Re: Don Bradley
Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2023 1:12 am
we'll have to hold on until you return then!! i really appreciate you reviewing this book in depth. i have been curious about it, but honestly, actually reading a book that tries to flesh out an imaginary text that is theoretically missing because of an unverified story told by a person who wrote many other imaginary texts and told multiple lies has so many layers of nonsensical logic that i couldn't bring myself to do it. my eye-rolling capacity is limited. BUT, i was curious, and therefore i am really enjoying your reviews and looking forward to future editions!! you add so much, thank you! see you when you return.Shulem wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 2:54 pmI would like to add that Bradley's efforts in finding fantastic parallels between Smith uncovering the plates and things that occurred in the Bible is not necessarily scholarship but falls more in line with wishful inspiration on his part. He stated at the opening of his book that inspiration was not his work as is his scholarship. But so far he is taking what scholarship he's presented and decorating it with window dressing to make it look as if Joseph Smith is mirroring the past and fulfilling all manner prophecies in which Smith never said anything. Is Bradley now filling the role of the prophet Joseph Smith and revealing prophecies that Smith never knew? To my knowledge, I am not aware of Smith having ever alluded to a Mosaic connection between the ark and the plates and how the timing of certain feasts correspond with Smith finally getting the plates on a certain month of the year. And the bit about the plates being wrapped in cloth being symbolic of covering the ark is simply over the top nonsense.
That is why I class elements of Bradley's work as faith promoting BS but on the other hand I have found his scholarly material very useful. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to slam Don personally but I'm finding serious fault with his methods. If Don expects to be taken seriously by nonbelievers and critics then making stuff up out of thin air is not the way to go about it.
And so, tomorrow I will be headed to Florida for a vacation so you may not hear much from me for a while.