Liahona Irreantum Rabbanah deseret
Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 3:20 am
Dr. Grant Palmer (PhD, BYU - American History), a 34-year veteran of the Mormon Church's official Church Education System has abandoned his former faith in Joseph Smith, the LDS Church and the Mormon religion as a result of his study into the true origins of his former religion. His most notable work is a book entitled, "An Insider's View of Mormon Origins", in which Dr. Palmer traces the sources Joseph Smith used to write the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham, etc.
Dr. Palmer has also produced a variety of articles on the same topics. One of the items I found interesting recently come from this LINK. In the article entitled, "Has an actual Book of Mormon location been found - Nahom?" Dr. Palmer points out some interesting linguistic problems in the Book of Mormon. The fact is, the Book of Mormon's unique transliterated terms and place-names have no valid etymology - no history of use in any known language.
For example, in the Book of Mormon "Irreantum" = "many waters" (1 Ne. 17:5), "Rabbanah" = "powerful or great king" (Alma 18:13), "Rameumptom" = "the holy stand" (Alma 31:21), "Liahona" = "a compass" (Alma 37:38), "deseret" = "a honey bee" (Ether 2:3), "Ripliancum" = "large, or to exceed all" (Ether 15:8). Dr. Palmer points out that these words have no Old World roots.
The Book of Mormon peoples were supposedly Hebrews; but these words certainly are not Hebrew terms. These people supposedly wrote the Book of Mormon in "Reformed Egyptian"; but none of these place names are Egyptian either. The Book of Mormon peoples were supposedly the ancestors of the American Indians; but none of these terms or place names are ever used in any Native American language to mean what the Book of Mormon says they mean, if they appear at all.
In short there appears to be no connection whatsoever between these supposedly Hebrew-Egyptian-Native American terms and the languages spoken by actual people who lived in the real world. They appear to be imaginary words which comports perfectly with the explanation that the Book of Mormon is an imaginary fantasy penned by lying con artists.
Dr. Palmer asks, "Do they have further derivatives in New World usage? One would expect the they should have, but nothing to support this expectation has been forthcoming. Instead, LDS scholars provide separate theories for each Book of Mormon place name. In contrast, when studying the Bible, the place names are derived from Hebrew or a local dialect. Again we see that the Book of Mormon cannot stand up to professional linguistic analysis."
The problem here is obvious. Mormons face the challenge of simply showing us that the place names listed above were ever used by REAL people to refer to specific places. In fact, it would be helpful to the Mormon cause if they could simply tell us WHERE these places actually ARE. At this point in time, despite countless tens of thousands of man-hours of research, no one has ever been able to do even that. And once someone can actually show us WHERE these places are, all they need to do is show us that anyone who has ever lived actually used the above proper names to refer to these locations. Then we can proceed on to the titles and terms for objects. Specifically, Mormons should be able to SHOW US that Jewish American Indians, writing in an Egyptian dialect ever used the following words to mean what the Book of Mormon says they mean. Mormons, please show us some reason to think that anyone in ancient America...
•Used the word "Irreantum" to refer to "many waters" (1 Ne. 17:5)
•Used the word "Rabbanah" to refer to "powerful or great king" (Alma 18:13)
•Used the word "Rameumptom" to refer to "the holy stand" (Alma 31:21)
•Used the word "Liahona" to mean "a compass" (Alma 37:38)
•Used the word "deseret" in reference to "a honey bee" (Ether 2:3)
•Used the word "Ripliancum" to mean "large, or to exceed all" (Ether 15:8)
If you cannot meet this challenge, the best explanation for your failure will remain that the Book of Mormon is a fantasy - a LIE told in the name of The Lord Jesus Christ. After all, fantasy names belong in fantasy books. But the Word of God should not be a fantasy. If simple honesty is any part of the "fruit" that Mormons claim as evidence of the truth of their religion, the Mormon failure to meet this challenge should bother those Mormons who take only a few moments to allow themselves to actually THINK about this problem.
Dr. Palmer has also produced a variety of articles on the same topics. One of the items I found interesting recently come from this LINK. In the article entitled, "Has an actual Book of Mormon location been found - Nahom?" Dr. Palmer points out some interesting linguistic problems in the Book of Mormon. The fact is, the Book of Mormon's unique transliterated terms and place-names have no valid etymology - no history of use in any known language.
For example, in the Book of Mormon "Irreantum" = "many waters" (1 Ne. 17:5), "Rabbanah" = "powerful or great king" (Alma 18:13), "Rameumptom" = "the holy stand" (Alma 31:21), "Liahona" = "a compass" (Alma 37:38), "deseret" = "a honey bee" (Ether 2:3), "Ripliancum" = "large, or to exceed all" (Ether 15:8). Dr. Palmer points out that these words have no Old World roots.
The Book of Mormon peoples were supposedly Hebrews; but these words certainly are not Hebrew terms. These people supposedly wrote the Book of Mormon in "Reformed Egyptian"; but none of these place names are Egyptian either. The Book of Mormon peoples were supposedly the ancestors of the American Indians; but none of these terms or place names are ever used in any Native American language to mean what the Book of Mormon says they mean, if they appear at all.
In short there appears to be no connection whatsoever between these supposedly Hebrew-Egyptian-Native American terms and the languages spoken by actual people who lived in the real world. They appear to be imaginary words which comports perfectly with the explanation that the Book of Mormon is an imaginary fantasy penned by lying con artists.
Dr. Palmer asks, "Do they have further derivatives in New World usage? One would expect the they should have, but nothing to support this expectation has been forthcoming. Instead, LDS scholars provide separate theories for each Book of Mormon place name. In contrast, when studying the Bible, the place names are derived from Hebrew or a local dialect. Again we see that the Book of Mormon cannot stand up to professional linguistic analysis."
The problem here is obvious. Mormons face the challenge of simply showing us that the place names listed above were ever used by REAL people to refer to specific places. In fact, it would be helpful to the Mormon cause if they could simply tell us WHERE these places actually ARE. At this point in time, despite countless tens of thousands of man-hours of research, no one has ever been able to do even that. And once someone can actually show us WHERE these places are, all they need to do is show us that anyone who has ever lived actually used the above proper names to refer to these locations. Then we can proceed on to the titles and terms for objects. Specifically, Mormons should be able to SHOW US that Jewish American Indians, writing in an Egyptian dialect ever used the following words to mean what the Book of Mormon says they mean. Mormons, please show us some reason to think that anyone in ancient America...
•Used the word "Irreantum" to refer to "many waters" (1 Ne. 17:5)
•Used the word "Rabbanah" to refer to "powerful or great king" (Alma 18:13)
•Used the word "Rameumptom" to refer to "the holy stand" (Alma 31:21)
•Used the word "Liahona" to mean "a compass" (Alma 37:38)
•Used the word "deseret" in reference to "a honey bee" (Ether 2:3)
•Used the word "Ripliancum" to mean "large, or to exceed all" (Ether 15:8)
If you cannot meet this challenge, the best explanation for your failure will remain that the Book of Mormon is a fantasy - a LIE told in the name of The Lord Jesus Christ. After all, fantasy names belong in fantasy books. But the Word of God should not be a fantasy. If simple honesty is any part of the "fruit" that Mormons claim as evidence of the truth of their religion, the Mormon failure to meet this challenge should bother those Mormons who take only a few moments to allow themselves to actually THINK about this problem.
