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Without the Mormon Lens

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By Mason

     Until I can figure out how to make this site easier to navigate, I'll just manually create a bit of a directory here.

    Eventually I hope to cover a wide variety of topics, for now, most of what I am discussing is my current study of the Book of Mormon, which I call "Without the Mormon Lens" where I am attempting to provide a skeptical perspective of the Book of Mormon, cover to cover, page by page. The ultimate goal is to help you gain a knew perspective of the book and to see it as a fictional history.


Without the Mormon Lens


1 -Introduction

I introduce the inspiration for the project.


2 - Changing our Perspective

The idea that deconstruction begins with an openness to fresh perspective, a different lens.


3 - And it Came to Pass

We discuss the Chronicle of the Kings of England


4 -Biblical America

The early fascination of Americans and Biblical language.


5-Re-contexualization

A brief discussion on a contemporary to the Book of Mormon and its potential literary influence.


5.1 - Consider the Preface

Some additional thoughts on the title page and content of the Book of Mormon


6 - I Nephi

We discuss Nephi's introduction and its potential tie to American history.


7- Lehi

The character of Lehi begins to take shape.


8- The Exodus Begins

The prophet Lehi takes on the role of Moses.


9- Lucy's Dream

We consider Lucy Mack Smith's influence on Joseph Smiths religious and secular education.


10 - Be Strong and of a Good Courage

We are brought back to Nephi and his parallels to Joshua


11 - The First Return to Jerusalem 

Nephi and his bothers return to Jerusalem. Laman is sent in to ask Laban for the plates.

Parallel the to spies sent by Moses to survey the land of Canaan


12 - Attempt to Buy the Brass Plates

Nephi and his brothers offer gold and silver and precious things in exchange for the plates

Events are similar to interactions with the people of Ai as well as more murmurings from the Israelites



Nephi slays Laban

Compared to Joshua conquering the promised land


14 - Zoram

Zoram follows Nephi into the wilderness
Compare to the Gideonites following Joshua

...

 - This page will be updated as we continue through our study -


Transparency: I absolutely refuse to have AI write the content of this passion project. Anything generated by AI will be posted here. The Without the Mormon Lens project is written by the author and NOT AI.

ChatGPT is used as nothing more than a search engine to help identify sources. 


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Without the Mormon Lens: 1 - Introduction

By Mason
 "I don't think Joseph Smith was a prophet"      Tears that I had been holding back finally broke free as I said the words I never thought I would say. The fear, the anger, the betrayal. The emotions that countless people who have lost their faith had felt, were rushing through me. I collapsed to the floor as this great realization washed over me.      I  had lost my faith.       It was gone.      I don't feel that it is important to share the events that led to my faith crisis, and honestly they are hard to explain. Like most people who leave the church, there were a number of issues that had piled up over the years. Items that were stacked on my shelf of concerns eventually became too much for the shelf to handle. It broke, and with it, my world shattered.      The grief was overwhelming. I had known nothing but Mormonism for my entire life, and the loss was the feeling of losing a loved one. An entire half of myself, a huge part of my identity... vanished.      My
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Without the Mormon Lens: 9 - Lucy's Dream

By Mason
      At this point in our reading, we can clearly see that the inspiration for the story itself is largely pulled from events in the Bible. Lehi seems to embody the experiences in Jerusalem that reflect that of Jeremiah. And the exodus of his family from Jerusalem seems to reflect that of the Israelites fleeing Egypt. As we continue reading through page 8, we can see the influence continue as Lehi again takes actions that reflect the bible.  The Book of Mormon, pg 8 ~~~~~ The Book of Mormon~~~~~      "And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and he made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God." ( pg 8 ) ~~~~~~~~~~     It should come as no surprise, that this is exactly what Moses did after escaping their enemies and providing the Isrealites with food and water. ~~~~~The Old Testament ~~~~~~       15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: (Exodus 17:15) ~~~~~~~~~~      But what about narrative infl
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Without the Mormon Lens: 12 - Attempt to Buy the Brass Plates

By Mason
    Let's just pick up right where we left off , as Nephi and his brothers attempt to buy the plates from Laban. The Book of Mormon, pg 11 ~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~      "And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things."      "And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceeding great, he did lust after it , insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property. And it came to pass that we did flee before the servants of Laban, and we were obliged to leave behind our property, and it fell into the hands of Laban." (pg 11) ~~~~~~~~~~      If we look for a similar story related to Joshua, we find the account of Achan, who stole the silver, and gold, and precious things from the people of Ai.
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Without the Mormon Lens: 13 - The Head of Laban

By Mason
The Book of Mormon, pg 12 ~~~~~ The Book of Mormon~~~~~      " Now when I had spoken these words, they were yet wroth, and still did continue to murmur; Nevertheless they did follow me up until we came without the walls of Jerusalem. (pg 12) ~~~~~~~~~~      We now find Nephi and his brothers outside of the walls of Jerusalem as they return a third time to retrieve the plates from Laban. We can see some similarities to the Book of Joshua as Joshua leads the Isrealites from city to city as they claim their inheritance. This final encounter with Laban is the final colmination of Nephi's effort to preserve their family's records. Much like the Book of Joshua is the finale of the Isrealites claiming their lands.    As we have seen with previous events, the Killing of Laban will be a conglomerate of multiple events across the Old Testament.  ~~~~~ The Old Testament~~~~~    1  And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee
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Without the Mormon Lens: 8 - The Exodus Begins

