The seer stone

[pellegrino]

Do you think the sealed part of the BoM will be coming out soon?

It's already here!

http://marvelousworkandawonder.com/tsp/index.htm

[Uncle Ted]

I find it interesting that those who witnessed the translation are much more specific about Joseph using the chocolate-colored stone to translate the current BoM, and that others' comments have some rhetorical slippage, probably from the convoluted use of Urim & Thummim, seer stone, Gazelem, etc in the early Church. It also appears that Whitmer was unaware of Joseph's long time ownership of the chocolate-colored stone.

There was some conversation in the 19th century Church about this chocolate colored stone being "Gazelem" from Alma 37:23. There was also discussion that Joseph Smith Jr., was "Gazelem." If there's interest, I'll do a post on this topic.

So this "Gazelem" looks like a tiger's eye. With a little polishing it could be a very beautiful rock like this one...

[pellegrino]

Is that show worth watching?

like most serials the formula gets stale, but in general I've found it entertaining.

[RC Vikings]

And so it begins...

FB is lighting up over this. Those that have left seem really angry about this.

[Jeff Lebowski]

FB is lighting up over this. Those that have left seem really angry about this.

Reactions have been fascinating. The seer stone has been referenced a zillion times. But produce an actual photo and some folks go bonkers. I don't get it.

[DrumNFeather]

Reactions have been fascinating. The seer stone has been referenced a zillion times. But produce an actual photo and some folks go bonkers. I don't get it.

You would think they'd all be lining up to come back since they wanted more transparency to begin with!

[PaloAltoCougar]

Reactions have been fascinating. The seer stone has been referenced a zillion times. But produce an actual photo and some folks go bonkers. I don't get it.

I also don't get why some of these people apparently had no problem with the U & T (a couple of rocks at the ends of two rods stuck to a breastplate) but a stone? Now THAT's just too much to handle! It reminds me of an atheist commentator during the 2012 campaign who, in response to a Huckabee supporter who mocked Romney's "weird" Mormon belief that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri, said something like "Okay, so we're talking about a story that the first man was formed 6,000 years ago from nothing, the first woman was formed by taking one of his ribs, they're tempted by a talking snake, she eats an apple for which they're doomed to mortality but managed to produce progeny totaling into the many billiions, and for you the weird part is that this took place in Missouri?"

I've always been totally cool with the stone, btw, probably more so than with the U&T, now that I think about it.

[Solon]

I don't know if Sleeping in EQ still frequents these parts, but this stone is the same I referred to several years ago here:

http://www.cougarstadium.com/showthr...l=1#post143245

Tex, I believe the word you're looking for is "Swish!".

[kccougar]

FB is lighting up over this. Those that have left seem really angry about this.

Angry? In what way?

[Pelado]

You would think they'd all be lining up to come back since they wanted more transparency to begin with!

The stone is opaque.

[RC Vikings]

Angry? In what way?

Angry that the church shows this seer stone after all these years, that they devoted time and money to a religion that came about because of a young man looking at a stone and producing an ancient spiritual record. You can hear the story a hundred times but seeing a picture really impacts people differently.

[Omaha 680]

I also don't get why some of these people apparently had no problem with the U & T (a couple of rocks at the ends of two rods stuck to a breastplate) but a stone? Now THAT's just too much to handle! It reminds me of an atheist commentator during the 2012 campaign who, in response to a Huckabee supporter who mocked Romney's "weird" Mormon belief that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri, said something like "Okay, so we're talking about a story that the first man was formed 6,000 years ago from nothing, the first woman was formed by taking one of his ribs, they're tempted by a talking snake, she eats an apple for which they're doomed to mortality but managed to produce progeny totaling into the many billiions, and for you the weird part is that this took place in Missouri?"

I've always been totally cool with the stone, btw, probably more so than with the U&T, now that I think about it.

Reminds me of the Colbert bit on Romney in 2012. Something to the effect of "God appeared to a young man in New York in the woods and gave him His teachings on gold plates? That's crazy! Everyone knows God appeared to an old man in Egypt on a mountain and gave him His teachings on stone tablets!"

[Sleeping in EQ]

I don't know if Sleeping in EQ still frequents these parts, but this stone is the same I referred to several years ago here:

http://www.cougarstadium.com/showthr...l=1#post143245

Yep. Pretty interesting.

[woot]

Seems cool that they would release it. The best guess from some geologists I saw discussing it on reddit is that it's a cobble of iron-banded jasper of a type sometimes marketed as "genesis stones".

[San Juan Sun]

Any thoughts as to why now, and why not 20-50 years ago? Just seems really random to me. Pretty cool looking stone though.