dan vogel wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 3:27 pm
Sorry, I don't see the connection. Lehi and Captain Kidd were different people. Why would the story of Captain Kidd constrain his story about the origin of the Indians?
Dan,
Allow me to answer your question in a roundabout way in which you may least expect. You know the history of Smith’s claims about how the gold plates were allegedly unburied on top of the hill Cumorah. That is the birthplace of the Book of Mormon. That very spot of ground is where Moroni ended his story and buried his plates. For all intents and purposes, the story of the Book of Mormon ends at Cumorah. Moroni’s life and mission was over after he deposited the plates and stood upon that hill, empty handed in New York State.
Did Joseph Smith think to identify where poor Moroni may have gone after that? Did Smith even think to claim where his body may have been buried -- the very location of the last Book of Mormon prophet who allegedly appeared to him in his bedroom in the middle of the night? Where on God’s green earth was Moroni resurrected? Don’t you think it somewhat peculiar that Joseph Smith never staked a memorial plot in honor of Moroni’s burial? We are told that he simply buried the plates and that was the end of it. No more Moroni. End of story. That is a hole in Smith’s script! Death, burial, and resurrection go hand in hand and Smith dropped the ball on that one!
Another thing I find odd about Smith’s original claims of gold plates being buried atop the hill is the fact that the stone box was completely ignored as a thing of naught. The box was left on the hill as if it was mere toilet paper in which Smith would simply flush as if Cumorah was a giant toilet. Goodbye stone box! We don’t need you! You aren’t important! You have no value! You’re just a worthless stone box and I don’t care about you one bit. So be gone! Off you go.
My point is that the very box in which the plates and other artifacts were protected and encased is just as ancient having been crafted and made by Moroni for the purposes of hiding and preserving the records. And we have no remains of that box. Joseph didn’t think it important enough to preserve it or recover any part of it. It was simply left on the hill to be flushed down an invisible hole on Cumorah’s toilet. But wait, there’s more. I’m not done criticizing Joseph Smith’s stupid story and the lie in which he told about how the plates were buried atop the hill.
Have you ever wondered why Joseph Smith did not drive a stake in the very ground where the plates were allegedly buried? Why is that? Why didn’t Joseph mark the sacred spot of ground by simply driving a rod or stake into the ground so that the spot would be forever preserved and hallowed by all those who come to believe the story of the Book of Mormon and honor the location in which it was buried? According to the story, Smith had multiple opportunities to drive a permanent stake in the ground, more especially on the occasion when he was finally allowed to actually take the plates. But apparently, the location and spot of ground meant little to Joseph. Why? Because it wasn’t real any more than the plates were real! There were no gold plates! There was no stone box. There were no ancient artifacts deposited on that hill just as there is no other ancient archeological artifacts or evidence on that hill today.
Smith came up with his story and imagined it all. Everything about the Book of Mormon including the box, plates, and the story itself is nothing more than Joseph Smith’s imagination. And with that said, Dan, I think I may know what you’re thinking:
“Shulem, you’ve not answered my question.”
And I’m not going to because you can answer it better than I. Think man!
