Who says Mormons aren't Christians?

According to the Book of Mormon, that scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement was originally written in reformed Egyptian characters[1] on plates of "ore"[2] by prophets living in the Western Hemisphere from perhaps as early as 2600 BC until as late as AD 421. Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the movement, published the Book of Mormon in 1830 as a translation of these golden plates. Scholarly reference works on languages do not, however, acknowledge the existence of either a "reformed Egyptian" language or "reformed Egyptian" script as it has been described in Mormon belief. No archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America has been discovered.[3]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Egyptia...

No archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America has been discovered.

Why is it a person can tour the world going to remains of buildings from 3000 years old to still lived in 600 years old but nothing, not one item can back up any claim made by Joe?
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No archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America has been discovered.

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
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At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.... For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time" (Matthew ;24 NIV).

Majority of people in USA, about more than 66%, approve a CANDIDATE TO BE THE PRESIDENT AS A MORMON.

Dana Robertson wrote:

<quoted text>
Joseph Smith, Sr., was a school teacher during the off season. Joseph's brother, Hyrum, worked as a school teacher during the off season also. One of his sisters may have also been a teacher at some point in her life. This wasn't a family of illiterates. Education was important to the Smith family, and although Joseph may have only had limited formal education in a typical classroom, his parents undoubtedly schooled him at home. Also Joseph was going to high school when he was 20 years old in Harmony PA with the Stowell children.
Joseph was able to read and ponder scriptures. His parents were literate. He had access to books and newspapers. He even held a position as "exhorter" at a local church. Joseph's mother wrote that they did not neglect the education of their children.
If you are trying to defend the BoM on such a minor issue, it is a sad defense. B.H. Roberts wrote:
Josiah Priest's Wonders of Nature and Providence(which contains large portions of TVoH) was published in New York state, only about twenty miles from where the Smith family resided from about 1815 to 1830, and Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews was published in Poultney, Vermont, only a few miles from Windsor, Vermont where Joseph Smith's family lived until he was ten years of age. Roberts considered it "probable" that Ethan Smith's book was "either possessed by Joseph Smith or certainly known by him, for [it] was surely available to him" — Studies of the Book of Mormon, p. 153.
Swallowing gnats again?

lol...nope. But you're doing one heck of a job of swatting at gnats that aren't there. Dizzy yet :)
If you read Smith's journals, you will find that when at home at night, he never elaborated on "books" they had and or borrowed to read from. He did state and write more then once, that when home at night, his mom, not his dad and neither his brother schooled him from a family KJ Bible. She taught him to read from it and she taught him to write from it. The Bible is the only book he mentions being schooled from when at home as he grew.
Now the theories of Smith reading all this other literature for inspiration to write the BOM later in life, it's a plausible theory. But unfortunately it is just a theory. There is no evidence of Smith accessing all this other literature written by others that spoke of the Indians being lost Hebrews.
Now do I believe he may have heard conversation and may have even read information of it? Yes. But unfortunately I have no evidence to prove it.:)

Dana Robertson wrote:

<quoted text>
Yet we do have amour, coins and weapons thousands of years old in museums.
<quoted text>
Even so, people's remains are found with gold, and other metal objects with them. Out of the number of people listed in the BoM much would still have survived.

I didn't say there weren't coins, weapons etc that are 1000's of years old sitting in museums. But those objects most of the time, weren't found in moist wet earth that had ate at them for thousands of years. You're speaking of things that survived the elements due to some type of natural preservation that happened to them. Metal on the ocean floors are covered with barnacles, etc till you can barely make their shape. But with discovered ways of cleaning the crustations from those metal objects, you have the object in many instances.
The objects from dry environments survive because? A dry atmosphere. The same for objects encased in ice many times that are frozen in a dry environment.
Ever note that only arrow heads are found and not the wooden shaft? That's because the wood rots away in wet environments.
Your argument is idiocy. if a burial mound is ever found of a person living in the BOM time, they more then likely wouldn't hold anything that would reveal that fact. And even if a burial mound is found or some site and it holds metal weapons in some state of decay, all you'd say is that it proves some natives knew how to make metal weapons. So your argument is lost on yourself :)

Dana Robertson wrote:

<quoted text>
Yet we do have amour, coins and weapons thousands of years old in museums.
<quoted text>
Even so, people's remains are found with gold, and other metal objects with them. Out of the number of people listed in the BoM much would still have survived.