By Mason
   As we continue on to the next page, we see the world that Smith is building begin to grow. Lehi's role as a parallel to the prophet Jeremiah becomes even more defined. The Book of Mormon, pg 7 ~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~      "Therefore, I would that ye should know that after the Lord had shewn marvellous things unto my father Lehi, yea, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, behold he went forth among the people and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard. " (pg 7) ~~~~~The Old Testament ~~~~~~      7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord . ( Jeremiah 26:7 ) ~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~      "And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw and heard, and also the thing
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Without the Mormon Lens: 3 - And it Came to Pass

By Mason
     As I discussed in my previous post, my theory is that the Book of Mormon is a psuedo-biblical  historical fiction . I believe that it is a work which was influenced by other writings in this genre and the history of America.     In order to explore this concept a little more, we need to first understand how widespread these types of works were in the United States. And in order to do that, we need to first go to London, where psuedo-biblicia first captured the public's attention.      In 1740, Robert Dodsley published a book telling the history of the Kings of England in a biblical style, or "the manner of The Jewish Historians." It was published in multiple editions and spread quickly to the United States. Cover page from the 1821 edition      The book quickly gained notoriety for its unique approach to retelling English history. It was designed to mock the grandiosity and style of biblical texts while recounting the history of England's kings, whic
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Without the Mormon Lens: 10 - Be Strong and of a Good Courage

By Mason
      I'm sure you're wondering when Columbus and other American influences are going to come into play, because so far we have only really referenced the Bible. I promise we will see that soon, at this point however, we are still only a few pages in, and Smith is still laying the Biblical foundations of the text. We will continue to see these Biblical parallels for a few pages, but I promise the build up is worth it. I'd rather continue taking this slow and while being as granular as possible. No rush, we'll get there.      This post will be one of my shortest as I want to focus on this re-introduction of Nephi before his story takes off.      As Nephi wraps up his focus on Lehi, the Biblical parallels begin to shift as well. As Nephi describes his experience, we will see the influence of the biblical prophet Joshua  take precedence in the story.       Stories of Joshua himself are present in several books in the Old Testament. Which will all be referenced as we read t
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Without the Mormon Lens: 5.1- Consider the Preface

By Mason
     I was working on typing up my analysis sorrounding the story of Nephi retrieving the brass plates from Laban; When something occured to me... I had completely forgotten to address one crucial idea.       Why did the story of the Book of Mormon start in Jerusalem?     Unbelievable. I'm kicking myself a bit. So I'm taking a moment to go back write this as post number 5.1, as it should have been discussed after the concept of re-contextualization and before touching First Nephi.     Oh well. Live and learn.     Remember that Nephi's family needs to eventually end up in the Americas to establish themselves as the ancestors to the Native Americans. This wasn't a claim unique to the Book of Mormon. Ever since the discovery of the New World, many people speculated about where its inhabitants came from.       It was a commonly held belief that the Native Americans were a lost tribe of Israel. Which is likely why Smith initially placed Lehi's family in Jerusalem just be
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Without the Mormon Lens: 11 - The First Return to Jerusalem

By Mason
     We have now reached possibly one of the most significant stories in the Book of Mormon. The turning point of the entire book. Nephi and his brothers are going to be tasked with returning to Jerusalem to retrieve the brass plates from Laban.       Keep in mind, that Lehi and his family are a retelling of the Israelites. Lehi is Moses, Nephi is Joshua, Laman, Lemuel and Sam are the composite of the rest of the Israelites.      I believe that this story is one of the most critical to understand, as it is one of the most memorable, and controversial events in the Book of Mormon. It also serves as a major turning point in our story as it sets us up to be able to step away from the Old Testament and toward the parallels in New World.      Lets pick up where we left off, with Nephi returning from his vision. He was just told that he will be guiding his people to the promised land. His father Lehi, will send him and his brothers into Jerusalem, to retrieve the brass plates and the genealo
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Without the Mormon Lens: 2 - Changing Our Perspective

By Mason
     Upon first leaving the church, I didn't have any real explanation to give people for why the religion was "false." I had questions, but I felt that I had no answers.    As a faithful member, I had done my best to steer away from "anti" material. Most items on my shelf stemmed from personal observations and experiences. It took me several months after leaving before I even sat down to read the CES Letter . It seemed backwards to only pursue the material after I decided to leave the church. Somehow it felt wrong. Most people read the letter and then leave... right?      I began posting some of my experiences on  reddit  (under a different username) as a way to vent to others and to find a new sense of community. At one point I shared this sentiment, that I felt unjustified in a way for how I came to the conclusion to leave. I quickly found that many...  many... people experienced what I had experienced. The loss of faith, which was then followed by reading c
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The content on Lucifer's Lantern reflect the personal experiences and interpretations of the individual contributors. The content is intended for personal reflection and discussion.