Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
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n 1823 Joseph had another heavenly visitation, in which an angel named Moroni told him of a sacred history written by ancient Hebrews in America, engraved in an Egyptian dialect on tablets of gold and buried in a nearby hill. Joseph was told it was the history of the ancient peoples of America, and that Joseph would be the instrument for bringing this record to the knowledge of the world. Joseph obtained these gold plates from the angel in 1827, and translated them into English by the spirit of God and the use of a sacred instrument accompanying the plates called the "Urim and Thummim." The translation was published in 1830 as The Book of Mormon, now revered by Mormons as scripture, along with the Bible
What the hell? A friend of min sent me a book a few days ago called The Alchemist by Paulo Cohelo. My buddy is as far from a Mormon as anyone I know, as he parties and likes correcting me when I say 'Thank God' with a 'you mean "thank god
s''
Anyway, it's a story about a shepherd who travels to Africa to fulfill his 'Personal Legend'. I read half of it last night, wondering if it was some sort of New Age culty-type book, as it talked of Urim + Thummim, like they were 'magic crystals' ...Now I see 'ol Joe Smith makes use of the two...
Can anyone shed some light on this?
signed,
confused in Denver
PS, when I finish it, maybe I'll have answered my own question.