The Book of Mormon: A Readers
Edition
Mark
Regarded as sacred scripture by millions, the Book of Mormon - first
published in 1830 - is one of the most significant documents in American
religious history. Now available in paperback, Grant Hardys new Readers
Edition has reformatted the complete, unchanged 1920 text in the manner
of modern translations of the Bible, with paragraphs, quotation marks,
poetic forms, topical headings, multi-chapter headings, indention of quoted
documents, italicized re-workings of biblical prophecies, and minimized
verse numbers. He has also provided a hypothetical map based on internal
references, an essay on Book of Mormon poetry, a full glossary of names,
genealogical charts, a basic bibliography of Mormon and non-Mormon
scholarship, a chronology of the translation, eyewitness accounts of the
Gold Plates, and information regarding the lost 116 pages, and significant
changes in the text. The editorial aids and footnotes in this edition provide
readers with a clear guide through this complicated text. New readers will
find the story accessible and intelligible; Mormons will gain fresh insights
from familiar verses seen in a broader narrative context.
Personal Review: The Book of Mormon: A Readers Edition
I find the Book of Mormon to be as credible as any other religious
scriptures I have read. Whether the words were divine inspiration, copied
from mysterious "plates", or even the work of an incredibly intelligent
human mind - how does this differ from any other religous writings? And
how does this affect your personal interpretation of your reading of the
Book of the Mormon? Do you let other peoples opinions affect YOUR
beliefs and your interest; your aspiration towards spiritual truth and
knowledge? I certainly hope not!
For every thing affirmed in our world there is another who will deny it -
even the most basic of truths - put it up for discussion in a group and see
how few actually agree on anything. The Prophets warned of this
condition in the world, as well as the Hindus - who call the current period
we are living in "The Age of Quarrel" - that men will talk but will not listen;
no one will agree on anything and people will be too proud to compromise
or attempt to understand the viewpoint of others; greed, corruption and
dishonesty will rule the day - gosh, sound familiar?
All religious masters and leaders teach that Faith is one of the major
requirements for religious belief; from Moses to Jesus to Buddha to Martin
Luther King. Is Faith based on fact? If one had to have proof for those
ideals and beliefs then most would abandon Faith altogether. Even the
Buddha, who told his followers not to trust anyone, but to investigate the
truth for themselves, also instructed them to have Faith!
The whole basis of the Torah (The Law) is the 10 commandments which
were also at one time written on stone tablets and "revealed" to Moses -
does the fact that we can't find these tablets make those commandments
any less imperative to the foundation of Judaism or Christianity? Do/did
Smith's plates exist? Who cares? Jesus gave new teachings based on
these Old Testament scriptures and The Law. Did Jesus have faith that
the commandments were revealed to Moses?
Can you imagine if those plates did exist today - believers would say "See
we told you so.." and skeptics would say "Oh, they are not real..." It would
be akin to finding the lost Ark of the Covenant which by the way millions of
Jews believe existed with no proof.
The Hindus have volumes and volumes of ancient scriptures - many of
them handed down orally through thousands of years - how are we to trust
the origins and the current inerpretation of these scriptures? Yet, billions
of Hindus seem to have no problem putting their faith in them.
There is no denying that the basis of Mormonism is The Old and New
Testament and I find it both inspiring and interesting. In truth, I don't really
care about the origin - just as I can't question the origin of any religious
scriptures and get satisifactory answers. Do you really think Joseph Smith
- I am sure he was a great man in many respects - at his young age and
limited education hatched a "scheme" to get rich by instituting a phony
religion? Can you imagine the scope of such a project if you, personally,
were to attempt to undertake a job like this today? Give it a try, write up
some "phony" scriptures, pass them around on the internet and invite
people to join up - I would be interested to hear how it goes for you and
then whether or not your followers still believed in your message 75 years
from now.
I read the Book of Mormon for what it is, the same way I read the Bible, the
Torah, the Bhagavad Gita or Buddha Sakyamuni's foundational precepts -
for inspirational knowledge. I then put that knowledge into my greater
subconcious mind to mull over and work with God to determine its value.
Man can not do this work alone, nor do I rely on the judgement of man -
who is in absolutely no position to judge anything. Intellectual reasoning is
more or less a trick of the mind and denial the work of the ego.
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