“The worst religious text I have ever read.”

[MG 2.0]

There are a lot of folks that would take the opposite position.

Including B.H. Roberts.

Regards,
MG

Define a lot. 1/10 of 1% of humanity?

I'm referring to the many people that have read the Book of Mormon consistently and have gained a testimony of its truth and live their lives accordingly.

As did B.H. Roberts.

Regards,
MG

[I Have Questions]

As I read his essay I again came to the repeated realization that the Book of Mormon is literally a modern day miracle given to us from God.

…and also plagiarised from the 17th century KJV Bible, verbatim, including stylised words and errors.

I’ll bet that we cannot between us find a quote from one of the current Apostles where they state unequivocally that they believe the Book of Mormon is a literal translation of ancient gold plates. They will say it’s true. They will talk about its truthfulness etc. but I suspect they will all stop short of declaring it a 100% translation of a record from 400AD or earlier - because that would be a provable lie.

[Rivendale]

It is still a failure. Anachronisms aside, fraudulent translations aside....all of the critics arguments don't matter. It is a complete failure in its purpose. Instead it teaches kids completely false facts about the nature of reality. It teaches kids to develop repression habits within interactions with their families. It teaches an unhealthy diagnosis involving a person's self reflection on their own internal perceptions of themselves. The truth claims don't matter anymore because the harm is in on autopilot .

[I Have Questions]

It is still a failure. Anachronisms aside, fraudulent translations aside....all of the critics arguments don't matter. It is a complete failure in its purpose. Instead it teaches kids completely false facts about the nature of reality. It teaches kids to develop repression habits within interactions with their families. It teaches an unhealthy diagnosis involving a person's self reflection on their own internal perceptions of themselves. The truth claims don't matter anymore because the harm is in on autopilot .

It teaches that black skin is something God gives people to show they are cursed by him.

[Mag’ladroth]

As I read his essay I again came to the repeated realization that the Book of Mormon is literally a modern day miracle given to us from God.

…and also plagiarised from the 17th century KJV Bible, verbatim, including stylised words and errors.

I’ll bet that we cannot between us find a quote from one of the current Apostles where they state unequivocally that they believe the Book of Mormon is a literal translation of ancient gold plates. They will say it’s true. They will talk about its truthfulness etc. but I suspect they will all stop short of declaring it a 100% translation of a record from 400AD or earlier - because that would be a provable lie.

The current tact from apologists is to say that no revelation from Mormon God is inerrant. Meaning either Mormon God(s) are either unable to or unwilling to provide trustworthy authority to his worshippers.

[dantana]

Yep, the gibberish of the Book of Mormon is certainly in my top ten reasons of why not to believe. Another one being the sheer fact that there even is a Book of Mormon in the form and fashion that it exists in. More specifically, that some want us to believe that God felt the need to enlighten the world as to the tales of Lehi and co. at the exact same time as he felt the need to restore his one true order to the earth that had been dormant for a couple thousand years.

To me, the tales of Lehi and co. have as much relevance to God's one true everlasting order as does, say, tales of lost Atlantis, the moon Quakers and their funny clothes or any episode of Gilligan's island. I see the Book of Mormon being brought forth at the same time as just a lame gimmick. A prop for the shill. The world's first late-night TV scam ad equivalent. - Come see the wonder boy and his magic golden Bible. - We're so sure you'll like your new church we'll throw in proof positive of its truthiness. Read the book, take the test - rub your tummy, pat your head and say the words 'how could it not be true' and we guarantee you twitterpation within at least ten years.

[MG 2.0]

Yep, the gibberish of the Book of Mormon is certainly in my top ten reasons of why not to believe. Another one being the sheer fact that there even is a Book of Mormon in the form and fashion that it exists in. More specifically, that some want us to believe that God felt the need to enlighten the world as to the tales of Lehi and co. at the exact same time as he felt the need to restore his one true order to the earth that had been dormant for a couple thousand years.

To me, the tales of Lehi and co. have as much relevance to God's one true everlasting order as does, say, tales of lost Atlantis, the moon Quakers and their funny clothes or any episode of Gilligan's island. I see the Book of Mormon being brought forth at the same time as just a lame gimmick. A prop for the shill. The world's first late-night TV scam ad equivalent. - Come see the wonder boy and his magic golden Bible. - We're so sure you'll like your new church we'll throw in proof positive of its truthiness. Read the book, take the test - rub your tummy, pat your head and say the words 'how could it not be true' and we guarantee you twitterpation within at least ten years.

We've had a poster recently using a lot of quotes from B.H. Roberts. Here's another that might be useful to consider:

I am convinced that when men of intelligence can be brought to the point of being sufficiently humble to read again the Book of Mormon, and to take into account the high purposes for which it was written . . . and will stop sneering at such human elements as may be in it, and will examine once more its teachings upon the great theme of salvation through the atonement of the Christ, they can indeed find wisdom and philosophy and truth in its doctrines.

Regards,
MG

[drumdude]

As a student of classical music, I noticed over time that musical pieces that I absolutely hated at first tended to grow on me after performing or listening to them over and over and over.

You start to notice patterns, you begin to think you hear the artist's intent in certain passages, and you ascribe your own meaning to the music. You can do this with any non-trivial piece of music. Even the most bizarre and incomprehensible mess of a song, with no melody or tonality, begins to sound familiar and profound after a few hundred listens.

The Book of Mormon seems to be the literary equivalent of this. It's a non-trivial work of fiction, and repeated readings can bring about the same effect. It seems more profound each reading. You discover new patterns, you ruminante on the meaning.

The thing is, you can do the same thing with Dianetics. You can do it with 50 Shades of Grey. You can do it with Harry Potter. There isn't a miraculous core of the Book of Mormon - at the end of the day it's just another work of fiction. It's just abnormally worshiped and read as a ritual by Mormon believers. This becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, the more Mormons read it, the more patterns and meaning they find within it. That's to be expected for any work of art.

[drumdude]

Nemo interviewed the guy from the original video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQSo0aQQkbg

[Gadianton]

It's just abnormally worshiped and read as a ritual by Mormon believers. This becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, the more Mormons read it, the more patterns and meaning they find within it

Indeed the book is worshipped by believers, it is a mythical object like a sword in a stone for them. However, I wonder, while I'm sure there are cases of Mormons finding meaning within it after repeat readings, is that really the norm? Look at MG. He doesn't read it every day, he finds substitutions that he can count as reading, but oh, it's so miraculous. My impression overall was that reading it is a chore. It certainly was for me, but I was a big Nibley fan and was glad that there was all this evidence that proved it miraculous. Not miraculous enough to read, but if anybody said anything about it negative, I'd have ammo to back it up.

Even Grant Hardy admits it's a chore to read. He tries to spin it as depth, and I think he's very creative, but he seems to acknowledge the basic point that members who worship the book can barely stand to sit down with it.