New trash from Ash

[_lostindc]

Yeah, and oddly enough, those expectations do not resemble anything like the Book of Mormon.

I just don't get it. On any level. What, aside from a testimony, would ever lead anyone to consider the idea that the Book of Mormon is ancient as a serious option?

Ignorance? Credulousness? What?

It is not ancient. That's all there is to it.

Margaret Barker, as many of you most likely know, is not in anyway LDS but did present a paper at the Library of Congress in 2005 addressing whether the text can seriously be considered an ancient source in relation to the era and place in which it proportedly came. She documented specifics of what would lead someone, logically, to conclude it came from that place and time.

http://www.joehunt.org/joseph-smith-mar ... -talk.html

There's more than nothing or guesswork in this assumption.

Why pull out Margaret Barker? She is well aware of Mormonism. If she believed there were any true connections then she would likely be Mormon instead of methodist or whatever.

[_Kishkumen]

http://www.joehunt.org/joseph-smith-margaret-barker-talk.html

There's more than nothing or guesswork in this assumption.

Thanks, stem. I'll be sure to check it out. I am seriously interested in what she has to say, and if her argument is in any way persuasive, obviously I will have to rethink my position.

[_Eric]

Thanks, stem. I'll be sure to check it out. I am seriously interested in what she has to say, and if her argument is in any way persuasive, obviously I will have to rethink my position.

It's not in any way persuasive, but it is an interesting read. Thanks stem.

[_MsJack]

I wrote to Margaret Barker last year to ask her what she thought of the possibility that the Book of Mormon is ancient in origin. Here is what she said:

"I do not use the Book of Mormon in my writings except under guidance from my LDS friends, who point out to me where there are parallels between my work and their traditions. I am constantly amazed at these parallels, but recognise that the whole subject of LDS teaching and tradition is far too big for me even to begin to use independently .

What strikes me most is this: I have been researching and reconstructing the world of the temple now for over 30 years, putting together the fragments of an ancient picture that was severely damaged by upheavals in history and politics, not to mention 'theology'. I am astonished that time and time again, things that I thought I had 'discovered' and not found in the work of any other contemporary scholar, are also there in the LDS traditions. Some of the beliefs for which they are condemned are in fact those of the earliest Christians, for example, that the Lord who appears in the Old Testament was the pre-incarnate Jesus. I cannot then go on to say that all their beliefs are those of the early Church---because I do not know 'all' of either of these.

I understand that LDS believe that the early Church lost its temple roots, and if this is an accurate description of what LDS believe, then I would disagree with them. There is a lot of Temple still in the old churches, but overlaid with centuries of misunderstandings.

I cannot begin to comment on the origin of, for example, the Book of Mormon [which I would rank with the Koran], until someone explains to me how so much of what I have recently 'discovered' is actually in BM. I must keep an open mind."

- Margaret Barker, 3/1/2010, used with permission

[_LDS truthseeker]

From the article: "In the earlier days of Book of Mormon studies, most believers made the same mistake that non-believers and critics currently make when examining the Book of Mormon text. They attempted to find the Book of Mormon in the ancient New World."


Yeah, that's a big mistake, trying to find actual evidence of the Book of Mormon.

What an idiot. He cracks me up.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!