| Show BOOK OF MORMON FACTS BY 8 S W RICHARDS it la Is claimed that facto are stubborn things those which relate to co the coming coining forth of the book of mormon sire are not only of that class but are also marvelously interesting relating as they do to the past present and future of the human race some of these facts have been and others are still being disclosed which are desti destined nied to revolutionize lut ionize both the faith and condition of our race my purpose in this article is to notice some facts which certainly have claim upon the faith of the christian world and to urge those claims upon their attention A little mure more than half a century ago an honest farmers boy made the startling announcement that be baj bad been visited by an augel angel of light who made known to him where there was concealed hid in the earth records ofa of a large portion of the race of man who had lived upon this and other lands he find them this communication to him was wag afoot a truthful diso disclosure losure made ty by a truthful and trusty messenger this farmers boy now a believer in spiritual manifestations accompanied the angel who led liim to the spot and showed to him the plates containing this long lost record which was the history of a great and wonderful people and of gods dealings with them for they were believers in god and in his son jesus christ these plates having the appearance of gold were actually obtained by the now prophet joseph and a cry was heard throughout the land proclaiming the tidings of the find as joe smiths smith 18 golden bible the fact that joseph attached divine interference and ministration and message aroused the indignation scorn acorn and contempt of the universal christian Cb ristian world they had so long cherished and lived in tradition the of their fathers that there was to be no more revelation no more prophets no more interruption of their cherished faith that the idea of another sacred record coming to light was scouted as most preposterous an innovation not to be tolerated joseph hal had however the plates in his possession the record engraved upon them was written in characters of which he had no knowledge he was uneducated in any other than his own simple EDg english and how bow was he be to make known to the world their contents this question might have given him some anxiety at first while it gave occasion to the scoffer to laugh and mock at his pretensions but this deficiency in the youths ability abili ito meet the emergency bad been provided for long before interpreters had been provided and hid with the plates which were to be the mans of revealing their sacred contents this fact can only be considered as unmistakable evidence that the wisdom of god was displayed in this marvelous foresight of providing for all that might be required I 1 in n the bringing forth f his work in the far off generations to come these interpreters int called arim and Thum mim l were instruments instrument a of light they had been touched by the finger of god and dedicated for and to that special purpose of translating the records with which they were deposited by y that faithful and efficient recorder moroni the same personage who came and revealed their hiding place to ta joseph provided with all that wits was necessary for his bis task in the midst of doubting friends and scoffing enemies he ie employed a clerk to write for him and engaged in the work of translay ion tion which could only be accomplished by unshaken faith in god this the angel moroni assured him he must have lave to be able to use the interpreters and be successful in bis work true to their trust as the needle to the he pole when he traced those unknown known characters with the interpreters be could read in disown bis own language word by word the wonders it revealed still more wonderful and evidence of more than human device when a word appeared in the interpret interpreters it would remain there until correctly written by the scribe and then pass pan away thus it was as impossible for the scribe to commit an error in his record as the interpreters in the translation the translator and the scribe then and all the world now have these facts before them as evidences that the book of mormon has corae come to the children of men by the gistand gift gif and tand power of god 11 Is a sacred and divine record brou brought ht to light for divine purposes with ad god and angels as authors of the work not a word in that translation appears there without the approval of god and angels endorsed by the action of the and Thum mim which demanded that every word should be as correctly written as by the power of god it was correctly translated from those ancient characters engraved upon the plates which we were e by the angel delivered to joseph and to whom they were returned after the translation was made thus far I 1 have only told of what relates to the coming forth of the book of ef mormon nothing of the importance or interest of its contents asked as I 1 often have been when asserting these facts what amur ance I 1 have of the truth of them my answer has been and is that I 1 have been personally acquainted with the men who performed this work of translating and writing the book of mormon I 1 have seen beard and lived with them and know that they were men of truth and veracity with the scribe oliver I 1 have it lived ved in I 1 the same house have eaten drank and slept with him and sat mat and listened many an hour to his bis eloquent and soul inspiring tales of their familiarity with the angels who ministered to them oft times as the work of translation progressed how as their faith increased while fervently engaged in the work committed to them they were administered to by those who held the keys and authority of god in former dispensations how as they learned by the translation that it was necessary for all men to be baptized for the remission of their sins and they had strong desires to be of that number job john n the baptist as forerunner of gods authority holding the keys of outward ordinances came anu and laid his hands bands upon them and ordained oida ined them to the same ministry and calling by virtue of which they must go down into the water find and were each baptized as aa the same john baptized jesus to in jordan more than 1800 years ago how that peter james and john apostles ot of the lord jesus christ who were with him in his ministry when on earth and to whom he committed the keys and authority to build up his kingdom and administer in spiritual things came anti and laid their hands upon joseph and oliver and author iced them to administer in like blessings to the children of men with authority to build up a like kingdom of righteousness among men in this day of mens need and gods power conviction seized upon my sou soul lasin as in transport g ort of delight I 1 witnessed the same hands ands that wrote the book of mormon trace with pen and ink testimonies that can never be obliterated of these holy ministrations and the messages of salvation brought to earth from heaven that these mm men bad seen and heard both the father and the son anti and were living lining witnesses of the fact that he who was put to death by wicked hands does live and is in the savior and redeemer of men and having seen and heard these things I 1 do most assuredly bear testimony of them that I 1 may share with them there the glory of the future as I 1 have here the unspeakable joys of the present with these evidences and testimonies test monies before us which only relate to the manner of 01 the coming forth of the book say nothing of the purity of the doc trines brines it inculcates I 1 am free to say and most confidently assert there is not another book on earth known to the christian world that is entitled er titled to the same faith worthy of the same confidence and so purely the word of gud god as the book of mormon every word of it has been written as it has come