Shulem challenges RFM’s magical powers

[Shulem]

I'm good with novel. What's the right word then? Pretend Bible, made up Bible, imaginary Bible?

Bible works just fine. Imaginary on what basis? Given the dubious or fictional authors of much of the original Bible, it is not clear to me what makes the Mormon Bible all that different in this regard.

Many of the characters in the Bible were real people. The geography is also real. All of the characters of the Book of Mormon are fictional and the geography is make-believe. The Book of Mormon is NOT a Bible. Tator is correct.

[Kishkumen]

Many of the characters in the Bible were real people. The geography is also real. All of the characters of the Book of Mormon are fictional and the geography is make-believe. The Book of Mormon is NOT a Bible. Tator is correct.

Neither one of you are right. Many of the characters in the Bible are made up, or their lives are so heavily mythologized that it hardly matters.

[Tator]

There really is a Sea of Galilee in the Bible, where is Zarahemla?

[Kishkumen]

There really is a Sea of Galilee in the Bible, where is Zarahemla?

You guys are barking up the wrong tree. There is no simple split between Bible:factual; novel:fictional.

The Book of Mormon was obviously written to emulate the Bible, or, in other words, to be an American Bible. It fits the formal characteristics of the Bible well enough to qualify as such, in my opinion. It was Smith’s decision to take the Bible as his generic model, and he wrote his Bible accordingly. He did not call it a novel, nor did he seek to write a novel.

All you guys are doing here is picking up sad and outworn Christian anti-Mormon tropes when they are of no use to you. I doubt either of you thinks the Bible is sacrosanct, so what are you protecting it from? It makes a lot more sense to recognize as factual what is clearly the case: Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon as an American Bible.

[Tator]

Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon as an American Bible.

So is it fiction or non-fiction?

[Shulem]

Many of the characters in the Bible were real people. The geography is also real. All of the characters of the Book of Mormon are fictional and the geography is make-believe. The Book of Mormon is NOT a Bible. Tator is correct.

Neither one of you are right. Many of the characters in the Bible are made up, or their lives are so heavily mythologized that it hardly matters.

I am right when I said many of the characters in the Bible were real people. Kings of Egypt are also mentioned. The Book of Mormon characters are fiction, all fake. Bible geography is real. Book of Mormon geography is based on imagination using Delmarva.

Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon as an American Bible.

So is it fiction or non-fiction?

Pure fiction. All fake. Not real. Fantasy. Lies.

Kish doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Smith didn’t write the Book of Mormon. He dictated it with his head in a hat. He told stories. He did not write a book. It’s all fiction that he passed off as nonfiction which was his big lie. I don’t think Kish understands Smith at all.

[Tator]

The Bible was written by fictional characters in a non-fictional geographical setting.

The American Bible was written by a non-fictional author in a geographical setting that is fictional.

To me it's still all fiction.

[Kishkumen]

I am right when I said many of the characters in the Bible were real people. Kings of Egypt are also mentioned. The Book of Mormon characters are fiction, all fake. Bible geography is real. Book of Mormon geography is based on imagination using Delmarva.

Read my post above. Fictional and fake are not disqualifying characteristics for the Biblical genre.

The Bible was written by fictional characters in a non-fictional geographical setting.

The American Bible was written by a non-fictional author in a geographical setting that is fictional.

To me it's still all fiction.

The geographical setting is America, Tator. Is America fictional?

Kish doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Smith didn’t write the Book of Mormon. He dictated it with his head in a hat. He told stories. He did not write a book. It’s all fiction that he passed off as nonfiction which was his big lie. I don’t think Kish understands Smith at all.

Maybe you should go back to school or take some adult education courses on these topics, Shulem. Your ignorance on this topic is stunning. Oral composition in dictation to scribes is a perfectly normal option for composing books and other kinds of documents. Some writers spoke into cassette recorders and handed the cassettes to typists. Don’t opine so confidently when you are transparently clueless about something

Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon as an American Bible.

So is it fiction or non-fiction?

So bookstore categories are the limits of literary understanding now?

[Tator]

The Bible was written by fictional characters in a non-fictional geographical setting.

The American Bible was written by a non-fictional author in a geographical setting that is fictional.

To me it's still all fiction.

The geographical setting is America, Tator. Is America fictional?

So that makes Joe's story true?

[Bret Ripley]

So is it fiction or non-fiction?

Walked into a bookstore the other day that had recently divided their inventory into just two sections: fiction and non-fiction. They chucked me out when I asked where I might find a copy of T. S. Eliot's 'Murder in the Cathedral.'