letsjam

The years have come and the years have gone, but the need for a testimony of the gospel continues paramount. As we move toward the future, we must not neglect the lessons of the past. Our Heavenly Father gave His Son. The Son of God gave His life. We are asked by Them to give our lives, as it were, in Their divine service. Will you? Will I? Will we? There are lessons to be taught, there are kind deeds to be done, there are souls to be saved. Let us remember the counsel of King Benjamin: When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. 7 Reach out to rescue those who need your help. Lift such to the higher road and the better way. As we sing in Primary, Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way. Teach me all that I must do to live with him someday. 8 Real faith is not restricted to childhood, but rather applies to all. We learn from the Proverbs: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 9 When we do, we will come to realize that we have been on His holy errand, that His divine purposes have been fulfilled, and that we have shared in that fulfillment. Becoming Our Best Selves President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency

eh ok - here is a link on blog where i read those 17 points, maybe after you read it, you will understand that i didn't add MY words to this post lol: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...4e-43ce0d4e73ac Thank you.

lol guys, don't you think your replies are a bit daunting? stop sending that, i just reposted this info. i'm sorry that you don't understand that i'm not the author of it.

Roman, Neither Jesus nor His Apostles had a certain name for the church. But it was always the Church of Christ. Maureen, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was known as The Church of Christ before the revelation that Joseph Smith received. Of Latter-Day Saints was added only after revelation. Also, this Church has a nickname as Mormons and Latter-Day Saints, but it doesn’t mean that it’s official name of Church. To separate the names of Primary Church that is known as The Church of Jesus Christ and restored Church. Church was true from 1830 till that revelation. Snow, why do you think that this story is false? Lol are you seriously LDS? You should know then about the true Gospel of Christ, so this list only confirms that this Church is true. Though where is any meaning to confirm anything for anybody if that anybody hasn’t a testimony? It’s wasting of time I think. Jason, why do you think that Jesus hadn’t any plans to organize His Church in modern times? And why didn’t he do anything to organize the true Church? I’m looking forward to your answer.

And God Said No I asked God to take away my pride. And God said, "No". He said it was not for him to take away, but for me to give up. I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. And God said, "No". He said his spirit is whole, his body is only temporary. I asked God to grant me patience. And God said, "No". He said that patience is a by product of tribulation. It isn't granted, it's only earned. I asked God to give me happiness. And God said, "No". He said he gives us blessings, happiness is up to me. I asked God to spare me pain. And God said, "No". He said I must grow on my own, but he will prune me and make me fruitful. I asked God if He loved me. And God said, "Yes". He gave me his only son who died for me and I will be in heaven someday, because I believe. I asked God to help me love others as much a He loves me. And God said, "Ah, finally you have the idea."

Gordon B. Hinckley's Be's or 9 ways to be happy and make something in your life  Be Grateful Be Smart Be Clean Be True Be Humble Be Prayerful Be Positive Be Still Be Involved  1. Be grateful. Express appreciation to everyone who does us a favor or assists us in any way. 2. Be smart. The Lord wants us to train our minds and hands to become an influence for good. 3. Be clean. We live in a world filled with filth and sleaze. We cannot afford to let it touch us. We should not be disrespectful of the body which the Lord has given us. 4. Be true. Let us be loyal to the Church under all circumstances. The authorities of this Church will lead us in paths of happiness. 5. Be humble. The meek and the humble are those who are teachable. 6. Be prayerful. Look to the Lord for understanding and guidance, and walk according to His precepts and commandments. Be Grateful Walk with gratitude in your hearts, my dear friends. Be thankful for the wonderful blessings which are yours. Be grateful for the tremendous opportunities that you have. Be thankful to your parents, who care so very much about you and who have worked so very hard to provide for you. Let them know that you are grateful. Say thank you to your mother and your father. Say thank you to your friends. Say thank you to your teachers. Express appreciation to everyone who does you a favor or assists you in any way. Thank the Lord for His goodness to you. Be Smart The Lord wants you to educate your minds and hands, whatever your chosen field. Whether it be repairing refrigerators, or the work of a skilled surgeon, you must train yourselves. Seek for the best schooling available. Become a workman of integrity in the world that lies ahead of you. I repeat, you will bring honor to the Church and you will be generously blessed because of that training. Be Clean Avoid evil talk. Do not take the name of the Lord in vain. . . .Choose your friends carefully. . . . While you should be friendly with all people, select with great care those whom you wish to have close to you. . . . Be clean. Don’t waste your time in destructive entertainment. . . . How truly beautiful is a well-groomed young woman who is clean in body and mind. She is a daughter of God in whom her Eternal Father can take pride. How handsome is a young man who is well groomed. He is a son of God, deemed worthy of holding the holy priesthood of God. He does not need tattoos or earrings on or in his body. