The "Witnesses" Film and Church Control of Mopologetics.

[_Gadianton]

I am pleased to report that Mr. Richins provided an update on the Witnesses film during his postprandial remarks at the Interpreter Foundation birthday celebration last Saturday night. Fortunately, his remarks were videotaped. Beginning at about 00:00:25 of the video, Mr. Richins approaches the chapel podium while lugging an object covered with a white cloth. With a dramatic flourish, he drops the object next to the podium, producing a loud clanging noise and some disturbing acoustic feedback. He then asks if we can imagine what it would have been like for Emma Smith to have to move something like the object around. Or what it would have been like when Josiah Stowell saw something being passed through a window and caught a tiny glimpse of something in a bag. Or what it would have been like for Katharine Smith, then 14, to try to pick up something like the object.

Mr. Richins helpfully explains that the object is a 40-pound representation of the gold plates that will be used in the Witnesses film. Another replica of the plates will also appear in the film. He reports that production on the film begins September 3. After rustling the replica on the stand and asking what it would have been like for Lucy Mack or Emma to have heard such a sound and yet couldn't look at the plates, he notes that filming will begin in Upper Canada Village, then move to Massachusetts, and then come back to Utah for some interior filming. At the end of his remarks, Mr. Richins picks up the plates again and walks off to some laughter. (He never uncovers the plates.) I am not making this up.

Dr. Skousen was the next speaker. Speaking with the dry tone and enthusiasm of a high council speaker, he reports that he will be doing final proofing for part 5 of Volume III of the Critical Text of the Book of Mormon, a volume titled The King James Bible in the Book of Mormon. And then he will be doing final proofing for part 6 of Volume III, a volume titled Spelling in the Manuscripts and the Editions. By 2021, he says, all eight parts of Volume III will be published.

Noting that a graduate student found the first evidence of early modern English in the Book of Mormon, Dr. Skousen admits that he "sat" on this finding for five years because it was "upsetting." Fortunately, though, Dr. Skousen overcame these negative feelings and began searching for further evidence beginning in 2003. He reports that colleagues have sent him and Dr. Carmack dozens of alleged counterexamples to consider. One colleague, he reports, sent him 30 examples that he "could not find on the Internet." Dr. Skousen boasts that he and Dr. Carmack found all of the examples in early modern English in a two-hour search. Impressive.

The King James Bible in the Book of Mormon will examine a number of issues, including:

First, what counts as a quotation?

Second, are the quotations actually from the King James Bible? Dr. Skousen asserts that all the quotations are from the King James Bible except for one from the Bibles in the 1530s ("ships of the sea"). (He jokes that the Palmyra Library probably had a copy of these Bibles.)

Third, what edition of the King James Bible is being cited? He says it's difficult to answer this question, but the date is after the 1670s.

Fourth, did Joseph Smith give a marked-up Bible to Oliver Cowdery during the Book of Mormon translation? Dr. Skousen says "we know this is not true" because of the misspellings in the manuscript.

Fifth, how did Joseph Smith use the Book of Mormon in his New Translation? Dr. Skousen says Joseph Smith had certain passages from the 1830 edition copied into the King James translation, failing to realize all the errors in the 1830 edition.

Sixth, how many of the differences rely on the italics in the King James Bible? Only 23 percent, he says.

Seventh, what about anachronistic and cultural King James elements in the quotations? He admits that there are mistakes in the King James translation and they show up in the Book of Mormon. Dr. Skousen says he's not bothered by it, but he admits that some get upset. His explanation needs to be quoted for truth: "The Book of Mormon is being connected to the period of early modern English and the Bible of early modern English, the King James Bible, and they're just going to use the King James Bible and we just live with it." I am not making this up.

Dr. Skousen also says that the Book of Mormon is a cultural translation and a creative one, introducing elements that are not on the plates (e.g., there was no "bar of God" in the ancient world).

I won't mention anything about the other speakers or the painful hymn sung at the end.

Thanks for the fascinating report. I'm glad they were able to comp you a free meal given all the editorial work you've done for them in the past.

[_canpakes]

You're right, if Peter$on does all of this I could see the million dollars being a reasonable budget.

Will the staff get catered lunches while shooting in the field, or is everyone in rotation to bring funeral potatoes?

[_Doctor Scratch]

I am pleased to report that Mr. Richins provided an update on the Witnesses film during his postprandial remarks at the Interpreter Foundation birthday celebration last Saturday night. Fortunately, his remarks were videotaped. Beginning at about 00:00:25 of the video, Mr. Richins approaches the chapel podium while lugging an object covered with a white cloth. With a dramatic flourish, he drops the object next to the podium, producing a loud clanging noise and some disturbing acoustic feedback. He then asks if we can imagine what it would have been like for Emma Smith to have to move something like the object around. Or what it would have been like when Josiah Stowell saw something being passed through a window and caught a tiny glimpse of something in a bag. Or what it would have been like for Katharine Smith, then 14, to try to pick up something like the object.

