CHAPTER IV.

The marvelous always has something about it, to fascinate, however coarsely it
may be clad; and fiction has its charms, and when combined and presented to the
mind in the mantle of inspiration, it is not singular that the credulous and
unsuspecting should be captivated. This propensity for the marvelous in the
human mind, is constantly leading them into error and delusion, and to it the
fabricators of the new revelation are indebted for their success.
Our moral faculties are always improved by embracing simple philosophical truths,
and, in proportion as we reject them, we become depraved, and less capable of
discriminating between falsehood and error. He who embraces falsehood and
error, will sink deeper and deeper in the vortex of folly and madness; wild
vagaries, apparitions, intercourse with the spirits of other worlds, and ten
thousand other follies, will dance through his imagination in shapeless confusion.
Realities are no longer a subject worthy his attention, but he is guided by the
whims of his imagination, which he believes to be the breathing of the Holy spirit,
and an internal revelation, and thus we find him enveloped in the fatal cords of
fanaticism.
Our object is to unvail the dece ptions, and impositions, which are now practiced
by the leaders of a sect which are called Mormons, or, as they have recently
christened themselves, "Latter-Day Saints;" and so place the Book, or Golden
Bible, as it has been called, before the public, as to prevent any further
deception. The subject of eternity is of infinite moment to all; and each individual
has sufficient capacity to embrace truth instead of error,
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provided the due exercises of the faculties are instituted. Then, when any
subject is presented to us in the garb of religion, we ought carefully to
investigate it, and compare it with the standard which should be our rule of faith
and practice. The divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, is the question now
before us. Is it presented to us accompanied with such conclusive testimony as
entitles it to our implicit credit, and such as we should be willing to risk our
eternal all upon? If any doubts hang over the subject, it is reasonable that a
scrupulous search, and a critical enquiry be instituted by us.
Permit us to examine in what way the two above named chapters of Isaiah,
became introduced in the modern version. The translation of King James is the
one used. We believe the translation to be a correct one, and that the translators
were guided by truth as far as human frailty would permit; but, at the same time,
they were governed by the then existing rules of the English language, which now
vary considerably. The rules which governed at the time of the translation was
made, are so far lost, that we presume a new one made at this period under our
present rules, would vary the diction and phraseology very considerably, but not
the true sense. We suppose that the object of the sacred writings, is to convey
a definite meaning to the reader in his own language, without regard to words or
phrases, and, consequently, if we were to receive a translation from the hand of
the Lord at this time, we might rationally expect that it would appear in our own
language, and not in that of King James' time, any more than in that of William
the Conqueror. It is a remarkable coincidence that the author of our book should
be able to give us an exact copy of those two chapters, reading them in a stone
placed in a hat! We are truly inclined to accuse him of plagiarism, not only from
the above circumstance, but because
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he attributes the authorship of the whole book to the Lord; and we cannot see
why, if he could dictate such grand and lofty sentiments to Isaiah, together with
the unparalleled figures, he could not have maintained a style and a diction
through the rest of the Book of Mormon, that would have appeared decent, and
been somewhat in the language of the present time. Again we remark, that the
beginnings of the question commences with the chapter, and closes with the next
chapter, which is, of itself, evidence that it was copied, because the division of
the prophecies into chapters is both modern and arbitrary -- the original furnishes
no such arrangement. Then it would have been natural for an ignorant plagiarist
to have blundered into that method of copying. If the two chapters had have
been inserted in the author's language, at the same time preserving the sense
strictly, there would have been more plausibility, and the deception not so easily
detected. But the ignorance of the author led him to suppose that the translation
was the only one that could be made, and that the division into chapters was
done by Isaiah himself.
Nephi is represented as a wonderful prophet. He could prophecy what would be
said, in the precise sentences, six hundred years afterwards, and so arrange and
punctuate it, that a translator, by means of a stone which was prepared fro that
purpose, could, two thousand four hundred and thirty years afterwards, copy
sentences which had been arranged about two hundred and twenty years
previously, by a set of learned divines, assembled under the authority of James
the first, king of England. There are no prophecies in the old Testament which
compares with this; we deem it beyond the marvelous. In our examination of the
prophecies in the old Testament, (which we suppose is not tantamount authority
to the Golden Bible with a "latter day saint,") we are unable to find even
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an attempt made by the inspired authors to prophecy the doctrines of our
Saviour, in the words in which he would utter them. Besides, the evangelists
themselves, who heard the wonderful sayings as he spa ke them, choose their
own manner of expressing it. Each had his own peculiar style, and penned the
sentiments in their own way. Our Savior uttered many prophecies, but in all he
said he never attempted to represent the diction and phraseology which would
be used on a future occasion. But our hero, Nephi, is made by the author to far
surpass the Savior.
