Why Martyrdom?

[MormonMason]

Everything you argue for here reinforces my problem with "revelation". Anyone can do it the way that you advocate for. Isaiah is so-interpolated, and the original "Isaiah" had nothing at all to do with the later additions coming under his name. And so it has always been with religion-makers....

Interpolations in Isaiah came much later, and they are not the entire chapters of the entire latter half. And, they are interpolations of a different kind, with no divine based for their insertion except to make Isaiah more monotheistic than his test originally was. Unfortunately, all we have left of the evidence is internal evidence. The same occurred with the Book of Deuteronomy, too, but at least with that document we still manuscript evidence. The trend was to remove references to the gods and to make the passages more monotheistic in the process to make the text conform to changing theology.

In the case of Joseph Smith, there were times when people would actually "water down" the contents of various revelations in print, probably for similar reasons, when the originals spoke of the gods and the God of gods, and so forth. We have no idea who was responsible for that. But, in other cases, several revelations actually are combined revelations that were combined later although being originally written at or near the same time frame. What is now Section 27 is like that. There are numerous other examples of combination of multiple revelations into one and even cases of separating a single revelation into parts in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Here is the thing about revelation, though. We get revelation through prophets and for ourselves, for that is the only way to get it. God in most cases does not just plop himself into a seat in front of everyone and tell it like it is. (And, even if he did, would not those who heard him still understand portions of such discussion differently like is the case when witnesses recall events of an accident differently?) Unfortunately, being the humans we are, prone to mistakes of many kinds and by no means perfect in anything verbal, we sometimes color that which we receive by our perceptions and understandings. Those who have actually received revelations from God know this and know the difficulties in putting it into proper wording to carry the full sense of what has been revealed when they attempt to put it into writing. Some things are just too difficult if not impossible to put into writing, if not when we are forbidden to do so. I am speaking from experience, mind you, so I don't expect you to understand fully.

Whether I reinforce your problem or no, I cannot really help you to understand the principle of revelation. I can only speak of things as they are and "let the chips fall where they may." I can say that God exists, that he speaks to man and indeed has spoken with me, and that he is very real--as real as you and I--and he is not all that abstract conceptually as people like yourself want to make him out to be. That is all I will say on that matter.

Edited May 26, 2013 by MormonMason