You’re welcome, Michael. Again, I’m sorry for the length, but I thought it was necessary to drive the point home. No, the church doesn’t want you to know these things because they look at people in one of three ways: members, potential members, and anti-Mormons.
Is there something similar to the story that Joseph told? I assume you’re talking about the Furst Vision and him seein God and Jesus. In the Bible, not to my knowledge, but in his era, yes. Keep in mind that the New Englanders were very superstitious and we’ve already seen that Smith was engaged in “glass-looking” with stones in his hat the same way he “translated” the BOM.
Professor Richard L Bushman at Columbia University published a book called The Visionary World of Joseph Smith. Mr. Bushman found some 32 different pamphlets detailing visions or religious experiences and of those, 10 described visions of God, Jesus, or both.
One of those was written by one Norris Stearns 1815 account: “…I saw two spirits, which I knew at first sight. But if I had the tongue of an Angel I could not describe their glory, for they brought joys of heaven with them. One was God, my Maker, almost in bodily shape like a man. His face was, as it were a flame of Fire, and his body, as it had been a Pillar and a Cloud. In looking steadfastly to discern his features, I could see none, but a small glimpse would appear in some other place. Below him stood Jesus Christ my Redeemer, in perfect shape like a man–His face was not ablaze, but had the countenance of fire, being bright and shiing. His Father’s will appeared to be his! All was condescension, peace, and love.”(Norris Stearns, The Religious Experiences of Norris Stearns, Greenfield [MA], 1815)
What does this sound like? I’m not claiming that Smith copied his words because we have no evidence of such, but rather that this sort of thing was not uncommon in that day and age.
Keep in mind that we also have at least five differing versions of the Furst Vision in which Smith saw angels, God, God and Jesus, two unnamed personages, pillars of fire, pillars of light, and so forth. Really, if the man was making it all up, he’s got to be the world’s worst liar.
You might also make the point that the same God would say the same thing to all of his people (provided that Nephites, Lamanites, and Jaredites actually existed as the BOM claims). I would agree but the fact is that the Nephites didn’t have the New Testament so why would we find so many passages from it in the BOM? We’re also not talking about just the same general thoughts and concepts, but, at times, direct plagiarizations of the Bible. How would Lehi and Nephi be using the words of men not yet born who wrote books not yet compiled in dialect not yet evolved? That, indeed, would be miraculous! The evidence of the New Testament in the BOM shows that the author was familiar with the KJV, first published in 1611, some 2,200 years later.
But even if we could rectify all of those problems, we should then see a Biblical standard for this, right? Instead, we see exactly no evidence that this sort of thing occurred in the Old Testament.
For an example, look up 3 Nephi 20:23-25. “Jesus” says he’s going to quote Moses (Deut 18:15) but ends up quoting Peter’s (assuming he was the author of Acts, which I do) paraphrase of Moses’ words in Acts 3:22-23.
How could Jesus, part of the one and only God Almighty, creator of the universe and everything in it, make such a mistake? Compare Acts with 1 Nephi side-by-side and you’ll see without a doubt that Smith lifted the words directly from the Bible. True, he added a few of his own, but the basis for those passages is clearly the KJV.
I’ll also PM you a list of plagiarizations along these lines, too. But don’t take my word for it; look them up for yourself and you’ll see it, too.