We are next presented with something like a sermon, in which the prophecies of
the old Testament, (which, we presume, the author had by him,) is the matter
of discussion and explanation. The Arian doctrine is denied, of which he, Nephi,
has a prophetic knowledge, and instructs his readers after the popular doctrines
of the present day. No particular denomination is sustained, but partakers of
many, from which we suppose they had no articles of faith yet established; but
in the sequel they become Anabaptists. And thus ends the first "Book of Nephi."
The second Book of Nephi is introduced to the reader, by an attempt at a
christian sermon, by Lehi, (Nephi having retired behind the curtain,) and in the
course of his remarks, he makes several patriarchal promises to his sons; all
conditioned upon a faithful and implicit obedience to the requirements and
commands of Nephi. Lehi preaches repentance and remission of sins. He expounds
the law as it relates to original sin, and settles many of the leading points which
are subjects of disputation between different denominations at the present day,
p. 72. We will again, for the benefit of our readers, quote a remarkable passage,
which the bold blasphemer has presumed to insert in his book, as matter revealed
to him, and as having been penned
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by Nephi, nearly six hundred years before it actually was!!! "And by the law no
flesh is justified. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin." "Which layeth
down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the
spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first
that should rise," p. 63. --
There are a variety of sermons in this discourse taken from the new Testament,
somewhat garbled and transposed, and so varied as to suit the views of the
writer, in his fictitious tenets.
Lehi next addresses his son Joseph, who was born in the wilderness, and reminds
him of the commandments of the Holy one of Israel, and intimates that he is born
for some great purpose, "For behold thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a
descendant of Joseph, which was carried captive into Egypt. And great was the
covenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph; wherefore Joseph truly saw
our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins
the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel. Not the
Messiah," &c. He then goes on to explain the covenant, by representing himself,
and his posterity, as the branch meant, to which the Messiah be made manifest
in the latter days. We next have a question from the prophecies of Joseph. "Yea
Joseph truly said, thus saith the Lord unto me: a choice seer will I raise up out
of the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give a commandment," p. 66. "And
thus prophecied Joseph, saying: -- Behold that Seer will the Lord bless; and they
that seek to destroy him shall be confounded." "Behold I am sure of the fulfilling
of this promise. And his name shall be called after me, and it shall be after the
name of his father. Yea, thus prophecied Joseph," -- p. 67. Here is the prophecy
which settles the matter as to Joseph Smith, Jun. He is,
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doubtless, from the lineage of Lehi, the father of the Nephites and the Lamanites,
and a descendant of Joseph. -- The Lamanites were all cursed by the Lord, and
all marked and transformed into Indians. A curse was pronounced upon all who
should ever mix with them. The Nephites warred with each other until they
exterminated the whole race except three, who were immortalized. Whether the
object of their immortality was to perpetuate the notable branch of Joseph by
crim.con. we are left to conjecture. --
We are not aware that Joseph ever uttered the above remarkable sentences. He
held the highest standing among his brethren, and if he had ever made them, we
have no doubt full credit would have been given to his sayings, and they would
have been preserved by the Jews, and handed down to the latest posterity
among them, well authenticated. But, the fact is, the whole is a base forgery,
and he who attempted to palm it off as truth upon a credulous community,
cannot but receive the frowns and punishments of a just God.
Again, on the same page, "And the Lord said unto me, also, I will raise up unto
the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And the spokesman
of thy loins shall declare it." This prophecy of Joseph is also fulfilled to the letter,
in the person of Sydney Rigdon; he is also from this same illegitimate race. It is
true his name is not mentioned in the prophecy, but he fulfils the functions
assigned him, are not the circumstances mentioned in the prophecy, pointing out
so plainly these two persons, Joseph Smith, Jun, and Sydney Rigdon, who are the
founders, and are still the leaders among Mormon fanatics, good grounds to infer
that they were, at least, advisors, if not the authors, of the present form of the
Book of Mormon?
If they did not originally compose the book, they might
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easily, at the time of amending and copying, alter and insert the patent of their
commissions, in order to give validity to their undertaking.
Joseph Smith, Jun. was well skilled in legerdemain, and the use of the
divining-rods, which afforded him great facilities in translating. He doubtless had
become acquainted with mystifying every thing, and collected that class of
people about him, who were willing dupes, and anxious devotees to the
marvelous. To establish the truth of any pretension, however ridiculous and
absurd it might be, required nothing but some little necromancy, and it would be
received as of divine inspiration by them.
