The United Bible Society’s Greek New Testament; the Book of Mormon and BYU’s Prof. Stephen E. Robinson
In the religious academic world, college and university degrees (especially on the advance master and doctoral levels) are usually given to show that the candidate has achieved some level of scholarship and objectivity. One such individual is Stephen E. Robinson, a Mormon scholar and apologist and head of the department of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University.
Robinson earned his PhD under James H. Charlesworth at Duke University (now of Princeton), and worked with Charlesworth on the Syriac text and translation of the Odes of Solomon. Thus, Professor Robinson was the scholar I thought could answer a textual question on the Book of Mormon (see below).
Some Back Ground Information:
For twenty years (1981 - 2001) I attended the Greenville First Ward LDS Church as a non-member while I studied the social and religious organizational structure of the Mormons and what happened to newly proselytized converts as they were taught this new “religious truth” .
Towards the end of my two decades with the First Ward, I had a acquired a leather bound “Scripture” (a term LDS members collectively call the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants) heavily highlighted and notarized. Plus, I have lost tract of the number of times I had met with Mormon Elders / Missionaries in discussions and in friendly debates.
What most non-Mormons fail to understand when discussing theology with LDS members is that their doctrinal authority is built on an ascending level of authority. Here is the level they accept from the lest authoritative to the most:
The Old Testament is on the bottom and is subject to the New Testament which is subject to the Book of Mormon which is subject to the Pearl of Great Price which is subject to the Doctrines and Covenants which is subject to the General Authorities of the Church who themselves are subject to the living Prophet / President of the Church. This is one reason why a Protestant or non-believer who tries to debate Mormon elders using the Bible only method will find themselves up against a wall. In other words, what we have here is a process of religious dogmatic evolution from the lowest doctrinal forms (the Old Testament) to the highest level; the living Prophet of the LDS Church.
Secondly, I learned from a former professor of religion at Brigham Young University that Mormons are simply not interested in the historical Joseph Smith, but only the Joseph Smith as understood and presented by the writings of their Church. In other words, the LSD Church controls the image of a mythical Joseph Smith over a historical Joseph Smith to support their faith. This is one reason why LDS Mormons are warned about reading historical books on the Prophet Joseph Smith or as one LDS Apostle once stated about non-Mormons: “They lie in wait to deceive!” To counter this attack, Mormons are read only publications printed LDS approved publishers.
Moreover, since Jesus Christ has now restored the true Church under Joseph Smith, all other churches are viewed as false and even considered under the direct leadership of Satan himself.
Fact is, since there are still five remaining Book of Mormon churches left (out of the 15 sects that were struggling for the right to be the true and original restored “Church” at the death of Joseph Smith), the LDS Mormons (the name of the largest 15 million plus group Utah sect) tried unsuccessfully to get exclusive use of the term “Mormon” as a registered Trade Mark in the U.S. Patten office to keep its use away from other Book of Mormon sects . So, even if one believes that Joseph Smith is a true prophet who restored "The True Church", and one believes the Book of Mormon was translated from the Golden Plates, these individual Book of Mormon sects will attack and evangelized one another as fast as they will proselytize people who do not believe in the Book of Mormon.
In the Mormon Church, all men and most women (usually between high school and college age) are expected to complete a two year mission in either a distant state or country of which fifty percent is financed by the family of the mission elder and the other half is paid for by the LDS Church. For those youths who have never gone on a mission (especially the men), they are continually made to feel like a Protestant Christian who believes in Christ, but like a believer who had never been baptized.
Since I had done two lectures and slide presentations on the early life and times of Joseph Smith (Translating and Revealing the Word of God: Joseph Smith and the Formation of the Mormon Church and a detailed lecture on the five belief systems of the remaining “Book of Mormon Churches”) I could spent a dozen posts and still not relate all the details even most LDS Mormons themselves don’t know.
Mormons strongly believe that not only did Joseph Smith restored the "True Church of Jesus Christ", but since the Bible was not “translated correctly” it was corrupted by the false Christian churches. In this light, the Book of Mormon is the considered the most accurate translation of any book.
Thus, the topic of my post:
Fact: In the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ comes to America to teach the Lost Tribes of Israel (3 Nephi). In 3 Nephi 13: 9 -13 Jesus is in America and teaching the Nephites the same Lord’s Prayer. One reading this account will notice that this version of the Lord’s Prayer is the same prayer as in Matthew 6: 9-13 of the King James Bible.
Problem: If, as Joseph Smith claimed, the Book of Mormon is the uncorrupted and pure text / translation “translated” from the Golden Plates, then we should have a textual witness independent of the textual problems and corruptions of the standard Greek texts that make up the Textus Receptus (the bases for the 1611 King James Bible / New Testament) a received Greek text which has as been labeled by Bruce Metzger has one with “blatant errors” (A Textual Commentary; p.10).
