After many readings of the Book of Mormon, the Holy Spirit has given me a firm testimony of its truth. Today, while listening to your podcast, without even opening the book yet, I had such a strong witness that went on so long it was almost hard to contain myself without bearing and adding my own testimony to yours. All 4 of you have blessed me this day, and I thank you for your intense years of research and studying. Even more so, for sharing with me and countless others your knowledge and allowing the Holy Spirit to testify to me once again that Jesus is the Christ and that he loves all mankind. The Book of Mormon is...yes...a miracle.
Dr. Woodward went off!! I haven't ever heard a better case for the Book of Mormon. His insights absolutely blew my mind. Highly consider memorizing every word of his insight into the Book of Mormon being translated in 65 days. Gosh, I wish I had heard this podcast 4 years ago while on my mission!
I am so excited for this year's follow him. As I listened to these great men about the Book Of Mormon I felt the spirit so strong. From when I was a teenager I was more inactive than active in the church through my thirties. In between that time I did serve a mission. After my mission I went inactive again because of what I called Utah Mormons. I saw members be members only on Sundays and I really didn't want to be associated with members like that. The time I spent away from the church, I never ounce talk bad against the church. I knew that the church was true. I went as far as wanting to remove my name from the church. Thankfully Heavenly Father never let that happen. I did return to the Lord's church. I am blessed to be sealed to my beautiful wife and kids. When I came back I told myself that I am returning for me and my family and most importantly for my Savior Jesus Christ.
Always enjoy your podcasts, but it feels like you are launching a Book of Mormon ROCKET this year on New Year's Eve! You and your learned guests share powerful messages, insights, and stories that lead to a deeper understanding of the scriptures, historical background, and gospel principles. Your format, humor, and depth of knowledge are perfect for me! Thank you for the time and energy you invest in sharing your beautiful testimonies of Jesus Christ and the study of His gospel. I am so excited about this year's offerings!!
In studying the miracle of the Book of Mormon was the miracle of teaching Joseph Smith to repent of his sins. He had to have pure motives and only the desire to glorify God to get the plates. This took 5 years. One of the greatest miracles was his repentance and the Lord's forgiveness and patience. Going to be a great year! Thanks!
Hi Hank and John, I live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I enjoyed listening to your video while doing a jigsaw puzzle. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to Casey and Scott's views. It's a hot and humid summer's day here. So, warm regards. 🤣❤️🙏🇦🇺
I knew the book was true within the first few sentences of the title page…i believe this book is the greatest treasure on the earth today…my testimony of the Book of Mormon is the greatest gift i have ever owned…thank you for doing this podcast… it has been 34 years since i first came across this “marvelous work and a wonder” it has changed my life in a very good way…i feel like without it or my testimony i would cease to exist :0)
What a powerful kick-off to our study of the Book of Mormon this year! All four of you provided such amazing insight - I enjoyed this so much! And all the time I was listening, my love and appreciation for the Prophet Joseph Smith and all the witnesses kept swelling. I felt the spirit powerfully as well as a great sense of peace surrounding the truth of not only what the witnesses testified of, but of your declarations of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon being God’s work. Thank you so very much for your weekly insights and testimonies of Jesus Christ! ❤
I have read. The Book Of Mormon many times. This year I want ro do more than reading it! I am looking forward to all the insights that I might have missed, just reading. Thank you all for your help!!! All the best in the coming year for you and all your families!❤️🇨🇦
I just learned the other day through an HGTV show that cement is actually just one part of what makes up concrete. So the assumption is, the critics are thinking about concrete and saying it did not exist back then. But cement did. 🤗
Thank you so much just does not seem like enough...I so appreciate what you are doing here for me. There is something in my soul that is so excited for this in-depth study. My testimony of the Book of Mormon is good right now but, I am so excited to sit at the feet of your wisdom, testimonies and knowledge. I feel like I've been invited to magnificent feast. To me this is a miracle and an experience I have waited a lifetime to receive.
