BRANT CAN’T

In his latest tripe for the undiscerning, Gardner has succeeded in once more “ever speaking and never being able to get to the point.” In case readers are not aware, Gardner frequently scours the internet to ascertain thoughts on topics he has chosen to defend or attack and then regurgitates what he finds into never-ending pages of self-indulgent, mental gymnastics that amuse none but the mirror.

As a Mesotheorists living in the backyard of true Book of Mormon lands, Gardner has the most wrath to inherit in the next life when he meets previous tenants of the land he now occupies. One of which will be Mormon, who swore we must face at the judgment bar: “Where much is given, i.e. easy access, time and money, much is expected” (1 Nephi 22:14, 2 Nephi 33:15, Ether 12:38).

Gardner has repeatedly been warned, and I will stand next to Book of Mormon prophets to judge him for the bias he chose to defend. Two deadly facts that are kryptonite to a Mesotheorists are:

a. Joseph read not translated

b. Joseph identified the hill in Palmyra as “Cumorah,” the place of the final Nephite battle

To show the extent one will obfuscate to save face, Gardner purposely ignored the evidence put forth by President Joseph Fielding Smith in Answers to Gospel Questions in support of ONE Cumorah. Ignorance is not bliss as he was aware and did read the full report in a forum thread in which he participated. A publisher (Krofford Books) must at some point consider what reputation they want to be known for. In this case, the level of blatant disregard for truth bespeaks a bias approaching fraud, i.e. to purposely mislead. 

Somehow Gardner thought he could sensationalize what he did include to the exclusion of what he did not. Consider the turn of words Gardner chose to conclude the chapter on “A Hill Becomes Cumorah” [i.e. the hill was not the real Cumorah]:

“The sacralization of the New York hill by association with Cumorah tapped into the miraculous nature of the discovery and translation of the plates…the association was made and became so entrenched in the Saints’ understanding that it is difficult to separate the historical data from the communal story” (Brant A. Gardner, The Gift and Power: Translating the Book of Mormon, August 2011, pp. 130-131).

The book is searchable on Amazon and readers are encouraged to search it against the evidence put forth by President Joseph Fielding Smith to see what Brant left out.

Regarding the Translation of the Book of Mormon

Gardner, like Sperry, et. al. have basked in the shadow of the nonsense that Joseph “studied the translation out in his mind” before deciding upon which words to use, which in turn allowed them to explain away the (alleged) poor grammar and the repetition (allegedly) of the KJV  and (alleged) 19th-century vernacular.

The fruit of this approach and most approaches put forth by the more academically minded has been to “explain” rather than to defend. By fearing man more than God, these rationalists could not resist the opportunity to use their powers of reason to the exclusion of the God-given facts, i.e. what the Book of Mormon said, and other first-hand accounts by special Book of Mormon witness David Whitmer (and others) of both “how” the translation happened and “where” Cumorah was. 

The Book of Mormon clearly explains “how” the translation was done:

20 thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee. 

22 when thou hast read the words which I have commanded thee…that I may preserve the words which thou hast not read

24 shall read the words that shall be delivered him (2 Nephi 27)

To concede that Whitmer’s testimonies were true (as they should), a Mormon would condemn himself for Whitmer also testified that Joseph was a fallen prophet.