Post 4 - Sure Evidence That The Book of Mormon's Translation Was of God

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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TODAY'S THEME

If you have really read the Book of Mormon as the title of this post series asks, you would have really enjoyed, along with me, Neal Maxwell Institute's Daniel C. Peterson's fireside presentation at the Olivewood Book Store in Provo on April 10, 2008. When one "really" reads the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, as many times as I have been privileged to do, he will have recalled much from that reading of this Book of Books, during Dr. Peterson's captivating presentation.

Sometime, a number of years ago, while studying the Book of Mormon, I noticed that Nephi tells us his father's family's travel direction in Southern Arabia changed to due East at a place named Nahom (I Nephi 16:34). I also noticed then, that before and afterwards, most all locations on their long route were given names by Father Lehi and his fellow travelers, such as the Valley of Lemuel, after his second oldest son and the place by the seashore they named "Bountiful" because of "its much fruit." Dr. Peterson really enjoyed telling his audience about how this Arabian site, Nahom, still bears the same name it did in the day of the prophet, Lehi.

Although Dr. Dan didn't mention it, I remember reading a report from a BYU researcher who reported that there is an ancient burial ground there. Co-incidentally Lehi assisted in burying his relative, Ishmael there.

You will enjoy the convincing description our fireside presenter made of all this evidence which supports that which Joseph Smith told us right along, that this record was made by Hebrew travelers in about 600 B.C. As Dr. Peterson asks, "How could Joseph Smith or any other person in our day, except for a possible Arabian bedeouin who possibly didn't read or write, come up with that ancient, accurate place name."

That is just one of many items Dr. Dan gives to convince us that no-one in Joseph Smith's day could come up with the information we find in the Book of Mormon about such accurate details of ancient Hebrew olive orchard cultivation and details of experiences Book of Mormon people had in the Seismic Disaster described in III Nephi that occured just before the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the relatively small Nephite-Lamanite population that had escaped death at that cataclysmic occasion.

Another matter that Dr. Peterson so ably discussed is how Hebrew language characteristics regularly showed up in the English translation the Lord gave Joseph Smith through direct revelation. He told us that many of those Hebrew language characteristics were changed later by the Prophet Joseph or others in Church leadership to improve the English of this divine translation.

Dr. Dan is so convincing. I have noticed that there were no direct responses on the Internet to the facts that were presented by him that evening. There is no plausible way to dispute the facts that were given us by Dr. Peterson that evening.

It will be very much worth your while to watch this video. You will be viewing Part 2 when you begin. There are five parts to this lecture which lasted about an hour and a half altogether. You can make the other four parts of his lecture available to access at any time, by merely a single left click on the screen just to the right of Dr. Peterson's left shoulder. Dr. Peterson tells us a number of convincing facts in each of them. I had you begin with Part 2, because I found it particularly interesting. You may find parts 1, 3, 4 or 5, particularly interesting. Check them out as you have time!

Daniel C. Peterson

 Turn on your computer's speaker now! Click on the arrow on the screen below!

There was something special that I picked up on. I particularly appreciated Dr. Dan's enthusiasm and conviction as to why we should believe the statements of relatives and friends of Josephs Smith's in the Harmony, PA area regarding the actual manner of translating of the Book of Mormon rather than what the sophisticated, modern, easy living, computer wielding ciritcs describe. Our presenter described in great detail things that were reported by these local people regarding the translation. He then pointed out to us that all of these local folks were down-to-earth, practical and pragmatic farmers who really had to hustle to keep alive. He asks whose statements are the most credible, the modern easy-living critics or those Nineteenth century "down-to-earth people" who really knew what they were talking about.

I really appreciated Dr. Dan's enthusiasm for this great helping of convincing information given us throughout his captivating, scholarly, presentation. He apologized beforehand about having to read much of his material, but that wasn't needed because of his captivating enthusiasm. I look forward to future presentations to be made by this good man. He could read all of them as far as I am concerned.

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.


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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), When You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Click on the Following: The Book of Mormon's Translation Was of God. Sure Evidence (A Dan Peterson Video Assists in providing this evidence) - Post 4 After The Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next to a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).


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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon" Legal /Statement Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch

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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.


