As 2020 approaches, bradleys the lost 116 pages is the perfect supplement for latterday saints preparing to both study the book of mormon for come follow me and commemorate the restoration in a bicentennial year. Reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories author. The lost 116 pages reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories, by don bradley. Joseph asked the lord if martin could take the pages, but the. Joseph and martin translated 116 pages of the book of mormon. Greg kofford books, 2019, is something ive been looking forward to for many months. Reconstructing the book of mormons missing stories heres the book description that appears on the publishers website. Sep 19, 2016 the incident of the missing 116 pages, then, raises serious, troubling questions about the book of mormon and about joseph smiths claim to be a divinely inspired, angelically guided prophet of god. When joseph smith began translating the book of mormon, martin harris wanted to show his wife lucy the manuscript to calm her fears that joseph smith was conning him out of his money. Back when joseph smith, the man who restored christs church, first started translating the book of mormon, his good friend, martin harris, began nudging him to take the first 116 pages to show his wife and a few close friends. Rigdon would have been afraid that if he rewrote the 116 pages and the first set showed up, they would be different and expose smith as a false translator. The earliest scripture revealed in the restoration, the book of mormons lost 116 pages. What was surmised to have been written in joseph smiths.
In fact, i would say that one of the best evidences that joseph smith didnt write the book of mormon is his theory behind the missing 116 pages. Don has found clues not only in the book of mormon, but in various accounts of josephs friends and relatives. Harris promised to guard the pages and show them only to certain family members, but the pages soon disappeared and have never been recovered. What was surmised to have been written in joseph smiths 116. How did mormons abridgment of this period differ from the accounts in nephis small plates. If the book of lehi mormons abridgment of what is currently found in the first books in the book of mormon today had been preserved, we would not have had the more spiritual first person narrative of nephi and jacob. Transcriber martin harris pesters joseph smith to let him take a stack of translated pages to assuage his skeptical wife, lucy. Jan 24, 2020 customer calls in with issue that his book is missing 116 pages. If the book of lehi mormon s abridgment of what is currently found in the first books in the book of mormon today had been preserved, we would not have had the more spiritual first person narrative of nephi and jacob. I think she probably just burned them as sacreligious gobbledygook, but no one can be sure. The lost 116 pages were the original manuscript pages of what joseph smith, founder of the latter day saint movement, said was the translation of the book of lehi, the first portion of the golden plates revealed to him by an angel in 1827.
Reconstructing the book of mormons missing stories. Reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories draper, ut. Sadly, a large portion of the book is not available, due to the manuscript being stolen from martin harris, one of the first. These pages, which had not been copied, were lost by smiths scribe, martin harris, during the summer of 1828 and are presumed to have been destroyed. The prophet explained that the lost 116 pages said ishmael was of the tribe of ephraim, making the book of mormon peoples a blend of manasseh and ephraim, the two sons of joseph 6. By june of that year, a total of 116 pages had been written when harris asked smiths permission to show the transcript to his wife to try to prove their. Lost manuscript of the book of mormon in june 1828, joseph smith reluctantly allowed his scribe martin harris to borrow 116 pages of the original book of mormon manuscript. Unless you are a believer, it is honestly one of the most absurd scenarios i can imagine. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the lost 116 pages. Don bradleys ability to see connections the rest of us miss is. The lost 116 pages and the book of mormon mormons in. The next spring came martin harris down to pennsylvany to write for him and he wrote 116 pages of the first part of the book of mormon and about this time martin wanted to go home a bout some buisness and he wanted to take the writings with him but.
What if martin harris didnt lose all of the 116 pages. Reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories december 17, 2019 the lost 116 pages, a passover setting for lehis exodus, margaret barker, 1 nephi 17. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Reconstructing the book of mormons missing stories december 17, 2019 the lost 116 pages, a passover setting for lehis exodus, margaret barker, 1 nephi 17. Even my tbm father had a hard time with the 116 lost pages fiasco.
