Recently I met with Trevor, a 20 year old young man, to find out what the delay was in processing his mission papers. After some probing he admitted that he doubted the authenticity of The Book of Mormon. He had done some research online and had concluded that it was utterly ridiculous to believe that the ancient people of America spoke and wrote in Egyptian. He pointed out an article on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Egyptian) which states that "No archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America has been discovered. No non-Mormon scholars acknowledge the existence of either a "reformed Egyptian" language or a "reformed Egyptian" script as it has been described in Mormon belief.”
As a Stake President I knew just how to handle this concern. I explained to Trevor that non Mormon scholars are at a huge disadvantage in that they do not know that Reformed Egyptian was in fact just as common a language as Hebrew amongst the native people of America.
We turned to Mormon chapter 9 which explains:
32 And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.
33 And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record.
I further explained to Trevor that to those of us (such as myself) who are familiar with Hebrew and Egyptian it is plain to see that the English version of The Book of Mormon is a translation from those ancient tongues.
At this point I could see that young Trevor was still a tiny bit skeptical so I pulled out a copy of this month’s Ensign. I explained that with all the Anti Mormon persecution we are experiencing on websites such as Wikipedia these days’ leaders have found it helpful to occasionally educate members on the scientifically proven evidence of the gospel. We turned and read from the article entitled "This Text Is Hebrew" (http://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/07/latter-day-saint-voices?lang=eng).
In it we learn of a member who was sitting next to an unnamed Jewish Rabbi and got him to read from the pages of The Book of Mormon. After reading part of the book something very faith promoting happened; the Rabbi suddenly stopped and stated, “This text is Hebrew.”
Needless to say Trevor completed his mission papers without delay and is very much looking forward to serving in the Peru Chiclayo mission. I assured him that he will likely become familiar with some of the older native languages which would have evolved from the Hebrew and Egyptian tongues spoken by the descendants of Lehi.
18 comments:
I am a member that more then lost his way, I feel I am too far gone to see how this article can help President?
This ensign article makes no mention exactly where in Nephi were they reading? So much of the Book of Mormon is taken quite literally word for word including the translation "italics" from the KJV I don't know what to say.
Seems quite possible all the Rabbi was reading, was stripped right off the pages of the OT - it's no wonder he thought it was Hebrew.
Perhaps my pride and lack of testimony and the spirit is missing something here - and need to repent?
*** NOTE TO THE READER OF THIS BLOG ***
This is NOT a website sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nor is "President Paternoster" a stake president within the Church. Rather, the content of this site varies from farce to pointed criticism [which is, at times, painfully accurate].
Many, but not necessarily all, of the posts are written in mockery of those who are sincerely striving, albeit imperfectly, to follow Jesus.
Caveat utilitor.
I would bear my testimony if the truthfulness of this blog, but my testimony is not sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, due to misplacing my Testimony Glove™.
Whether this is farce or pointed criticism, it must be said that it is still true. If you don't believe me, look up the links our noble Stake President provides!
Oh President Paternoster, how truly inspired you are. Trevor need not look to the deluded intellectuals of the day, for they are all deeply ensnared in Satan's cruel talons. All of those niggling little details that intellectuals point to - such as no physical or genetic proof the BOM civilization existed - will all be made known in time.
I'm really amazed at the lengths Satan will go to in order to deceive the whole world, other than Mormons. It's nothing short of incredible that Satan managed to hide all evidence of the Hebrew and Egyptian origins of the cultures in the Americas. I don't know how he did it, but he really must really work overtime to deceive the unfaithful. Sometimes I feel sorry for them.
Another example is the fact he created an entirely false Egyptian language just so he could deceive people who tried to use the knowledge and learning of the world to read the Book of Abraham facsimiles.
Fortunately, we Mormons know the truth.
Of course it appears to be translated in Hebrew. Nephi was thinking in Hebrew, translating to Reformed Egyptian, which was then translated by Smith to English. Of course, when I read this faith promoting story about it obviously being written in Egyptian with some Hebrew nouns, I start to wonder: http://ldsbookofmormon.com/?tag=die-boek-van-mormon I wish God would just bring forth some more works and clear it all up for us. I have been long on faith but short on miracles
Pres. P.
Thank you so much for pointing out this additional proof that the BOM is an authentic record.
