simple book | RIPPLE::KOTTERRI | Rich Kotter | Sat Oct 29 1988 16:49 | 112 |
| More from "Study, Faith & The Book of Mormon" by John W. Welch.
Why have I told you these things?
---------------------------------
Why, then, have I told you these things? There are several reasons.
First, because I find them exciting. I never cease to be amazed
by the Book of Mormon.
I also tell you these things because I know them to be good and
true. One of the stated purposes of the Book of Mormon is to be
a convincing witness that Jesus is the Christ. Recognizing that
all evidence must be evaluated carefully, I find the accumulation
of points like these to be quite persuasive and indeed convincing
that this book bears a true witness that Jesus is the Christ.
Proving the Book of Mormon
--------------------------
Does this mean I am trying to *prove* that the Book of Mormon is true?
That question is often asked, but not often enough thought about. In
this regard, I like what B.H. Roberts said in 1909: The holy Ghost
"must ever be the chief source of evidence for the truth of the Book of
Mormon. All other evidence is secondary to this, the primary and
infallible. No arrangement of evidence, however skillfully ordered; no
argument, however adroitly made, can ever take [the] place [of the Holy
Ghost].... Secondary evidences in support of truth," however, he
continued, "like secondary causes in natural phenomena, may be of
first-rate importance, and mighty factors in the achievement of God's
purposes."
No simple book
--------------
I believe that historical documents from 1829, legal distinctions
between theft and robber, and other such studies give us just this kind
of first-rate secondary evidence. They help us appreciate the
miraculous origins of the Book of Mormon, the complexity of the legal
and literary systems embedded in the text, and the profundity of its
doctrines. This is no simple book dashed off the top of any young man's
head, but reflects the best of one-thousand years of civilization and
inspiration.
Of course the Book of Mormon remains a debatable subject -- and
fortunately the Lord has left it primarily in the realm of faith. Not
every question will be answerable to everyone's complete satisfaction,
but when has that ever been the case with the Bible, with mathematics,
or anywhere else? Still, God has not left us without ample positive
reasons that will lead the teachable, inquiring mind to the point of
faith.
Many approaches needed
----------------------
I have also said these things to show that many approaches will be
necessary to fathom the depths of the Book of Mormon. Historical,
doctrinal, theoretical, practical, religious, legal, literary,
intellectual, and spiritual approaches are all needed. President Benson
has said, "Not only should we know what history... the Book of Mormon
contains, but we should understand its teachings. ...God expects us to
use the Book of Mormon in several ways." The book has many stated
purposes. They will demand the best of all our faculties.
The approaches I have sampled give only a glimpse of the range of work
being done today by many people at BYU: Hugh Nibley, on the book's
ancient cultural patterns and their modern implications; John Sorenson,
on the limited geography internally required by the book itself; Robert
Matthews and Monte Nyman, who have a great interest in the book and
contemporary Mormonism; Stephen Ricks, Dan Peterson, and Stephen
Robinson, working on Hebrew, Arabic, and early Christian comparisons;
Bob Millett and Joseph McConkie, exploring its doctrinal meanings and
significance; Noel Reynolds, reading 1 Nephi through a political
perspective as legitimating Nephi as Lehi's successor; Roger Keller,
adding a second contribution this year to computer aided authorship
analyses; Paul Hoskisson, seeking possible etymologies for Book of
Mormon proper names; and many others.
Spiritual and Intellectual Unity
--------------------------------
Each approaches the book differently, which helps me see the
incompleteness of my own knowledge. As the Apostle Paul said, we only
see "through a glass darkly"; our knowledge is incomplete, we only
"know in part," and we even prophesy only "in part" (1 Cor 13:9,12).
Similarly, President Benson has said that we must never rest in our
study of the Book of Mormon. It will wear us out long before we will
ever wear it out: "Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this
book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy
and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity
to his whole life."
Note well what President Benson says here: "Spiritual *and*
intellectual unity to your whole life." Another reason I have told you
these things is because I think they are the kind of thing that may
help us to achieve the spiritual and intellectual unity President
Benson is talking about.
There is a verse from the Doctrine and Covenants on a plaque in the
[BYU] Lee Library. ...It made a deep impression on me. It admonishes us
to "seek learning, even by study and also by faith" (D&C 88:118).
Spirit and intellect, study and faith, science and religion, testimony
and academics. Often we see these as opposites, but ultimately they are
not.
If our eye is single to God and his glory, if in our learning we are
always willing to hearken unto the counsels of the Lord, if we are
equally rigorous about what we think and how we reason, we shall see
how all truth may be circumscribed in one great whole and that all
things shall work together for our good.
To be continued...
|
| 178.6 | A sealed book | RIPPLE::KOTTERRI | Rich Kotter | Mon Oct 31 1988 16:21 | 60 |
| More from "Study, Faith & The Book of Mormon" by John W. Welch.
Scholarly tools
---------------
Scholarly tools can be used in learning more about the scriptures. Here
too we must be, as the Greek reads, "as *astute* as serpents but as
*pure* as doves" ...(see Matt 10:16). Any tool can be used for good or
for evil. A hammer can be used to build up or tear down. It can even
injure the careless or unskillful person who is trying to use it. But
for that reason alone, we do not eschew all hammers. All tools must be
used carefully, with training, and for their intended purposes.
Everyone must be cautious not to exceed these bounds. We must all
temper enthusiasm with competence and zeal with knowledge, but also we
must temper our premises with inspiration and scholarly assertions with
humility.
A sealed book
-------------
But given the right tools used in the right ways, we can do some great
things. The Book of Mormon remains a book sealed by many seals. Proper
tools and methods will unlock more and more of them and will, in turn,
reveal much of its fullness to us. It is sealed to us by our
unfaithfulness and lack of prayer. It is sealed to us by our
inattention to detail and background information. It is sealed to us in
part by its nature because it is an abridgment. It is sealed further by
our failure to listen to the brethren and to apply the teachings of the
Book of Mormon to ourselves daily.
It is sealed when we take its divine origins and simple elegance
lightly. It is sealed when we fail to see the people of the book as
they saw themselves. It is sealed when we don't blank out our eyes and
stop hearing what we want to hear, but sit back and let the Book of
Mormon speak to us, instead of us to it. Now the book is supposed to
speak from the dust, but that doesn't mean the dust of our bookshelves.
All this will take tremendous effort; however, the promised rewards are
more than worth it.
Sooner or later the book will be unsealed in your life. In the last
days, Isaiah says, this book will not be a sealed book when finally
"the dear shall hear [its words] and the eyes of the blind shall se out
of obscurity and darkness" (Isaiah 29:18). Then, he says, shall the
meek increase, while the scorners shall be consumed (Isaiah 29:19-20).
This will happen, Isaiah says, when they that have erred shall come to
*understanding*, and they that have murmured shall learn doctrine
(Isaiah 29:24). Both will be required: correct understanding and
devotion to doctrine.
At the final judgment, we sill also see these words again. The books of
life will be unsealed, and all things shall be made manifest, whether
they be good or whether they be evil. The words of the Book of Mormon
will figure prominently on that day, for they are the words by which
you and I will be judged. As God has spoken it, they will stand as a
bright testimony at the judgment (Mos 3:23-24); Moroni 10:27).
Hopefully, that will not be the first time the Book of Mormon is truly
unsealed and laid opened before us.
[The End]
|