Inspiration the Cause of Popular Opposition

Inspiration the Cause of Popular Opposition By Elder James E. Talmage, of the Council of the Twelve The announcement of such a discovery as that of the plates of Mormon, and of such an achievement as the translation of the records into English, could not fail to attract the attention of both layman and scholar. But the announcement was treated with contempt and vigorous denunciation. The reason for this hostile rejection is found in the fact that Joseph Smith, the translator, avowed that he had not accomp- lished the marvelous work by his own or other human power alone, but that the resting place of the ancient plates had been revealed to him by an angel, who appeared in light and glory, and announced himself as that same Moroni who had sealed up and buried the inscribed plates over fourteen centuries earlier. A further cause for the popular opposition to the Book of Mor- mon lay in Joseph Smith's solemn testimony that he had been empowered to make the translation through the direct inspira- tion of God. This avowal introduced the element of the supernatural. If Joseph Smith spoke truly, miracles, had not ceased, and direct revelation from God to man was of modern certainty. Such a conception was wholly opposed by theological theory and churchly dogma. And yet, why in reason should direct revela- tion from the heavens be more of an improbability today than in the centuries of long ago? Except as to the extent of the writing, is the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon any more a marvel than the inspired reading of the mystic words by Daniel in the midst of Belshazzar's riotous feast? (See Dan. 5:25-31.) And surely the means by which the writing was done appears far more mysterious in the case of the Chaldean king than in the ordinary and human way of engraving the Book of Mormon plates. The Book of Mormon is before the world. It has been dis- tributed in large numbers in English and other modern tongues. Let it be understood that in no sense does the Book of Mormon profess to be a substitute for the Holy Bible, or to be in any way related thereto except as a parallel volume of scripture. The Bible is essentially a record of the dealing of God with his peo- ple in the East; the Book of Mormon is an embodiment of Di- vine revelations to the people of the West. So far as the two books touch common themes they are in harmony; and in no particular are they contradictory to each other.