Book of Lehi and the 116-page Manuscript

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Shulem
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Re: Genealogy Omitted!

Post by Shulem »

1 Nephi 6:6 wrote:Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with
things which are not of worth unto the children of men.

Nephi,

You should start with your sappy brother Jacob who wasted page after page plate after plate writing a ridiculously long and tedious parable of Zenos and the grafting in of Israel. Hardly anyone in the church in modern times bothers to read that long and awful parable. Everyone just skips over it. What would be more of interest is checking out your genealogy leading back to Joseph who was sold in Egypt that you neglected to record!

You’re not fooling me, Nephi. I know why you didn’t record your genealogy which wouldn’t have taken very long or much space on your precious plates. Is it you just don’t think it’s important enough or because you (JOSEPH SMITH) can’t remember the names and order in which they were originally dictated on the missing manuscript?

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Re: Book of Lehi and the 116-page Manuscript

Post by Shulem »

Zosimus wrote:
Mon Mar 06, 2023 5:36 am
According to Fayette Lapham's interview with Joseph Smith Sr. at some point in the year previous to the publication of the Book of Mormon, Laban was "dead drunk".

"After traveling three days, [Lehi] remembered that he had left some papers, in the office where he had been an officer, which he thought would be of use to him in his journeyings. He sent his son back to the city to get them; and when his son arrived in the city, it was night, and he found the citizens had been having a great feast, and were all drunk. When he went to the office to get his father's papers he was told that the chief clerk was not in, and he must find [him] before he could have the papers. He then went into the street in search of him; but every body being drunk, he could get but little information of his whereabouts, but, after searching a long time, he found him lying in the street, dead drunk, clothed in his official habiliments, his sword having a gold hilt and chain, lying by his side—and this is the same that was found with the gold plates. Finding that he could do nothing with him in that situation, he drew the sword, cut off the officer's head, cast off this own outer garments, and, assuming those of the officer, returned to the office where the papers were readily obtained, with which he returned to where his father was waiting for him."

Again, this account is very interesting and sheds light on what was in the missing manuscript. This business of Nephi attempting to pick up his father’s papers at the office provides an interesting slant on the whole affair in showing it was a kind of business venture. Zosimus elected to cut the quote a bit short so I am adding another sentence to show what happened once the business was completed in Jerusalem:

Fayette Lapham wrote:The family then moved on, for several days, when they were directed to stop and get materials to make brass plates upon which to keep a record of their journey.

I’m wondering if Zosimus has any comments to make about all this? Nephi knowingly murdered a chief clerk who was his father’s boss! The Book of Mormon is all about murder and more murder -- there is lots and lots of murder in the Book of Mormon BECAUSE that is what was on the author’s (Joseph Smith’s) mind! Murder was a fascination to Joseph Smith!

Also note that Lapham’s account mentions a “chain” which is something not mentioned in the replacement text of our extant Book of Mormon. I find this very telling because Joseph Smith’s greedy eyes were always on the gold and it’s quite stunning that the chain was not mentioned again! Why?

What do you make of that? What happened to the chain?
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Liahona magic ball

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In order to understand the true operation of the Liahona it becomes necessary to think of it in the same way Joseph Smith may have thought of it. Smith’s stories are made up and dressed with imagination. The Liahona was not an actual device but was make-believe and did not operate like an ordinary magnetic compass subject to the laws of nature. It was conceived as a magical device that operated purely based on faith and diligence of the operator, or in other words the spindles moved about and pointed due to the faith of those who believed they could work the compass through the Spirit of God. Smith did not view it with ordinary means like that of the sureness of a magnetic compass but this compass was purely magical in nature.

So, the 12 & 24 in Smith’s mind very likely represented the hours of the day and the hours of the night in which spindles operated through time and space. One spindle indicated the reward they might receive through their diligence and effort in maintaining faith and the other spindle pointed the direction in which they must go to find what it was that was being provided by the goodness of God.

I think, once we put in perspective that Smith’s Liahona was a figment of his imagination it becomes relatively easy to put the pieces together in realizing that the whole thing was mere fantasy and the order of operations to work that fantasy worked by principles that had nothing to do with science or reality.

Bottom line: There was no actual Liahona. There was no real Lehi. There were no gold plates. It’s all just a make-believe story given for the sole purpose to instill faith in things that do not exist.
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