Joseph Smith - Forger?

NormaBates wrote: "Joseph Smith Jr, the forger, treasure-hunter, magician, polygamist and self-styled priest-king of the American continent, invented an American version of Europe's ethnically-founded idolatry. Smith concocted a tale in which Americans actually were the Chosen People, and America was the Promised Land of the ancient Hebrews and Jesus Christ. In short, Smith took to the extremes of fantasy and forgery and impulse towards national self-worship that always lurks somewhere in American Christianity."

Rhino's response: Let's take a deeper look at some of these labels put on Joseph Smith in the next few posts:

Joseph Smith - Forger? "The Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets, just as the Bible was written by prophets and apostles of Christ. The writing was done by the spirit of revelation and prophecy. Many authors had contributed directly or were quoted in the final abridgment of ancient records compiled by the prophet, historian, and military leader Mormon near 400 A.D. As a result, there are a variety of distinct literary styles in the Book of Mormon, ranging from classical Hebrew poetical components in the writings of Nephi, Benjamin (quoted by his son in the Book of Mosiah), and Alma (who provides us with one of the most majestic examples ever of the ancient Semitic poetical form, chiasmus, in Alma 36), to the terse, direct prose of reluctant military men such as Mormon and Moroni.

"Joseph Smith, a young farm boy in backwoods New York, translated the Book of Mormon from ancient gold plates in a brief time, about 65 man-days maximum, an average of over 8 single-spaced pages per day. The translation was done through the gift and power of God. Was this monumental task an act of forgery? That's what many assume - but even a brief but honest examination of the text leads to one conclusion: the forgery hypothesis cannot explain the Book of Mormon." Source: http://www.jefflindsay.com

I echo Moroni's challenge, if anybody wants to know whether the Book of Mormon is true, I encourage you to read the book, that you would remember how merciful the Lord has been unto the children of men, and ponder it in your heart. And when you receive these things, I would invite you to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if you ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truth of all things.