Great podcast. As a convert, but long time convert, this is helping me have a greater appreciation for the introduction. Too often I have skipped these and just gone straight to 1 Nephi.
I listen on Apple podcast, but I had to come over here to leave a comment! I absolutely love this and love every episode, but this one got me pumped up! Thank you for all you do!
loved hearing what a miracle it truly was to come forth in 65 days. I loved the shout out to Todd Parker... he was my seminary teacher in high school, and he wasn't much older than we were....He taught us the Book of Mormon as well.
When you talk about the difficulty of creating fiction, Orson Scott Card wrote a fascinating essay about the Book of Mormon in his book A Storyteller in Zion.
I wish I could retain & recite info on the Book of Mormon/Church history half as well as you guys. Scott’s case for the miracle of The Book of Mormon would be especially useful to try to remember.
Dr. Griffiths and Woodward are both favorites of mine. They really contributed to this lesson in a big way. Casey mentioned Taunalyn Ford who is also a historian. I’d love to hear her on your podcast .
Has Dr. Woodward written any books that go into detail about the fascinating observations he made concerning, as he said “the coming forth of the Book of Mormon”? The details he mentioned, i.e. how long it took for the translation relative to that of other literary works he mentioned, the discovery of the chiastic literary style used, the historical authenticity of such areas as botany, weights and measures, etc. I would love to read about these observations in more detail. This was a fantastic and exciting podcast-a perfect motivator for immersing ourselves in the study of the Book of Mormon this year. Thank you.
I just finished the Book of Mormon at the end of the Year. I’m excited to start again this year. A funny aside story, my son after returning from his mission went on an overnighter with youth from the singles ward. Their goal was to read the Book of Mormon in 24 hours. He text me when they were done and he said that’s great now don’t rest on your laurels start reading it again. Having never heard that expression he responded What do the Laurels have to do with it?
Having experienced 1 Corinthians 12 fully, my first action in the Book of Mormon was search out gifts in the Articles of Faith, having that, it gave me permission to read the text fully! To be honest, I hated it at first, I struggled with it and put it down for months until I was called back to it ❤️VANA
Great podcast. I took copious notes! While we may not understand seer stones and the ways in which the translation occurred, it is the Lord’s technology. We used to laugh at the idea of a Dick Tracy watch and yet that is our current technological reality.
I just love everything that I am hearing from you guys. While I am listening from your podcast, I also am writing my first book and I have to say this.. . the power of the internet appears to be far behind compared with the Power of Christ in the translation process of the Prophet Joseph.
I love that idea of “match it”:) I’ve thought about that a lot:) that if anyone could do it… why haven’t they??? :):):) and then the examples of famous authors .. doesn’t even compare. Doesn’t even come close:)
Excuse me for saying this but Mr Bytheway you are a tease... All the way through I could see you taking notes, which you confirm for me, BUT then you keep them to yourself..... That's No fair😅 I would love to see what your notes said.. I hope you can tell I'm teasing a little in return. I appreciate that someone of your knowledge is taking notes!
Samuel Smith (whom we named our 3rd son after) and Orson Hyde’s successful as missionaries in 1832 was enough for our family as they taught and baptized my husband’s ancestor Daniel Tyler. He said that Samuel’s sermon was more like a narrative and that he quoted Isaiah Ch 29 then recounted the coming forth of The Book of Mormon including his own personal witness of the gold plates. Daniel Tyler’s legacy is of written history and thousands of Latter-day Saints who have grown up with a knowledge of Jesus Christ and the restored Church.
What a great episode. I am very excited for this coming year. At 24:35 you mention the symbolic connection between the Book of Mormon stone box, the tomb, the 12 disciples/witnesses and Mary? What Mary correlation were you referring to?
Mary Whitmore working diligently to host Joseph and his scribe at one point in the translation process, is visited by Moroni and shown the record to encourage her in the service that she is giving to the work. Evidence that supportive people in the background can be effective and are seen of God even if unseen and without praise by men. Anthony Sweat has memorialized this visitation with Mary in a beautiful painting.