In the United Bibles Society’s Greek New Testament (as well as the Nestle Aland Greek New Testament), the earliest witnesses confirm this prayer ends with the phase “but deliver us from evil.” and that the King James inclusion of the longer ending “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” is a redaction composed from I Chronicles 29: 11 - 13 “in order to adapt the Prayer for liturgical use in the early church.” (A Textual Commentary; p. 14). The certain criteria that the original text ended with “evil” was given an “A” rating by the U.B.S.G.N.T. 4ed. Textual Committee.
When I point this out to the mission elders of the LDS Church, neither they nor their state mission president had an answer to the problem. However, they assured me that the Book of Mormon was not wrong, nor was it at this point simply Smith copying the Lord’s Prayer from the King James Bible.
The Elders told me that the scholars at the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies at Brigham Young University were the textual scholars who could answer my question.
Since this was a New Testament Greek textual question / problem, I decided to contact Professor Stephen Edward Robinson, PhD a Mormon scholar and apologist who is head of the department of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. And since both Robinson and I were members of the Society of Biblical Literature, I could use the Society’s Member Handbook to get his office phone number.
I called Robinson’s faculty number at BYU only to get a recording at which time I left my name, pone number and that I had a Book of Mormon question requesting him to kindly return my phone call. After a week and two unanswered requests for Professor Robinson to return my calls, I told the Elders that I was not having any luck with the Dept. of Ancient Scripture a BYU.
One of the Elders told me that he could get the home phone number of Dr. Robinson (an unlisted number), but he wanted me to assure him he would remain anonymous (which I agreed to).
That night about 7:00 pm Utah time, I called Prof. Robinson’s home and got his wife. I told her that I had a textual question on the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi and would like to ask Dr. Robinson about it. Mrs. Robinson said he was not in at the time, but “may come in latter“. About and hour later I called again and got their five year old daughter (as listed in the faculty description). She told me she was alone and that both mommy and daddy were not there. As she paused for some time to give me more information, I could tell she was being coached as to what to say. I told her I hoped her mom and dad would return soon as she was too young to stay at home alone. In about forty-five minutes I called back and got Mrs. Robinson on the phone again. When I asked her if Prof. Robinson was there, she angrily stated he was not home and that “he is never coming home as for as you are concerned!” and hung up.
While I’m sure most all LDS Mormons strongly believe the Book of Mormon is true and correct just as Joseph Smith claimed it to be (a true and perfect translation of what both the Lost Tribes of Israel and Jesus Christ said and did), the facts speak for themselves when a Temple Mormon family must lie to run from the truth (as the Robinsons did), the world and claims created by the Prophet and Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Satins can clearly be seen as a concocted “Made in America Religion” invented to give people in the early nineteenth century Burned Over District in up state New York a new direction in the confused world of the Bible and freedom of religion in the United States.
Robinson earned his PhD under James H. Charlesworth at Duke University (now of Princeton), and worked with Charlesworth on the Syriac text and translation of the Odes of Solomon. Thus, Professor Robinson was the scholar I thought could answer a textual question on the Book of Mormon (see below).
Some Back Ground Information:
For twenty years (1981 - 2001) I attended the Greenville First Ward LDS Church as a non-member while I studied the social and religious organizational structure of the Mormons and what happened to newly proselytized converts as they were taught this new “religious truth” .
Towards the end of my two decades with the First Ward, I had a acquired a leather bound “Scripture” (a term LDS members collectively call the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants) heavily highlighted and notarized. Plus, I have lost tract of the number of times I had met with Mormon Elders / Missionaries in discussions and in friendly debates.
What most non-Mormons fail to understand when discussing theology with LDS members is that their doctrinal authority is built on an ascending level of authority. Here is the level they accept from the lest authoritative to the most:
The Old Testament is on the bottom and is subject to the New Testament which is subject to the Book of Mormon which is subject to the Pearl of Great Price which is subject to the Doctrines and Covenants which is subject to the General Authorities of the Church who themselves are subject to the living Prophet / President of the Church. This is one reason why a Protestant or non-believer who tries to debate Mormon elders using the Bible only method will find themselves up against a wall. In other words, what we have here is a process of religious dogmatic evolution from the lowest doctrinal forms (the Old Testament) to the highest level; the living Prophet of the LDS Church.
Secondly, I learned from a former professor of religion at Brigham Young University that Mormons are simply not interested in the historical Joseph Smith, but only the Joseph Smith as understood and presented by the writings of their Church. In other words, the LSD Church controls the image of a mythical Joseph Smith over a historical Joseph Smith to support their faith. This is one reason why LDS Mormons are warned about reading historical books on the Prophet Joseph Smith or as one LDS Apostle once stated about non-Mormons: “They lie in wait to deceive!” To counter this attack, Mormons are read only publications printed LDS approved publishers.
Moreover, since Jesus Christ has now restored the true Church under Joseph Smith, all other churches are viewed as false and even considered under the direct leadership of Satan himself.
