What do you think of the Plain English Book of Mormon?


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I actually think it has its place, I love the older modern English version, but I also love to sit and read my scriptures like a book sometimes and this works better for that. Sometimes I find some Latter Day Saints and mainstream Christians are so intent on the minutae of each verse they forget the beauty of the stories. Whilst the Book of Mormon Stories has its place I like this idea (and by the way until I read Moksha's post i had a completely different view then I went back to it and read it with that in mind

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While plain English scriptures would also be good I don't think this would always be the case. While they might be good for children we should also teach them how to read the old english ones as well.

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Why? because you had to they should too?
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Why? because you had to they should too?

Why do native english speakers go through the hassle of learning Greek in order to read the New Testimate in its native language? Quite possibly because something is lost in translation- consider this- is it possible to translate the nuances of Shakespeare's work? Sure, you could translate the words, but the unspoken components (the pentamic diameter, etc) would surely be lost.

There is beauty in originality that sometimes can't be conveyed by any other means than to observe it first hand.... like trying to describe a sunset to a blind person. It just can't be done, so as long as we have the senses available to observe for ourselves, why should we deprive ourselves of their use?

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I've looked at it before. Didn't get a good feeling about it. That's all it took. Maybe if it was endorsed by the Church.

You know, many feel this way about store brand cola. If only they would be honest and say it was manufactured by the Coca Cola Company for the stores, then it would set the customer's minds at ease. Once you have established brand loyalty, people distrust the contents with different wording. Give us our daily Diet Coke as we give it to those around us!

:)

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There is beauty in originality that sometimes can't be conveyed by any other means than to observe it first hand.... like trying to describe a sunset to a blind person. It just can't be done, so as long as we have the senses available to observe for ourselves, why should we deprive ourselves of their use?

Visions of grandeur swell as we contemplate the Greek spoken by Jesus.

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You know, many feel this way about store brand cola. If only they would be honest and say it was manufactured by the Coca Cola Company for the stores, then it would set the customer's minds at ease. Once you have established brand loyalty, people distrust the contents with different wording. Give us our daily Diet Coke as we give it to those around us!

:)

:animatedlol: :animatedlol: :animatedlol: So true!

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Why do native english speakers go through the hassle of learning Greek in order to read the New Testimate in its native language?

I have no clue since that wasn't the spoken language of the people in the Bible.

Perhaps it may make them feel superior to the rest of the people that don't read Greek?? Just another roadblock I guess. Do we really want to take the Gospel to every living creature or only to those with the training to read Olde English?

Is God an Elitist? a respector of persons? Did Jesus only go to the Learned of His day?

Edited by mnn727
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You've got to be really careful with this sort of thing. The guy may have written it to help others, but people could start changing it so it says different things as well. I'm thinking of all the different versions of the bible that have been created, and how much confusion it created in the process over the years. Even with the KJV Bible we need the JST to help understand some things.

I would stick with the original. It has all the original wording that they used, and not an interpretation of what they were saying. And besides, reading all the old style wording like in the Book of Mormon helps you to read harder literature, as well as help you gain a testimony. I can read out loud like none other because of reading the scriptures in their intended form.

At least the writer of the Plain version says it's not a replacement for the actual thing.

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I think a "plain" BOM has it's uses. While it shouldn't replace the original translation, it shouldn't be dismissed.

My cousin was baptized last year. Though he is 46, his mental capacity is that of a 12 or 13 yr old. He also has several learning disabilities. While he was living with me, w read the scriptures together daily. However, unless I went over each verse again in modern english, he couldn't understand anything.

I actually found the website mentioned, and started reading it with him. Though he still forgot what was read after awhile, he was able to go back and read from the website again to refresh his memory. It was such a blessing to see him read and understand and actually learn.

There are some people who simply cannot understand the original translation. No amount of reading it will change that. For them, this kind of modern translation is invaluable. Everyone should have access to the Scriptures at a level that they can understand. Just my opinion

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I have no clue since that wasn't the spoken language of the people in the Bible.

Perhaps it may make them feel superior to the rest of the people that don't read Greek?? Just another roadblock I guess. Do we really want to take the Gospel to every living creature or only to those with the training to read Olde English?

Is God an Elitist? a respector of persons? Did Jesus only go to the Learned of His day?

Having known a few people that took classes in order to read the NT in greek, and the OT in hebrew, they did it to feel closer to the scriptures, not to thumb their noses at others- I really don't know why you're trying to twist my statement into some sort of elitist strawman when it was not meant as such- I was simply pointing out that some less tangible aspects of language can be lost during translation. None of this is important for understanding the principles of salvation, but i'm merely pointing out that elements can be lost during translation, even if the underlying meaning is preserved.

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OK, I started this string, so I'll offer some of my non-member thoughts. First, I'm surprised. I understand the concerns, worries, dangers of paraphrases (translation from a translation). Yet, if I were not a Christian, and someone had bothered to write out a plain English version of the Bible for me to understand, I'd be thankful. The author is very clear that his presentation is not the BoM, but rather a plain English re-write. My guess is that he offers it so that folk, perhaps like myself, might look it over, become intrigued by the stories, and then want to find the real deal, or perhaps even speak to missionaries.

Maybe the problem is that I'm asking mature, well-read members to comment on a book very likely meant for investigators and adult converts, as an initial step.

At the same time, I see the point that there is no available original manuscript for the BoM, and so the safe bet is to stick with the inspired translation. Sigh...I really liked the idea of this...

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I like the idea of a plain English Book of Mormon. It would be interesting to see that translation. However, I do think a lot would be lost. It took more than a hundred years for us to find Nephi's poetic arrangements. What else have we missed that would be lost in translation?

But I don't object to a plain English version, though I would probably stick with studying the original translation.

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You're right, Dravin. Though I'm pretty ignorant of this whole area--so it's impressive that the hand written notes are available. If we could even ascertain that we had a first or second level copy of particular books of the Bible, such would be quite exciting. My understanding is that our earliest manuscripts of New Testament books are about 100 years out from the actual penning--perhaps even a bit more.

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You're right, Dravin. Though I'm pretty ignorant of this whole area--so it's impressive that the hand written notes are available.

While some of the original manuscript survives we do not posses most of it (according to Wiki 72% is lost or destroyed). What we (I mean that generically, the Community of Christ owns it but I imagine the LDS church posesses copies) do have is pretty much all of the printer's manuscript.

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