to us by the gift and power of god by his hie direct divine interposition aud and for a holy purpose this declaration these facts should be enough to awaken an interest in every mind to learn what are its con tents and what relation it sustains to the present and future welfare of mankind or any portion off fiem ro po read carefully its pages would be a direct way to satisfy that interest hut but as many have not dot access to it and many chodo who do care jess about it th than ansome some who do not I 1 shall briefly refer to some of its marvelous predictions and some of its historical revelations which are solving problems of scientific and geological controversy the many interesting incidents attending the coming forth and translation of this sacred and historical record as aa related by these men in my hearing would fill AT volume but they are not all pertinent to the object of this com mu ni cation which is to awaken a more lively interest in these things among the youth of zion who must bear not only the responsibilities of ministry but should possess the knowledge requisite to meet intelligently those antiquarian developments which have been and are continually coming to light to the astonishment of all who are ignorant of the contents of that book it is a key to the many mysteries of this land from the day that jared and his brother with their families landed upon the shores from the tower of babel or from the days when our father adam offered sacrifice for himself and his bis children when it was the garden of the whole earth a land upon which mighty nations have lived and died leaving behind them imperishable monuments of their day and race their faith and civilization which have been reserved for the admiration of their children of whom it was long since decreed they should come to a knowledge of their fa father the discovery of ruined cities wonderful for their architectural grandeur and durability in central america mexico and to the land north war warl the artificial mounds throughout the land which have been found to be the burial places of a race that has perished without our knowledge the hundred mound eaves caves in the centre of our laud land which was the centre of their civilization and where lie embalmed embalm ed thousands of human skeletons of campara corn para lively giant size and away in the far north where sacred altars still remain so perfect and so superior to our present knowledge of the craft of masonry as to ascribe the work to a prehistoric past with hieroglyphics and chiseled crescents and tres which proclaim them the remains of a great people who must have communed with gods of high art and enjoyed a civilization equal if not superior to our own all these and much more are no mystery to the careful student of the book of mormon that record not only links the past to the present but penetrates the future with all the certainty of prophetic instinct that divine inspiration gives to man nor are these material evidences alone corroborative of the bouk inspiration and prophecy blend their voices in harmony demanding its coming i forth as it has the redeeming pledge pleda e of sacred promise it is an event that can be recognized as the fulfillment of david davidis Is prophecy truth shall spring out of the earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven psalm 85 11 4 A righteous angel revealed the hiding place of truth in the earth and that which had long been hid came forth to the anier understanding of men enoch in his days uttered a like prophecy and declared that the truth should come forth out of the earth and it should bear testimony of the only begotten son of god jesus said he had bad other sheep that were not of the jewish fold and they shall hear bear ray my voice john 10 18 16 after his resurrection and ascension he visited the Nephi teb on this land as recorded by them in the book of mormon organized his church and gave them the law of his gospel many other prophets have also spoken to the effect that the richer blessings were in store for the seed of joseph through the loins of ephraim of whom the Nep hites clafred to be literal descendants ants god promised the Jared ites that their language should not be confounded that he would lead them to a lana land choice above all others and that no nation should be greater than that of their seed we may therefore reasonably expect as grand developments from the land of the Jared ites as from the land of the pharaohs Phara but notwithstanding all the evidences of sacred and other belief has hag dominion over the he minds minde of men until many bible truths are as openly discarded by professed christians as a are those of the book of mormon when we come to examine the contents of the book we fl find nd it to be an abridgement abridge ment of the records keut kept by the people eople who were the descendants deacan jants of nephi who with his family arid and kindred left jerusalem and came to this land about six hundred years before christ and also an abridgement abridge ment of the records of the people of if jared who were scattered at the time the lord confounded the language of the people when they were building a tower to get to heaven the records also furnish an abridged history of that part of the race called Lama who dissented from the faith and practice of their fathers were cursed by a darkness of skin and are now known as the american indians indiana fur for historical information of a large portion of the human family there is no other book on record that can compare with it it accounts for the many wonderful discoveries which characterize and make famous the american continent demonstrating the highest degree of civilization and culture in the arts and sciences as developed in ruined cities temples and mummified skeletons of the dead daod the book of mormon is the most ancient anti and reliable history of Ana america erica that is now dow extant it treats of the peoples and their character who lived and prospered exceedingly in the land for many hundreds of years so long as they observed the precepts and lived in the faith jesus christ who ministered to them in person atter after his resurrection taught them the plan of salvation and organized his church ru with prophets and apostles as he had done among the jews at jerusalem per for sacred history and doctrinal di disquisition there is nothing to compare with it in all the realm of literature no learned theologian has ever been able to so simplify with impressive language the virtue nd power of those eternal el elements emerts which we call faith hope and charity that give character to a christian christians a life as we find them delineated in this god given inspired book the necessity and virtue of the atonement of jesus christ clorist was never but feebly emphasized until written in the simple earnest and comprehensive language of alma mosiah and others of the book of mormon prophets no pen has so eloquently and con impressed the truth and glory of the doctrine of the resurrection as a cardinal point the culmination of the Christi christians anlo hopes as has been done by numbered of its inspired prophetic writers it challenges the literature of the world for its c equal in earnest simplicity its power of conviction and lasting impress which takes hold of and aad fastens to the careful and honest reader he feels the inspiration of divinity that subdues the carnal and sensual of humanly humanity and clev elevates atea him to an appreciation of the unselfish purity or of those thosa who wrote ay command of god and under his special supervision joseph the translator after many years of careful study of the work said aid that the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth and that a man MAD would so go nearer dearer to god by abiding by its precepts than by any other book these testimonies should be sufficient to induce a perusal of the work if only for historical information and a |
