Anyone like to take a stab at this?

Question

I posted a question for Mormons, and no Mormon responded. so plan B is ask you guys.
If Joseph Smith was an American who lived in the 1800's, why did his book come out in Elizabethan English? Was it a ploy to make it sound like the Bible? or was there some other explanation? any theory is welcome.
except, of course, "hey cirque you're stupud" that's not an answer it's an insult.

Answer 1

sure why not, i think if it did sound like the bible the bible is in more danger cuz when it comes to the quran an arabic person cant make something that sounds like the quran.

Answer 2

Thats a GREAT observation. According to the tanners the original 1830 Book of mormon has had over 5000+ changes to the original. Go to www.whatismormonism.com, it turns out over I dont know how many words were actually plagerized from the King James Version, which leaves one question. If Moroni showed Joseph Smith the plates in the 1800's with writings from the time of Christ, why does so much of it sound like the 1600's version of the Bible?

That being said, I know it is impossible to say I mean no offense. I am aware of the gravity of that statement, but I believe that times like these call us to Engage the idea but respect the individual. Which I hope Cirque your doing as well.

Answer 3

Well I'm Mormon, so I'll do the best that I can. Joseph Smith was indeed an American who lived in the 1800's. To shorten the story out, an angel told him that these ancient slabs of gold called the "golden plates" were buried in a hill. These plates had inscriptions hammered into them, for back when they were made, there was no such thing as paper, so you could think of them as documents. Joseph Smith found these plates and translated them. It turns out, these plates were basically a journal, starting in about 600 BC with many generations of prophets writing about what happened in their life. Now when he translated these plates, this Elizabethan English is the format in which the plates were written, and therefore we assume that is how they talked back then. Now I just explained to you this in a very short paragraph that anyone could understand. If you want to know more about our religion, go to "www.lds.org". Now I know you may not believe me because hey, to you, I'm a random guy on the Internet, but I can tell you that what I said to you is true. Hope this helped!

Answer 4

I'm glad you said that, because I couldn't remember his name!

What's even more important is Who is Brigham Young and why is HE more important than Joseph Smith!

How come it isn't Joseph Smith University. Maybe BYU sounds better!

You'll have a hard time getting them to talk. Just like they deny polygamy. Not eveyrone is polygamus, but those who can afford it and have the opportuinty do keep several families spread out around the US.

One is usually always in Utah, the others are in other states.

The husband has a job like salesman or truck driver and is gone for weeks or months at a time.

The biggest church in our little enclave was the Mormon Church. It was fairly large, expensive and the mainstream religion of Rural Southern California had store front congregations. I'm talking MEthdist, Presbyterian. The Jews had to travel up the road to the rich people's area for a Synnogage.

These people had solumn faces, didn't have much to say beyond a simple hello. They keep to themselves and they have a lot of children.

The man is away from home an awful lot.

Answer 5

umm, here is an actual answer (this one actuall has knowledge AND facts in it, a rare thing in this discussion so far)

there are a few reasons it was written that way: first off, back in early america, the 'american english' didn't really exist, people still spoke the same type of english that was spoken in england... secondly, John Smith was actually never an american citizen. in fact he started his writtings after being in america for about two years. he was raised and spent the begging of his adult life in London (i'm pretty sure it was london, it might have been another brittish city, but not sure)
from the "ploy" theory, old elizabeathen english is with out question the most beautiful language that is able to be understood in america. it was not to decieve. (think about it like this... if a buiseness man has pants that fit around his waist perfectly, he still wears a belt, because it is more dignified and classy. same thing)

Answer 6

I'll take a shot at it. It is believed that Joseph Smith plagerized the works of Solomon Spaulding. It is thought he took portions from an unpublished manuscript and created the book of mormon. Spaulding was a Christian pastor who wrote Christian fiction using King James language. This is a theory as to why the book of mormon's language resembles the King James Bible.

Answer 7

The book of Mormon is pretty much made up. Did you know that once upon a time they didn't let African Americans into their religion. Also to go inside of one of their Church's you must be a Mormon I'm not a Mormon though, I'm a Christian. I'm not saying Mormons are bad people, they just might be guided in the wrong direction.

Answer 8

I'm no expert on the subject but step outside the box for a minute, remove the religion (no desrespect intended) and focus on the psycological aspect. For instance doctors, lawyers, engineers and the like all to a certain degree use a form of english that to most of us seem "Elizabethan"...........I'm sure you're familiar with the "greater than thou" behaviour 'some' of these individuals aquire over time. This I believe, is the result of the psycological reaction most normal people fall back on when faced with something they can not fully comprehend, which is, to trust or believe in and to a certain extent submit to those who understand and can decifer for us. Just another angle I guess, great question!!

Answer 9

Joseph Smith wrote many publications and letters. Are you referring to his translation of the Book of Mormon?

Answer 10

Well, poor old Joseph Smith lived and died. He nor anyone else
but the Holy God of the Bible ever lived, died, and rose again for
our sins. So, follow the true God and don't worry about Joseph
Smith of the 1800's.

Answer 11

Because he was a fraud who combined his knowledge of the King James Bible with his own inherent story telling capability and pawned it off as the "Book of Mormon" and the "Doctrine and Covenants".