I will tell you this that I remember. The anti-Mormon John Smith of Oklahoma of the 1980's, he mailed me some material he found that he was debating in his news letter as not being evidence for BOM weapons and the war near Cummorah.
John was presented with some information from news articles from the early 1800s of the Cummorah county area. Farmers had made some statements that drew some interest because they were saying they were finding clumps of what looked like iron ore in various shapes a couple feet under the ground they plowed.
One farmer took these odd lumps and had them smelted because he was sure they were clumps of rusted metal objects. They were surprised to see it was some sort of iron/steel like metal. He had the smith forge metal farm implements from it. Other farmers that had discarded these odd shapes had the same thing done. No one knew how iron ore could form itself into what looked like heaps of rusty lumps of metal but they weren't complaining. Those odd shapes of metal afforded them nearly free plow blades, shovels, etc.
It was also said they found plenty of arrow heads.
and no, In have no idea where that information still might be. I read copies of the information sent in the mail some 30 years ago.

Wisdom wrote:

<quoted text>If you would stop typing people would not know the kind of fool you really are.
The RLDS Church (Community of Christ) has a document in their possession referred to as the Anthon Manuscript. This is believed to be the original or a copy of the original document that Martin Harris took to professor Anthon to convince Martin that Joseph really was translating an ancient document written in reformed Egyptian. This document is of enormous historical value to the church.
The characters on the so-called 'Anthon Document' match the characters on early 1840s placards promoting the Book of Mormon and also on the front and back covers of the 1980 'gold' edition of the Book of Mormon. This document may not be the original document taken to Professor Anthon, but the characters likely are as they are the same characters used on the covers of the published 1980 edition of the BOM.
If a modern-day prophet could translate these characters and show that this was part of the Book of Mormon then this would add significant credibility to Joseph's ability as seer. Modern linguists have looked at the characters and said they are gibberish.

I hid nothing in my statements...

I gave the facts...
I gave the source...
Your statement only backs up what I said...

Just because you wish to act like a fool... and wish to stay closed minded... doesn't mean that everyone does.

I will not do as you say or wish. I do not take orders from you or your kind.

Lol... I TYPE TOO MUCH when I give factual supported evidence... Then you turn around and verify what the document I provided says in your post...

you are truly lame!

Wisdom wrote:

No archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America has been discovered.

Where is your proof?

Your word?

Dana's word?

Anti-Mormon words?

Come on this is insane logic.

FDR/Truman liberal

Mike wrote:

<quoted text>
Then leave them alone.
Let them believe and practice whatever they want...just like they dont bother you to believe and do whatever you want.
btw... the more you attack them the more they cement theri faith...your ways work against what you are trying to accomplish.
I know how they operate....

Sorry, but they need to be freed from the bondage that is called Mormonism. And truth has a way that at some point can not be denied.

No Surprise wrote:

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lolol...you ignorant fricking pathetic excuse for a moronic human...lol. Smith had time to sally up to over 30 + women in a period of at least 15 years before the west was a consideration. Smith had given his blessing to many elders to have multiple wives in that 15 year period of time also.
People in that church not given an okay for polygamy and people not of the church heard much of the polygamous unions that were happening for that 15 year period. Your such a fool lol.
One of the main things Smith was badgered about by modcrats was that they heard he and other Mormon men had many wives. And they did try and keep it secret you dufas. But those that quit the church and knew of the polygamous marriages happening, those are the ones that spread that information first. It was well known that Smith and other Mormon men had multiple wives long before they ever even thought of going west.
Read some fricking history about it and enlighten yourself to some actual information! lol.

Ignorant pathetic moronic excuse for a human? Bad form.

