Curious workmanship

And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. (1 Nephi 16:10)

And it came to pass that they did worship the Lord, and did go forth with me; and we did work timbers of curious workmanship. (1 Nephi 18:1)

27 And they did make all manner of weapons of war. And they did work all manner of work of exceedingly curious workmanship. (Ether 10:27)

11 And behold, there was all manner of gold in both these lands, and of silver, and of precious ore of every kind; and there were also curious workmen, who did work all kinds of ore and did refine it; and thus they did become rich. (Helaman 6:11)

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 And it seems their religion and worship was exceeding pompous, tending much to please a vain carnal mind, that savors the things of men more than the things of God. King Ahaz was greatly taken with the curious fashion and workmanship of the altar he saw there, and he sent to Urijah the priest a pattern of it, that he might make one like it in the courts of God's house, and chose rather to offer his sacrifices on this new altar than on the altar of the Lord 

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gg. RELIGION.

'Tis most certain that God did not create the world for nothing. 'Tis most certain that if there were not intelligent beings in the world, all the world would be without any end at all. For senseless matter in whatever excellent order it is placed, would be useless if there were no intelligent beings at all, neither God nor others; for what would it be good for? So certainly, senseless matter would be altogether useless if there was no intelligent being but God, for God could neither receive good himself nor communicate good. What would this vast universe of matter, placed in such excellent order and governed by such excellent rules, be good for, if there was no intelligence that could know anything of it? Wherefore it necessarily follows that intelligent beings are the end of the creation, that their end must be to behold and admire the doings of God, and magnify him for them, and to contemplate his glories in them.

Wherefore religion must be the end of the creation, the great end, the very end. 

[Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God. (2 Nephi 2:12)]

If it were not for this, all those vast bodies we see ordered with so excellent skill, so according to the nicest rules of proportion, according to such laws of gravity and motion, would be all vanity, or good for nothing and to no purpose at all. For religion is the very business, the noble business of intelligent beings, and for this end God has placed us on this earth. If it were not for men, this world would be altogether in vain, with all the curious workmanship of it and accoutrements about it.

It follows from this that we must be immortal. The world had as good have been without us, as for us to be a few minutes and then be annihilated—if we are now to own God's works to his glory, and only glorify him a few minutes, and then be annihilated, and it shall after that be all one to eternity as if we never had been, and be in vain after we are dead that we have been once; and then, after the earth shall be destroyed, it shall be for the future entirely in vain that either the earth or mankind have ever been. The same argument seems to be used, Isaiah 45:17–18. See No. 1292.

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199. GOD'S EXISTENCE.

The existence of our own souls, which we know more immediately than anything, is an argument of exceeding glaring evidence for the existence of a God. Our souls were not always, but they are wonderful beings, certainly exceeding in contrivance everything that is seen or can be seen with eyes. They are pieces of workmanship so curious, and of such amazing contrivance, that their operations infinitely exceed those of any machines that are seen.

Let us consider what has been done, and what is daily done, by human souls. What strange contrivance is this, to take in the sun moon and stars, and the whole universe, and bring all distant things together; and to make past and future things present; and to move the body after such a manner, to produce such strange effects on other souls and in the corporeal world! If our souls are material machines, certainly they are so curious, that none will deny that they are the effect of contrivance. Let them be created immediately, or let them be by propagation, the contrivance is wonderful; for what contrivance is necessary to make such machines, that will produce and propagate other such machines in an infinite succession! And if they be not material, whence are they, if not from a superior immaterial being? And if we say our souls existed from eternity, who is it orders it so, that upon every generation a soul shall be brought and united to such a parcel of matter? Or if we say our souls existed in the bodies from eternity, existing one within another in infinitum, who contrived this matter so?

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 And God hath shown a marvelous wisdom in providing for us in the make of our bodies. God saw it necessary for us in this world that we perceive things at a distance from us, and he hath contrived those wonderful organs, the eyes, which are most curious pieces of divine workmanship.

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The Image of God in the soul is the most beautifull of all the works of Creation. there is no work so excellent as that the sun moon and stars are Glorious works but not so Glorious as Gods spiritual Image. mens bodies are a Curious Pieces of workmanship far excelling all works of art as human Invention but Gods Grace in the soul is far a far more excel lent work yea tis a more excellen beautifull and Glorious work

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Daniel 2:34–35.] When God sends forth his word, when he sends forth the rod of his strength out of Zion in the latter days, God's word shall run and be glorified. And everything that stands in its way shall be broken in pieces before it, whether it be gold, or silver, or brass, or iron, or clay. However strong that is that is set up in opposition, it shall be broken in pieces. Brass and iron shall be as clay, no more able to withstand it than weak clay. And however magnificent, bright, and glorious, and precious in the esteem of men, it shall be broken in pieces. 

There shall be no difference between bright and precious gold and silver, and vile clay; all shall be broken in pieces together. All alike shall become as the chaff of the summer threshing floor that the wind drives away, light and worthless, nothing accounted, scattered by a blast of wind, and trodden underfoot. 