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve are all united in counseling against these things. . . .There is no need for any Latter-day Saint boy or girl, young man or young woman, to even try [drugs]. Stay clean from these mind-altering and habit-forming addictions. Be True Be loyal to the Church under all circumstances. I make you a promise that the authorities of this Church will never lead you astray. They will lead you in paths of happiness. . . .Be true to your own convictions. You know what is right, and you know what is wrong. You know when you are doing the proper thing. You know when you are giving strength to the right cause. Be loyal. Be faithful. Be true. Be Humble The Lord has said, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:10). . . . I believe the meek and the humble are those who are teachable. They are willing to learn. They are willing to listen to the whisperings of the still, small voice for guidance in their lives. They place the wisdom of the Lord above their own wisdom. Be Prayerful You need His help, and you know that you need His help. You cannot do it alone. You will come to realize that and recognize that more and more as the years pass. So live that in good conscience you can speak with the Lord. Get on your knees and thank Him for His goodness to you and express to Him the righteous desires of your hearts. The miracle of it all is that He hears. He responds. He answers— not always as we might wish He would answer, but there is no question in my mind that He answers. (“A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth,” Ensign, January 2001, pages 2–11.) One way to remember the 6 B's is by this saying: God Sent Christ To Help People G = Grateful S = Smart C = Clean T = True H = Humble P = Prayerful

Why play stupid games? If you know the name - if you have a point - say it, make it. Hello guys, Sorry I didn’t respond earlier – the notification about your replies didn’t come in time. Ok. First of all, I’m female :) Maureen, Jesus said, “And how be it my church save it be called in my name? for if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel. ” The organization of the church was designated by revelation as “The Church of Jesus Christ,” to which the phrase “of Latter-day Saints” was added later. It was the church of Jesus Christ restored to earth in “the latter day,” and it was so designated. Again, the name of church revealed: “for thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, scattered abroad in all the world.” (D&C 115:4) As for you, Snow, I don’t know what people wrote this list and when wrote. I just read this story somewhere and reposted it for discussion. “In an epistle addressed to the church at Corinth, Paul expounded the principles of the resurrection, whereby the bodies of the dead are to be bought forth from the graves – Christ the firstfruits, and afterward they that are Christ’s – and as proof that this doctrine of the resurrection was included in the Gospel as they had received it, the apostle asks: “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?” (1 Cor. 15:29) These words are unambiguous, and the fact that they are presented without explanation or comment argues that the principle of baptism for the dead was understood among the people to whom the letter was addressed.” James Talmage. Second, follow Peter’s account of what Christ preached to those spirits who had been disobedient: For for this case was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (1 Peter 4:6) So what did Jesus preach? He had but one message: his gospel of faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Isn’t this plain? The gospel was preached to them, and they are to be “judged according to men in the flesh.” How can this be? How can a spirit be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins? This can only be done by proxy – by the living for the dead. When the gospel is accepted by the departed spirits, their hearts turn to their children upon the earth, who have the privilege of being baptized for their kindred dead so the may go and, as Peter states, “live according to God in the spirit.” Baptism of the living for the dead is performed in temples of the Lord erected to his name and at his command in his dispensation. If you knew the Doctrine and Scriptures better, you wouldn’t refer that “The verses don't even promote baptism for the dead as good or true or worthwhile.” How do you think is it good or bad when spirits [who were disobedient on this earth or didn’t know about the true Gospel of Christ or even the name of Christ] have a chance to be baptized in God’s true Church? Through the baptism of the dead, for their complete acceptance of the gospel, they may be “judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” So baptisms for the dead are right then. Roman, The Primitive Church that Jesus Christ established upon the earth was called the Church Of Jesus Christ. The Church Before the Birth of Christ – let me explain, it’s a fact that the word “church” doesn’t appear in English version of The Old Testament. From the time of Moses to the coming of Christ the people lived under the jurisdiction of the Law, between which and the Gospel, as embodied in the Church established by Jesus Christ, there is important distinction. Among the Nephites, however, who were sequestered on the western continent, the Church did exist as on organized body prior to the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There has been floating around for some time a list of "Seventeen Points of the True Church" that was compiled by a group of people studying the Bible as students (or servicemen, or scientist), based on the church Jesus established as described in the New Testament. According to the story (of which there are conflicting versions), when these people broke up and went on about their lives (after college, after the war, whatever), each of them searched diligently among the various religions for the "true church" according to the