Posted by Trixie on July 06, 1998 at 17:17:36:
In Reply to: Joseph Smith - Boy Genius posted by SWN on July 06, 1998 at 00:29:18:
Joseph Smith described his translation technique by saying it was like "pure intelligence flowing into him"... ideas coming to him rapidly, in other words. Well, that describes how I write, too. I don't plan before hand what I'm going to say, I just start and go... the ideas seem to form in front of my eyes, almost as if the writing itself brings them to light, to life. This is not supernatural by any means... it simply is a form of literary talent. Now, whether or not what comes OUT of the pen is truly stellar is another point, of course. IMO, Joseph was gifted in expression - oral, and later, in writing. However, he relied largely on other sources for his primary ideas. Most of his stories seem to be simply slightly different versions of Bible stories... you know, cutting off a prophet's head to please a seductress, that type of "borrowing" and slight alteration. He also seemed to borrow freely from his own family's rich story telling tradition - for example, Lehi's dream of the tree is exactly like the dream Joseph Sr. had and related to his family many times. And, don't forget the large chunks of the BoM which are simply quoting the Book of Isaiah wholesale. IMO, the church deliberately underplays Joseph's native intelligence and learning in its effort to make his work appear supernatural.
Don't you find it interesting that, in the first printing of the BoM, Joseph signed himself as "author", not translator? And why is there NO archeological evidence supporting, at the very least, the historical background of the BoM story????