Ether 2

Ether 2:8-10

Supposedly Moroni is making an abridgement in part because he has little room on the plates he’s using, and as Jacob told us, “I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates” (Jacob 4:1). Here’s my attempt to be a little more succinct than these three verses.

“And God swore in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time, should serve Him, or they should be swept off when they are ripened in iniquity” (Me).

Moroni: 164 words Me: 37 words, only 22.6% as verbose

Notice who the God of the land is. This seems Trinitarian.

Some defend some seemingly Trinitarian Book of Mormon references as not contradicting current Mormon godhead doctrine (see The Doctrine of God the Father in the Book of Mormon), but in context of doctrine taught in the “Lectures on Faith” how sound is this defense?

From the “Lectures on Faith” that used to be in the Doctrine and Covenants until the 1921 edition:
“The Father being a personage of spirit, glory, and power, possessing all perfection and fulness. The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, is a personage of tabernacle . . . He is called the Son because of the flesh . . . He, possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit that bears record of the Father and the Son.”
“Questions and Answers for Lecture 5?
3. Q—How many personages are there in the Godhead?
A—Two: the Father and Son (Lecture 5: 1).
13. Q—Do the Father and the Son possess the same mind?
A—They do . . .
14. Q—What is this mind?
A—The Holy Spirit”
(Lecture 5).

Ether 2:13-14

This story is unbelievable. The Jaredites, especially the brother of Jared, previously had multiple communication with god, and vice versa. And suddenly, once they reached the shore and dwelt there, no one would have wondered what to do next or thought to ask god for four years. No one. As if they forgot why they were there in the first place. And god also let that happen for four years.

This would not solve the problem of ventilation. Since one hole would be under the water line and could not be opened, only one hole could be open at a time. Later we are told they could not have windows (verse 23), so it would be only the one hole at a time. One hole open at a time would provide almost no air movement.

We are told there are people and animals aboard, all of which would consume oxygen and produce CO2. In addition, the aerobic bacteria decomposing the animal feces would consume oxygen and give off CO2 (Chapter 1, The Decomposition Process).

Critics often say this verse refers to glass because the Lord talks about the windows being dashed to pieces and that glass was not used for windows until about 100 CE. Apologists rightly point out that a shutter or apparatus used to stop the windows could be made of another material such as wood which can also be said to dash in pieces. The apologists however fail to acknowledge the context provided in verse 20 where the Lord directs the Jaredites to have a hole in the bottom as well as a hole on top of the barges which could be stopped up to prevent the flow of water into the vessel. If the material used to stop up the holes would not be dashed to pieces, then it could have been used in the windows without dashing to pieces. It seems quite clear that Joseph Smith was referring to glass windows here.