No Surprise wrote:

<quoted text>
lol...nope. But you're doing one heck of a job of swatting at gnats that aren't there. Dizzy yet :)
If you read Smith's journals, you will find that when at home at night, he never elaborated on "books" they had and or borrowed to read from. He did state and write more then once, that when home at night, his mom, not his dad and neither his brother schooled him from a family KJ Bible. She taught him to read from it and she taught him to write from it. The Bible is the only book he mentions being schooled from when at home as he grew.
Now the theories of Smith reading all this other literature for inspiration to write the BOM later in life, it's a plausible theory. But unfortunately it is just a theory. There is no evidence of Smith accessing all this other literature written by others that spoke of the Indians being lost Hebrews.
Now do I believe he may have heard conversation and may have even read information of it? Yes. But unfortunately I have no evidence to prove it.:)

The fact he stole so much of the ideas from it show he had knowledge. When Mormon historians even agree, the problem is yours. Smith also use the Apocrypha as a source for the BoM.

On March 3, 1826, the following appeared in the Wayne Sentinel, the newspaper Joseph Smith's family subscribed to: "...it appears... that the unhappy controversy about the expediency of publishing the Apocryphal books with those of the Old and New Testament, has at length ended; and that the General Committee of the Bible Society, in London, have determined henceforward, wholly to exclude the Apocrypha from their editions of the Sacred Scriptures." On June 2, 1826, the same newspaper noted that the "apocryphal books are so called from the Greek word, which signifies 'hid,' or 'concealed;' because their origin, their real authors, times, and places are unknown. They are undoubtedly of great antiquity... But they do not claim to be, and have no title to be considered inspired."

Although Protestants were questioning the worth of the Apocrypha, Joseph Smith showed a good deal of interest in it. In fact, when he purchased a Bible in the late 1820's he picked one which contained the Apocrypha. Mormon scholar Reed Durham mentioned this purchase in his dissertation: "The Bible used for Joseph Smith's Revision was purchased in E. B. Grandin's Bookstore in Palmyra, New York; on October 8, 1828; it was a large family Bible... It was an edition of the Authorized Version 'together with the Apocrypha,' which was located between the two testaments, and was an 1828 edition, printed in Cooperstown, New York, by H. and E. Phinney Company." ("A History of Joseph Smith's Revision of the Bible," by Reed C. Durham, Jr., Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1965, page 25) Wesley P. Walters, however, claimed that the actual date of purchase was October 8, 1829, not October 8, 1828.



THE SEARCH FOR NEPHI

It is important to note that although the name "Nephi" is not found in either the Old or New Testaments of the Bible, it is one of the most important names in the Book of Mormon. Those who followed Nephi when his brothers rebelled against him were called Nephites. Mormon writers have spent a great deal of time speculating on the source of this name. The noted Mormon scholar Dr. Hugh Nibley tried to link the name Nephi to the Egyptian language: "First, consider a few Egyptian names, setting off the Book of Mormon names (BM) against their Old World equivalents (OW).... Nephi (BM), founder of the Nephite Nation.

"Nehi, Nehri (ow), famous Egyptian noblemen.

"Nfy was the name of an Egyptian captain. Since BM insists on 'ph' Nephi is closer to Nihpi, original name of the god Pa-Nepi, which may even have been Nephi." (Lehi in the Desert and The World of the Jaredites, by Hugh Nibley, 1952, pages 27, 29)

Dr. Wells Jakeman, a noted Brigham Young University scholar, did not seem to agree with Hugh Nibley's statement that Nephi may have derived his name from the Egyptian "god Pa-nepi." He felt that it was unlikely that Lehi "would have named his son after this Egyptian animal god Panepi, the 'Apis-bull'(a 'Nile-god of fertility and the animal representative of Ptah, a god of the dead.)"

Dr. Jakeman argued that the name Nephi "is Lehi's rendering of the Egyptian name of the personification or 'god' of grain in Egyptian belief..." For more information about this matter see Wells Jakeman publication, Stela 5, Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico, University Archaeological Society, Special publications No. 2, 1958, pages 38-42)
To be continued...

While Mormon scholars were diligently seeking to find evidence that Nephi is an Egyptian name, we discovered the actual name in the King James version of the Apocrypha.