Thus it shall be proclaimed at that time, "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Isaiah 40:6–8). And thus shall be fulfilled that in the Isaiah 2:12–17, and Isaiah 41:15–16, and Isaiah 64:1–2, [and] Isaiah 5:15.

Then the interest of infidelity and heresy, however strengthened by the arguments of the men of great abilities, and though mightily established, having full and strong possession, all seeming to be strong and irrefragable like iron and brass, and the curious, beautiful schemes of philosophers, which had been adorned with the greatest eloquence, and a fine style, and highly valued by the world as silver and gold, shall come to nothing, shall become as the chaf that the wind drives away.

River of water and importance of intertextuality

On Instagram, a well-meaning post claims the phrase "river of water" is evidence that the Book of Mormon came from a Hebrew source.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYaoV6kA9ZY/?igsh=MWdpd2hzMHZoYW54Zw%3D%3D

priesthoodmen

One of the interesting linguistic details in the Book of Mormon is the phrase “river of water.”

In English, we usually just say “river.”

But in Hebrew, phrases like “river of water” are common because the language uses descriptive compound expressions that translate directly that way into English.

Joseph Smith didn’t study ancient Hebrew until years after translating the Book of Mormon.

So how did that phrasing end up there?

A simple search of the scriptures would have shown that the phrase "river of water" appears in the KJV, right in Revelation:

1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

(Revelation 22:1)

Jonathan Edwards used that phrase many times, both by referencing Rev. 22:1 and separately. 

The phrase "rivers of water" appears 4 times in the Old Testament, such as this passage in Isaiah:

2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:2)

Edwards even paraphrased Proverbs 21:1

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)

Edwards: 

Proverbs 21:1, "The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, as the river of water : he turneth it whithersoever it pleaseth him."

All of this is evidence that Joseph Smith translated the engravings on the plates using his own language he obtained from the Bible and his "intimate acquaintance with those of different denominations" such as Jonathan Edwards.

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Additional examples from Edwards, some of which refer to the deserts of Arabia:

Now when a man finds Jesus Christ, he is like a man that has been traveling in these deserts till he is ready to perish with thirst, and at last finds a river of cool and clear water; 'tis exceeding refreshing. Christ was once actually typified by a river of water that was miraculously caused to flow in the dry deserts of Arabia...

That Son of God who is the brightness of his Father's glory appears there in his glory, without that veil of outward meanness in which he appeared in this world, as a root out of dry ground destitute of outward glory. There the Holy Spirit shall be poured forth with perfect sweetness, as a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, Revelation 22 at the beginning; a river whose waters are without any manner of pollution.

There the Holy Spirit shall be poured forth with perfect sweetness, as a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal

The earnest is a part of the inheritance; which shows that our future inheritance, that happiness spoken of that God will give his saints, is nothing but a fullness of his Spirit. This is that " river of water of life" which comes from the throne of God and the Lamb

To the like purpose, Christ is called a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, and as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land (Isaiah 32 at the beginning). 

God hath provided a watercourse for the overflowing of the waters and he turns the rivers of water whithersoever it pleaseth him.

Isaiah 32:2. "As rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." There is an allusion here to the deserts of Arabia, which was an exceeding hot and dry place. One might travel many days' going, and see no sign of a river, brook, or spring, nothing but a dry and parched wilderness...

Alma 51: First care and much fatigue

Some interesting details from Alma 51.

Verse 16: "first care" is an unusual nonbiblical BofM word that appears 1x in BofM and 4 times in JE.

In Alma, it was Moroni's "first care" to end contention.

For it was his first care to put an end to such contentions and dissensions among the people; for behold, this had been hitherto a cause of all their destruction. (Alma 51:16)

In Edwards, it was the "first care" of "politic men" to secure peace and prevent contention: 

Their country may depend upon them. If they are wise and seeing and politic men, they will improve their policy to establish and advance the good of the land, and not to advance themselves and supplant others. The securing of the public peace will be their first care.

A spirit of true piety would prevent the prevailing of a spirit of contention which divides a kingdom against itself and therefore tends to its overthrow. 

"Dissentions" is another non-biblical term that Edwards uses 5x, such as here: "“Though they are under the greatest obligations to live in peace, above persons in almost any relation whatever; and although contests and dissensions between persons so related, are the most unhappy and terrible in their consequences, on many accounts, of any sort of contentions; yet how frequent have such contentions been?”