list of points. Many years later, they all discovered that each of them had independently found... Guess! Yes, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Oh, isn't that a heart-warming testimonial? Here is the list. 17 Points of the True Church of Christ Christ organized the Church (Eph 4:11-14) The true church must bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 5:23) The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 2:19-20) The true church must have the same organization as Christ's Church (Eph 4:11-14) The true church must claim divine authority (Heb 5:4-10) The true church must have no paid ministry (1 Cor 9:16-18; Acts 20:33-34; John 10:11-13) The true church must baptise by immersion (Matt 3:13-16) The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17) The true church must practice divine healing (Mark 3:14-15) The true church must teach that God and Jesus are seperate and distinct individuals (John 17:11; 20:17) The true church must teach that God and Jesus have bodies of flesh and bone (Luke 23:36-39; Acts 1:9-11; Heb 1:1-3) The officers must be called by God (Heb 4:4; Ex 28:1; 40:13-16) The true church must claim revelation from God (Amos 3:7) The true church must be a missionary church (Matt 28:19-20) The true church must be a restored church (Acts 3:19-20) The true church must practice baptism for the dead (1Cor 15:16&29) "By their fruits ye shall know them." (Matt 7:20)

Thank you Captain Tux! Your post was actually something that they need to hear. But kay, guys, I quoted your negative criticism on the biggest LDS group on myspace. And here’s something that LDS youth think of it: “That bishops on crack. He's forgetting one common fact of life about how everything can be used for good or bad. Including T.V. and Radio. Those ought be wiped out from existence too. Those are the kind of bishops that i make sure i avoid those wards.” “this is a bunch of lies. you get out of myspace what you go in here for.” “...I dunno, I mean you could really argue that either way. I'm in no way for getting rid of myspace or think people need to stay away completly, but most of those listed points were pretty well made.” “yes, i guess somethings need to be reminded to people for safety reasons but to delete is a tad on the extreme side. and if you go and look for the bad it will be there. but its true in rl as much as it is on here.” “Your bishop seems to have gone over the edge with this one. Really if you want to seek out pornography, myspace isn't the best place on the internet to do that... I mean, he might as well say that you should get rid of the internet.” “Ya, I'm pretty much agreeing with everyone above me. If you go looking for porn, you're going to find it. It's not like that's some big secret or something.” “I am personally really tired of being put down because I have a myspace. I took every precaution that my aunt told me too. I did everything she asked and more but she's still not happy. I changed my age so that my profile is private and i took my school of it and my location isn't even on it anymore. She went as far as saying that if i din't give her my password then I couldn't get on it anymore in her house.” “If they think that MySpace should be gotten rid of, then so should the whole internet.” “Myspace isnt any more dangerous than the internet itself. It just depends on how you use it You can use it for good or you can use it for the bad. like this group here. Its the largest LDS group, and the 8th largest under groups:religon. And is this a bad group ? no. Shoot it helps. I get a lot of answered questions here. And it s one of my favorite groups., I haven’t heard my ward or stake say anything in particular on the subject matter. Anyway. I hope you are all speaking up on this because its ridiculous. And it leads to paranoid parents. I know i would if my mother was against it. Likely my mother doesnt care.” So....

How about this- Late at night when all the world is sleeping, i stay up and think of you, and i wish on a star that somewhere you are thinking of me too...

First of all, I didn’t use bad language, haven’t ever used bad language and won’t ever use it. All I did is that I just reposted here the letter from my friend, LDS also, so if he used some bad words, forgive him please. Don’t blame it, it’s a quote! But my personal opinion is the same as this. Why do you all blame myspace? Do you know that there are many LDS groups, who send many spiritual thoughts, quotations and words of LDS Church leaders every day? Everything depends on person. You always can protect yourself from pornography that is probably exists on myspace. There are some special commands that allow you to block users. You can choose some options, such as accepting friend requests only from people who know your email address, last name or something. Also, profiles of children before 16 are blocked from everyone; actually you can view their profile only if you send them a friend request. There are LDS forums on myspace where the youth and adult discuss different topics. So please, don’t blame myspace! There are many LDS singers who also send bulletins against pornography, drugs, alcohol and so on. Here are some links of LDS spiritual groups: www.myspace.com/ldsaroundtheworld www.myspace.com/mormonloversworldwide For Young Women and Men, my fav one: www.myspace.com/lds_teens For LDS musicians: www.myspace.com/apeculiarlife www.myspace.com/mormonringtones There are just a few profiles/groups. But what I want to say that you don’t even know how your children hang out. Many missionaries with who I talked about said that actually most of girls don’t keep all the commandment, they break em. They make out, kissing, hugging and you don’t know it all. Pure mormons grow only in families where parents really pay attention on them, discuss spiritual subjects with them. As for me, I tired to see fake mormons who say they are LDS, but break all the commandments. And one more thing, what’s a problem? The problem is in