Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saint churches
The words in I Nephi x:8, "For there standeth one among you whom ye
know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe's latchet I am not
worthy to unloose" is a clear plagiarism from John i:26-27, which
reads: "But there standeth one among you, whom ye know not, He it is
who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am
not worthy to unloose."
The first part of Nephi x:8, is: "Yea, even he should go forth and cry
in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths
straight." This is quoted from Matthew iii:3. The reference of Elder
Roberts to Isaiah x:3, from which the thinks Nephi might have quoted,
instead of from Matthew, is irrelevant, because, while the two passages
are somewhat similar, the phraseology is different, and the careless
Nephi failed to help my opponent out of the difficulty, for he quotes
from Matthew and not from Isaiah, demonstrating what a smart fellow he
was by quoting from an author that hadn't been born!
So Elder Roberts' reference to the fact that the olive tree is used
figuratively by some of the Old Testament prophets is irrelevant,
because Nephi quotes Paul's exact phrases, and does not quote from
the prophets. Now, in reference to these quotations by Nephi from the
New Testament writers, Elder Roberts says: "The gentleman very much
overstates the difficulty he presents, by making it appear that the
alleged quotations are very numerous, when the fact is that the two of
three cases he cites virtually exhaust the alleged quoted passages so
far as the New Testament is concerned."
I am not a little surprised at such a statement, as Elder Roberts
rather prides himself on his knowledge of the Book Of Mormon, and in
his article, near the close of his discussion of the fifth point,
laments that he is obliged to carry on this discussion with an opponent
who does not seem to be much acquainted with the subject. Well, my
friend, I don't boast about my knowledge or superiority to other men;
I don't assume "to know it all." But I think I know enough about the
Book of Mormon to prevent me from making any such careless and utterly
inaccurate statements as the above, "that the two or three cases he
cites virtually exhaust the alleged quoted passages." Verily, I begin
to wonder whether my friend has ever read the books of Nephi through!
If he will now follow me for a little, perhaps he may learn something
new about them. Let us see whether "two or three passages exhaust the
quotations." In my former article I referred to five quotations from
the New Testament writers. Let us go on with the count:
6. In Nephi v:18, the expression, "all nations, kindreds, tongues and
people," is from Revelations xiv:6.
7. In Nephi x:17, the words, "by the power of the Holy Ghost," are from
Romans xv:13.
8. "For he is the same, yesterday, today and forever," in Nephi x:18,
is taken from Hebrews xiii:8.
9. The words, "caught away in the Spirit of the Lord," are from Acts
vii:39.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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