Mr. Richins helpfully explains that the object is a 40-pound representation of the gold plates that will be used in the Witnesses film. Another replica of the plates will also appear in the film. He reports that production on the film begins September 3. After rustling the replica on the stand and asking what it would have been like for Lucy Mack or Emma to have heard such a sound and yet couldn't look at the plates, he notes that filming will begin in Upper Canada Village, then move to Massachusetts, and then come back to Utah for some interior filming. At the end of his remarks, Mr. Richins picks up the plates again and walks off to some laughter. (He never uncovers the plates.) I am not making this up.

Thanks very much for this report, Tom. I wonder why Richins didn't prompt the audience to imagine Moroni hauling the plates from the Yucatan clear up to New York state?

Whatever the case may be, it's clear that they've already blown it. He should have just showed everyone the phony plates. And this is hilarious for all sorts of reasons: I mean, they are trying to convince the naysayers that it was impossible for Smith to have fabricated baloney plates, and yet here they are: They've done exactly that! There is no way that the plates are going to seem convincing, and this is a huge blunder from a strictly cinematic view, too. Their best bet would be to treat the plates the same way that Tarantino treats the mysterious briefcase in Pulp Fiction--we never learn what's inside. (And it's worth pointing out that Tarantino stole this from the old film noir, Kiss Me Deadly.)

Tom: did you happen to catch the name of the "generous" donor that Richins mentioned? I think it sounds like "Dave Baer," or something like that?

[_Gadianton]

How much would it cost to create a convincing set of real plates with real gold for a movie set? How much would it cost instead to throw in a little CGI?

If it's implied that there is this hugely expensive reproduction but nobody sees them, and then it ends up being done with CGI...hmmm

[_Tom]

Metallurgist David Baird. Poking around, I found some photos of his curious workmanship:

https://www.deseret.com/2018/4/9/206431 ... f-millions

https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/ ... believable

https://i2.wp.com/www.worksofjoseph.com ... .jpg?ssl=1

He’s made replicas of the gold plates, the wooden chest that held the plates, the Sword of Laban, the Liahona, the Urim and Thummim, a breastplate, a seer stone, and death masks of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

[_Doctor Scratch]

Whoa, Tom--maybe a spoiler alert would have been in order? LOL! Dr. Robbers is right--now the only suspense is in whether they use those pre-fab props, or they opt for CGI. Or, why not a blend of both?

[_Gadianton]

Whoa, Tom--maybe a spoiler alert would have been in order? LOL! Dr. Robbers is right--now the only suspense is in whether they use those pre-fab props, or they opt for CGI. Or, why not a blend of both?

huh, well if it's out in the open then maybe there's nothing to it.

[_Tom]

Thanks for the fascinating report. I'm glad they were able to comp you a free meal given all the editorial work you've done for them in the past.

You’re very kind. Dr. Peterson said that the Interpreter Foundation has three main purposes: to make the Witnesses film, to fund Royal Skousen, and to pump out weekly articles. I’m grateful to have been a part of the great work.

Incidentally, did you hear that FairMormon honored Dr. Peterson last week with the 2019 FairMormon Lifetime Achievement Award?

https://www.fairmormon.org/blog/2019/08 ... YXkxVCg77A

Please notice that the presenter compared Dr. Peterson to Joseph Smith. I am not making this up.

[_Maksutov]

The church still hasn't finished the Book of Mormon movie and they run off on a project that only demonstrates the untrustworthiness of witness testimony. Witness testimony has attempted to validate the most outrageous and false accounts in history (religion, paranormal, etc) in contradiction to facts.

[_kairos]

Thanks for the fascinating report. I'm glad they were able to comp you a free meal given all the editorial work you've done for them in the past.

You’re very kind. Dr. Peterson said that the Interpreter Foundation has three main purposes: to make the Witnesses film, to fund Royal Skousen, and to pump out weekly articles. I’m grateful to have been a part of the great work.

Incidentally, did you hear that FairMormon honored Dr. Peterson last week with the 2019 FairMormon Lifetime Achievement Award?

https://www.fairmormon.org/blog/2019/08 ... YXkxVCg77A

Please notice that the presenter compared Dr. Peterson to Joseph Smith. I am not making this up.

In the video no hugs for Dan- in fact the presenting of the award itself seemed contrived and standoffish like there is clear "distancing " from each other like they really don't like each other.

just projectin
k