spiritually unstable people. If person have a testimony, nothing will break it. Does your spirit is SO weak as you blame myspace for everything that it has? Remember, there are many sites that are identical to myspace, and there are many more morons than in myspace – such as www.xanga.com , or www.livejournal.com , etc. Remember that if myspace will be erased from its existence, more new sites will be opened. What will you do then? Blame yourself for weak testimony or something. Be the yourBESTself, and anything bad won’t happen with you. HE TRUST ME YOU READY FOR ME YOUR WORDS ARE SO SWEET BUT SAVIOR I HAVE FALLEN FAR MY FRIENDS HAVE LEFT SO MANY THINGS I'VE LOST I DREAD THE DAY I STAND BEFORE THE BAR I KNOW YOU ARE HERE NOT ONE DAY DO I DOUBT BUT LORD I HAVE LOST MY WAY AND NO ONE ELSE BELIEVES IN ME IM SURROUNDED BY NIGHT CEASED IS THE DAY MY CHILD I LOVE YOU AND THE THINGS YOU'VE DONE ARE NOT THE BEST CHOICES YOU COULD HAVE MADE BUT STRECH OUT YOUR HAND AND PUT IT IN MINE YOU AND I WILL STAND BEFORE THE BAR AS ONE WE'LL WORK ON SOME THINGS AND OF COURSE FOR YOUR WRONGS YOU HAVE TO PAY BUT I STAND BY YOUR SIDE AS LONG AS YOU TRY YESTER TOMMORROW AND TODAY I LOVE YOU MY CHILD DONT GIVE UP REMEMBER I BLED FROM EVERY PORE EVEN WHEN YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY ANIMALS WILD REMEMBER I STAND AND KNOCK AT THE FRONT DOOR [by R A C H A E L W A L K E R]

Baptism by immersion by someone with authority is necessary for the baptism to be correct. Not only in the Jewish religion. Jesus Christ taught that we must be baptized by immersion. Even though He was free of sin Christ set the example by being baptized: "And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:15-17) Jesus revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that one must be baptized by a person having the proper priesthood authority: "Shall go down into the water with the person who has presented himself or herself for baptism. … Then shall he immerse him or her in the water, and come forth again out of the water." (D&C 20:73-74) Being immersed in water and coming back up again is a symbol of death and resurrection, as the Apostle Paul taught: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." (Romans 6:3-5) (See 3 Nephi 11:21-27 on how to perform a baptism.) And Abraham was the first man on the earth who baptized by immersion. First man from the Old Testament. Also, don’t forget – Isaiah was a prophet of God, so that mention of baptism should have been in original Isaiah. And actually it was there, but it got lost. In the Book of Mormon we can see the original text. It was quoted as they already had the revelations of Isaiah. Nephi didn’t add it by himself. One more thing – Joseph Smith wasn’t NATURALLY intelligent, his family was very poor and he went to school a little, so they couldn’t give any education. Joseph grew helping his parents and working. He wasn’t even good in grammar or something. He became intelligent when God started to teach him all the things. Also, he translated the BOM with God’s power and help as he was a prophet. It took 65 days. But do you know that the BOM was translated to the all world’s languages. So to translate it on Russian language took 5 years. Compare.

Anybody happen to catch Nightline the other night on ABC? In case you didn't, one of the hot topics discussed was MySpace. It is no secret to anyone who reads the newspaper or watches the 6 o'clock news that MySpace has been in the limelight because of "sexual predators" trying to "abduct and corrupt" the youth of the world. To this I say bull****! I see dozens of profiles a day showing 14 year old girls dressed like sluts, wearing four inches of make up and 32 layers of eyeliner, displaying their age as 18 years old and profile lines stating "Oh, I'm So Sexy" or "Hey There, Wanna Check Up On It?" Come on! The youth of today's world are already corrupt enough due to the undying need to be "older" than they really are. I seriously doubt there are tons of people on MySpace stalking "innocent young girls" who just happen to have tramped up profiles and ages 4 years greater than their own. On Nightline, there was a story of a 12 year old girl who was a drug-addict and attributed it all to MySpace. She claims that MySPace allowed her to easily fing drug dealers in her area, as well as older men to have sex with her. Now, at the age of 14, she has been checked into a drug-rehabilitation clinic and has been away from her family for 5 months. Her parents would rather place the blame squarely on the shoulders of MySpace instead of their daughter, who even admitted that at the age of 12, had already tried weed, crack, X, and had slept with numerous guys older than herself...but of course, it wasn't her fault, it was all because of MySpace. Once again, COME ON! When are parents and children going to stop passing the blame and grow up enough to take responsibility for their actions and the actions of their children.. Parents, monitor your children online, take some responsibility for YOUR children. Children, if a profile name sounds like something that comes out of a cheap horror movie, like "DARK ANGEL OF DEATH WHO EATS THE BRAINS OF GIRLS"...chances are you DO NOT WANT TO ADD THEM AS A FRIEND. Apparently there is new legislation in Congress now to block MySpace in all public schools and public libraries across the United States. All because little girls want to act grown and don't want to accept the consequences and parents don't want to accept the fact that their "innocent little girls" are posing as 18 year old crack whores trying to buy drugs. Eventually, if this continues, MySpace could be totally outlawed from the Internet. Restrictions will be put in place in order to make MySpace "safer". I don't know about you, but I use myspace to keep in touch with my family and friends, use it for messages, and just to have a space that is my own. Just because some children want to act grown, does that mean I may have to eventually give up my MySpace?