The word "Nephi" is found hundreds of times in the Book of Mormon. In fact, it first appears as the second word in the Book of Mormon: "I Nephi having been born of goodly parents..." (1 Nephi 1:1) At least four men in the Book of Mormon are named Nephi. It is also the name of four books in the Book of Mormon, a city, a land, and a people.

While most Mormon writers tended to ignore our discovery for many years, in 1994 the Mormon scholar John Gee wrote: "Even if the word 'Nephi' appears once in the King James Version of the apocrypha, it still does not prevent it from deriving from the proper milieu." (Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 6, No. 1, page 105, note 177)

The FARMS publication, Insights, November 1992, contained an article which acknowledged that "the name Nephi is also found in the Apocrypha in 2 Maccabees.... it is possible that Joseph Smith was acquainted with the name from that source."

Since there is no way to prove the conjectures set forth by Mormon scholars concerning the origin of the name Nephi, and since we have found the actual name in the Apocrypha, this should settle the issue of its origin.

It is important to note that according to the Book of Mormon, Nephi came to the New World not long after 600 B.C., which, of course, is many centuries before the word Nephi was written in the Apocrypha. The edition of the Apocrypha which we are using in this article was published in 1812 in The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments: Together With the Apocrypha, by Merrifield and Cochran. This Bible gives a date "Before Christ 144" for the book of 2 Maccabees. Modern biblical scholars Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix think that it was written c. 110-70 B.C. Another Bible commentary suggests that it may have been written around 50 B.C.

The Mormon Church has included a Bible Dictionary in its publication of the King James Version of the Bible. On page 611 of that dictionary we read that 2 Maccabees "is inferior to that book [i.e., 1 Maccabees] both in simplicity and in accuracy because legends are introduced with great freedom."

In the Apocrypha the word "Nephi" appears at the end of a legend regarding a mysterious "thick water" that miraculously produced fire. According to the story, when the Jews were "led into Persia" the priests "took the fire of the altar privily, and hid it in an hollow place of a pit without water..." Many years later Neemias sent men "of the posterity of those that had hid it to the fire: but when they told us they found no fire, but thick water; Then commanded he them to draw it up, and to bring it; and when the sacrifices were laid on, Neemias commanded the priests to sprinkle the wood, and the things laid thereupon, with the water. When this was done, and the time came that the sun shone, which afore was hid in the cloud, there was a great fire kindled, so that every man marvelled." (2 Maccabees 1:19-22)

To be continued...

The Apocrypha goes on to reveal that "when the sacrifice was consumed, Neemias commanded the water that was left to be poured on the great stones. When this was done there was kindled a flame: but it was consumed by the light that shined from the altar." (verses 31-32)

At the conclusion of this story we find the following:

"Then the king, inclosing the place, made it holy, after he had tried the matter.

"And the king took many gifts, and bestowed thereof on those whom he would gratify.

"And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, A cleansing: but many men call it Nephi." (2 Maccabees 1:34-36)

With regard to the statement that a fire was kindled on some stones, it is interesting to note that in the very first chapter of the Book of Mormon, verse 6, we read that Nephi's father, Lehi, had a revelation in which fire appeared on a rock:

"...as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock..."

Notice how similar this is to a statement in 2 Maccabees 2:10:

"...as when Moses prayed unto the Lord the fire came down...."

Our computer research of the Bible does not reveal any wording that is as close to this portion of the Book of Mormon as the Apocrypha. In addition, as we have shown above, in one case where Neemias was present, the sacred water kindled a fire upon "stones." (2 Maccabees 1: 31-32) Interestingly, the fire Nephi's father saw was "upon a rock." (1 Nephi 1:6) It should also be noted that in the next chapter (1 Nephi 2:7) we read that Lehi "built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord..." The evidence clearly points toward plagiarism from the Apocrypha.



WRITTEN IN EGYPTIAN?

