Today in my Doctrine and Covenants class we learned about the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. In going through the Old and New Testament, Joseph Smith made some inspired revisions, including:
-modern applications
-harmonization of accounts
-addition of material that someone may have said but did not include in original manuscripts
-restoration of original material that was lost through Bible translation history
-modernizations to make it more readable to someone living in the 1800's
In 1 Nephi 13:23-29 we learn that many "plain and most precious truths" have been removed from the Bible. These may have occured due to simple mistakes in translation or because of people with ill intent. Regardless of the causes, Joseph Smith the prophet helped restore these things.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Crandall Historical Printing Museum
Like I said school keep me busy. Last Wednesday for a school assignment I visited the Crandall Historical Printing Museum in downtown Provo. I highly recommend it.
http://crandallmuseum.org/
We learned about the history of printing from Johannes Guttenberg to modernity. Our presenters were quite engaging and involved us in their demonstrations. The Crandall Museum has a printing press that is an exact replica of the one Guttenberg used to print the first Bible. I got to help print a page of the Bible in Latin! We also saw an working exact replica of the Benjamin Franklin Press that printed the first print of the U.S. Constitution. That definitely brought out some of my Philly pride. Who can't love the hometown of someone who brings us such quotable wisdom as: "Dost thou love life? Then do not squandor time; for that's the stuff life is made of"?
We then saw a Linotype machine, which apparently Thomas Edison called the Eighth World Wonder, and I can see why. The thing is huge, and it puts on quite a show as it molds print leading on the spot and sorts pieces back into their original positions.
Last was a working exact replica of the E. B. Grandin printing press. This is the press that printed the Books of Mormon (Book of Mormons? copies of The Book of Mormon?) in 1829-30. The replica was set up to print the first 16 pages of The Book of Mormon. We learned about some of the miracles involved in the printing of these first 5,000 copies. Specifically, I recall the statistic quoted that during the seven months of printing, while working 11-hour shifts, they would have needed to produce a manuscript page every 30 seconds. We went through a re-enactment of all that would have taken, and again, I got to help work the press! It was exhausting work. The hand of God surely was aiding their endeavor.
http://crandallmuseum.org/
We learned about the history of printing from Johannes Guttenberg to modernity. Our presenters were quite engaging and involved us in their demonstrations. The Crandall Museum has a printing press that is an exact replica of the one Guttenberg used to print the first Bible. I got to help print a page of the Bible in Latin! We also saw an working exact replica of the Benjamin Franklin Press that printed the first print of the U.S. Constitution. That definitely brought out some of my Philly pride. Who can't love the hometown of someone who brings us such quotable wisdom as: "Dost thou love life? Then do not squandor time; for that's the stuff life is made of"?
We then saw a Linotype machine, which apparently Thomas Edison called the Eighth World Wonder, and I can see why. The thing is huge, and it puts on quite a show as it molds print leading on the spot and sorts pieces back into their original positions.
Last was a working exact replica of the E. B. Grandin printing press. This is the press that printed the Books of Mormon (Book of Mormons? copies of The Book of Mormon?) in 1829-30. The replica was set up to print the first 16 pages of The Book of Mormon. We learned about some of the miracles involved in the printing of these first 5,000 copies. Specifically, I recall the statistic quoted that during the seven months of printing, while working 11-hour shifts, they would have needed to produce a manuscript page every 30 seconds. We went through a re-enactment of all that would have taken, and again, I got to help work the press! It was exhausting work. The hand of God surely was aiding their endeavor.
Monday, September 29, 2008
FHE
This past weekend I entered the testing room of BYU's HGB for the first time this semester with the intent of taking a test--twice. And I totally followed through--both times! The first test was for a physics class that I should have taken two semesters ago and that is a prerequisite for a class I took last semester and one that I'm taking this semester. Thusly, most of the first month's material was review, and I aced it! The second test was for my Doctrine and Covenants class. It was comprised wholly of two essay questions so I'm not sure how I did, although I feel pretty good about it. I came up to campus at 7:30 this morning and haven't been back home since. I did take a short hiatus for Family Home Evening tonight, though. We watched the Restoration video, and I loved it!
This video tells about the first modern-day prophet of our church, the prophet Joseph Smith. It portrays the events that led Joseph to turn to God in prayer and ask Him about his own personal salvation and about which church he should affiliate himself with. I love Joseph's own account of what happened after he prayed:
"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. [...]
"When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (Joseph Smith--History 1:16,17--http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1)
God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith! This happened in 1820 and ushered in the long-promised dispensation of the fulness of times. (See Ephesians 1:10--
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/eph/1) Joseph received many other revelations and visions in the following years as he built up God's kingdom on the earth, but the video I watched this evening just shows the beginnings of all that. http://mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/#d
I love it!
This video tells about the first modern-day prophet of our church, the prophet Joseph Smith. It portrays the events that led Joseph to turn to God in prayer and ask Him about his own personal salvation and about which church he should affiliate himself with. I love Joseph's own account of what happened after he prayed:
"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. [...]
"When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (Joseph Smith--History 1:16,17--http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1)
God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith! This happened in 1820 and ushered in the long-promised dispensation of the fulness of times. (See Ephesians 1:10--
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/eph/1) Joseph received many other revelations and visions in the following years as he built up God's kingdom on the earth, but the video I watched this evening just shows the beginnings of all that. http://mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/#d
I love it!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Q
I like the letter Q. The velar plosive just rolls off the tongue. Wouldn't it be a great middle initital? I think it would work with just about any first and last name:
Harry Q. Potter
Jane Q. Austin
Catherine Q. Zeta-Jones
Rolls off like candy.
Harry Q. Potter
Jane Q. Austin
Catherine Q. Zeta-Jones
Rolls off like candy.
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