Bee Eff wrote:Location is irrelevant to the message Smith had to convey. I doubt Smith's assumption as to location. In the accounts I have heard, the angel states something along the lines of "this the American continent." This is a different statement than "this country." The words Smith used were his summary of what was told him. He was an uneducated young man. I severely doubt his knowledge of geography was such that he could convey accurately any statement concerning such. I do not believe that God gave Smith a heightened understanding of anything past the religious implications, thus anything outside a religious claim is questionable based on Smith's knowledge.
Do you often use ad hominem when debating? You did not respond to my statement here, you attacked my devotion to my religion.
I doubt the words of the Bible, Book of Mormon, and all other statements made by any individual aside from God and Christ (which means even the words placed on paper that God and Christ stated, if the one writing was not God or Christ, which I am unaware of any writing we have that was directly done by Them) in the same manner. I am a severe skeptic, I believe the message is important, but the messenger is often flawed. It is entirely possible that the angel that spoke to Smith made errors in his relaying of the information as well. I believe in a flawed humanity, and for an LDS, angels are merely a part of the human family either current, pre or post earthly mortal life. Until one reaches godhood one can make errors.
As to the Book of Mormon, it is an abridgement, it is a group of texts compiled and rewritten by an individual based on texts written by other individuals. The Book of Mormon is then translated and rewritten by Smith, there is a lot of room for error, regardless of its state as far as conveying the message it is supposed to. This does not threaten my belief.
This posting admirably illustrates what this thread is about.
Of course BF cannot take refuge from the clear statements by Smith in the Wentworth letter by referring to alternative "accounts I have heard". The Wentworth letter is a public document that Smith himself published in his own periodical
Times and Seasons. We have the precise text of what he wanted to tell us about the matters to which it refers. (Does it read like the letter of a semi-literate who did not know what country he was living in, by the way?)
On this board we are quite used to being told that prophets' accounts of pretty well everything are open to correction by modern-day LDS apologists if it suits their arguments. But I think this is the first time we have been told that angels are just as unreliable as prophets.
I am sure that this poster is devoted to his religion. But could it not be that he is just as mistaken about everything he believes in as (in his view) may be the 'prophet' Joseph Smith, and the angels who visited him? Me, I'd take an angel over BF any day, assuming that one paid me a visit.