Remember the New Covenant, Even the Book of Mormon

Remember the New Covenant, Even the Book of Mormon

D&C Gospel Doctrine Lesson 4: The Book of Mormon (227.1; 227.2)

“Remember the New Covenant, Even the Book of Mormon”

(also look at episodes 173 and 174 at the beginning of the Book of Mormon year)

Manual Goal:To help class members recognize the Lord’s hand in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and to encourage them to study the Book of Mormon, follow its teachings, and share it with others.

EGD Goal:

  1. To help class members connect with their testimony of the Book of Mormon
  2. To help class members embrace the fact that scripture is a collaboration between God and humans—that is beautiful and obvious (upon reflection) and we shouldn’t expect anything else.
  3. To provide a safe space and resources to help class members work out the implications of the nature of revelation and scripture.
  4. Class members should become more comfortable with the more historically accurate presentation of Joseph translating the Book of Mormon using the seer stone and hat without the gold plates present.

“Create a safe space to question and discuss; model constructive approaches” is a good general rule always but especially this year…

Two key questions relating to scripture are:

  1. What does it do? (Inspire, nourish, challenge)
  2. What is it? (Includes how did it come to be, which is far more complicated than most people ever consider. Many never even ask the question).

OUTLINE

  1. Personal application/relationship to scripture
  2. What is the Book of Mormon? Wait, back up. What is scripture?
  3. How did we get the Book of Mormon? What is the relationship between the gold plates and
  4. Review of resources
  5. Review of the new Church recommended resources (once again, is the place to go) Called “Church History Study Guide”
  6. Review EGD resources
  7. Recommendations and conclusion
  1. Personal application/relationship to scripture: How do you feel about the Book of Mormon? What are your favorite parts? How has it impacted your life? (in a way we can think of scripture as alive, because it changes and is updated and lives in the minds and hearts of those who study it. In a very real sense meaning only exists in the relationship between text and reader)
  2. What is the Book of Mormon? Wait, back up. What is scripture?

Divine inspiration transmitted by humans (thus both divine and human elements; proportion is the key question, and I believe it differs book to book)
What is scripture?

Revelation/Inspiration by God written down by humans. Yes, humans. And the (often overlooked) human element suggests that we should always feel empowered to challenge scripture and test it by our intuition, experience, and the Spirit.

Probably the stickiest issue is what is the percentage of divine and human influence in any given portion of scripture? Because it varies.

And then even if scripture is divinely inspired, its relationship to reality is one thing and its relationship to history is another. I’ll unpack that.

Inspired: Does it come from God? (I think the top priority of inspiration is to help us become more like our Heavenly Parents so we can better love and serve each other)

What scripture *does*: (I unapologetically hold that what scripture does is more important than how it came to be, and I say that as a scholar focusing on how scripture came to be! Of course, our conception of how it came to be strongly impacts our view of what it is/what it does).

How did scripture come to be?

(A combination of those two makes up “What IS scripture?”)

Each book of scripture has its own history, and therefore its own character:

Old Testament: Narratives told orally were collected and written over the course of more than a thousand years, and then canonized over centuries of complex process. The Jewish Scriptures were taken over by Christians, and the Protestant and Catholic Old Testaments differ (Catholic contains the Apocrypha, which are also Jewish texts). Each narrative, let alone each book, has to be evaluated independently. Also, lots of quite horrifying content that should be rejected. The human element is overwhelming.

New Testament: The heart of the New Testament is rightly the words and deeds of Jesus, which were transmitted over decades before being written into the gospels. Paul was controversial figure and his letters are the earliest books in the New Testament (though the gospels contain some traditions that go directly back to Jesus). The New Testament reveals greater Christian conflict than readers appreciate. Some books were not written by who they claim to be. I find the New Testament to be mostly uplifting

Book of Mormon: The Book of Mormon is an impressively complex, coherent, and self-aware book of scripture that tells a narrative that spans over a thousand years and depends on the Bible at numerous points. Though not without its problems, I find the Book of Mormon to be edifying and worth engaging no matter one’s conclusions about origins. I think the Book of Mormon deserves its place among world scripture.

Doctrine and Covenants: Mostly recorded between 1823-1843 by Joseph Smith and close associates, often recorded as directly coming from Jesus/God, theologically rich, often in response to specific historical catalysts. First put together as the “Book of Commandments”

Book of Moses: Inspired rewriting of the Creation narratives while Joseph was working on his revision of the KJV. I find it inspiring and empowering with some troubling content. I think the “weeping God” conversation with Enoch in Moses 7 is a pinnacle of world scripture.