Thank you :) Okay, I’m writing a spiritual book now. All I can say that it would be really difficult to write such a book as BOM. It’s possible to write spiritual and uplifting book, detective story or just fiction and poetry, and it will be a work of art. It’s just impossible to write a scripture by oneself. I know it 100%. Also, the truthfulness of BOM was proved be scholars. It happened that people on the Temple Square were sharing testimonies about BOM, and also there were scholars who proved its truthfulness. But one woman said that she doesn’t care anything about those logical and intellectual proofs. All she needs is her OWN testimony about this book, and she said as she already got that testimony by Lord’s Spirit testifying her about its truthfulness, she’s sure this Book is true. Why should we know logical proofs if we actually didn’t read the whole BOM, didn’t pray and didn’t get the answer to our prayer? It’s kinda useless. But I will go back to Isaiah. I will quote BOM and Bible. Some of important Isaiah’s revelations were written in 1 Nephi 20-21. As we can see from 1 Nephi 19:8-14, God commanded Nephi to include the most clear and precious parts that will be lost from Bible: “And after I had made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates; and that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord.” Now let me show something. Isaiah 48:1 : (King James Bible Version) “Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.” 1 Nephi 20:1 (BOM) : “Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, OR OUT OF THE WATERS OF BAPTISM, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness.” Pay attention, “OR OUT OF THE WATERS OF BAPTISM” – it’s actually the quotation about the baptism from the Old Testament, but it was lost in modern variant of Bible or something. I think it’s a great example. Also, there were written of the Advent of Messiah, gathering of Israel, etc. in Isaiah 49 or 1 Nephi 21. But from version of Isaiah’s teachings from BOM we can find out that this message was concerned such Israelites as Lehi’s family, who were cut like branches of tree from the main trunk of Israel and were dispersed everywhere, and that the reason of it is sins of their leaders in Jerusalem.

Now I will try to answer only a few problematic questions, quoting both mine and yours comments. Quote: [8. They must include in the history the gospel of Jesus Christ and the model of Christian life as it applies both in ancient and modern times. If Joseph Smith was versed in the KJV of the Bible, he could have grafted this element into the story.] The explanation: From the title page, we learn that in the BOM we have to deal with the histories of two nations, who flourished in America as the descendants of small colonies brought hither from the eastern continent as the Nephites and the Jaredites. The last Nephite representative was Moroni, who, wandering for safety from place to place, daily expecting death from the victorious Lamanites, wrote the concluding parts of the Book of Mormon, and hit the record in Cumorah, what is now the State of New York. It was the same Moroni who, as a resurrected being, gave the records into the hands of Joseph Smith in the present dispensation. All the stories from Bible and BOM have absolutely different story line, “The Book Of Mormon is a divinely inspired record, made by the prophets of the ancient peoples who inhabited the American continent for centuries before and after time of Christ, which record has been translated in the present generation through the gift of God and by His special appointment. The authorized and inspired translator of these sacred scriptures, though whose instrumentality they have been given to the world in modern language, is Joseph Smith.” Christian life of all the nations was different. Did you read the BOM? Not only Christian, but even life style was different. It’s like to compare Britain and Africa. Also: “Of the approximately 264 thousand words in the Book of Mormon, about 17 thousand are close parallels to the King James translation of the Bible. Most parallel verses occurred when Nephi quoted the Isaiah of the Old Testament using records on brass plates brought from Jerusalem. Other parallels occurred when the resurrected Savior repeated his Sermon on the Mount to the Nephites and then quoted Malachi at length. In both cases, we are told in the text that these are quotations of scriptures that had been recorded elsewhere. Joseph Smith left no record of how he translated the plates beyond saying that it was done by the power of God. LDS scholars generally agree that in instances where the Book of Mormon parallels the Bible, Joseph Smith must have noted the parallels and used the King James Bible to guide him in his choice of words. If the Book of Mormon agreed with the Biblical text in meaning, he apparently utilized the Biblical text, italicized words and all. However, when the plates differed from the Biblical text, he followed the text on the plates. For example, of 433 verses of Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon, 46 percent are identical to those in the Bible, while 54 percent are modified to some extent. These different verses have been of great use to LDS scholars. Several Hebrew literary structures are found only in a degraded form in the King James Bible, while those literary structures are complete and intact in the Book of Mormon. This shows that the brass plates version found in the Book of Mormon was a different, older Isaiah text. A slightly more difficult problem is posed by Book of Mormon similarities with Biblical scriptures which were not in existence when Lehi left Jerusalem. For instance, Moroni 7:45, 46 parallels 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (Paul's discussion on charity) so