Great stuff. Though I’m not sold on stone-in-the-hat. Of course, it could’ve happened, but JS and OC always and only mentioned the U&T and plates as the means of translating.
I missed something. What are you referring to when you talk of the empty stone box and Mary? Do these 2 have a connection both to the Book of Mormon and Christ's resurrectoin?
I don't understand how Emma Smith could have left the church and started her own. I know that is simplistic but she knew the truth of the Book but left anyway. I know there are answers, does anyone know?
I am not a learned scholar but I believe she never denied the miracle of the Book of Mormon but she chose not to go west with the pioneers. My understanding is that she did not like Brigham Young. And I have so much sympathy for her as the prophet's wife and all that she went through living much of the time in someone else's home, losing so many children and the endless persecutions and insecurity she suffered, sharing her husband with so many people. I'm thinking she was exhausted. And as I understand it, she didn't start another church. Someone else spearheaded it and asked her son to be the leader. And that church is now the community of Christ and they believe in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.
Why are you guys bringing in the 'Stone In The Hat' garbage into this podcast? At 18:47 to 18:50, Bro. Bytheway makes a statement of "look into a hat a dictate it to Siri." If the accounts of Joseph Smith looking into a hat are accurate, why in the world would Joseph even have need to go to all the trouble to obtain any plates at all? These accounts are from a perspective outside of the process of translation. NO WONDER PEOPLE ARE LEAVING THE CHURCH. The confusion created by so called ‘scholars’ is doing a great deal of harm. "Joseph Smith and his contemporaries often spoke of his work dictating the Book of Mormon text from the plates as a divine or miraculous “translation.” Smith and his supporters testified that his ability to translate was a gift from God, which allowed him to dictate in English the text of an ancient history written in a forgotten language, even though he had no scholarly training. When mentioning the translation process, Joseph Smith stated on several occasions that he had translated the Book of Mormon “by the gift and power of God.” - The Joseph Smith Papers, Introduction to Revelations and Translations: Volume 5. Agenda-driven editorial content in the Joseph Smith Papers - www.academia.edu/67756647/Agenda_driven_editorial_content_in_the_Joseph_Smith_Papers The 'Stone In The Hat' (SITH) www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2023/12/sith-to-max.html “When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago." - Friedrich Nietzsche
I think that is a great question. I think that is something to ponder while reading the text which I will do. I know that the Brother of Jared had his own interpreters and the Nephites had separate interpreters based on my understanding. Section 130 says that each person has to receive their own urim and thummim. I think if anything it teaches that the person was more important than the instrument of translation and the Lord allowed personal preference over a set in stone process. I think if I remember correctly The Urim and Thummim had to be used with the breastplate in the silver bows and it didn't fit Joseph very well. I am sure Scott and Casey could probably answer it better.
After many readings of the Book of Mormon, the Holy Spirit has given me a firm testimony of its truth. Today, while listening to your podcast, without even opening the book yet, I had such a strong witness that went on so long it was almost hard to contain myself without bearing and adding my own testimony to yours. All 4 of you have blessed me this day, and I thank you for your intense years of research and studying. Even more so, for sharing with me and countless others your knowledge and allowing the Holy Spirit to testify to me once again that Jesus is the Christ and that he loves all mankind. The Book of Mormon is...yes...a miracle.
Beautiful testimony ❤ thank you for that!
Amen! This is so true!🙏
Dr. Woodward went off!! I haven't ever heard a better case for the Book of Mormon. His insights absolutely blew my mind. Highly consider memorizing every word of his insight into the Book of Mormon being translated in 65 days. Gosh, I wish I had heard this podcast 4 years ago while on my mission!
I am so excited for this year's follow him. As I listened to these great men about the Book Of Mormon I felt the spirit so strong. From when I was a teenager I was more inactive than active in the church through my thirties. In between that time I did serve a mission. After my mission I went inactive again because of what I called Utah Mormons. I saw members be
members only on Sundays and I really didn't want to be associated with members like that. The time I spent away from the church, I never ounce talk bad against the church. I knew that the church was true. I went as far as wanting to remove my name from the church. Thankfully Heavenly Father never let that happen. I did return to the Lord's church. I am blessed to be sealed to my beautiful wife and kids. When I came back I told myself that I am returning for me and my family and most importantly for my Savior Jesus Christ.