Fact is, since there are still five remaining Book of Mormon churches left (out of the 15 sects that were struggling for the right to be the true and original restored “Church” at the death of Joseph Smith), the LDS Mormons (the name of the largest 15 million plus group Utah sect) tried unsuccessfully to get exclusive use of the term “Mormon” as a registered Trade Mark in the U.S. Patten office to keep its use away from other Book of Mormon sects . So, even if one believes that Joseph Smith is a true prophet who restored "The True Church", and one believes the Book of Mormon was translated from the Golden Plates, these individual Book of Mormon sects will attack and evangelized one another as fast as they will proselytize people who do not believe in the Book of Mormon.
In the Mormon Church, all men and most women (usually between high school and college age) are expected to complete a two year mission in either a distant state or country of which fifty percent is financed by the family of the mission elder and the other half is paid for by the LDS Church. For those youths who have never gone on a mission (especially the men), they are continually made to feel like a Protestant Christian who believes in Christ, but like a believer who had never been baptized.
Since I had done two lectures and slide presentations on the early life and times of Joseph Smith (Translating and Revealing the Word of God: Joseph Smith and the Formation of the Mormon Church and a detailed lecture on the five belief systems of the remaining “Book of Mormon Churches”) I could spent a dozen posts and still not relate all the details even most LDS Mormons themselves don’t know.
Mormons strongly believe that not only did Joseph Smith restored the "True Church of Jesus Christ", but since the Bible was not “translated correctly” it was corrupted by the false Christian churches. In this light, the Book of Mormon is the considered the most accurate translation of any book.
Thus, the topic of my post:
Fact: In the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ comes to America to teach the Lost Tribes of Israel (3 Nephi). In 3 Nephi 13: 9 -13 Jesus is in America and teaching the Nephites the same Lord’s Prayer. One reading this account will notice that this version of the Lord’s Prayer is the same prayer as in Matthew 6: 9-13 of the King James Bible.
Problem: If, as Joseph Smith claimed, the Book of Mormon is the uncorrupted and pure text / translation “translated” from the Golden Plates, then we should have a textual witness independent of the textual problems and corruptions of the standard Greek texts that make up the Textus Receptus (the bases for the 1611 King James Bible / New Testament) a received Greek text which has as been labeled by Bruce Metzger has one with “blatant errors” (A Textual Commentary; p.10).
In the United Bibles Society’s Greek New Testament (as well as the Nestle Aland Greek New Testament), the earliest witnesses confirm this prayer ends with the phase “but deliver us from evil.” and that the King James inclusion of the longer ending “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” is a redaction composed from I Chronicles 29: 11 - 13 “in order to adapt the Prayer for liturgical use in the early church.” (A Textual Commentary; p. 14). The certain criteria that the original text ended with “evil” was given an “A” rating by the U.B.S.G.N.T. 4ed. Textual Committee.
When I point this out to the mission elders of the LDS Church, neither they nor their state mission president had an answer to the problem. However, they assured me that the Book of Mormon was not wrong, nor was it at this point simply Smith copying the Lord’s Prayer from the King James Bible.
The Elders told me that the scholars at the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies at Brigham Young University were the textual scholars who could answer my question.
Since this was a New Testament Greek textual question / problem, I decided to contact Professor Stephen Edward Robinson, PhD a Mormon scholar and apologist who is head of the department of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University. And since both Robinson and I were members of the Society of Biblical Literature, I could use the Society’s Member Handbook to get his office phone number.
I called Robinson’s faculty number at BYU only to get a recording at which time I left my name, pone number and that I had a Book of Mormon question requesting him to kindly return my phone call. After a week and two unanswered requests for Professor Robinson to return my calls, I told the Elders that I was not having any luck with the Dept. of Ancient Scripture a BYU.
One of the Elders told me that he could get the home phone number of Dr. Robinson (an unlisted number), but he wanted me to assure him he would remain anonymous (which I agreed to).
That night about 7:00 pm Utah time, I called Prof. Robinson’s home and got his wife. I told her that I had a textual question on the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi and would like to ask Dr. Robinson about it. Mrs. Robinson said he was not in at the time, but “may come in latter“. About and hour later I called again and got their five year old daughter (as listed in the faculty description). She told me she was alone and that both mommy and daddy were not there. As she paused for some time to give me more information, I could tell she was being coached as to what to say. I told her I hoped her mom and dad would return soon as she was too young to stay at home alone. In about forty-five minutes I called back and got Mrs. Robinson on the phone again. When I asked her if Prof. Robinson was there, she angrily stated he was not home and that “he is never coming home as for as you are concerned!” and hung up.
While I’m sure most all LDS Mormons strongly believe the Book of Mormon is true and correct just as Joseph Smith claimed it to be (a true and perfect translation of what both the Lost Tribes of Israel and Jesus Christ said and did), the facts speak for themselves when a Temple Mormon family must lie to run from the truth (as the Robinsons did), the world and claims created by the Prophet and Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Satins can clearly be seen as a concocted “Made in America Religion” invented to give people in the early nineteenth century Burned Over District in up state New York a new direction in the confused world of the Bible and freedom of religion in the United States.
1 comments:
Thanks for posting this. I am an ex mormon and my friends will enjoy it.
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