This is Scripture Roundtable 51 from The Interpreter Foundation, in which we discuss the Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson #1, “This Is My Work and My Glory,” focusing on scriptures in Moses 1, bringing in various insights to help us better understand the scriptures. These roundtables will generally follow the 2014 Gospel Doctrine schedule of scriptures, a few weeks ahead of time.
Panelists for this roundtable include Martin S. Tanner, Stephen O. Smoot, and Jeffrey M. Bradshaw.
An article referenced in the roundtable includes:
This roundtable is also available as an audio podcast, and will be included in the podcast feed. You can listen by pressing the play button or download the podcast below:
Podcast: Download (Duration: 43:53 — 15.1MB)
Just wanted to point out that the Joseph Smith Papers project discovered a document stating the revision of the Bible was completed on July 2, 1833. A printing press was purchased specifically to publish the JST but due to mobs destroying the press they owned the new press replaced the damaged one. Joseph continued to fine tuning to the revision since it couldn’t be printed right away and unfortunately was not printed in his life time.
Regarding the question of whether Moses 1 is meant to be part of the inspired translation or not, note that there is a textual link between Moses 1 and Moses 2, namely a small bit of chiasmus.
Moses 1:40-2:1
a And now Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee
concerning this earth upon which thou standest
b and thou shall write the words which I shall speak. (40)
c And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught
d and take many of them from the book which thou shall write,
e behold, I will raise up another like unto thee
d’ and they shall be had again
c’ among the children of men as many as shall believe. (41)
b’ And it came to pass that the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, Behold I
reveal concerning this heaven and this earth; write the words which I speak
a’ I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten
I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven,
and the earth upon which thou standest. (2:1)
Note that verse 42 has been left out of the arrangement as it is a parenthetical aside from the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith and is not part of the vision itself. The presence of chiasmus in these verses link the chapters of Moses 1 and 2 together, showing they are meant to be connected.
One can also see Noel Reynold’s article on The Brass Plates Version of Genesis that shows the likelyhood of the availability of the Moses 1 material being available to the Nephites.
Hi , I really enjoyed the insights shared, its a rare treat for me to listen to such meaningful thoughts about gospel doctrine study. I had a question for Jeff Bradshaw about his comment about (vs 12-23) the defeat of Satan and the baptismal motif, and water/ conflict could someone explain that idea a little bit more please?