This comes as an answer to prayer for me and I am overwhelmed that God would single me out to receive this message.
It was only last week that I was also seated next to a rabbi on an airplane. I noticed that he glanced my way as I was dutifully reading about the adventures of Nephi which were originally written by a Hebrew speaking man in Reformed Egyptian, and then translated into King James English with telltale signs remaining that the original writer spoke Hebrew.
I took the occasion to ask him if he had ever had the chance to read the BOM. I was somewhat disturbed by his response...
He said that he had read the book and investigated its remarkable claims. He then said:
"That book is complete bullshit!" "Not a single piece of evidence exists to substantiate its claim as a historical record of real people and real events"
Now that I am aware of the comment of the other rabbi, the score in the contest of rabbi comments on airplanes has come to a draw. We are left to our own feelings to determine whether or not the events of the BOM really happened. I know in my heart that they did.
If I ever run into another doubter, I will have this story about the rabbi on the airplane ready to counter any information that might bring into question the truthfulness of the BOM.
Who was the Rabbi? What was his name? If this were a real story the quote would be sourced. Like 99% of the warm fuzzy stories in the Ensign, this is a made up quote from a persona who doesn't exist.
Molly,
Sure, the person doesn't exist, and the story is probably completely made up. But isn't that the Real Truth?
The answer is no.
Emmm....President, I have a problem that has nagged me since I first read it oh so many years ago. To wit, why in the world would an ancient prophet have even written about the language he was writing in?
Would it not be self evident to the reader of his prophecies what, precisely, the language was?
Recording that thought ("...we have written this record...in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian...") would be tantamount with you beginning each of your addresses in stake conference with "And I am now going to address you in English." As my irreverent teenagers would offer "Duh!"
I am so thankful for a testimony that keeps me from concluding the Lord's One and Only True Church is all made up.
President, I recently read an article in Businessweek about the Mormon church being more like a corporation than a church. I hope you will post something about this article that was filled with horrible lies! We can't have people getting the wrong idea about our one true church.
still no evidence whatsoever of so-called "reformed Egyptian" . That Joe was a professional bullshitter. Oh dear, my faith falters...the story of the Rabbi is completely made up.......liars.
Coincidentally, I had a similar experience recently, in which I was seated on an airplane next to an gentleman whose reading material proclaimed him to be an Egyptologist.
I had the Book of Mormon for my in-flight reading, but at some point my glance wandered to the open page of my seat-mate's book, where what I saw frankly astounded me. It began when the name Nefer-kheperu-her-sekheper caught my eye. My pulse began to pound: this was an undeniable parallel to the name Nephi! Seizing the book with a murmured apology, I rapidly turned the pages, finding additional parallels on nearly every page! To give just one example, consider the following:
The Majesty of the God Ra, whom men call Ra-Horakhti also, was in Nubia with his army, a great and innumerable multitude of soldiers, footmen and horsemen, archers and chariots.
What greater refutation could there be of tired anti-Mormon nitpicking about chariots and horses in the Book of Mormon? They are common motifs in ancient Egyptian religious texts!
In my excitement, I turned to my seat-mate, and exclaimed, pointing to the Book of Mormon, "This text is reformed Egyptian!"
His reaction, sadly, will surprise on one familiar with the experience of the Anton transcript and the prophecies of Isaiah, and the seed that fell on his hard heart found it to be stony ground. Perhaps prompted by Satan, he quickly made arrangements to move to a new seat.
It was only when President Paternoster called my attention to the Ensign article that I understood the seeming coincidence was for my benefit, and the benefit of others to whom I will now bear frequent and repeated testimony of this profound faith-promoting experience.
Wow, first Nahum/NHM and now Nephi/Nefer-kheperu-her-sekheper. The bullseyes just keep on coming...
This site is a fraud. He is illegally using a picture of Ed Madden as his own.
Those interested in reading the book involving the Translation of the Book of Mormon Caractors Document that I have just completed, I have set up a website where it can be accessed. www.bookofmormoncaractorstranslation.com
Hi,
If the knowledge of the book of Mormon came from the knowledge of the Egyptians and Hebrews, who are non-white people, why were non-white people denied entry into the Mormon church? This is confusing. Please explain. Thanks.
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