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Can someone please update me on what is going on these days with the Kinderhook Plates issue?

Don mentioned that his FAIR presentation is going to kick a..., I mean is going to be a game changer. :-)

So... first, what is the current apologetic position?

Secondly, what might change this?

It has been a while since I have discussed this issue and I do not recall any new development but I may have missed something.

Maybe someone could provide a summary of the issue as it is currently viewed by critics?

Don, feel free to chime in! I'm not asking you to spill the beans, but if you would like to share some thoughts I would love to hear them! (smile).

~td~

If I lived anywhere near Utah I would go to the FAIR conference just to see your presentation! That is, if they would let me in! ;-)

I think he might say that we don't have the correct Kinderhook plates that Joseph had. The ones we have access to are not the ones Joseph used in the translation...

Or, the new idea might be something along these lines:

The revelation that came out of the Kinderhook plate translation is so novel, so amazing, so earth shattering that we really shouldn't worry about how the information came to us. Joseph was simply using the plates as a backdrop for inspiration. God works in mysterious ways indeed.

My guess is that he is going to argue that Joseph never intended to do an inspired translation of them. He'll probably argue that he was trying to do a conventional translation, kind of a fun diversion, but nothing that the saints need to worry about. Kind of like Monson trying his hand at Hittite in off hours for amusement and/or edification.

If this is the apologetic, it founders on the fact that Joseph appeared to identify the plates via revelation when he said:

Joseph Smith wrote:I have translated a portion of them, and find they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendant of Ham, through the loins of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth.

But really, no one knows what he is going to say. I hope we can all be forgiven for not getting too hyped up any more about these "game changers" at FAIR conferences.

Don will rock your world. But more importantly, he will prove that the game is not over by a long shot.

from what i hear apparently there was a decoder used and that's why the translation of the fabricated objects did not match what the fabricators said it said, you follow?

It's kind of sad that people say "[so-and-so apologist] is going to rock your world!"

But nobody will ever say "President Monson is going to rock your world!"

zeezrom wrote:It's kind of sad that people say "[so-and-so apologist] is going to rock your world!"

But nobody will ever say "President Monson is going to rock your world!"

Zee,

President Monson is going to rock your world! Do you feel better now?

When he says he is going to "rock your world" with the Kinderhook Presentation, I think he means this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frp3mJZxu2Y

or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2-eon4CGHg