closely that some explanation is called for. Mormon, Moroni's father, lived after Christ and knew Christ's teachings. Since the ultimate source of Paul's teachings was also Christ, it should not be surprising to find both Mormon and Paul teaching the same thing. The fact that both wrote on charity indicates the importance of this gospel concept. If Mormon delivered a sermon on charity, it could logically contain much of the same material as Paul's teachings on the same subject. However, one would not expect identical, word-for-word renderings of the two writings, and indeed they are not totally identical. Two significant clauses found in I Corinthians are absent from Mormon's sermon, and Mormon's definition of charity is absent from Paul's writings. Nonetheless, several phrases are identical. These identical phrases are understood the same way as the Isaiah passages by Latter-day Saints: Joseph Smith recognized Mormon's teachings as similar to Paul's and likely used the biblical text where it agreed in meaning with the plates. Where the meanings differed, he followed the plates. Since the ultimate source of the teachings of the Book of Mormon is Christ, and since the ultimate source of the teachings of the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is also Christ, it should surprise no one that there are many parallels between Book of Mormon and Bible passages. While one cannot conclusively prove that Joseph Smith used a King James Bible as an aid in translating the parallel passages, that explanation is reasonable.“ Quote: “9. Once they begin this 1,000 year book of history and doctrine, they must finish it within eighty days. The copy dictated to the scribe will be the final draft, with no revisions or updates necessary. 10. They would have to announce that the writings are not fiction, but are truth. They would claim these are sacred writings of history. 11. When they have finished writing the text they may not make any changes in the text. I've heard tales of writers occasionally drafting whole novels over a weekend. Of course, then you have Ayn Rand taking over 10 years to write Atlas Shrugged. As for changes, haven't there been quite a number of revisions since the first edition?” The explanation: Question: If the LDS Church really believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God and, as Joseph Smith said, "the most perfect of any book on earth," why have there been more than 4,000 changes in it? Answer: As is evident from his statement, he was referring to the book's precept--the doctrines it contains which bring a man to God. First of all, anti-Mormon detractors often misquote Joseph Smith, and they have done so on this statement. Joseph Smith never said it was a perfect book. What he said, in a meeting with the Twelve on November 28, 1841, is recorded in History of the Church, Vol.4, p. 461, as follows. "I told the brethern that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." Joseph's statement does not mean correct as far as spelling, grammar, or punctuation, but correct as to its historical origin and doctrinal precepts. Anti-Mormon criticisms of changes in the Book of Mormon have their roots in Evangelical beliefs pertaining to what they regard as the "inerrancy of the Bible." Yet to sustain their belief in the Bible's inerrancy, in the light of the many thousands of changes and variations which exist in the numerous manuscripts and translations, they typically hedge their definitions of inerrancy with numerous limitations such as the following summarized from The Moody Handbook of Theology, pp. 166-70: 1.inerrancy is limited to the original manuscripts, 2.inerrancy allows for variety in style, 3.inerrancy allows for variety in details in explaining the same event, 4.inerrancy does not demand verbatim reporting of events, 5.inerrancy allows for departure from standard forms of grammar, 6.inerrancy allows for problem passages, and 7.inerrancy demands the account does not teach error or contradiction. The anti-Mormon detractors who criticize the changes made in the Book of Mormon are seeking to impose a different standard on the Mormon scripture than they claim for the Bible. If the criteria listed above are applied to the Book of Mormon, then their criticism is completely lacking in merit and is valueless. While it is true that there have been several thousand of changes made in the Book of Mormon since its first printing, the vast majority have been punctuation, spelling and minor grammatical corrections. However, there have been other changes in addition to these. As Joseph Smith made the translation from the plates, Oliver Cowdery, as well as other scribes, wrote down Joseph Smith's words as they heard them. Some errors occurred there, such as the substitution of the word "straight" for "strait." The first manuscript written by the scribes was called "the original manuscript." Oliver Cowdery, in preparation for printing, hand copied the original manuscript to make a printer's copy, which was delivered several pages at a time to the printing firm of E. B. Grandin. In the copying, Oliver made additional errors . The following statement by John H. Gilbert, the typesetter who worked for Grandin, sheds considerable light on the need for later changes. From his account (which was written on September 8, 1892, when he was 93 years old), we learn that he was twenty-seven in August, 1829 when the seven-month project of typesetting and printing the Book of Mormon was begun. From his memorandum it is apparent that he definitely was not a highly skilled grammarian. He wrote: In the forepart of June 1829, Mr. E. B. Grandin, the printer of the "Wayne Sentinel," came to me and said he wanted I should assist him in estimating the cost of printing 5000 copies of a book that Martin Harris