Ohhh I have a vague memory of this. I used to work at a Barnes and Noble, and was fortunate enough to be in charge of the "Religion, New Age, Social Studies, History" sections!!! Who had time to alphabetize with all that information at my fingertips!!
Anyone read Oahspe, A New Bible in the Words of Jehovih? What did you think
by truthseeker 14 Replies latest jw friends
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blueviceroy
Hey Merry M ,I got sacred texts on my favorites list !
I think you very nice person btw.
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Merry Magdalene
Thanks, blueviceroy! Likewise, I'm sure
Following is pretty much what my mother told me about the Book of Mormon (she studied Mormonism when she was young so that she could argue religion with her Mormon boyfriend):
Although the Mormon Church denies it, The Book of Mormon actually was plagiarized from an unpublished novel, i.e., a fictional work, titled Manuscript Found, written by a retired Congregational (Protestant) minister named Solomon Spalding, who died in 1816. Large parts are also plagiarized from the King James Version of the Bible. http://www.godonthe.net/evidence/mormon.htm
But apparently there are no known copies of Spaulding's "Manuscript Found." So it's a bit hard to prove. But the story my mother was familiar with, as I remember it, is told here: http://solomonspalding.com/Lib/hob1946a.htm
So I am curious about the claim that it was a product of automatic writing.
As to Oahspe, when I read the title of this thread, I was expecting to see a distillation of all the words in the Old Testament that were purported to have been spoken by YHWH, not a product 19th century automatic writing. But this has lead to a mildly interesting exploration of the phenomena within that time period, and the reminder that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a spiritualist (something I had forgotten).
~Merry
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Leolaia
Merry....Bear in mind that the question of literary dependence does not require a direct copying of material from another manuscript. Some people could memorize a great of written material (actors come to mind), and utilize it in a new composition from memory. This is certainly the case for some of the literary dependence in the NT, in which the OT was quoted in half-remembered paraphrase. Joseph Smith was not only dependent on Spaulding (which I do not question), but also on the KJV, which he certainly was very well versed with -- utilizing a great deal material (including lengthy passages from Isaiah) in the Book of Mormon. Automaticity is the mode of writing, and there is much evidence of how he wrote the book from witnesses with him at the time. And what they report is especially close to automatic writing of the time. The literary features of the book are also relevant. Anyway, I recommend the article....it is a good overview of the evidence.
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Merry Magdalene
Good point, Leo! Thanks.
~Merry