The first few chapters of the Apocrypha, 2 Maccabees, seem to have provided some important structural material for Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon. For example, in the very first chapter of the Book of Mormon, verse 2, Nephi makes the startling announcement that although he and his family were Jews, he was not going to make his record in the Hebrew language, but rather in "the language of the Egyptians." Moreover, Nephi also claimed that a man named Laban, who lived in Jerusalem, already had a copy of the Old Testament written in Egyptian on Plates of Brass. Since the Bible makes it clear that the Jews had once lived in Egypt and had been made slaves while they were there, they despised the Egyptians. Consequently, faithful Jews certainly would not want their sacred scriptures to be written in that language.

Even J. N. Washburn, a dedicated defender of the Book of Mormon, acknowledged that the claim that the Egyptian language was used presented a real problem: "The point at issue is not that Father Lehi, the Jew, could read and understand Egyptian, though that is surprising enough....

"No, the big question is how the scripture of the Jews (official or otherwise) came to be written in Egyptian. It is hardly enough to say that the Jews had a long and intimate association with Egypt. That was long before the days of most Hebrew scriptures. Nor does it help very much to remind ourselves that probably the Egyptian characters require less space than the Hebrew, since we have little knowledge of other Hebrew sacred writings preserved in that language....

"If I were to suggest what I think to be the most insistent problem for Book-of-Mormon scholarship, I should unquestionably name this one: account for the Egyptian language on the Plates of Brass, and the Brass Plates themselves!" (The Contents, Structure and Authorship of the Book of Mormon, page 81)

To be continued...

Joseph Smith was apparently oblivious to the problem he created when he spoke of the sacred records being written in the Egyptian language. We believe that it is likely that the Apocrypha played a role in bringing Smith to the decision that the Book of Mormon should be written in Egyptian. It seems significant that the very first verse found in 2 Maccabees mentions the Jews in Egypt, and that the second verse in the Book of Mormon speaks "of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians."

In the text of 2 Maccabees we find this statement: "The brethren, the Jews that be at Jerusalem, and in the land of Judea, wish unto the brethren the Jews that are throughout Egypt, health and peace." (2 Maccabees 1:1) In verse 10 of the same chapter we read: "...the people that were at Jerusalem... sent greeting... to the Jews that were in Egypt:"

In a "word for word reprint" of the original 1611 King James printing of the Apocrypha, and in the 1812 edition we are using, there is an introduction to the first chapter of 2 Maccabees which contains this statement: "A letter from the Jews at Jerusalem to them of Egypt..." (In the original King James Version the word "Jews" is spelled "Iewes.") The introductory statement is interesting because the four-word phrase "the Jews at Jerusalem" is found later in the Book of Mormon, 4 Nephi 1:31. Although this phrase is found once in the New Testament, it never appears in the Old Testament.

These statements concerning correspondence between the Jews in Jerusalem and the Jews in Egypt could have caused Joseph Smith to think about the Egyptian language. Smith may have reasoned that since there were Jews living in Egypt, they may have learned the Egyptian language. This, in turn, could have led him to believe that these Jews actually wrote the sacred scriptures in that language.

Other factors, which we will not take the time to discuss here, could also have played a part in Smith's claim that the Book of Mormon was written in Egyptian. In any case, since the Jews already spoke the Hebrew language, to have them write the Book of Mormon in the Egyptian language would be about as unparalleled as for the present prophet of the Mormon Church to order that future printings of the Book of Mormon should be in the Chinese language.

Even the prophet Moroni lamented that "if we could have written in Hebrew, behold ye would have had no imperfection in our record." (Mormon 9:33)

Mormon scholar Dr. Hugh Nibley maintained that the writing found in the Book of Mormon was derived from the Egyptian script known as demotic. He acknowledged, however, that demotic is "the most awkward, difficult, and impractical system of writing ever devised by man!" (Lehi in the Desert and the World of the Jaredites, 1952, page 16)

RECORDS & ABRIDGMENTS

In the very first verse in the Book of Mormon, the prophet Nephi claimed that he was going to "make a record of my proceedings in my days." This is interesting because in the first verse in the second chapter of 2 Maccabees, we read: "It is also found in the records, that Jeremy the prophet commanded them that were carried away to take of the fire..."

