1. Caveat: This presentation is a work in progress by Douglas Earl, who is nothing more than a person who reads the information in this field of research and either copies or extrapolates the information to reach the conclusions listed in these presentations. They are subject to change and correction almost weekly and may or may not be correct. They certainly are not totally correct and are not the thinking of any recognized LDS Church leader nor do they represent the position of the LDS Church. They only represent some of the thinking that is out there at this time and is currently being discussed. These presentations can be copied, changed and used so long as this caveat is understood and included.

2. Joseph SMITH the Prophet of the Restoration D & C 124:1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, I am well pleased with your offering and acknowledgments, which you have made; for unto this end have I raised you up , that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth.

4. Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration Emma Said: “Joseph at that time of his life could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well worded letter; let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon” “He had neither manuscript nor book to read from” “If he had had anything of that kind he could not have concealed it from me.” “ I am satisfied that no one could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired; for, when acting as his scribe, your father would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him. This was a usual thing for him to do. It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this; and, for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.”

5. On April 5, 1829 Oliver Cowdery became the scribe of Joseph Smith in the translation of the Book of Mormon The translation of the Book of Mormon began again, probably with the Book of Mosiah, April 7, 1829 and about 75 days later the entire translation was completed. This Book was essentially written, start to finish, in 75 days.

11. What Is a Chiasmus? And Why Was this form used, especially in Hebrew writings? (or Jewish writings, written in Egyptian?)

34. MORMON ABRIDGED THE BOOK 65% of the Book of Mormon was his actual writing. Was Mormon a “dot your I’s and cross your t’s” scholar or was he a general?

35. The Typos & Corrections in the Writing of the Book of Mormon Give Us a Major Witness The word “rather” is used 32 times in the Book of Mormon Several of these uses reflect Webster’s definition of rather as a word that means “more correctly speaking.” What happens if you are writing the Book of Mormon on the gold plates and you make a mistake? If Mormon engraved an incorrect character on a sheet of gold, he had no way of deleting that character and inserting the correct one. His potential problem of correcting errors was compounded because he engraved on both sides of the sheet of gold.

36. What if we look through the Book of Book for instances where corrections were made? The following passages were written by Mormon during the abridgement process: Mosiah 7:8 And it came to pass when they had been in prison two days they were again brought before the king, and their bands were loosed; and they stood before the king, and were permitted , or rather commanded , that they should answer the questions which he should ask them. Alma 2:34 And thus he cleared the ground , or rather the bank , which was on the West... Alma 36:14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children , or rather led them away unto destruction... (he hadn’t actually killed them) Alma 50:32 Now behold, the people who were in the land Bountiful , or rather Moroni , feared that they would hearken to the words of Morianton...(here they changed the whole thought in mid sentence) Alma 54:5 Behold, Ammoron, I have written unto you somewhat concerning this war which ye have waged against my people , or rather which thy brother hath waged against them, and which ye are still determined to carry on after his death. These are just some of the examples of the use of rather to clear up an obvious error by the writer.

37. Mormon corrected his word choice errors in the following scriptures with the simple use of the word “ or ” as a way of introducing a correction and then finishing the sentence. Mosiah 1:10 Alma 43:16 Mosiah 2:31 Helaman 4:22 Alma 43:18 Mosiah 7:1 Alma 44:23 Alma 19:19 Mosiah 7:18 Alma 45:13 Mosiah 11:18 Helaman 11:24 Alma 46:10 Mosiah 18:17 Alma 47:2 3 Nephi 1:29 Mosiah 22:6 Alma 49:3 Mosiah 25:2 3 Nephi 3:14 Alma 49:9 Mosiah 29:41 Alma 49:13 3 Nephi 7:1 Alma 4:19 Alma 52:25 Alma 6:3 3 Nephi 12:1 Alma 53:3 Alma 9:1 Alma 54:3 3 Nephi 28:37 Alma 10:14 Alma 54:6 Alma 11:1 Mormon 2:1 Alma 56:13-14 Alma 11:46 Alma 57:8 Alma 35:15 Alma 12:1 Alma 58:9 Alma 12:31 Alma 34:13 Alma 58:20 Alma 14:11 Alma 59:3 Alma 24:19 Alma 16:16 Alma 61:8 Alma 17:22 Alma 23:6 Alma 63:15 Alma 17:29 Helaman 2:13-14 Alma 22:19 Alma 18:37 Helaman 3:33 Alma 19:14 Alma 21:20

38. Here is an example, which just happens to be my favorite typo in the Book of Mormon “ And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace , or they buried their weapons of war, for peace .” Alma 24:19 Clearly Mormon realized his error in speaking of “weapons of peace” when he should have used the wording “weapons of war,” which he correctly uses in many other places in the Book of Mormon.

39. So What? What was Joseph Smith to do? Oliver Cowdery dutifully recorded all the words of Joseph, including these facetious “whoopsies.” They could have been corrected by Joseph Smith, or Oliver Cowdery. These mistakes are evidence of: (1) the divine nature of the record itself, (2) the fact that it had multiple authors and (3) that Joseph Smith was a prophet translator.

40. Why? The only place the “whoopsies” occur is in the writings of MORMON !!! They are not found among the books of the small plates of Nephi, which Mormon did not abridge. They are not found among the writings of Moroni, or any of the other 23 contributors to the Book of Mormon. The “whoopsies” represent a distinctive element in the writing style of Mormon—but of none of the other writers associated with the Book of Mormon including Joseph Smith. Ted D. Stoddard

41. Bronze Plates from 14 October 109 A.D. The plates are an official military diploma granting citizenship and retirement benefits to a Roman soldier, Marcus Herennius Polymita, and his family. Finally, Joseph Smith and Metal Plates 5” x 7” (Book of Mormon 6 “ x 8”)

42. This is a picture of the box that Hyrum built to keep the golden plates in for Joseph 6”x6”x8”

43. Gold Plates These gold sheets date back to the late 6th century BC and the inscriptions are the oldest historical source from pre-Roman Italy. Two of the gold sheets are in the Etruscan language, while the third is in Phoenician.

44. hese gold sheets date back to the late 6th century BC and the inscriptions are the oldest historical source from pre-Roman Italy. Two of the gold sheets are in the Etruscan language, while the third is in Phoenician. The content of the longest of the Etruscan inscriptions (37 words) is the same as that for the Phoenician one, though the translation is not literal. It is an important document for the understanding of the Etruscan language. The inscription on the two sheets is a dedication of a sacred place to the Phoenician goddess, Astarte, associated with the Etruscan Uni by Thefarie Velianas, King of Caere according to the Phoenician inscription. This last inscription also bears the purpose for the dedication: to give thanks for the help received by the donor three years before, on the occasion of his ascent to power. In the shorter of the two Etruscan inscriptions, the same character is mentioned for some rituals which had taken place in the same sacred area. This sacred place has been identified with the oldest (B) of the sanctuary s temples; on one side of the temple, in the small sacred precinct (C), the gold sheets were found in 1964, carefully folded with the nails used to put them up in the temple. The Phoenician dedication by the King of Caere bears historical evidence through a contemporary document, of the deep alliance between the Etruscans and the Carthaginians in the period of the great expansion of Carthage in the Mediterranean Sea. From this same period is the first Roman-Carthaginian treaty, which Polybius reported and dated to 509 BC. King of Caere bears historical evidence through a contemporary document, of the deep alliance between the Etruscans and the Carthaginians in the period of the great expansion of Carthage in the Mediterranean Sea. From this same period is the first Roman-Carthaginian treaty, which Polybius reported and dated to 509 BC.

45. Gold Plaque of Darius 600 BC