Book of Abraham: Another inspired rewriting of the Genesis creation narratives, this one catalyzed by Egyptian papyri and informed by Joseph’s study of Hebrew.

Joseph Smith History: (I appreciated Facebook group member Bob Sonntag’s summary) Facing criticism from inside and outside the Church after bitter contention in Kirtland from 1836 to 1838, and having lost a previous attempt at composing the history of the Church when the historian, John Whitmer, departed, Joseph Smith began anew to write the history of the Church in 1838. It describes events many years after they occurred to provide a public testimony as a response to what Joseph saw as "the many reports which have been put in circulation by evil-disposed and designing persons." The recounting of events is colored by Joseph's experiences in the intervening years, including an evolving doctrinal understanding, years of experience, and the difficult events unfolding at the time the history was dictated.

  1. How did we get the Book of Mormon? What is the relationship between the gold plates and what we have today?
  2. Whatever the origin of the Book of Mormon, it was produced in the 19th century with clear dependence on the KJV Bible. Powerful implications, but also makes theological sense. Resolves numerous potential concerns.

Joseph barely used the plates in the translation process (they were covered or in a different room)
When it comes to the question of how we got the Book of Mormon, I think a good starting place (once the topic is brought up and those we are conversing with seem comfortable with the idea of Joseph using a seer stone more than the plates) is to acknowledge that Joseph used the King James Version of the Bible while producing it. Why?

  1. The dependence is really obvious once you think about it for half a second (the Isaiah chapters and 3 Nephi, which parallels the Matthew 5-7, are near word-for word)
  2. Accepting this resolves a potential challenge to faith
  3. Accepting this allows for a healthy, responsible understanding of the Book of Mormon that allows for the gold plates recounting Nephite history but also takes seriously the 19th century context (as a side note, each of those points is distinct: existence of Nephite history, existence of gold plates, relationship of gold plates to Nephite history, and relationship of gold plates to the Book of Mormon as we now have it)
  4. Accepting this framing allows for other productive approaches to the nature of the Book of Mormon

  1. Review of resources
  2. Review of the new Church recommended resources (once again, is the place to go) Called “Church History Study Guide”
  3. Review EGD resources
  4. Recommendations and conclusion
  5. Focus on relationship to the Book of Mormon
  6. Create a safe space for honesty
  7. Affirm that how the BoM nourishes and helps us is most valuable
  8. Discuss the new Church resources
  9. Ask for comments or questions, get general impressions
  10. Highlight historical points: Joseph’s use of the seer stone producing the Book of Mormon
  11. Mary Whitmer essay emphasizes the need to let women share their stories and uncover women’s key roles in our history
  12. Discuss questions and insights
  13. Conclude with productive emphasis on integrating these resources into our testimonies

Lesson 4: “Remember the New Covenant, Even the Book of Mormon”

  • “Book of Mormon Translation”:This Gospel Topics essay discusses historical accounts of the Book of Mormon translation process and the earliest Book of Mormon manuscripts.
  • “The Book of Mormon: From Cumorah to Grandin’s Press”:This multimedia narrative covers the 10 years between the First Vision and the publication of the Book of Mormonanduses immersive images from the Smith farm and the Grandin Building.
  • “The Contributions of Martin Harris”:This article gives context for the revelations now found in Doctrine and Covenants3, 5, 10, 17, and 19.
  • “The Experience of the Three Witnesses”: This article gives additional context for the revelation now known as Doctrine and Covenants17.
  • “A Bit of Old String: Mary Whitmer’s Unheralded Contributions”: This article discusses the hosting role of Mary Whitmer, whose contributions helped make the rapid translation of the Book of Mormon possible.
  • The Grandin Building: Book of Mormon Publication Site:This online exhibit gives details about the publication process for the first edition of the Book of Mormon.
  • “Ministry of Joseph Smith: The Book of Mormon”: This one-minute video introduces the translation of the Book of Mormon.

“Book of Mormon Translation”

I give this new resource a B- (It mentions the seer stone and hat, which is most important. The wording is impressively careful and precise, but some of the claims are unnecessarily leading/tendentious). The ideal resource is both faith affirming and historically responsible.

The young man, however, had very little formal education and was incapable of writing a book on his own,

This could be misleading, because it neglects Joseph’s active imagination. She Lucy Smith wrote: “During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of travelling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them.” (Biographical Sketches, p. 85.)

Joseph began translation in September of 1827. The story we are used to is that most of the Book of Mormon translation occurred from April-June 1829, but it remains true that Joseph was engaged with the Book of Mormon for three years.

Note we only have 28% of the original manuscript (most disintegrated due to water damage as it was placed in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo house. Tragic).

