long ago ideas

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago." - Friedrich Nietzsche. Long ago, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery conquered false claims that the Book of Mormon was fiction or that it came through a stone in a hat. But these old claims have resurfaced in recent years. To conquer them again, we have to return to what Joseph and Oliver taught.

Friday, July 14, 2023

Clarity antonyms

Some Latter-day Saints seek clarity, charity and understanding, as discussed on nomorecontention.com.

Others seek the opposite of clarity, often in the ongoing effort to promote SITH and M2C. We'll look at a couple of examples below.

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Here are some antonyms of clarity.

ambiguity

obscurity

equivocation

vagueness

uncertainty 

confusion

opaqueness

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Let's look at some examples from Book of Mormon Central. There are dozens of such examples from Book of Mormon Central, the Interpreter, Meridian Magazine, etc. 

In every case, the scholars seek to repudiate the teachings of the prophets by introducing uncertainty, ambiguity, confusion, etc.

The M2C/SITH scholars continually stir up contention and controversy because their contrived theories of SITH and M2C are so obviously and directly refuted by the unambiguous statements from Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

Fortunately, more and more Latter-day Saints are educating themselves about the actual teachings of the prophets instead of relying on these scholars to "guide" them.

Clarity

Ambiguity, confusion, equivocation, etc.

Oliver Cowdery: “the fact, that here, between these hills, the entire power and national strength of both the Jaredites and Nephites were destroyed.”

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/90

Not much is known about the land and hill Cumorah…. There is a controversy, however, about the Hill Cumorah–––not about the location where the Book of Mormon plates were found, but whether it is the hill under that name near which Nephite events took place.”https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/where-is-the-location-of-the-hill-cumorah

Lucy Mack Smith: “the record is on a side hill on the Hill of Cumorah 3 miles from this place remove the Grass and moss and you will find a large flat stone pry that up and you will find the record under it laying on 4 pillars <​of cement​>— then the angel left him.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/41

There is “no historical evidence that Moroni called the hill ‘Cumorah’ in 1823” during his first encounter with the Prophet Joseph Smith…. Since these statements are somewhat late recollections, coming after the identity of Cumorah as a hill near Palmyra, New York, had become widespread, they should be used cautiously.” https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/where-is-the-location-of-the-hill-cumorah

 

 

Joseph Smith: “I obtained them, and the Urim and Thummim with them; by the means of which, I translated

the plates; and thus came the book of Mormon.” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/elders-journal-july-1838/11

Unfortunately, the historical sources on Joseph’s use of these instruments during the translation are sometimes contradictory or ambiguous. For example, even eyewitness participants in the translation of the Book of Mormon sometimes confused the terminology in their descriptions of the event. “These two instruments—the interpreters and the seer stone—were apparently interchangeable and worked in much the same way such that, in the course of time, Joseph Smith and his associates often used the term ‘Urim and Thummim’ to refer to the single stone as well as the interpreters.” https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-was-a-stone-used-as-an-aid-in-translating-the-book-of-mormon

 

 


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