Interpreter apologists wrestle with Nephi’s transoceanic vessel

[Philo Sofee]

I love the modern drawknife in Nephi's hand hewing the timber.....

[Kishkumen]

Clearly these guys don't do their own yard work, or they wouldn't indulge in this fantasy.

I mean, really.

You know, if fully grown adults want to believe that a couple of families without any prior experience can build an ocean-worthy vessel, then what is to be done to help them?

One of the things I would like to note from my citation of Caesar is that the man had engineers and an entire army. That is what enabled him to build a bridge.

But Caesar's commentaries are meant to be read as relatively contemporaneous reports of what Caesar was doing. They are a completely different kind of work than the Book of Mormon.

[Shulem]

Ya gotta admit, Shulem's reading of the Book of Mormon text is much closer and realistic than all the added extras Potter and Interpreter attempt to put in there in order to try and hope they can make the obviously fictional story appear a wee bit more actual and real world realistic. The apologetic spin on this one is almost as seriously ludicrous as that on the 8 Jaredite barges in Ether. Does anyone remember Dr W.'s detailed analysis of the Jaredite barges here a few years back? I would LOVE to read that thread again. It belongs in the all time classic threads... hey, I shall go look there...

Please find that thread! It was the bomb. I must confess, the Jaredite barges was one of the things in Mormonism that bothered me almost more than anything when I was a faithful member. I couldn't wrap my head around that story and make it sound right. I knew in my heart and mind that the story was just wrong. That was one of those things I had to put on the back burner. I never really could believe it. It was just silly.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Book of Mormon is pure fiction. I know it as well as I know anything.

[Shulem]

I love the modern drawknife in Nephi's hand hewing the timber.....

AND the log was cut with a chainsaw! Just look at that perfect cut!

[Shulem]

This can't possibly be the barren coast of Arabia! Look at the trees and the lushness of the foliage.

I wonder where that shot was taken?

[Rivendale]

So, of course Nephi's shipbuilding efforts, like the Jaredites' shipbuilding efforts, are on par with Noah's shipbuilding efforts. They are myth. They never happened, and the former two are obviously patterned on the Noah story. Case closed.

I have to agree with you, Kish.

But the Church presents it as if it really happened and the images it posts on the Church website lead everyone to imagine exactly what Church leaders want and expect from the members.






Behold the shipyard!

And they start young. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... p?lang=eng


And don't forget these. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... d?lang=eng

[drumdude]

It's not just pictures. There are many videos sanctioned by the LDS church showing exactly what the church thinks happened. Not mythology, not metaphor, but actually happened in history the same as Lincoln's assassination.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqtkfn0Fs68

Capture.JPG

[Shulem]

Let's recap a little and see how the Book of Mormon text is explicit in explaining how Nephi built his ship without any outside help and that their camp at the seaside was entirely in and of itself a remote location completely uninhabited by man. There is no cause to entertain the silly ideas of apologists who dream up ideas that go against the text given in the story.

5 And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.

• After living in the desert for 8 years, they finally came to a land *they* called Bountiful. It was a name they made up. They did not associate Bountiful as a place name given by foreigners or locals who already possessed the land -- they were alone. No mention is given of others. No mention of trade, foreign relations, or language barriers.

• The coastland had an abundance of fruit and wild honey. Note that the honey was *wild* unlike the domestic honey processed by the Jaredites and carried about. We are given to understand Nephi had stumbled upon *wild* bees which implies that Bountiful was uninhabited coastal wilderness. Wild bees implies there was no beekeeping prior to their arrival which means the land was uninhabited.

Fruit and wild bees were prepared by the Lord (NOT MAN) so that Lehi and his family would not parish for lack of sustenance. The fruit and bees were prepared "OF THE LORD". There was nobody else in Bountiful to feed hungry Nephi other than the Lord's own divine hand in preparing the land for their arrival.

You see, this is what Joseph Smith envisioned.

[Shulem]

A little more recap is in order.

6 And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.

• They came into what *they* called Bountiful and immediately pitched their tents close to the beach and refreshed themselves. The long journey over land had finally ended and the last leg of that segment was when they hiked forward towards the beautiful blue ocean on the horizon right before their very eyes.

• They couldn't have begun to write about all the afflictions and difficulty they had suffered while traversing the desert. At last, they pitched their tent by the seashore and began to explore their new inheritance. Right away they noticed that there was an abundance of fruit and that made them very happy. Fresh fruit!

• The verse above is all about "we", "we", "we". There was nobody else in the story other than Lehi and his family, the little band that traversed the desert to settle alone on the coast and prepare for their sea voyage as instructed by the Lord. They were on their own. They were all alone in the wilderness.

[drumdude]

There is no cause to entertain the silly ideas of apologists who dream up ideas that go against the text given in the story.

I find it entertaining enough!!