Joseph considered the dictation a finished product, but he continued to revise the BoM during his lifetime, and the 1830 edition contains some important differences that provide insight into the nature of the Book of Mormon (italicized words and the way God is talked about for example)

It is very good that the essay mentions the seer stone:

The other instrument, which Joseph Smith discovered in the ground years before he retrieved the gold plates, was a small oval stone, or “seer stone.”…

Apparently for convenience, Joseph often translated with the single seer stone rather than the two stones bound together to form the interpreters.

Joseph placed either the interpreters or the seer stone in a hat, pressed his face into the hat to block out extraneous light, and read aloud the English words that appeared on the instrument

I appreciate this wording about the JST:

Joseph Smith and his clerks began work on what is now known as the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, a prophetic revision of the King James Version.

Use of the Bible is a bit tricky because internal evidence is overwhelming but external evidence (witness description of the process) does not mention Joseph used a Bible.

“The Book of Mormon: From Cumorah to Grandin’s Press” Nice little resource to scroll through.

  • “The Contributions of Martin Harris”:This article gives context for the revelations now found in Doctrine and Covenants3, 5, 10, 17, and 19. Reasonably balanced with careful wording. I appreciate the depiction of very human figures in Church history. “Martin claimed that Anthon declared the characters authentic until he learned how Joseph Smith had acquired them.” Which prepares readers for Anton’s side of the story “”In 1834, Anthon stated in a letter that, "The whole story about my having pronounced the Mormonite inscription to be 'reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics' is perfectly false .... I soon came to the conclusion that it was all a trick, perhaps a hoax .... [Harris] requested an opinion from me in writing, which of course I declined giving."[10]Anthon stated in the letter that the story of his supposed authentication was false, that Anthon had identified the writings as a hoax, and that he had told Harris that the writings were part of "a scheme to cheat the farmer [Harris] of his money"
  • Also important: Recent scholarship, including handwriting analysis, suggests the "Caractors" document was written by David Whitmer's brother John Whitmer in or after 1829 and therefore would not have been available to show Anthon or others in 1828. (I still like the gold Book of Mormon from my childhood that has the characters on the cover)
  • “The Experience of the Three Witnesses”: This article gives additional context for the revelation now known as Doctrine and Covenants17.Provides some nice historical background. Doesn’t even footnote the issue of seeing the visions with “spiritual eyes” or the fact the witnesses later left the Church (over valid financial concerns). Whitmer led his own branch of Mormonism, etc. "If you believe my testimony to the Book of Mormon," wrote Whitmer, "if you believe that God spake to us three witnesses by his own voice, then I tell you that in June, 1838, God spake to me again by his own voice from the heavens and told me to 'separate myself from among the Latter Day Saints, for as they sought to do unto me, so it should be done unto them.'
  • “A Bit of Old String: Mary Whitmer’s Unheralded Contributions”: This article discusses the hosting role of Mary Whitmer, whose contributions helped make the rapid translation of the Book of Mormon possible.I really value that they highlight Mary’s contributions. We need to bring the women in our history to the forefront as much as possible. Very significantly, this resource shows how Mary herself is one of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon.
    Highly valuable framing that invites general application across scripture and tradition. “Mother Whitmer (as Mary was often called), like so many women throughout history, did not leave a written record of her life. It is thus only through sources created by others that we can cast light on the oft-overlooked but essential ways in which she and other women contributed to the history of the Church.”
  • One evening, when (after having done her usual day’s work in the house) she went to the barn to milk the cows, she met a stranger carrying something on his back that looked like a knapsack. At first she was a little afraid of him, but when he spoke to her in a kind, friendly tone and began to explain to her the nature of the work which was going on in her house, she was filled with inexpressible joy and satisfaction. He then untied his knapsack and showed her a bundle of plates, which in size and appearance corresponded with the description subsequently given by the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. This strange person turned the leaves of the book of plates over, leaf after leaf, and also showed her the engravings upon them; after which he told her to be patient and faithful in bearing her burden a little longer, promising that if she would do so, she should be blessed; and her reward would be sure, if she proved faithful to the end. The personage then suddenly vanished with the plates, and where he went, she could not tell. From that moment my grandmother was enabled to perform her household duties with comparative ease, and she felt no more inclination to murmur because her lot was hard.
  • The Grandin Building: Book of Mormon Publication Site:This online exhibit gives details about the publication process for the first edition of the Book of Mormon.(Makes me think of visiting the actual building in Palmyra, another good resource)
  • “Ministry of Joseph Smith: The Book of Mormon”: I like this. Brings up nice feelings, evocative, doesn’t show the plates during the translation process, interestingly.

Book of Mormon Translation Gospel Topics Essay:

Top View