Dec 06, 2019 as 2020 approaches, bradleys the lost 116 pages is the perfect supplement for latterday saints preparing to both study the book of mormon for come follow me and commemorate the restoration in a bicentennial year. While acting as joseph smiths scribe, martin harris requested to take home. Consequently, within the latterday saint community the situation. What was in the lost 116 pages of the book of mormon. Even though 116 manuscript pages of the book of mormon had been stolen, joseph smith was once again translating from the gold plates. The lost 116 pages of the book of mormon mormonthink. The first 116 pages of the original manuscript of the book of mormon were lost. Through negligence and disobedience, harris subsequently lost the manuscript, and its contents have never been recovered. Book of mormontranslationthe lost 116 pages fairmormon.
Reconstructing the book of mormons missing stories author. The lost 116 pages of the book of mormon noncompliant thoughts. Feb 16, 2020 in this episode, brian hales interviews don bradley about his decadeslong research into missing parts of book of mormon narrative. Most people familiar with the story of the translation of the book of mormon know about the lost first 116 pages of the book of mormon manuscript. Reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories heres the book description that appears on the publishers website. Its a scholarly work, and moves at a slow, deliberate, very detailed pace. No one really knows, but the generally accepted anecdotal story is that martin harriss wife burned them or turned them over to antimormons.
This reconstruction is based on textual clues within the book of mormon itself, and references from church history to book of mormon details that arent found within the current book and must therefore be found within the lost pages. The incident of the missing 116 pages, then, raises serious, troubling questions about the book of mormon and about joseph smiths claim to be a. Martin harris served as scribe for the first 116 pages, and his skeptical wife lucy harris asked martin to get her the pages so she could take a look. Additionally, bradley hopes to use the tools of source criticism to plausibly reconstruct what he postulates was likely contained in the 116 pages. The first 116 pages of the original manuscript of joseph smiths translation of the book of mormon from the plates of mormon are commonly known as the 116 pages or the lost manuscript. Even my tbm father had a hard time with the 116 lost pages. Reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories kindle edition by bradley, don. It is by the supposed author or compiler of the entire. The second part of the book reconstructs what the 116 pages would have covered.
The loss of the 116 pages did not stop the book of mormon from coming forth. At any rate, smith didnt go back and start work on the book of mormon again for seven months. It is impossible to be certain whether words of mormon 1. The books central focus is the nowmissing first revelation of restoration scripture. Martin harris, having written some one hundred and sixteen pages for joseph, asked permission of my son to carry the manuscript home with him, in order to let his wife read it, as he hoped it might have a salutary effect. Manuscript, lost 116 pages the encyclopedia of mormonism. The book of mormon s lost pages are not the first notable historical manuscript to go missing, and i am not the first scholar to attempt to reconstruct a missing text, bradley remarks. On the other hand, if he had reproduced those pages, joseph would have been accused of reading from an already prepared book which is now a problem with early modern english. Reconstructing the book of mormons missing stories 9781589587601. Strangely enough we find inserted in the middle of the book of mormon, pages 141143 bom p. Honestly, i think south park totally nailed the outsiders reaction to the story of the 116 pages.
On a summer day in 1828, book of mormon scribe and witness martin harris was emptying drawers, upending furniture, and ripping apart mattresses as he desperately looked for a stack of papers he had sworn to god to protect. Martin harris wanted to take the 116 pages home so his family could see them. Historian don bradley describes more about the lost 116 pages of the book of mormon. Joseph went to the lord in prayer and asked this favor. The moment i finished reading bradleys riveting final chapter that summarizes what he learned about the book of mormon. A breakthrough in understanding the book of mormon. Mormonleaks publishes the lost 116 pages of the book of mormon in 1828, martin harris was serving as joseph smiths scribe during the transcription process of the book of mormon. Martin harris went to pennsylvania and helped joseph translate. Jan 15, 2020 additionally, bradley hopes to use the tools of source criticism to plausibly reconstruct what he postulates was likely contained in the 116 pages. What we do know, in the coming forth of the book of mormon. Stupid, but serious, question about the missing 116 pages.