In 1 Nephi 13:40 we find the words "in the records." A parallel is found to this in 2 Maccabees 2:1, where we find the words: "in the records." This three-word parallel is never found in the Old or New Testament of the King James Bible.

to be continued...

In the second chapter of 2 Maccabees we read concerning the abridgment or condensation of five books into one:

"All these things, I say being declared by Jason of Cyrene in five books, we will assay to abridge in one volume.... to us that have taken upon us this painful labour of abridging, it was not easy... Leaving to the author the exact handling of every particular, and labouring to follow the rules of an abridgment.... But to use brevity, and avoid much labouring of the work, is to be granted to him that will make an abridgment." (2 Maccabees 2:23, 26, 28, 31)

This idea of making an abridgment seems to have had a strong influence on Joseph Smith. In the very first chapter of the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1:17, Nephi wrote: "Behold I make an abridgment of the record of my father... after I have abridged the record of my father then will I make an account of mine own life."

The reader will notice that both the Apocrypha and the Book of Mormon contain the words "make an abridgment."

Joseph Smith's title page for the Book of Mormon proclaims that it is "an account written by the hand of Mormon upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi[.] Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi... An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also, which is a record of the people of Jared..."

In The Words of Mormon 1:3, we read that Mormon "made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi..." In Mormon 5:9, we find these words: "...I write a small abridgment, daring not to give a full account of the things which I have seen..." Moroni, his son also wrote an abridgment: "Now I, Moroni, after having made an end of abridging the account of the people of Jared, I had supposed not to have written more..." (The Book of Moroni 1:1)

It would seem, then, that the Apocrypha created a real interest in abridgments in the mind of Joseph Smith and that he became rather obsessed with the idea of making abridgments. Significantly, the Bible never uses the words abridge, abridged, abridging nor abridgment.

We noted above that the Book of Mormon speaks of the Hebrew scriptures being translated into the Egyptian language and engraved on plates of brass. This is mentioned in 1 Nephi 3:3: "For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers upon plates of brass." It is likely that this idea also came from the Apocrypha. In the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus 50:3, we read of "plates of brass." Although those particular plates may not have had writing upon them, in 1 Maccabees 8:22 the following appears: "And this is the copy of the epistle which the senate wrote back again in tables of brass, and sent to Jerusalem..."

In chapter 14 of 1 Maccabees we find the following:

"They wrote unto him, in tables of brass, to renew the friendship and league which they had made with Judas and Jonathan his brethren: Which writings were read before the congregation at Jerusalem.... So then they wrote it in tables of brass, which they set upon pillars in mount Sion..." (verses 18-19, 27)

To be continued...

THE TREASURY OF LABAN

In 1 Nephi 3:2-5, we are told that after Lehi left Jerusalem he "dreamed a dream," in which the Lord told him that Nephi and his brethren must return and obtain the "plates of brass" from an evil man named Laban. Unfortunately, Laban thwarted the plan and would not allow Nephi and his brethren to take the plates which were stored in "the treasury of Laban." (1 Nephi 4:20) Since these plates contained the sacred scriptures and important genealogical information, they were a very valuable treasure. As it turned out Nephi had to kill Laban and kidnap one of Laban's servants so that he could take the plates from his treasury.(1 Nephi 4:18, 31)

Interestingly, 2 Maccabees, chapter 3, contains a story about a treasury and an attempt to plunder its contents. A man named Apollonius was told "that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of infinite sums of money..." (verse 6) Apollonius, in turn, told a certain king, who did not respect the wishes of the Jewish people, about the money. This "king chose out Heliodorus his treasurer, and sent him with a commandment to bring him the foresaid money." (verse 7) The people of Jerusalem were very opposed to the plundering of the treasury and "called upon the Almighty Lord, to keep the things of trust safe and sure..." (verse 22)

In spite of the pleas, Heliodorus "executed that which was decreed. Now, as he was there present himself with his guard about the treasury, the Lord of spirits, and the Prince of all power, caused a great apparition, so that all that presumed to come in with him were astonished at the power of God, and fainted, and were sore afraid.... And Heliodorus fell suddenly unto the ground, and was compassed with great darkness... Thus him that lately came with a great train, and with all his guard, into the said treasury, they carried out... Then straightway certain of Heliodorus' friends prayed Onias that he would call upon the most High to grant him his life, who lay ready to give up the ghost." (verses 23-24, 27-28, 31)

The story of Heliodorus trying to plunder the treasury begins in the third chapter of 2 Maccabees and the account of Nephi getting the plates of brass out of Laban's treasury also begins in the third chapter of the current edition of the Book of Mormon (the chapters in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon were much larger). In any case, both stories are approximately the same distance into the text.