Always enjoy your podcasts, but it feels like you are launching a Book of Mormon ROCKET this year on New Year's Eve! You and your learned guests share powerful messages, insights, and stories that lead to a deeper understanding of the scriptures, historical background, and gospel principles. Your format, humor, and depth of knowledge are perfect for me! Thank you for the time and energy you invest in sharing your beautiful testimonies of Jesus Christ and the study of His gospel. I am so excited about this year's offerings!!
In studying the miracle of the Book of Mormon was the miracle of teaching Joseph Smith to repent of his sins. He had to have pure motives and only the desire to glorify God to get the plates. This took 5 years. One of the greatest miracles was his repentance and the Lord's forgiveness and patience. Going to be a great year! Thanks!
Hi Hank and John, I live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I enjoyed listening to your video while doing a jigsaw puzzle. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to Casey and Scott's views. It's a hot and humid summer's day here. So, warm regards. 🤣❤️🙏🇦🇺
Wow! Casey and Scott added immensely to my understanding and knowledge of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon! Thank you so much!
thanks for your lifetime of knowledge and love of the gospel.
you are helping me put on the armor of God
I knew the book was true within the first few sentences of the title page…i believe this book is the greatest treasure on the earth today…my testimony of the Book of Mormon is the greatest gift i have ever owned…thank you for doing this podcast… it has been 34 years since i first came across this “marvelous work and a wonder” it has changed my life in a very good way…i feel like without it or my testimony i would cease to exist :0)
What a powerful kick-off to our study of the Book of Mormon this year! All four of you provided such amazing insight - I enjoyed this so much! And all the time I was listening, my love and appreciation for the Prophet Joseph Smith and all the witnesses kept swelling. I felt the spirit powerfully as well as a great sense of peace surrounding the truth of not only what the witnesses testified of, but of your declarations of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon being God’s work. Thank you so very much for your weekly insights and testimonies of Jesus Christ! ❤
I have read. The Book Of Mormon many times. This year I want ro do more than reading it! I am looking forward to all the insights that I might have missed, just reading. Thank you all for your help!!! All the best in the coming year for you and all your families!❤️🇨🇦
I am so motivated to study and deepen my testimony of the Book of Mormon.
God bless all of you, for the marvelous work He is doing through you. This episode(1&2) especially is life changing.
I just learned the other day through an HGTV show that cement is actually just one part of what makes up concrete. So the assumption is, the critics are thinking about concrete and saying it did not exist back then. But cement did. 🤗
Thank you so much just does not seem like enough...I so appreciate what you are doing here for me. There is something in my soul that is so excited for this in-depth study. My testimony of the Book of Mormon is good right now but, I am so excited to sit at the feet of your wisdom, testimonies and knowledge. I feel like I've been invited to magnificent feast. To me this is a miracle and an experience I have waited a lifetime to receive.
Great beginning … thank you. Im looking forward to a wonderful year.
Great podcast. As a convert, but long time convert, this is helping me have a greater appreciation for the introduction. Too often I have skipped these and just gone straight to 1 Nephi.
Hey, we are in Australia and were listening to you as we drove along the coast overlooking the beach!
Great start for a new year of Book of Mormon. I am just finishing up the Book of Mormon reading and now I can REALLY study this great book!!
I listen on Apple podcast, but I had to come over here to leave a comment! I absolutely love this and love every episode, but this one got me pumped up! Thank you for all you do!
When a panic attack strikes me I just read the Book of Mormon then made me calm lessen the anxiety
loved hearing what a miracle it truly was to come forth in 65 days. I loved the shout out to Todd Parker... he was my seminary teacher in high school, and he wasn't much older than we were....He taught us the Book of Mormon as well.
I do not have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I’m praying that studying the history and context this year I will have one.