I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

Post 3 - Works Required Of Those Saved By Grace

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fourth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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TODAY'S THEME

(A Relative): Hi!
A couple of comments about Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25:23. If grace only applies after all you can do, how do you know when you have done enough? Have you truly done ALL you could do? If not, then it would seem that grace would not apply.

(Neil) I believe it is very challenging to do ALL the Lord expects of us. However, we need to keep on doing what He wants us to do. For sure the "Marvelous Gift of the Grace of Christ" gives us the desire and courage to forge forward through all the challenges we meet in this life to the end of our lives. If we accept the grace of Christ, and prove ourselves worthy and continue becoming more Christlike we don't have to worry about whether or not we have done ALL He wants us to do. He will, by His spirit, and by the power of His grace, guide us forward to the end of our lives, giving us reassurances along the way, that we are on the path to salvation and prompt us to make the changes we need to make.

(A Relative) A Christian rejoices in grace as presented in the Holy Bible. (Neil) I believe a Christian should rejoice in grace, but at the same time he strives to be obedient to Christ as presented in the Holy Bible and in other sacred scriptures.

(A Relative): Good works are a *result* of grace, not a way to achieve it.
(Neil): If all good works are a *result* of grace, why did The Apostle, Paul write all he did about Charity in First Corinthians, 13. Why didn't he just simply write "that if you are blessed with the grace of Christ the result will be that Charity will come automatically." Wasn't Paul trying to help us to desire developing the quality of Charity?

Why didn't the Savior in Matthew 5:48 just say: "Accept my grace and all will be well" instead of

Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

And why did the Savior teach the apostles: " in

John 13: 34 "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

 We just don't automatically "love one another as Jesus loves us." His ability to love goes way beyond any of our present abilities to love. That is a challenge that isn't met automatically by grace, but it does take much guidance by the gift of the Holy Ghost. However, without the grace of our Savior we would not have the motivation to move forward spiritually. It also takes much effort, prayer and years of learning.

(A Relative): "You do not pay for a gift. Grace is not a license to sin, but if you truly love God, you will want to please Him.

(Neil) That being so, don't we need to study all the scriptures to know how to please Him. We must learn the commandments he has given us. We must believe that the power of His grace is sufficient to give us the desire to learn and then the ability to keep His commandments."

Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 25:23. "By grace are we saved after all we can do."  

The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is very much needed in our day.

(Neil) I will now comment on the two scriptures you listed, one at a time:

(Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

This scripture applies to each of us. By the Spirit, we each must strive to keep His commandments and live as Christ and His apostles and prophets have taught us to live. Again, these qualities don’t come automatically because you feel or know that you accept the grace of Christ. If they did come automatically, why then (I'm repeating myself) does the Savior and his apostles and all the prophets teach us how to live righteously?

(Eph. 2) By Grace are Ye Saved is given in this scripture. The apostle Paul was teaching the Ephesian Saints that just by living the Law of Moses and all of the ordinances given by Moses, people were are not saved. The Grace of Christ is an absolute necessity. Without the Grace of Christ all of these performances required of ancient Israel do not benefit anyone.

The commandments given us by Christ and His apostles and prophets are a different matter. They must be obeyed so that grace, (or in other words, the atonement of Christ) can save us.

Ephesians 2: 8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

That last verse is very meaningful. God expects us to produce good works, but those good works are not automatically produced by us because of the Grace of Christ. We cannot boast of our good works, because they would amount to nothing were it not for the grace of Christ. We keep the commandments given us because we love Him for what he did in atoning for our sins and imperfections, and for the blessings of Eternal Life which He promises us.

So let's look again at the scripture you referred to in your comment in my blog: "Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon",

2 Nephi 25:23 "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

Notice the words: "be reconciled to God" doesn't that means keeping His commandments and accepting His grace in my view. The Bible and the Book of Mormon agree!

I'm not writing this to prove that I'm right, I'm writing all of this because you and your family are very dear to me and my wife. May the Lord bless you in your righteous efforts.

Neil
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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

____________



TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Open), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up and Click on the Following: Works are Required as Well as Grace - Post 22; Post 3. When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down in The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).
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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon" Legal /Statement Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch
____________
I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: http://varsinaisella.blogspot.com/. Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch