The Sealed Book from the Mormon Plates
PREFACE
Given the nature and origin of this book, just as it was with the Book of Mormon,translated by the power and gift of God, but in two different languages, a brief explanationof the translator is needed in this preface, as described below.
It is very complex to try to explain how two transparent stones allowed me to see words,both in Portuguese, which is my native language, as in English, a language unknown tome and with little understanding of the location of words. But for the eight witnesses of the plates that came from the USA and the other three who are from Brazil, it is possibleto have a vague idea of how this worked in my mind.
In order for the witnesses to have this vagueperception of how the stones worked, I wasallowed to shine a ray of light through the stones and get an image on the wall to showthe witnesses the icons that were filled in my mind with the necessary information.
However, although the stones showed me the words described in the characters, it was agreat responsibility to translate this unknown language, whose words mostly do not exist anymore in the current dialect of humanity. Thus. I had to choose between the many words that the stones presented in these pictures that appeared in my mind, those that are current and understandable in our modern day, with the purpose of stating the text and itscontext in a reliably form, without there being any flaw in the understand of that which Mormon and his son Moroni truly wrote for our understanding.
I now fully understand why some anachronisms exist in the Book of Mormon, like the word "steel," which is so commonly used by the critics of Joseph Smith Jr; since this word could not exist in the records of a people who lived before the word pronounced "steel" properly be created among men. Certainly, among the many words that appeared through of the interpreting stones for Joseph to choose, with the purpose to describing the bow of
Nephi, while translating the Book of Mormon, "steel" was selected by Joseph to portray then, a word non-existent in the nineteenth century , with the purpose of describing, reliably the metal alloy described in the original Nephite record, but which, would be a
dead word for the readers` understanding from the Book of Mormon, both in the first years of restoration as well as for the future generations. This differs from a personal name for example, Mormon, whose pronunciation has long ceased to exist in the Americas, but which can be understood in reading the Book of Mormon as a character, in contrast to the description of an arch whose original pronouncement never would be understood by the readers of the Book of Mormon as portraying a character in contrast to the description of an bow, whose original pronouncement never would be understood by readers of the Book of Mormon as a metal alloy, since, generally, the bows of antiquity are portrayed in history as being of wood and not of iron.
Another phenomenon caused by the reading of the plates through the Nephite interpreters, occurred every time the record quoted texts of the scriptures, referring me to the context of the bibles, whether they were parts of the New World Translation or João Ferreira de Almeida, Portuguese versions, the book of Mormon LDS and any other scripture I had
read before, making me write what already existed in my memory, but with slight changes in some passages. Certainly this was also the case with Joseph Smith Jr. that led him to rewrite part of the King James Bible in the passages of the Book of Mormon where he recites part of the scriptures, for certainly it should have been the only Bible he read before the translation of Book of Mormon.
Since this book does not reveal a new doctrine, but only a knowledge that was hidden from human understanding until now, the translator of this work recommends to the reader, whose desire is to obtain a confirmation of its divine nature, in being an avid researcher, diligently following the references below each verse and reflecting carefully
in their general context. It is therefore imperative to look a little beyond our traditions and finally to ask God in the name of Jesus Christ if these things are not true and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God will show you the truth.
In relation to the current rumors that the Lord retained part of the translation because of the hardness of heart of His people in these last days, of the forty-two plates that were released with the opening of the first seals, only nineteen are translated in this book. As for the amount of content of the other plates of this sealed set, it is important to emphasize that it will be unveiled only when the people of the church are living accordance with these first teachings revealed here.
In addition, early on when the plates were announced by Brother Joseph Fredrick Smith and Brother Bob Moore, many were surprised by the translator's claim that the sealed portion would be divided into two parts. It seemed to contradict all that the Latter day Saints had already understood on this issue, and many ridiculed their claims. The scriptures cite at least two passages that mention the sealed portion of the plates of the Book of Mormon, which together, claim that the sealed portion will be opened in two periods of time different from one another.
1 - The first refers to a rebellious and obstinate people who honor the Lord with their lips, but who turned their hearts away from Him because of the precepts of man. [RLDS 2 Nephi 11: 143-147 or LDS 27: 21-26]
1a - And that these rebellious and obstinate people will be the people of Zion in the last days, for how much they boast that all is well in Zion and deny these new scriptures.
[RLDS 2 Nephi 12: 31-39 or LDS 28: 25-31]
1b - Also, it refers to the man who should read the sealed part as the one who will deliver his words to a rebellious and obstinate people. [RLDS 2Nephi 11: 146 or LDS 27: 24-25]
1c - And it is to this rebellious and obstinate people that God intends to remind you "for the second time" of the covenants he made with his people in the opening of the fullness of times in the early days of the restoration. [RLDS 2 Nephi 12: 42 or LDS 29: 1]
1d - After translating the part that concerns you, the translator of the sealed portion "will seal the plates again unto the Lord." [RLDS 2 Nephi 12: 42 or LDS 30: 3]
2 - The second part, on the other hand, refers to a future time when the people of the covenant are pure in heart and exercise the same faith as the brother of Jared. [RLDS
Ether 1: 98-100 or LDS 4: 5-6]
2b - The second part also refers to Jesus Christ himself as the one who is to reveal the things that the brother of Jared saw, to a pure people in the final part of the fullness of time [RLDS Ether 1: 100 or LDS 4: 7].
The Sealed book of Mormon, therefore, appears in these last days according to the revealed prophecies, both in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon.
Maurício Artur Berger
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