When you talk about the difficulty of creating fiction, Orson Scott Card wrote a fascinating essay about the Book of Mormon in his book A Storyteller in Zion.
I wish I could retain & recite info on the Book of Mormon/Church history half as well as you guys.
Scott’s case for the miracle of The Book of Mormon would be especially useful to try to remember.
Dr. Griffiths and Woodward are both favorites of mine. They really contributed to this lesson in a big way. Casey mentioned Taunalyn Ford who is also a historian. I’d love to hear her on your podcast .
Has Dr. Woodward written any books that go into detail about the fascinating observations he made concerning, as he said “the coming forth of the Book of Mormon”? The details he mentioned, i.e. how long it took for the translation relative to that of other literary works he mentioned, the discovery of the chiastic literary style used, the historical authenticity of such areas as botany, weights and measures, etc. I would love to read about these observations in more detail. This was a fantastic and exciting podcast-a perfect motivator for immersing ourselves in the study of the Book of Mormon this year. Thank you.
I have never seen such great power in my life and of times of critical need of Heaven than I have with the Book of Mormon and the New Testament
Even reading the words out loud or playing the audio has brought literal help and miracles and healing ❤
I just finished the Book of Mormon at the end of the Year. I’m excited to start again this year. A funny aside story, my son after returning from his mission went on an overnighter with youth from the singles ward. Their goal was to read the Book of Mormon in 24 hours. He text me when they were done and he said that’s great now don’t rest on your laurels start reading it again. Having never heard that expression he responded What do the Laurels have to do with it?
resting on your laurels. an idiomatic phrase for accomplishing a great task..imho
So good! I can’t wait for the exciting year of more learning!! Thank you!!
Having experienced 1 Corinthians 12 fully, my first action in the Book of Mormon was search out gifts in the Articles of Faith, having that, it gave me permission to read the text fully! To be honest, I hated it at first, I struggled with it and put it down for months until I was called back to it ❤️VANA
I love all your podcast, but this one was a big WOW! I had to listen twice! thank you for your insights :)
I’m committing to deepen my conversation. Thank you for sharing insights that support my study and actions
This was outstanding. Thank you SO much for this!
Great podcast. I took copious notes! While we may not understand seer stones and the ways in which the translation occurred, it is the Lord’s technology. We used to laugh at the idea of a Dick Tracy watch and yet that is our current technological reality.
I just love everything that I am hearing from you guys. While I am listening from your podcast, I also am writing my first book and I have to say this.. . the power of the internet appears to be far behind compared with the Power of Christ in the translation process of the Prophet Joseph.
This is going to be an AWESOME year of study!
Fascinating and inspiring! I am really looking forward to studying the Book of Mormon next year.
This is an awesome session! Thanks brethren!
Fabulous episode, Thank you!!
I love that idea of “match it”:) I’ve thought about that a lot:) that if anyone could do it… why haven’t they??? :):):) and then the examples of famous authors .. doesn’t even compare. Doesn’t even come close:)
WOW!! Thank you!
I’m listening from Australia. Thank you!
Excuse me for saying this but Mr Bytheway you are a tease... All the way through I could see you taking notes, which you confirm for me, BUT then you keep them to yourself..... That's No fair😅 I would love to see what your notes said.. I hope you can tell I'm teasing a little in return. I appreciate that someone of your knowledge is taking notes!
So good! So excited for this yeR!
Samuel Smith (whom we named our 3rd son after) and Orson Hyde’s successful as missionaries in 1832 was enough for our family as they taught and baptized my husband’s ancestor Daniel Tyler. He said that Samuel’s sermon was more like a narrative and that he quoted Isaiah Ch 29 then recounted the coming forth of The Book of Mormon including his own personal witness of the gold plates. Daniel Tyler’s legacy is of written history and thousands of Latter-day Saints who have grown up with a knowledge of Jesus Christ and the restored Church.
Thank great way to start the year
Thank you so much 💓
So good as always! ❤❤❤❤
Awesome podcast guys!!!
