DarkHelmet wrote: Joseph Smith's translations don't really deserve major scholarly attention.
Modern-day Mormons are stuck with Book of Abraham baggage, the Explanations of the Facsimiles. This is without a doubt the stuff that sticks in the craw of every apologist. It's the boogie man under the LDS revelation bed -- that which requires nothing but faith, hope, and excuse.
Modern-day Mormons are poisoned by the Explanations of the Facsimiles. They have no choice but to drink their poison while sitting on their shelf of Book of Abraham faith. All they have is faith that an antidote will someday be provided (by their prophet, seer, and revelator) and deliver them from the false Egyptian translations which have proven nothing but a liability to the church. But no antidote is coming. The poison will take its course and sicken the mind of every Modern-day Mormon that's ponders the reality of the Explanations of the Facsimiles .
consiglieri wrote:This idea of a Jewish redactor is speculative nonsense.
The only thing it is has going for it is that it is technically possible--in the same sense it is possible the sun will not rise tomorrow.
One other thing it has going for it--it is completely non-falsifiable. How can you refute the idea that it is possible the sun might not rise tomorrow?
I have said it before and I will say it again.
Although this type of explanation may be possible, Mormons should be aware that they are more and more being pushed to explanations for their foundational scriptural texts that are objectively indistinguishable from intentional fraud.
That recognition alone should be enough to give a reasonable person pause.
Perhaps it was a Spirit World committee of Jewish redactors?
NOMinal member
Maksutov: "... if you give someone else the means to always push your buttons, you're lost."