There are enough similarities between the two stories to make one believe that Joseph Smith was borrowing from the Apocrypha. Those who take a careful look at the two narratives will notice that in both cases it is the followers of the God of Israel who finally prevail.

Nephi and his brothers made two unsuccessful attempts to obtain the plates but both times Laban threatened them with death and drove them away. On the second attempt Laban took their gold and silver and precious things.(1 Nephi 3:24-26)

In spite of these problems, one night Nephi "crept into the city and went forth towards the house of Laban." As he came near the house of Laban he "beheld a man, and he had fallen to the earth before me..." (1 Nephi 4:7) This, of course, resembles 2 Maccabees 3:27, where we were told that "Heliodorus fell suddenly unto the ground..." In both cases God was responsible for their fall. While Heliodorus saw "a great apparition," Laban fell because he "was drunken with wine." According to 1 Nephi 4:10-11, God had planned that Laban would fall so that Nephi could kill him: "And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban... And the Spirit said unto me again: Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands."

To be continued...

Consequently, Nephi claimed that he "took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword." (verse 18) Even though this would seem to have created a rather bloody mess, Nephi said that "after I had smitten off his head... I took the garments of Laban and put them upon mine own body; yea, even every whit; and I did gird on his armor about my loins." (verse 19)

Nephi then proceeded "unto the treasury of Laban." On the way he "saw the servant of Laban who had the keys of the treasury. And I commanded him in the voice of Laban that he should go with me into the treasury. And he supposed me to be his master, Laban, for he beheld the garments and also the sword girded about my loins.... And I spake unto him as if it had been Laban. And I also spake unto him that I should carry the engravings, which were upon the plates of brass, to my elder brethren, who were without the walls.... And it came to pass that when the servant of Laban beheld my brethren he began to tremble... And now I, Nephi, being a man large in stature... therefore I did seize upon the servant of Laban, and held him, that he should not flee. And it came to pass that I spake with him... that if he would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life.... And it came to pass that we took the plates of brass and the servant of Laban, and departed into the wilderness, and journeyed unto the tent of our father." (1 Nephi 4:21, 23-24, 30-32, 38)

The reader will notice that in the quotation given above Nephi used the words "of the treasury." While this three-word phrase is never found in the King James Bible, it does appear in 2 Maccabees 3:40.

A person might wonder what caused Joseph Smith to link the plates of brass with a treasury. The answer may be found in 1 Maccabees 14:48-49:

"So they commanded that this writing should be put in tables of brass, and that they should be set up within the compass of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place; Also that the copies thereof should be laid up in the treasury, to the end that Simon and his sons might have them."

While this reference does not specifically state what the "copies" were written on, the original was written on brass plates, and this certainly could have led Joseph Smith to write a story concerning plates of brass in the treasury of Laban. Interestingly, this reference (1 Maccabees 14:48-49) is found only about two pages before the book of 2 Maccabees, which contains the story of Heliodorus's attempt to plunder the treasury in Jerusalem.

It would appear, then, that Joseph Smith borrowed from both First Maccabees and Second Maccabees in creating this tale. The reader will notice, however, that Smith has turned the story around somewhat. While the Apocrypha has an ungodly man failing in his attempt to plunder the treasury at Jerusalem, the Book of Mormon states that it was a servant of God who tricked Laban's servant into allowing him to take the "plates of brass" from the treasury. Significantly, in both stories it is the ungodly who are brought to the ground -- one is beheaded and the other "lay ready to give up the ghost." It really comes as no surprise that in both cases the godly prevailed against the wicked.

More at: http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no89.htm

There is nothing original in the BoM.