volgadon

I think he means Moroni, but this comes from sources outside the BoM.

I've not really seen a good source indicating that Joseph was young when (forgive the pun) he married Mary. The last reference to him is when Jesus was 12. If you'll give me a bit, I can put together some references on male marriage ages in Christ's day.

I've seen the sources that contribute to his understand. I don't know if he is getting it from primary, secondary, or tertiary sources. One of the references, I'm sure, is the ideal found in Sayings of the Fathers. The sources simply don't support the assertion. There is good evidence even from near-contemporaries of Jesus, such as Josephus, showing a late marriage age.

Not true. Rabbi was a honorific like mister, or sir, not a religious position, until several generations after Jesus' crucifixion. There was also no requirement to be married. Ben Azzai, one of the most beloved preachers and sages of early Judaism, chose to remain unmarried, because it would distract him from his studies. Nearer to Jesus' time, there were also the Essenes. The more one looks into it, the harder it is to support the assertion that Jesus HAD to be married. From the POV of his time and culture, that is.

Not really a good justification, as men in Christ's day tended not to marry before their mid to late 30s.

What, you don't agree with fighting for the right to fight the right fight for the right?

If we really want to compare that way, then, Grandma Moses made nowhere near as important a contribution to the world as Marie Curie. Doesn't detract from either of them

The same could be said for any talent, couldn't it?

This has most of the ancient sources regarding the pericope adulterae. http://www-user.uni-bremen.de/~wie/TCG/TC-John-PA.pdf

It is one of those schemes which could have backfired badly. The majority of Jews were less than keen anyway on compatriots being turned over to the Romans, so imagine the reaction to those who who would have turned Jesus in for upholding traditonal values. This was the sanctity of the family, the honour of the husband, and the reputation of the community at stake. There would definitely have been deep unrest, fueled by myriad other upfronts to the Jewish community. The Romans were haunted throughout their empire by the spectre of revolt. The Jews were especially intractable. A mere hundred years after Christ, the Romans had to put down the Bar Kochba Revolt. One of the causes appears to have been deep-seated resentment of the way Romans high-handedly and ignorantly trampled on Jewish traditions and mores. There are stories of Roman soldiers who,needing spokes for their wheels, uprooted trees which had been planted by parents the for future use of bride and groom, as well as other Romans who requisitioned poultry intended for a wedding feast. The Romans could probably have prevented an uprising were Jesus arrested for upholding the traditional line against adultery, but they would have been hard put to save face. When it was over, why would they trust or find use for such fools as those that caused the incident in the first place? Like you said, we can't rule out such a plan, dead men tell no tales, but I don't find it very likely.

Perhaps, but it is not inconceivable that a blind eye might have been turned when it came to punishing adultery. Attitudes towards it were more or less the same throughout the known world. That is, far from favourable. Not only is discretion the better part of valour, it is also the better part of peace-keeping. Adultery threw the entire social fabric of a community into upheaval. It brought shame on the husband, wrecked marriage chances of children, and disgraced both relatives and community. If left unchecked, adultery might have spread to others, now undettered. It was a wise governor or administrator who interfered little in how a community handled such sensitive, volatile affairs. Of course it wasn't punished by death each time, even back then life came in many shades of gray.

The question why precisely Joseph Smith has no satisfying answer. It boils down to, "because he was." OTOH, there are some very good answers on this thread as to why some like Joseph was called.

Nine Tailors is awesome.

Important for understanding where Talmage and McConkie got much of their interpretation of the mortal ministry of Christ, but a very, very dated work.

Not a restaurant, but there is an Armenian store in SLC which carries tons of Caucasian and Middle-Eastern foods.

No, it isn't. Most countries use different systems for ratings. I grew up in Israel and saw quite a few movies that I only found out years later that they were rated R.

You do realise that this is not an American church.

Leaving on your own terms is hardly the same thing as being cast out of our church buildings.

Well, why haven't you?

Internet archive has them! Conference Reports : Free Texts : Download & Streaming : Internet Archive I found it the other day when looking for something.

I'm really just interested in what books of scripture you consider were written "in such a manner as to sell a religion to skeptics that lacked a formal education." I don't have a secondary education either, so that can't be it.

Which ones?

I think there are a few references in LDS scriptures to the divine light of creation.

Boxing has had a long history of rigged events. Nothing new at all.

Congratulations, that is wonderful news.