Another great podcast
Thanks! That was really great!
Thank you so much
What a great episode. I am very excited for this coming year. At 24:35 you mention the symbolic connection between the Book of Mormon stone box, the tomb, the 12 disciples/witnesses and Mary? What Mary correlation were you referring to?
Sorry... Mary Whitmer! I appreciate the insights.
I was wondering the same thing. I had to rewind a few times to see if I missed it. Then came here for this answer! Thanks!
Mary Whitmore working diligently to host Joseph and his scribe at one point in the translation process, is visited by Moroni and shown the record to encourage her in the service that she is giving to the work. Evidence that supportive people in the background can be effective and are seen of God even if unseen and without praise by men. Anthony Sweat has memorialized this visitation with Mary in a beautiful painting.
@@rebekahlavery4319When Did Jesus Become the Son of GOD
@@MikeBairdWhen Did Jesus become the Son of GOD
El libro del Mormon es verdadero, no importa en que idioma se lo diga, es verdad.
Great stuff. Though I’m not sold on stone-in-the-hat. Of course, it could’ve happened, but JS and OC always and only mentioned the U&T and plates as the means of translating.
Comment about 18:11 How many times was the Book of Mormon edited since that time?
Thank you¡!!!!
So good!
I missed something. What are you referring to when you talk of the empty stone box and Mary? Do these 2 have a connection both to the Book of Mormon and Christ's resurrectoin?
Love the “outro” :)
The book is true!
❤ 13:39
💙💙
I don't understand how Emma Smith could have left the church and started her own. I know that is simplistic but she knew the truth of the Book but left anyway. I know there are answers, does anyone know?
I am not a learned scholar but I believe she never denied the miracle of the Book of Mormon but she chose not to go west with the pioneers. My understanding is that she did not like Brigham Young. And I have so much sympathy for her as the prophet's wife and all that she went through living much of the time in someone else's home, losing so many children and the endless persecutions and insecurity she suffered, sharing her husband with so many people. I'm thinking she was exhausted. And as I understand it, she didn't start another church. Someone else spearheaded it and asked her son to be the leader. And that church is now the community of Christ and they believe in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.
❤❤❤
Why are you guys bringing in the 'Stone In The Hat' garbage into this podcast? At 18:47 to 18:50, Bro. Bytheway makes a statement of "look into a hat a dictate it to Siri." If the accounts of Joseph Smith looking into a hat are accurate, why in the world would Joseph even have need to go to all the trouble to obtain any plates at all?
These accounts are from a perspective outside of the process of translation. NO WONDER PEOPLE ARE LEAVING THE CHURCH. The confusion created by so called ‘scholars’ is doing a great deal of harm.
"Joseph Smith and his contemporaries often spoke of his work dictating the Book of Mormon text from the plates as a divine or miraculous “translation.” Smith and his supporters testified that his ability to translate was a gift from God, which allowed him to dictate in English the text of an ancient history written in a forgotten language, even though he had no scholarly training. When mentioning the translation process, Joseph Smith stated on several occasions that he had translated the Book of Mormon “by the gift and power of God.” - The Joseph Smith Papers, Introduction to Revelations and Translations: Volume 5.
Agenda-driven editorial content in the Joseph Smith Papers - www.academia.edu/67756647/Agenda_driven_editorial_content_in_the_Joseph_Smith_Papers
The 'Stone In The Hat' (SITH) www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2023/12/sith-to-max.html
“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Why did God give him the urim and thummin, preserving it for millennia if all he needed was a rock?
I think that is a great question. I think that is something to ponder while reading the text which I will do. I know that the Brother of Jared had his own interpreters and the Nephites had separate interpreters based on my understanding. Section 130 says that each person has to receive their own urim and thummim. I think if anything it teaches that the person was more important than the instrument of translation and the Lord allowed personal preference over a set in stone process. I think if I remember correctly The Urim and Thummim had to be used with the breastplate in the silver bows and it didn't fit Joseph very well. I am sure Scott and Casey could probably answer it better.