Rewriting D&C 28, 30, 32

Saints: The Standard of Truth (Volume 1), rewrites D&C 28 to accommodate M2C, as we see in this excerpt from page 98. 

The revelation then called Oliver to go nearly a thousand miles to the western edge of the United States to preach the restored gospel to American Indians, who were remnants of the house of Israel. The Lord said that the city of Zion would be built near these people, echoing the Book of Mormon’s promise that God would establish the New Jerusalem on the American continent prior to the Second Coming of Christ. He did not identify the city’s exact location, but He promised to reveal that information at a later time.20

Here's what the actual revelation says:

D&C 28:8 And now, behold, I say unto you that you shall go unto the Lamanites and preach my gospel unto them; and inasmuch as they receive thy teachings thou shalt cause my church to be established among them; and thou shalt have revelations, but write them not by way of commandment.


9 And now, behold, I say unto you that it is not revealed, and no man knoweth where the city Zion shall be built, but it shall be given hereafter. Behold, I say unto you that it shall be on the borders by the Lamanites.

Notice the difference?

The term "Indians" is not found in any of the scriptures, but Saints creates a false historical narrative by telling us Oliver was called to preach to "American Indians" instead of what the scriptures say: "Lamanites."

This is a deliberate change of wording from the scriptures. Note 20 mentions the change from the original to the publication.

20. Knight, Autobiography, 145–47; Doctrine and Covenants 28 (Revelation, Sept. 1830–B, at josephsmithpapers.org); Covenant of Oliver Cowdery and Others, Oct. 17, 1830, in JSP, D1:204; see also Doctrine and Covenants 29 (Revelation, Sept. 1830–A, at josephsmithpapers.org); 3 Nephi 21:23–24; and Ether 13:3–10. The revelation said the place for the holy city would be “among the Lamanites” but was edited for publication to read “on the borders by the Lamanites.” (Book of Commandments 30:9, in JSP, R2:80.) Topics: American Indians; Zion/New Jerusalem; Gathering of Israel.

D&C 30 and 32 reiterate that Oliver and his companions were called to preach to the Lamanites.

D&C 30:5 Behold, I say unto you, Peter, that you shall take your journey with your brother Oliver; for the time has come that it is expedient in me that you shall open your mouth to declare my gospel; therefore, fear not, but give heed unto the words and advice of your brother, which he shall give you.

6 And be you afflicted in all his afflictions, ever lifting up your heart unto me in prayer and faith, for his and your deliverance; for I have given unto him power to build up my church among the Lamanites;

D&C 32:1 And now concerning my servant Parley P. Pratt, behold, I say unto him that as I live I will that he shall declare my gospel and learn of me, and be meek and lowly of heart.

2 And that which I have appointed unto him is that he shall ago with my servants, Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer, Jun., into the wilderness among the Lamanites.

Nevertheless, on page 105, Saints tells us Oliver was thinking about American Indians, not Lamanites.

As pleased as he was with their success in Ohio, though, Oliver knew the Lord had called them to preach to the American Indians who lived beyond the western border of the United States. 

Here again, Saints is creating a false historical narrative by changing the wording of the historical record to accommodate a modern theory of Book of Mormon geography.

This isn't the biggest problem with Saints, but it's another unforced error. I think we'd all be much better off if Saints had stuck with the language of the scriptures instead of creating a false historical narrative to accommodate M2C.


The end

Peep stone vs. Urim and Thummim in Saints

One of my favorite aspects of the Saints book, volume 1, is how it ignores the teachings of the prophets while emphasizing the teachings of others, especially the speculation of revisionist Church historians.

We're assured that Saints was reviewed by lots of people, but did anyone check the sources? Did anyone ask why the teachings of the prophets are so methodically censored or overridden by the rhetoric of revisionist Church historians?

The censorship of Cumorah was the most obvious example. The phony story of Moroni showing the plates to Mary Whitmer is an annoying piece of misinformation driven by M2C* that the historic sites missionaries tell everyone who comes. 

The treatment of the translation of the Book of Mormon is equally problematic.

We start off with this:

Moroni spoke of gold plates buried in a nearby hill. On the plates was etched the record of an ancient people who once lived in the Americas. The record told of their origins and gave an account of Jesus Christ visiting them and teaching the fullness of His gospel.8

Buried with the plates, Moroni said, were two seer stones, which Joseph later called the Urim and Thummim, or interpreters. The Lord had prepared these stones to help Joseph translate the record. The clear stones were fastened together and attached to a breastplate.9

8. Joseph Smith, Journal, Nov. 9–11, 1835, in JSP, J1:88.22

9. Joseph Smith—History 1:35; Joseph Smith History, 1838–56, volume A-1, 5, in JSP, H1:222 (draft 2); Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 4, in JSP, H1:14; Oliver Cowdery, “Letter IV,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Feb. 1835, 1:65–67; Turley, Jensen, and Ashurst-McGee, “Joseph the Seer,” 49–54; “Mormonism—No. II,” Tiffany’s Monthly, July 1859, 164. Topic: Seer Stones

Everything in bold is revisionist history, designed to accommodate modern theories, including M2C.