Alma 51 referrs to "king-men" and "nobility." "Nobility" is a nonbiblical term Edwards uses 5x, although not in this specific passage. But in this passage, Edwards writes about "men in public places" and "a call to rulers and those who are set in eminent stations carefully to purge themselves from all iniquity."

http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy4xNjoxOC53amVvLjEwMjkwMzUuMTAyOTA0MQ==

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Verse 33.  "much fatigue" is a nonbiblical BofM word that appears 1x in BofM and 2x in JE.

behold, sleep had overpowered them because of their much fatigue, which was caused by the labors and heat of the day. (Alma 51:33)

That struck me as unusual so I did a search. "Fatigue" is a nonbiblical term that appears 6x in the Book of Mormon. The phrase "much fatigue" is unique to verse 33. I expanded the search and found a similar unique phrase in 1 Nephi.  The past tense "much fatigued" is 1X BofM and 3x Edwards.

being much fatigued, because of their journeying
(1 Nephi 16:19)

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Next I looked at Edwards. The following results are in An Account of the Life of the Reverend Mr. David Brainerd, which Edwards edited and published. This was a popular manual for Christian missionaries. Although I did not see it listed for sale in the Palmyra bookstore, excerpts were included in the 8 volume set of Edwards' work and I assume the Brainerd book was so widely distributed, Joseph (and/or Oliver) would have had access to it. It would have been of particular interest to them because Brainerd was a missionary to the Indians.

The similarities between Brainerd and the Book of Mormon are apparent in these examples:

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Monday, December 26. Rode down to Stockbridge. Was very much fatigued with my journey, wherein I underwent great hardship

Monday, May 28. Set out from the Indians above the Forks of Delaware, on a journey towards Newark in New Jersey, according to my orders. Rode through the wilderness; was much fatigued with the heat

Tuesday, September 9. Rode down the river near 30 miles. Was extreme weak, and much fatigued, and wet with a thunderstorm.

Edwards' editorial insert: "In which journey he suffered much fatigue and hardship. He visited some Indians in the way, and discoursed with them concerning Christianity."

http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy42OjQud2plby42NjE4NjQuNjYxODY5

Indians as a scourge

 

The Indians, wild as they are, have some sense of the shamefulness of vice, and of the value of virtue, order and civility. And they have some sense of the worth of knowledge. If anyone among them is able to read and write, it is looked upon as a great attainment, and they esteem it a thing much to be valued to be able to read and understand the Bible. 

And therefore, many of them are fond of their children's learning the English tongue to that end, that they may understand what they read. Therefore, herein we can outdo the French. 

For they, however great expense they are at, in bestowing presents upon them, yet agreeable to the genius of their religion and maxims of their church, keep the Indians in ignorance. They forbid 'em the use of the Bible; nor do they teach 'em to read and write. 

If we should go on, and many among them by our means should have these attainments, and it was seen by the nations that there was such a difference between such as have been under our care and those under theirs, it would [be seen] that the greatest benefit was obtained by those that are on our side; and seeing the difference, and taking notice that the French keep their Indians in ignorance, and refuse to enable [them] to read the Bible, would naturally excite their jealousy of the French, as not truly seeking their good, but as having some ill design in their pretenses of kindness to 'em; and that the rather, because they have so much discerning that they are sensible that the French are a designing, crafty, treacherous people; and though our presents of clothing, arms and ammunition should not equal those of the French, 

yet if we vigorously prosecuted this design of instructing them, they would soon see the benefits they receive from us are more substantial, and of greater value than those they receive from the French, for they are a discerning people. 

And we have also this advantage, that our religion would recommend itself more to their reason and to the light of nature in 'em than the religion of the French, though not so much to their corruptions. 

As this way of dealing with these nations would be in itself the most Christian and benevolent, so therein we might expect God's blessing, and might hope that his anger would be turned away which has been provoked by our past negligence, from whence we have reason to fear God will make them a sore scourge to us as a just punishment of our cruelty to their souls and bodies, by our withholding the gospel from 'em, defrauding them of their goods, in addition to that of learning, with prejudicing them against Christianity by our wickedness; and killing multitudes of 'em, and easily diminishing their numbers with strong drink.

And this method would not only be the most becoming Christians, and so most pleasing to the great Governor of the world, but if we look only to the natural tendency of it in the present situation of things, I am persuaded there is no course in the world that can be devised by any policy or art, that would be so likely to gain and attach these nations to us. 

I think this is the voice of providence, and the intimation which God gives us in the present state of things, that if ever North America is regained from a subjection to Antichristian powers, it must be more by the spreading of the light of the gospel than by any policy, wealth or arms of the British Empire. 

If the king's annual bounty of £500 sterling (the greater part of which, it is to be feared, is embezzled, and great part of the remainder spent to make the Indians drunk) were laid out for their instruction, it would be ten times so effectual to gain the desired end.

And divine providence seems now in a remarkable manner to be opening a door in this place for the successful prosecution of this method of gaining the Indians by instructing them; and to give us a better opportunity at least in some respects than ever was given before.

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24 And if it so be that they rebel against me, they shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.

(1 Nephi 2:24)

25 And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction.

(2 Nephi 5:25)

3 But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes; and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto destruction.

(Jacob 3:3)

28 And they shall be a scourge unto the people of this land. Nevertheless, when they shall have received the fulness of my gospel, then if they shall harden their hearts against me I will return their iniquities upon their own heads, saith the Father.

(3 Nephi 20:28)