Here are a couple of other cases, though, where I think that an impish divine sense of humor may actually play a role. Both are instances where, if my hypotheses are on target, the prank was set in place long before it was noticed:
1) The appearance of Elijah in the Kirtland Temple: “Elijah did come at Passover time — as pious Jews had long hoped he would — although he did not avail himself of the hospitably opened door of a faithful Jewish family but came to the House of the Lord in Kirtland.” See Stephen D. Ricks, “The Appearance of Elijah and Moses in the Kirtland Temple and the Jewish Passover,” BYU Studies 23/4 (1983): 483-486. Neither the early Latter-day Saints nor anybody else noticed for several decades. When they do notice, though, it becomes one of those things about Joseph Smith that are rather difficult to explain.
2) The appearance of Early Modern English (Early Modern English) in the original English dictation of the Book of Mormon. Once again, though, neither the early Latter-day Saints nor anybody else noticed for several decades. And, also once again, it becomes difficult to explain away. It’s very strange for believers, but, for those who seek a naturalistic explanation for the appearance of the Book of Mormon in the late 1820s, it’s virtually impossible.
We’ve seen DCP argue for the hidden God, for the callous God, and now for the trickster God.
Why should we follow the God who decided to put Early Modern English into the Book of Mormon as some sort of weird joke? When people’s eternal salvation and families are at stake?
"The Late War", published in 1816, and its uncanny similarities to the language of the Book of Mormon went unnoticed for many decades. It, too, is difficult to explain away. (Ho ho.)
Adam Clarke's biblical commentary and restatement, copied by Joseph Smith almost verbatim for his own "translation" of the Bible, also went unnoticed for decades. (Hee hee.)
"There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”
1) The appearance of Elijah in the Kirtland Temple: “Elijah did come at Passover time — as pious Jews had long hoped he would — although he did not avail himself of the hospitably opened door of a faithful Jewish family but came to the House of the Lord in Kirtland.” See Stephen D. Ricks, “The Appearance of Elijah and Moses in the Kirtland Temple and the Jewish Passover,” BYU Studies 23/4 (1983): 483-486. Neither the early Latter-day Saints nor anybody else noticed for several decades. When they do notice, though, it becomes one of those things about Joseph Smith that are rather difficult to explain.
I don't understand why the above is humorous. Nor why it is difficult to explain. I do see a whiff of anti-semitism though.
2) The appearance of Early Modern English (Early Modern English) in the original English dictation of the Book of Mormon. Once again, though, neither the early Latter-day Saints nor anybody else noticed for several decades. And, also once again, it becomes difficult to explain away. It’s very strange for believers, but, for those who seek a naturalistic explanation for the appearance of the Book of Mormon in the late 1820s, it’s virtually impossible.
Is it difficult to explain? For certain sections that reference Isaiah I think we've nailed down the actual source...
Does God have a sense of humor? Is that explicitly declared within the theology?
It’s a bit like Star Trek. There’s an encyclopedia of loose non-binding cannon for the writers to reference, but it can always be violated when the plot demands it.
When Daniel was a lad growing up in the church he, like everyone else, believed that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by reading a strange language on ancient gold plates using strange spectacles which magically enabled him to translate the narrative and dictate it to a scribe who was sat on the other side of a dividing curtain. At that time the younger Daniel, like other believers, knew all that to be true.
Now, Daniel believes that a group of dead English-speaking people translated the gold plates (Even though at that point God could simply hand them an English version) and then that version which was now in their own era language was projected one word at a time onto a treasure seeking rock for Joseph to just read out loud so someone could write it down. Because Skousen has found evidence of King James era style language within the text and has concluded that this is the only explanation for it. For supposedly intelligent people they really are blinkered. Or it's a good way of syphoning off donors money. A bit like film making where they never have to account for where all that money went.
Last edited by IHAQ on Mon Nov 21, 2022 12:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Elijah came because of the prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6. The timing was Passover because that was the most symbolically fitting time for him to come. As our friend Don Bradley showed in his book, Joseph Smith was keenly aware of the Jewish holy days and incorporated them into the Book of Mormon. So, there really is no “humor” involved in that timing. Joseph Smith absolutely knew exactly what he was doing. After all, the prophecies of Malachi were, so Smith claimed, important to him from the earliest angelophanies he experienced.
Last edited by Kishkumen on Mon Nov 21, 2022 10:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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