There are at least two sources that show Moroni himself calling the "nearby hill" Cumorah. Everyone alive during Joseph's lifetime knew this; it is only modern revisionist historians and their M2C colleagues who censor that important component of Church history.

The term "the Americas" appears nowhere in actual documents from early Church history. It's a term invented later to obscure what the actual documents say to accommodate M2C. Below we'll see what Moroni actually said.

The revisionist historians think W.W. Phelps first applied the term Urim and Thummim to the Nephite interpreters, for various reasons I've explained before.

Notice that footnote 9 cites Oliver Cowdery's Letter IV, but they don't actually use that source. Instead, Saints relates the theories of modern revisionist historians that would have been alien to Joseph, Oliver, and their contemporaries.
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If the editors of Saints wanted to create an authentic narrative present (meaning if they wanted to show what the historical figures actually thought), they would have presented the version of events that Oliver Cowdery described in 1835.

Everyone at the time accepted this account, including Joseph Smith who had it copied into his own journal as part of his life history. He later had it republished in every Church newspaper so all the members of the Church could know the actual history.

Here is Oliver's account, which Joseph assisted him to write. Notice how different it is from what Saints teaches:

He then proceeded and gave a general account of the promises made to the fathers, and also gave a history of the aborigenes of this country, and said they were literal descendants of Abraham. He represented them as once being an enlightned and intelligent people, possessing a correct knowledge of the gospel, and the plan of restoration and redemption. He said this history was written and deposited not far from that place, and that it was our brother’s privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/68

Here's how the above passage would read if it was an honest narrative present:

Moroni spoke of a history of the aborigines of this country that had been written and deposited not far from Joseph's home in a Hill that Moroni called Cumorah. The ancient people possessed a correct knowledge of the gospel. Buried with the plates, Moroni said, were the Urim and Thummim, which Joseph could use to translate the record if he was obedient to the commandments of the Lord.

You'll never read what Joseph and Oliver actually taught unless you seek out the original sources for yourself.
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We won't take the time to go through everything, but let's look at how Saints portrays the translation:

Saints, p. 61:  Meanwhile, Joseph and Oliver started translating. They worked well together, weeks on end, frequently with Emma in the same room going about her daily work.24 Sometimes Joseph translated by looking through the interpreters and reading in English the characters on the plates. Often he found a single seer stone to be more convenient. He would put the seer stone in his hat, place his face into the hat to block out the light, and peer at the stone. Light from the stone would shine in the darkness, revealing words that Joseph dictated as Oliver rapidly copied them down.25

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/ldsorg/media-library/ebook-pdf/Saints-v1-English-PD60001624.pdf?lang=eng 

24. Joseph Smith History, 1838–56, volume A-1, 15, in JSP, H1:284 (draft 2); Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–45, book 8, [4]; Joseph Smith III, “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” Saints’ Herald, Oct. 1, 1879, 290. Topic: Daily Life of First-Generation Latter-day Saints 

25. “Book of Mormon Translation,” Gospel Topics, topics.lds.org; Joseph Smith History, 1838–56, volume A-1, 15, in JSP, H1:284 (draft 2); Oliver Cowdery to William W. Phelps, Sept. 7, 1834, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:14; Joseph Smith III, “Last Testimony of Sister Emma,” Saints’ Herald, Oct. 1, 1879, 290; “Golden Bible,” Palmyra Freeman, Aug. 11, 1829, [2]. Topic: Book of Mormon Translation

This all sounds great until you look at the references and think a moment.

The paragraph relies primarily on "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," an account prepared by her son, Joseph Smith III, who was in an ongoing doctrinal battle with the Utah Church led by Brigham Young. I discussed the problems with Emma's "Last Testimony" here:

http://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2019/07/peep-stones-vs-urim-and-thummim-part-3.html

The section of Saints that I bolded above is a mishmash of accounts that contradicts everything Joseph and Oliver actually wrote. They consistently and persistently declared that Joseph translated the plates with the Urim and Thummim that accompanied the plates. The "convenient" seer stone idea came from Martin Harris many years later. The "shine in darkness" language comes from Alma, but Alma referred to directors, not interpreters (the language was changed in the 1920 LDS edition). 

Notice that instead of citing the many accounts from Joseph and Oliver, Saints focuses on dubious statements by others. Certainly Emma's 1879 "Last Testimony" was not part of the narrative present for Joseph and Oliver, who described the translation much differently. 

It continues to amaze me that a book that supposedly portrays a "narrative present" ignores the actual contemporaneous documents and instead creates a "narrative present" from documents created long after Joseph and Oliver were dead. 

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*According to David Whitmer, Joseph Smith, and Mary Whitmer herself, it was actually one of the Three Nephites who showed Mary the plates, but that means Cumorah is in New York, contrary to the false historical narrative present that Saints created to accommodate M2C.

https://saintsreview.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-mary-whitmer-problem.html