Book of Mormon

[Anonymous No.23099635]

I decided to read the desert quadrilogy, I have read the entire Bible and now I am more than halfway through this thing. I wonder how it is possible that people believe in this, I understand the belief in the Christian message, but at first glance it is clear that it is fanfic and not holy scripture. The plot of the story is a plagiarism of stories from the Old Testament with the revelation of the teaching not even of the gospel but of the beliefs of Christians of the time of Joseph Smith on the continent. The character of Lehi is based on Abraham. Already in the first book of Nephi we have a quote from the New Testament in a book that supposedly describes events 600 years before Christ. When they reach the American continent, something similar to the book of kings and the chronicles of the Bible begins, then the figures of judges appear as in the Old Testament. When I'm done, I'll start reading Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, whoever read it, what awaits me is the same as in the Book of Mormon?

[Anonymous No.23099642]

https://youtu.be/fpL8Lwq2O9g

[Anonymous No.23099669]

>>23099642
Are you a mormon?

[Sage No.23099702]

>>23099635
sub100IQ take
Not believable. NEXT!

[Anonymous No.23099843]

>>23099635
>The plot of the story is a plagiarism of stories from the Old Testament
I don't really get this. Nephi struggles with but ultimately proceeds with cutting Laban's head. Korihor teaches atheism and goes mute. Samuel the Lamanite stands on a wall teaching and the arrows miss him. Ammon cuts all the thieves' arms off while doing missionary work. Which stories are specifically being plagiarized here?
>When I'm done, I'll start reading Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, whoever read it, what awaits me is the same as in the Book of Mormon?
You probably won't like the Pearl of Great Price if you don't like the Book of Mormon. However, the Doctrine and Covenants could be a different story since it's mostly direct modern-day revelations usually specific to people. It requires contextualization for you to get the most out of it though. But at its best (like D&C 88 or 93 or 121) it gets pretty metaphysical and cosmological and eschatological and so forth and that can appeal to some people, like even if you read it as fiction. Or you might think it sucks because you see it as fiction. Up to you to decide.
>with the revelation of the teaching not even of the gospel but of the beliefs of Christians of the time of Joseph Smith on the continent
Frankly this is actually a nice aspect and it's inaccurate to say it's only what Christians of the time said, since it's more so commenting on it (if you are going to look at it that way). Some of this stuff goes well beyond it though. Alma 32's analysis of how faith works is not given the right attention, even from Mormons who quote it so much. That's just like how almost all the Christians fail to understand 1 John 3 or Romans 6-8 or Revelation 3:21.

[Anonymous No.23099955]

>>23099843
>I don't really get this. Nephi struggles with but ultimately proceeds with cutting Laban's head. Korihor teaches atheism and goes mute. Samuel the Lamanite stands on a wall teaching and the arrows miss him. Ammon cuts all the thieves' arms off while doing missionary work. Which stories are specifically being plagiarized here?
As I said, Lehi resembles Abraham. I don't remember the names because there were a lot of them, but many of the characters were inspired by the Old Testament. You are right, these stories are not plagiarism, but it is clear that they were written by someone who knew the old testament, knew the teachings of Christians and wrote something of his own. My theory is that the whole idea came from Isaiah, where he writes that God will gather his people from the islands (the supposed American continent), and this is often repeated. This is an interestingly written fanfic, but anyone familiar with the Bible can see that it is not an ancient text.
>You probably won't like the Pearl of Great Price if you don't like the Book of Mormon. However, the Doctrine and Covenants could be a different story since it's mostly direct modern-day revelations usually specific to people. It requires contextualization for you to get the most out of it though. But at its best (like D&C 88 or 93 or 121) it gets pretty metaphysical and cosmological and eschatological and so forth and that can appeal to some people, like even if you read it as fiction. Or you might think it sucks because you see it as fiction. Up to you to decide.
It's not that I don't like the Mormon book, I just have a hard time believing that 16 million people take it seriously. I will definitely like D&C, Mormon cosmology is what interests me the most.

[Anonymous No.23100190]

>>23099635
I like the part where it says that the brass plates had some of the words of Jeremiah, a prophet supposedly alive during the time of Lehi's departure from Jerusalem.

[Anonymous No.23100725]

>>23099843
>Which stories are specifically being plagiarized here?
It's plagiarized from random other stuff.
https://read.cesletter.org/bom/#view-of-the-hebrews

[Anonymous No.23101281]

>>23099635
>I wonder how it is possible that people believe in this
The power of groupthink, social inertia, confirmation bias, and sunk cost is powerful indeed. Mormons don't just get the Book of Mormon in a vacuum and read it cover to cover and decide to go door to door because of the amazing things they just read or whatever (though a lot of them will claim to have done so after the fact), they're fed it along with spoonfuls of affirmations that it IS the word of God, that it IS more correct than any other book, that Smith WAS a prophet, and so on from birth, and as soon as they can talk they are expected to bear their own testimonies of how true "The Church" and the BoM are in front of their congregations, with all the obvious social pressure that implies. They're told to "hold to the iron rod" and "doubt their doubts" and to pray for a "witness" that the BoM is true, which they are expected to receive as a vague warm fuzzy feeling that is said to be a metaphysical confirmation from God himself that whatever you happen to be thinking at the time is one hundred percent Truth. They attend early morning scripture study as teenagers and memorize whole passages of the BoM verbatim, make dietary and behavioral choices which set them at odds with normalfags, and are encouraged at every turn to be proud of this difference, to associate the rightful skepticism people express for the fundamental claims of Mormonism with "persecution" of the tar-and-feathering sort. In early adulthood they undergo "sacred" (read: confidential) rites in private Mormon temples in which they receive "signs and tokens" (Freemason-derived secret handshakes, also symbolically represent vows to violently commit suicide if one reveals what they are shown) and are given secret new names and garments to wear every moment of the rest of their lives as a further means of separating themselves from unbelievers. They are heavily encouraged to go on a "mission" at the age of 18, during which they will go door-to-door trying to preach their gospel to the whole world while living a heavily regimented lifestyle in which very little personal time is allowed, and this will convince about one in three that the world really IS full of anti-Mormon persecution and said persecution is evidence that Mormonism really IS true and tie themselves hand and foot to the church for the rest of their lives. They often have generations of family members who have all done these things and might be serious enough about them to cut off contact, disown, or write out of the will anyone who breaks with Mormonism (not that that's the most common attitude, but it's prevalent enough to deserve a mention).
All of this stuff over a lifetime makes it fairly easy to "believe" in the Book of Mormon even if objectively it's obvious Bible fanfiction. Some people are recipients of almost 200 years of this stuff over generations; the mental weight of it all can be immense.

[Anonymous No.23101283]

>>23099635
>quadrilogy
How like the Mormons to mix Greek and Latin roots. Clueless fucking retards.

[Anonymous No.23101450]

>>23099635
You must understand, the stuff you point out is exactly what makes it credible to a gullible believer. It teaches exactly what modern Christians believe? Well that tracks, because that stuff is true and also taught in the Bible, so they think. Similar plot elements? God causes certain types to repeat themselves throughout history, just like within the Bible. Quoting the New Testament before it was written? Shows they were inspired by the same God. The similarities to the Bible are what make it feel like scripture, same reason it apes the King James Bible stylistically instead of being written in contemporary English.