In the conclusion of the present chapter, Lehi bestows his last benediction. "And
now, blessed art though Joseph. Behold thou art little." We think the mind of this
little Joseph must have been quite precocious, to have comprehended the whole
rigmarole which has been addressed to him. Not only this; Nephi must have had
a very tenacious memory, or have been a stenographer, in addition to his great
literary attainments, in order to have engraved the oration of his father. The boy
being little, perhaps might account for the circumlocution, and tautology, in the
whole speech, if the whole book was not written in precisely the same words and
phrases. The old and new Testaments are written in an ancient and very perfect
style, and there is no doubt that, at the time it was written, it was in all
respects, the most finished, and complete production, into which our language
was capable of being modeled. --
But many improvements, and innovations have been made in our vocabulary, since
that period, which now renders the style measurably obsolete. A translation from
the original Greek, in our present improved language, would be desirable, and, if
it could be accomplished, many scisms would be abandoned, and sectarianism
would be greatly diminished.
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We mention this, as an argument against the divine authenticity of the Book of
Mormon. A few years have only elapsed, since the pretended translation of that
work took place, and instead of its being given us in a chaste and clear style, it
is the most miserable and barren of any thing we ever saw, in the form of a book.
Would it not be reasonable to conclude, that any book, whose author was the
Holy Ghost, would be clear and perfect in all its parts; so plain that the wayfaring
man need not err? particularly if the translation and style be chosen and dictated
by himself, as it is pretended that the book of Mormon was. But we are forbidden
this test, otherwise the book would fall to the ground at once.
Nephi is the next person on the stage, and commences his harangue. He
recapitulates his father's prophecies, and those of their ancestor, Joseph, in
nearly the same language which Nephi used, and reminds the whole family of the
promises in the covenant. Lehi is now old, and after he finishes his valedictory,
gives up the ghost, and is buried, p. 69. The scene is now changed wholly. Nephi
is the Major-domo. Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, rebel against his
authority; and Nephi is warned of the Lord to flee into the wilderness. A little
previous, after the death of Lehi, Nephi is disconsolate, and a long soliloquy is
penned, or engraved, upon the brass plates, which is principally patched up from
detached sentences taken from Psalms and Jeremiah, badly arranged, p. 70. --
The rebellion and civil war is so great, that Nephi comes to the rare conclusion,
after receiving his special command, to take another journey into the wilderness!
The promised land is not yet obtained, according to page 49, where it says, "we
did arrive at the promised land." Whether the land of both Noah and South
America was in the charter, or not, we cannot say, but a part is surrendered
forthwith,
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which is never restored again, therefore it was not the promised land, or the Lord
had broken his covenant.
"Wherefore it came to pass, that i, nephi, did take my family, and also zoram,"
(Zoram was a servant man of Laban's, whom Nephi and his brethren, decoyed
from Jerusalem, at the time the renowned plates were obtained which contained
the genealogy of Lehi,) "and Sam, and his elder brother, and his family, and
Jacob, and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all they which
would go with me."
They journeyed through the wilderness, until they arrived at a place which they
call Nephi, after their leader; those who were left behind, to wit: Laman and
Lemuel, and their families, were afterwards called Lamanites, together with all
their descendants, without distinction. Nephi instructs his people to manufacture
swords, after the manner of the sword of Laban, to defend themselves against
the Lamanites, p. 72. Nothing can be more ridiculous than to suppose it
necessary to manufacture swords with which to defend themselves against the
Lamanites, as there could not have been to exceed twenty adults, including both
parties; for he says on the very next page, that thirty years only had passed
away since they left Jerusalem, and five males constituted the whole at the
onset. We will admit that five men were added; but Ishmael and Lehi are dead;
and Jacob and Joseph are born, and but a short time since, Joseph is called little.
But see what follows in immediate connexion with their removal, and previous to
the time mentioned of thirty years having elapsed since the hegira of Lehi. "And
I did teach my people that they should work in all manner of wood, and of iron,
and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of precious ores,
which were in great abundance, And I, Nephi, did build a temple, and I did
construct it after
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the manner of the temple of Solomon, save it were not built of so many precious
things. But the manner of the construction, was like unto the temple of Solomon,
and the workmanship thereof was exceeding fine." All this was accomplished in
the short time which remains after deducting eight or nine years previous to their
embarking for the promised land, and the time they were located previous to
Nephi's journey into the wilderness, where they now are with not more than
twenty or thirty persons, including women and children. How much time remains
from the thirty years which has not quite elapsed, we will leave for some Nephite
or Mormon, to determine. But this is not all -- there is still another incongruity.
Nephi has just told us, that gold, silver, brass, steel, iron, copper, and precious
ores, in great abundance, were found; and in the next sentence tells us, that he
built a temple in all things like the temple of Solomon, "save it were not built of
so many precious things, for they were not to be found upon the land." We know
not the precious things that were in Solomon's temple, more than our book
enumerates. Brass and steel are represented native. He was compelled to mix and
form his own brass, -- steel he had none. If any can reconcile all these
incongruities, and unscientific mistakes, which have been exhibited thus far in the
book of Mormon, with revealed truths from Heaven, we know not what
inconsistencies, and fooleries, could be instituted under a pretence of divine
authenticity, that would not have its enthusiastic devotees.