wanted to get printed, which he called the "Mormon Bible." It was the second application of Harris to Grandin to do the job,--Harris assuring Grandin that the book would be printed in Rochester if he declined the job again. Harris proposed to have Grandin do the job, if he would, as it would be quite expensive to keep a man in Rochester during the printing of the book, who would have to visit Palmyra two or three times a week for manuscript, &c. Mr. Grandin consented to do the job if his terms were accepted. A few pages of the manuscript were submitted as a specimen of the whole, and it was said there would be about 500 pages. The size of the page was agreed upon, and an estimate of the number of ems in a page, which would be 1000, and that a page of manuscript would make more than a page of printed mailer, which proved to be correct. The contract was to print and bind with leather, 5000 copies for $3,000. Mr. Grandin got a new font of Small Pica, on which the body of the work was printed. When the printer was ready to commence work, Harris was notified, and Hyrum Smith brought the first installment of manuscript, of 24 pages, closely written on common foolscap paper--he had it under his vest, and vest and coat closely buttoned over it. At night Smith came and got the manuscript, and with the same precaution carried it away. The next morning with the same watchfulness, he brought it again, and at night took it away. This was kept up for several days. The title page was first set up, and after proof was read and corrected, several copies were printed for Harris and his friends. On the second day--Harris and Smith being in the office--I called their attention to a grammatical error, and asked whether I should correct it? Harris consulted with Smith a short time, and turned to me and said: "The Old Testament is ungrammatical, set it as it is written." After working a few days, I said to Smith on his handing me the manuscript in the morning; "Mr. Smith, if you would leave this manuscript with me, I would take it home with me at night and read and punctuate it." His reply was, "We are commanded not to leave it." A few mornings after this, when Smith handed me this manuscript, he said to me:--"If you will give me your word that this manuscript shall be returned to us when you get through with it, I will leave it with you." I assured Smith that it should be returned all right when I got through with it. For two or three nights I took it home with me and read it, and punctuated it with a lead pencil. (This will account for the punctuation marks in pencil, which is referred to in the Mormon Report, an extract from which will be found below). Martin Harris, Hyrum Smith and Oliver Cowdery were very frequent visitors to the office during the printing of the Mormon Bible. The manuscript was supposed to be in the handwriting of Cowdery. Every Chapter, if I remember correctly, was one solid paragraph, without a punctuation mark, from beginning to end. Names of persons and places were generally capitalized, but sentences had no end. The character or short &, was used almost invariably where the word and, occurred, except at the end of a chapter. I punctuated it to make it read as I supposed the Author intended, and but very little punctuation was altered in proof-reading. The Bible was printed 16 pages at a time, so that one sheet of paper made two copies of 16 pages each, requiring 2500 sheets of paper for each form of 16 pages. There were 37 forms of 16 pages each,~570 pages in all. The work was commenced in August 1829, and finished in March 1830,--seven months. Mr. J. H. Bortles and myself done the press work until December taking nearly three days to each form, Cowdery held and looked over the manuscript when most of the proofs were read. Martin Harris once or twice, and Hyrum Smith once, Grandin supposing these men could read their own writing as well, if not better, than any one else; and if there are any discrepancies between the Palmyra edition and the manuscript these men should be held responsible. Joseph Smith, Jr. had nothing to do whatever with the printing or furnishing copy for the printers, being but once in the office during the printing of the Bible, and then not over 15 or 20 minutes. (Wilford C. Wood, Joseph Smith Begins His Work, Vol. 1, pp.30- 31 [unnumbered]). It is obvious that the first edition of the Book of Mormon was punctuated and then typeset (by hand, one letter at a time) by a young, relatively unskilled worker and was proofread by completely inexperienced proofreaders. As he reviewed the printed First Edition, the Prophet Joseph Smith made more than a thousand alterations before the second edition was printed in 1837. These included typographical, spelling, and grammatical corrections as well as the addition of some minor clarifications. As late as 15 January 1842 (less than two years before his martyrdom), Joseph Smith was still making corrections. The first European edition published in 1841 used the 1837 edition as its basis, thereby perpetuating errors that had already been corrected in the 1840 American edition. Three major editions have been published since, under the direction of either the President of the Church or the First Presidency. President John Taylor asked Orson Pratt to prepare the 1879 edition, which included such changes as redividing the chapters and adding verse numbers. President Heber J. Grant called Elder James E. Talmage of the Twelve to prepare the 1920 edition which included double-column pages and many grammatical improvements. All these are no doubt counted as part of the 4,000 changes. The Scriptures Publication Committee, working under the direction of the First Presidency, prepared the 1981 edition. Some recurring problems were finally settled in that edition. For example, the