The lost 116 pages reconstructing the book of mormons missing stories, by don bradley. Were missing the original first part of the book of mormon. New book sheds light on the lost 116 pages book of mormon. Originally i was not going to answer, then i read all of the replies from faithful saints who beat me to the punch. In 1827 joseph smith began his work in translating the nephite records gold plates. This book made up the first part of the book of mormon. Harris promised to guard the pages and show them only to certain family members, but the pages. Reviewed by kevin folkman for the association for mormon letters. Mormonleaks publishes the lost 116 pages of the book of. New book sheds light on the lost 116 pages book of. The 116 pages or the lost pages is a reference to the book of lehi. In the summer of 1828, joseph smith let martin harris borrow the first 116 pages of the book of mormons english translation.
While acting as joseph smiths scribe, martin harris requested to take home the portion of the manuscript that had been translated in order to persuade his wife of the authenticity of the book of mormon. Smith completed the book of mormon without retranslating the book of lehi, replacing it with what he said was an abridgment taken from the. The lost 116 pages with don bradley the interpreter foundation. Ever since he was a youngster, dons wondered about the content of the 116 pages of the book of lehi transcript that martin harris lost in 1828. In the summer of 1828, joseph smith let martin harris borrow the first 116 pages of the book of mormon s english translation. Despite the likely demise of those pages to the sands of time, the answers to these questions and many more are now available for the first time in nearly two centuries in the lost 116 pages. Imagine a parallel universe where joseph smith really was a prophet and he really did get sacred text stolen from him and the stealers had this opportunity to. Nov 23, 2019 i hope don spends some time in his book discussing the reasoning given for not retranslating the 116 pages, which in my view, is not very plausible.
Reconstructing the book of mormons missing stories, don bradley has given us a fascinating, thoughtful, and exciting treatment on what is and what might have been. This would be entirely consistent with the latter portion of the book of mormon. These findings can help us make sense of some confusing book of mormon passages. Many latterday saints have wondered what is in the lost 116 pages since they first learned about the story in primary.
Reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories, greg kofford books, salt lake city, 2019, is not an easy read. So were missing the earliest scripture of the restoration, but when we look and see some of the clues to what was in it, it is already anticipating things that some people, including previously myself, considered to be a later development in nauvooera mormonism and thus not present in the book of mormon. The lost 116 pages were the original manuscript pages of what joseph smith, founder of the. The book s central focus is the now missing first revelation of restoration scripture. This story was originally published on lds living in january 2018. However, during the translation process, a friend and confidant of joseph smith named martin harris had lost 116 pages of the translated. They also can foster a greater appreciation for the book. Using primary and secondary historical sources, an understanding of jewish holidays and traditions, and keen insight, bradley pieces together a complicated. So were missing the earliest scripture of the restoration, but. Lehis temporal deliverance from the destruction of jerusalem occurred during a jewish feast that symbolized the redemption of the world by the messiah. While he was also at one point working on a book related to the lost 116 pages, his book differed from mine in that it was supposed.
The book of mormon is regarded as sacred text by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints otherwise known as mormons. Reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories, ama official ama i first wondered what was in the book of mormon s lost pages as a 10 year old when i learned about them in primary. In this episode, brian hales interviews don bradley about his decadeslong research into missing parts of book of mormon narrative. As joseph translated the words from the gold plates, martin wrote them on paper. The joseph smith papers, history, circa summer 1832, pgs 56. In june 1828, joseph smith reluctantly allowed his scribe martin harris to borrow 116 pages of the original book of mormon manuscript. Nearly two centuries ago the earliest mormon scripture, the first half of the abridged account of the book of mormon s narrator mormon was stolen, never to be seen again.
These foolscapsize pages were handwritten in harmony, pennsylvania, between april and june 14, 1828. Stupid, but serious, question about the missing 116 pages from the book of mormon so my question is basically just how would one tamper with a page of hand written text flawlessly. Even before i finished reading it, i purchased several copies as christmas gifts. The lost 116 pages and the book of mormon mormons in transition. In this episode brian hales interviews don bradley about his decadeslong research into missing parts of book of mormon narrative. The lost 116 pages is the missing portion of the manuscript of the book of mormon. For 190 years, latterday saints and others have been enriched by the teachings and stories in the book of mormon. The book of mormons lost pages are not the first notable historical manuscript to go missing, and i am not the first scholar to attempt to reconstruct a missing text, bradley remarks. Reconstructing the book of mormon s missing stories. Jun 26, 2017 it is impossible to be certain whether words of mormon 1.
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