Changes to the Book of Mormon - the lost 116 pages

[_thews]

There have been many changes to the Book of Mormon... "White" and delightsome to "Pure" and delightsome and the list goes on, but one of the most interesting changes was to its preface.

http://mormonthink.com/lost116web.htm

TO THE READER—

As many false reports have been circulated respecting the following work, and also many unlawful measures taken by the evil designing persons to destroy me, and also the work, I would inform you that I translated, by the gift and power of God, and caused to be written, one hundred and sixteen pages, the which I took from the Book of Lehi, which was an account abridged from the plates of Lehi, by the hand of Mormon; which said account, some person or persons have stolen and kept from me, notwithstanding my utmost exertions to recover it again—and being commanded of the Lord that I should not translate the same over again, for Satan had put it into their hearts to tempt the Lord their God, by altering the words, that they did read contrary from that which I translated and caused to be written; and if I should bring forth the same words again, or, in other words, if I should translate the same over again, they would publish that which they had stolen, and Satan would stir up the hearts of this generation, that they might not receive this work: but behold, the Lord said unto me, I will not suffer that Satan shall accomplish his evil design in this thing: therefore thou shalt translate from the plates of Nephi, until ye come to that which ye have translated, which ye have retained; and behold ye shall publish it as the record of Nephi; and thus I will confound those who have altered my words. I will not suffer that they shall destroy my work; yea, I will shew unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the Devil. Wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, I have, through his grace and mercy, accomplished that which he hath commanded me respecting this thing. I would also inform you that the plates of which hath been spoken, were found in the township of Manchester, Ontario county, New-York.

THE AUTHOR.

While the preface was changed, it's patently obvious that Joseph Smith was covering his tracks assuming they'd resurface and be different than the published work. They didn't, so a true believer must assume God overreacted in the translation plan in claiming the evil Satan and his minions would use the prior work against him. Instead of just translating the same thing over again, since Joseph Smith couldn't, the above was used to explain why.

For one to make sense of this, God tells Joseph Smith to translate from a different set of plates. For the critical thinker, one must ask themselves why? Why, if all he was doing was translating what was already written, did it matter that this specific portion had to be referenced by a different source?

Any TBM's out there want to explain the logic of how this made any sense whatsoever? Why was this signed "The author" instead of Joseph Smith?

[_Tobin]

Looks like thews is creating another issue out of a non-issue. These are just another of those facts of yours, such as the sky is blue, that lead you to believe Mormonism is false while the rest of us are left wondering what you are foaming at the mouth about?!?

1) We don't have the 116-pages. They were never published by those who took them so we'll never know. So what?
2) It says AUTHOR, presumably the author of the article was Joseph Smith. Are you claiming the author was someone else? If not, then so what?

thews - as always, your points are meaningless and lead to the same question - SO WHAT?

[_thews]

Looks like thews is creating another issue out of a non-issue. These are just another of those facts of yours, such as the sky is blue, that lead you to believe Mormonism is false while the rest of us are left wondering what you are foaming at the mouth about?!?

1) We don't have the 116-pages. They were never published by those who took them so we'll never know. So what?
2) It says AUTHOR, presumably the author of the article was Joseph Smith. Are you claiming the author was someone else? If not, then so what?

thews - as always, your points are meaningless and lead to the same question - SO WHAT?

Your responses always focus on "so what" as if you've made a point. You actually believe the fact Joseph Smith couldn't translate Egyptian (as he claimed he could) bodes well for his story on the Book of Abraham. Here, Joseph Smith claims evil-doers "stole" his lost 116 pages and Satan was behind it, but fail to address the logic in translating. Huck Finn is Huck Finn no matter who translates it. You make zero sense Tobin and the points you fail to acknowledge define your "so what" stance to Joseph's myth. In a nutshell, the truth really doesn't matter and logic isn't required to understand it. Answer the question... where is the logic in the lost 116 pages and why the preface was changed.

[_Tobin]

Looks like thews is creating another issue out of a non-issue. These are just another of those facts of yours, such as the sky is blue, that lead you to believe Mormonism is false while the rest of us are left wondering what you are foaming at the mouth about?!?

1) We don't have the 116-pages. They were never published by those who took them so we'll never know. So what?
2) It says AUTHOR, presumably the author of the article was Joseph Smith. Are you claiming the author was someone else? If not, then so what?

thews - as always, your points are meaningless and lead to the same question - SO WHAT?

Your responses always focus on "so what" as if you've made a point. You actually believe the fact Joseph Smith couldn't translate Egyptian (as he claimed he could) bodes well for his story on the Book of Abraham. Here, Joseph Smith claims evil-doers "stole" his lost 116 pages and Satan was behind it, but fail to address the logic in translating. Huck Finn is Huck Finn no matter who translates it. You make zero sense Tobin and the points you fail to acknowledge define your "so what" stance to Joseph's myth. In a nutshell, the truth really doesn't matter and logic isn't required to understand it. Answer the question... where is the logic in the lost 116 pages and why the preface was changed.

Uh huh. When you actually want to make a point that a Mormon would ever care about, please let me know. You don't ever bring up something anyone in their right mind would even consider important. Again, so what? Nothing you have said is relevant to anyone except you. I don't care if Joseph Smith was cited as the author in a published article instead of using his own name. It means absolutely nothing. I don't care what you believe about the unpublished (and never seen again) 116-pages. No Mormon would or should care. It is all just meaningless non-sense because they simply were taken and that's all we know about them.

[Guest]

...

[_LDS truthseeker]

If you read the analysis from the above link, you'll see that it seems pretty obvious that Joseph just made up that story. There were no evil men that altered the pages. It would be very obvious that it was altered. This was not Satan's master plan.

The lost 116 pages would not simply have been discarded by evil men, if they really existed. They would have resurfaced in some form.

See that article for details on why the whole 116 pages is nonsensical and show Joseph lied about God telling him to translate from another set of plates.

[_Fence Sitter]

None of the stories created by Joseph Smith surrounding the Book of Mormon make any sense.

1. Plates of Gold hidden in the hill by his house and the "keys" required to retrieve them.
2. Outrunning several people carrying 60-80 pounds of metal.
3. Multiple visits of an angel to a small crowded cabin and only he sees the angel.
4. Playing swap the seer stone with Martin Harris.
5. The Anthon transcript.
6. Hiding the golden plates under the hearth stone, then moving them (but not the box they are in) to the barn.