printer's manuscript referring to the converted Lamanites read "white and delightsome," although the 1840 edition prepared under the direction of Joseph Smith read "pure and delightsome." The publication committee had white permanently changed to pure, as Joseph Smith intended it to be. The changes in the book present little problem to most Latter-day Saints. Even the most ardent anti-Mormons have cited only about a dozen changes as having any doctrinal and historical significance. A close examination shows that even they are not significant. The Book of Mormon was written by prophets, abridged by a prophet, translated by a prophet, and changes were made under the further direction of a prophet. It was the word of God before the changes were made and it is the word of God after the changes have been made. The changes in the Book of Mormon are actually few compared to the number of changes made in today's English Bibles. The late William Barclay, perhaps one of the best known of British Bible expositors, records the following facts: In the Greek manuscript of the New Testament, there are 150,000 places in which there are variant readings. Of these 150,000, fewer than 400 affect the sense, fewer than 50 are of any importance (William Barclay, Introducing the Bible, p.134). Barclay also cites a 19th century committee of the American Bible Society which examined six different editions of the Authorized Version (King James) and found nearly 24,000 differences! (ibid, p.134) If the 4,000 minor changes in the Book of Mormon make it without value, what do the 24,000 differences in the Bible do to its worth? Some detractors would probably be aghast if they read about the number of changes to the Bible. Do detractors feel differently about their conviction that the Bible is the word of God because of these changes? We would think not. About changes in the title of BOM: Someone acquainted with the story of the Book of Mormon might assume that the name "Mormon" simply refers to the man who compiled the book. However, although Mormon acknowledges that "my father's name was Mormon" (Mormon 1:5), he tells us in 3 Nephi 5:12 that he was not named after his father; rather he was named after the land in which the restoration of Christ's covenant and church took place: And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among this people: Yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression. (3 Nephi 5:12) [And] if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance. (3 Nephi 21:22) So perhaps it is coincidence, perhaps not, that the title of the Book of Mormon was changed in 1986 to read, "The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ." If we focus on the idea that the name Mormon was associated with a restored covenant, and if the word "testament" means a covenant witness, then we might read the title according to Mormon's own definition as "The Book of the Restored Covenant, Another Covenant Witness of Jesus Christ." When this meaning is understood, the Book of Mormon can better be viewed in its rightful place alongside two other published witnesses of Christ's covenant with his children: The Old Testament (the "Old Covenant") and The New Testament (the "New Covenant"). [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes2] Let me quote BOM. In Mormon 7:8-9 he says: “Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you. For behold, this [THE BOOK OF MORMON] is written for the intent that ye may believe that [THE BIBLE]; and if ye believe that [THE BIBLE] ye will believe this [THE BOOK OF MORMON] also; and if ye believe this [THE BOOK OF MORMON] ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them” Mormon provides the key of using modern-day scriptures to teach the meaning of troublesome biblical pages. First find the answer in modern-day scripture. Then read Bible and see what difference it makes. For example, one of most misunderstood but vital doctrines is the nature of God. Indeed, the Savior said it is “life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). The problem arises when we testify that God has a tangible body, because John 4:24 says that “God is a Spirit.” So it takes some study, but your search is rewarded as you discover Doctrine and Covenants 130:22, which says in part: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.” That is the true doctrine. So John 4:24 states in full, “God is a Spirit; and they that worship him is spirit and in truth.” Does the fact that God has a body prevent him from also having a spirit? Of course not. A thorough search reveals that “man is a spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy” (D&C 93:33). Our spirits communicate with God’s spirit: we do not have to rely solely on our physical eyes and ears. Man certainly does not have to lay aside his body so that his spirit can communicate with God. Likewise, God’s ability to communicate with man’s spirit does not require that he not have a body. Physically, God can only be in one place at one time, so it would be restrictive if he were limited to a physical means of communication. The Savior, in teaching the woman at the well in Samaria, said, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship” (John 4:22). If we wanted to continue our explanation from the Bible using our understanding gained from Doctrine and Covenants 130, we could use Luke 24:36-39 to show the resurrected Christ had a body of flesh and bone that he invited the disciples to handle. Also, in Hebrews 1:1-3, Paul informs us that the Son is in the “express image” of the Father – meaning that he does not vary in any way. Together these scriptures clearly confirm what God has chosen to reveal about himself through modern-day prophets. This example was based on Bible and D&C, but it’s also true about the BOM.